What's your breed of choice?

[trasmuson3]

Hello everyone, just thought I would start a topic wondering what everyone's breed of choice was and why?  I understand many of us own our preferred breed, but has that breed always been your number one, or were you converted? Please include pictures if you have any.

I will start. Growing up, my dad always owned Drahthaars and this breed has always been my breed of choice, particularly because I always loved how hard they hunted. It seemed like nothing ever stopped them from achieving something, whether it was injuries, thick cover, or an icy pond. And, of course, I love the way they look! So much character to them both physically and personality wise. I always thought that this would be my first dog when I moved out of my parents and got a place of my own, however, I will be picking up My first hunting companion in less than 7 weeks and I will be getting a solid liver GSP pup.  I couldn't be more excited about it. I will always love the DD, but who knows maybe I will fall in love with the GSP breed all the same.  I will have to update photos as soon as I get them.

So please, share your thoughts. Thanks!

[gotpointers]

I have always been an english pointer person but my new english setters are battleing for the lead. I have 3 german shorthairs. 3 german longhairs and a bunch of labradors. I pretty much have met very few bird dogs that i didn't like.

[trasmuson3]

I have always been an english pointer person but my new english setters are battleing for the lead. I have 3 german shorthairs. 3 german longhairs and a bunch of labradors. I pretty much have met very few bird dogs that i didn't like.

+1 I would have to agree with you there, I think you can find something you like in just about every bird dog breed...

[fireangel]

I have always been a lab person and probably always will be.

[Gertie]

I really had a hard time deciding what breed to get for my first hunting dog. They're all just so great in their own way. I wound up getting an English setter because they're beautiful, generally eager to please, hard working, very sweet and affectionate. They also just seem to have a lot of personality. I also really like GSPs and red setters as well... and pointers, Gordons, labs... aw heck, I like 'em all

[mudpuppy1299]

I have had my first gundog for a little over a year, a Vizsla. I love this little girl and can't imagine having anything different. I chose a vizsla because of their tempermant, intelligence, and energy. I wanted a dog that could hunt all day and run and bike with me. She is my constant companion from sun-up to sun-down; she even accompanies me to work. If my lifestyle were to change and I couldn't take her everywhere, I might consider a less clingy breed for my next choice, but for now, a vizsla is perfect for me!

[Sharon]

Jack Russell Terriers because of their great personalities and joie d' vivre, Couldn't do without a setter though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh84o5ST ... re=related

There are hunting tests for JRts here.

[Steve007]

I will always love the DD, but who knows maybe I will fall in love with the GSP breed all the same.  

So please, share your thoughts. Thanks!

You will. The breed you love is the one you have at the time. It isn't the breed you love, so long as it suits your type of hunting; it's the dog. It is easy to confuse the two. Putting aside serious breeders, of course, people make a mistake staying with one breed forever.There is a great deal to be said for changing breeds at times. You will love and appreciate your shorthair just as much as you did your wirehairs (so long as you stay upland hunting anyway).

However, l was single for many many years, so perhaps I just appreciate the excellent quality of variety!

[zzweims]

Whatever hunts

I have weims now, but have had labs, springers, setters, brittanys, vizslas, and gsps in the past. Guess that means my next dog will be a pointer

Aline Curran

[Stoneface]

I've had Shorthairs for ten years, am on my third Setter and have trained or helped train one Vizsla, a Weim, a Pudelpointer, several Wirehairs, a couple Britts and a few others. I'm on my first Pointer and think she's converted me to a died-in-the-wool Pointer man. Some folks like Fords, some like Chevys.

To me, Pointers are beautiful, a huge chunk of them have great retrieving instincts, they are as lovable, friendly and have as sunny a disposition as any dog I've ever met, they are heck on wheels in the field and lover bugs in the home. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but I think the stereotype that no Pointer will ever make anything but a full-time kennel dog, frigid, cold and not content to stop running until he's caught the sun is a gross misjudgement. These are remarkable dogs, I just wish more poeple gave them a chance. I don't see any bad points to owning a Pointer besides a possible bleeding tail.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzhcBwJX ... ature=plcp

[SetterNut]

I have had setters since I was a kid. I have had Irish, Gordon, Red, and now 2 ES (Llewellin's)
Setters have a style and class to them that I have always loved. The sight you get when you come over a hill and see that feathered tail sticking up out of the cover with them standing like a painting on point, is as good as it gets.

