Age old question.... Breed options

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:58 pm

I've searched on the forum and read many people's responses from a few years ago but figured I'd ask again.

First off, I'm a hunter in central California. I've been hunting upland and waterfowl for a few years now and have decided it's time to add a dog to my family that I can hunt with. I have years of dog experience and training just nothing hunting related. I've seen most people on here saying pick a type of hunting you want do and get a dog for that. I can say within the last week or so I've been hunting dove/pheasant/ duck/ quail almost daily so I would really like to find an all around hunting partner. I can say I'm not into GSP very much I've been around a handful and maybe it was just a bad batch but they were a handful for their handlers and seemed at times to be more of a chore for the hunters.

So feel free for opinions I'm very open to hearing all options I'm trying to research before I make a 12+ year decision.

Steve007 · Post by **Steve007** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 2:08 pm

A) How cold and how tough is the water where you hunt for waterfowl?

B) Do you have a preference for a pointing or flushing dog on upland game?

C) Will the dog live in the house and how important is shedding (or not shedding) to you (or your wife)?

D)If house dog, is some level of protectiveness a good thing to you?

E) Got any size preference?

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 2:31 pm

Steve007 wrote:A) How cold and how tough is the water where you hunt for waterfowl?

B) Do you have a preference for a pointing or flushing dog on upland game?

C) Will the dog live in the house and how important is shedding (or not shedding) to you?

D)If house dog, is some level of protectiveness a good thing to you?

The coldest it gets is around 40 degrees at the coldest, water is not rough, I don't plan on hunting anywhere much colder any time soon.

No preference I've hunted behind both.

Dog will be a house dog, I breed French Bulldogs and they all rotate daily in and out. I really don't mind long or short hair.

The protectiveness would be a plus but not a make or break trait.

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 2:32 pm

Steve007 wrote:A) How cold and how tough is the water where you hunt for waterfowl?

B) Do you have a preference for a pointing or flushing dog on upland game?

C) Will the dog live in the house and how important is shedding (or not shedding) to you (or your wife)?

D)If house dog, is some level of protectiveness a good thing to you?

E) Got any size preference?

Forgot the size preference.... I have 0 preference large or small.

Steve007 · Post by **Steve007** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 3:27 pm

Well, heck. I'm a wirehair guy and they'll do just what you want (in spades!), but if you're open to a flushing dog and don't hunt big water or geese, I'll bet a cute little spaniel would fit right in with your Frenchies. American Water Spaniels are the most protective, but a good field-bred English Cocker has a lot to recommend it. Neat colors, too. Your Frenchies would like one,and you might feel comfortable with a dog about their size. AWS are pretty interesting, though.Worth considering, for sure.

I'll bet some fans will chime in,or look up comments on this board. Check OFA on parents, though.

CCBIRDDOGMAN · Post by **CCBIRDDOGMAN** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 3:32 pm

My answer to this question is and always will be, French Brittany.

IANative · Post by **IANative** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 3:41 pm

I'm not going to make a breed recommendation, per se, but offer a little of my own experience. My last two dogs have been a Lab and a Boykin Spaniel. Both did everything well- obedience, handling, quarter, flush, retrieve (Lab was a fantastic duck dog), hunt dead, etc. But the one thing they did not do was point. As I approach 50, and as I've more recently hunted behind other folks' pointing dogs, I realized that's the one thing I've been missing and the one thing I really want. Especially since upland is my passion; I do almost no waterfowl hunting anymore, and very little dove hunting.

The only recommendation I would make is to look at one of the NAVHDA-recognized Versatile breeds (https://www.navhda.org/registry/versati ... dog-breeds), and maybe include the pointing Labrador, and compare your wants/needs to the general traits/characteristics of those various dogs. Along the way, and even after you think you've got it narrowed down, keep asking questions here. There are a lot of very knowledgeable members here with years of experience behind nearly any breed you can think of.

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 3:45 pm

Thank you gentleman for your comments keep them coming. I'm open to everything and am just looking for some people that are more knowledgeable than myself in this department to give me personal experience and feedback!!

tekoa · Post by **tekoa** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:45 pm

I've had a number of breeds and hunted waterfowl and upland birds with all of them. I've never found a perfect dog for all types of bird hunting. My observations of the pros and cons of several types might help you decide:

Springer Spaniel, great Pheasant flusher, good water fowl retreiver in lakes, ponds, canals in cool weather. Good retreiver in rivers and cold weather but only for a couple of hours. Found and flushed Quail, Huns, Sharptail and Chukar very well but often out of range and always at long shot distances.
If you are a decent shooter and strong enough to keep up with a flushing dog, the Springer is a great choice.
Vigorous, energetic, need significant daily excercise to be good house dogs.

Cocker Spaniel, Same as Springer except poor to fair retrieving Geese. Hard to see in tall grass and heavy cover. Fair to good house dog but requires consistent and firm instruction. Possessive of family members around other dogs.

Labrador, Very good retriever in all places and all conditions, fair to good upland flushing dog. Great house dog. Easy to train. Hard to beat as an all around hunting, testing, field trial, and companion dog. In my experience , Labs hunt more by sight and less by scent than most pointing dogs. What they lack in scent finding ability they make up for in tenacity.