And no the pointing dog is a young setter pup, not a pointer

[Stoneface]

Steve, rumor has it that chestnut dog is one of those once-in-a-lifetime dogs. Any truth to that?

[SetterNut]

Steve, rumor has it that chestnut dog is one of those once-in-a-lifetime dogs. Any truth to that?

I like Ace a lot. But I don't know that he is a once in a lifetime dog, he has some faults.
Indy my new pup in the pictures above, has a good chance to be better, at least he is farther along at a younger age.

They are two of the 3 best dogs I have ever had. I love them a lot.

[BigShooter]

If you want to start a new chit chat thread that's fine. Some of us may not respond because we've already posted our thoughts. If you're interested in what 10,000 other folks have read on this subject check out this poll: viewtopic.php?f=87&t=12029.

[JIM K]

If you want to start a new chit chat thread that's fine. Some of us may not respond because we've already posted our thoughts. If you're interested in what 10,000 other folks have read on this subject check out this poll: viewtopic.php?f=87&t=12029.

wow, the poll shows LAB so low?of all hunting dogs i had,home/woods the SMALL LONG LEGGED LAB was one of best.but i raised them for 40 years with dad.
any dog that is nice at home, no barking and is not afraid of woods, is nice dog.

remember most hunting is only 3 months. so what if your dog gets 10 more grouse than mine because he points better etc.

i cant stand any dog breed that barks at home.

[BigShooter]

Yeh, Our lab barked a lot.

Remember the poll just shows the interests of folks that have visited the Gundog Forum & cast their votes in the poll. I think retriever folks have a couple of other websites they participate in more often.

[JIM K]

Yeh, Our lab barked a lot.

Remember the poll just shows the interests of folks that have visited the Gundog Forum & cast their votes in the poll. I think retriever folks have a couple of other websites they participate in more often.

i was out fishing today on kettle creek.camp had 2 GSP in kennel.they barked and barked, i dont know how people stand that all day.
then i dropped off a bird launcher for friend.
she has 5 EP dogs.
man, barking was awful. i could hear it from my truck while parking along road.
terrible.
toby my lab barks for minute if anyone is around home but not that steady barking around home. :roll:

[Ghosted3]

My breed of choice due to versatility and looks is a GSP, but right now I am waiting on my ESS pup due to wifes allergies. Almost the same versatility in a smaller package, but my wife isnt sneezing and puffy eyed all day Like others have said though, I like about all of them.

Corry

[cohanzick creek]

My choice would be german wirehaired pointers. I have had just about every kind of bird dogs but i bought my first wire in 1987 and been hooked ever since.

cc

[JoshHaker]

My choice would be german wirehaired pointers. I have had just about every kind of bird dogs but i bought my first wire in 1987 and been hooked ever since.

cc

What is it about them over other breeds? They seem to be rising in popularity around here.

[cohanzick creek]

i like wire hairs because to me they're a one on one dog. When i was younger i liked them better because i could go pheasent and duck hunting around the same time. they may not be as good as a lab, might not been as keen as a pointer, but they get the job for me pretty good. CC

[SetterNut]

they may not be as good as a X, might not been as keen as Y, but they get the job for me pretty good.

That is well put. All breeds have thier strengths and weaknesses. Thats why there are so many breeds, we don't all need or want the same thing.

Some like the flushers / retievers, some want a pointing dog.

[mcbosco]

i like wire hairs because to me they're a one on one dog. When i was younger i liked them better because i could go pheasent and duck hunting around the same time. they may not be as good as a lab, might not been as keen as a pointer, but they get the job for me pretty good. CC

It is interesting that the wire hairs have that "one on one" characteristic, clingy in a way. Neither of them really share any historical make-up.

[cohanzick creek]

Well like I said, you can't beat a lab for a water dog, really can't beat a pointer for its nose but in the middle you have a wire hair. I like em the best because they love being with people.

cc

[Steve007]

Well like I said, you can't beat a lab for a water dog, really can't beat a pointer for its nose but in the middle you have a wire hair. I like em the best because they love being with people.

Not correct at all. Golden Retrievers "love being with people". GWPs love being with THEIR person (or their people). Other breeds, however, have the same hard-bonding quality. Gordon Setters, American Water Spaniels and Chesapeakes come to mind. And in point of fact, while opinions and uses of the dog vary, as do individuals, a Chesapeake will certainly, shall we say, challenge a Lab for "you can't beat" honors for a water dog.

[Deuce]

DD for me... And if you throw my pup in a room full of people you can bet she'll love on every one of them.

[laxhcky4]

Shorthairs! I grew up with them and at age 24 I got my own. 2 years later and I'm doing research for #2. Great dogs all around and it doesn't hurt that they are good to look at.

[Steve007]

DD for me... And if you throw my pup in a room full of people you can bet she'll love on every one of them.

Of course she will; she's a well-socialized pup. That's how she's supposed to be. But try it again in three or four years. On a percentage basis (i.e. not true of all individuals), if you're there, they won't exist. The Breed Standard describes their temperament as "aloof but not unfriendly toward strangers". It's a good quality, imo. I have two.

[cohanzick creek]

I really wasn't trying to put all breeds against each other, I just picked two popular breeds. I know Chesapeakes are really good in the water, and golden retrievers are friendly; except for the one that bit me a couple years ago when I was hunting. I have had the pleasure of all the dogs mentioned. I really just prefer wirehairs. In out house our wires are friendly with everyone until I tell them not to be lol.

cc

[jarbo03]

After multiple britts and a lab, my Griffon has turned out to be everything I want in a dog. As stated before it is all about what you hunt, where you hunt, and how you hunt. The fact the griff is easy on the eyes doesn't hurt either! In one day last year in MT, in his first week of hunting, we helped to break ice in the morning and retrieved 5 ducks. Later that afternoon he pointed a limit of huns, 2 sharptails and a pheasant. With doing a lot of waterfowling, I thought about another lab, and I am a huge lab fan, but deciding to only have one dog, it had to point also. Have never met a bird dog I didn't like, just owners I thought did a poor job handling their dog.

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[High Voltage]

After multiple britts and a lab, my Griffon has turned out to be everything I want in a dog. As stated before it is all about what you hunt, where you hunt, and how you hunt. The fact the griff is easy on the eyes doesn't hurt either! In one day last year in MT, in his first week of hunting, we helped to break ice in the morning and retrieved 5 ducks. Later that afternoon he pointed a limit of huns, 2 sharptails and a pheasant. With doing a lot of waterfowling, I thought about another lab, and I am a huge lab fan, but deciding to only have one dog, it had to point also. Have never met a bird dog I didn't like, just owners I thought did a poor job handling their dog.

6050296224388_ORIG.jpeg

4050296224378_ORIG.jpeg

Nice looking Griff, where did you get him from?

[jarbo03]

Stellar Vista in Brookfield,MO. Ran him in Thurman at Heartland NAVHDA test last fall.

[orbirdhunter]

Lets see....at the moment i have a Brittany of nstra type bloodlines, a shorthair of navdha bloodlines and a Drahthaar. I love all of them but if i was forced to narrow it to one i would keep the DD on the versatility.

BTW, i would like to own a field boykin, a good springer, a pudelpointer, a EP and a DL before i die....I love them all.

[High Voltage]

Stellar Vista in Brookfield,MO. Ran him in Thurman at Heartland NAVHDA test last fall.

That's why he looked familar, I remember you now! Hope you plan on coming up & running him in UT sometime.

[SHORTFAT]

I love 'em all... I was always a Lab guy... but I wanted a pointing dog... I was looking for a Setter, but wound up with an EP by accident... stumbled on her... Honestly, I love the looks of the Setters, and I will eventually have one, but this Pointer is such a clown in the house and such a worker in the woods, I just love her... Should have named her "Pillow" cuz she's a fixture on the couch!

[jarbo03]

Stellar Vista in Brookfield,MO. Ran him in Thurman at Heartland NAVHDA test last fall.

That's why he looked familar, I remember you now! Hope you plan on coming up & running him in UT sometime.

Hoping to run his UT this fall, need to get off my butt and get back to work with him.