Chessie, Will retrieve anything from anywhere under any conditions and do it over and over in very cold weather. Chessie same as lab in upland hunting, doesn't handle very warm weather well, will hunt enthusiastically for two hours in cool weather, all day in cold weather. Has a better nose than other retrievers I've had but tends to hunt by sight. Easier to train than their reputation would suggest. Great family dog but not for small children. Protective of family and territory, will bark and bluff but not attack. Big, strong, scary looking dogs that are sweet as pie.

Brittany Spaniel, great upland pointer, great bird finder, mine pointed ducks along canals and ditches and was an enthusiastic retriever. Struggled with geese but always brought them in eventually. I didn't like her to retrieve in rivers but she never really had any trouble with them. Wonderful companion and house dog. Used to running and when sitting gets cold quickly in wet cold weather. Can be antsy and noisy in a blind, the have a great nose and seem to sense game a great distances. Easily trained. My only objection to Brits is that they have no tail.

English Setter, In my experience, Setters are generally excellent upland bird finders and bird handlers. Fast, thorough, great stamina, easy to train, great house dogs, companions and pets. They are generally only fair very reluctant retrievers. Mine pointed ducks and geese, and would retreive from land, small canals and some still water, but rarely were they consistent or enthusiastic. Today I hunt with two Setters and a Cheasapeake who is trained to stay by my side until a bird is down then find dead and retrieve to hand while the Setters move on to the next point. The Chessie brings em back dead or alive but always brings em back.

Never had any of the versatile breeds, but have hunted with Shorthairs, Wirehaired Pointers, Griffons, and Pudlepointer. I know that these comments will be hotly disputed by versatile dog fans, but remember this is based upon my limited exposure to these breeds. I've found these breeds to not be great at any one thing, (except for Shorthairs which may the best Chukar Dogs) but very good at just about everything and thus make great hunters for today's low bag limits and restricted habitat. Usually natural retrievers, easily trained to point, can stand a wide range of heat and cold, good in the water, rocks, desert and prairie, waterfowl, upland birds, and in some breeds, fur. In fact the only drawback I could find in the dogs I've seen is a strong curiosity about weasels, skunks, porcupines, badgers and other fur bearing critters. Don't know how they are as house dogs , pets, companions. No tails but they don't knock lamps off tables either........

Good luck finding the 'one'. Let us know what you decide..............

greg jacobs · Post by **greg jacobs** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:23 pm

Good post. Shorthairs come in a wide variety. My FT bred shorthair is a bird finding machine but doesn't really prefer to retrieve but will. She is a handful though very big running. My second is a real pleasure to hunt with. Very little handling needed, retrieves great. Both are great in the water. Both get cold in cold weather if they have to stop for any long periods of time but stay warm if running. With shorthairs I would stick to a navhda bred dog for what you are looking for.
Pointers and setters are probably the best upland dogs but not generally good at waterfowl. Some will retrieve though. The "Nicely furnished" versatiles vary a lot also. I've hunted with some pretty good ones. Not as fast as other breeds though. These are general statements and you sure find dogs in all the breeds that don't fit the norm for the breed.

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 10:55 pm

Thank you for the suggestions keep them coming!

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 10:53 am

Come on ladies and gentlemen 170+ views and a handful of replies I am wanting everyone's experience and opinions.

IANative · Post by **IANative** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 11:18 am

Brenttos wrote:Come on ladies and gentlemen 170+ views and a handful of replies I am wanting everyone's experience and opinions.

This is just a guess, but it may be that your criteria is so broad that it's preventing more replies. A question of Breed X vs. Breed Y will get you a multitude of responses, including suggestions of other breeds. Based on the responses you've received thus far, is it possible for you to narrow down either the breeds you're considering or the selection criteria? Good luck.

Post by **ezzy333** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 11:44 am

Your breed options are limited only by the number of breeds. So what else is there to say. Every breed of dogs where created to meet someone's desires or needs. Tell us what your desires are and maybe we can tell you which breed will give you the best chance of finding something that will please you.

Ezzy

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 11:48 am

IANative wrote:
Brenttos wrote:Come on ladies and gentlemen 170+ views and a handful of replies I am wanting everyone's experience and opinions.
This is just a guess, but it may be that your criteria is so broad that it's preventing more replies. A question of Breed X vs. Breed Y will get you a multitude of responses, including suggestions of other breeds. Based on the responses you've received thus far, is it possible for you to narrow down either the breeds you're considering or the selection criteria? Good luck.

I understand what your saying, I just like to hear people's experience to help better gauge what I should do and the only breeds I have experience with are labs a Brittany and GSP. My whole family hunts with labs but I don't want to get a lab just because of what my family has, they all hunt ducks majority of the time and rarely hunt upland.

IANative · Post by **IANative** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 12:16 pm

Brenttos wrote:
IANative wrote:
Brenttos wrote:I understand what your saying, I just like to hear people's experience to help better gauge what I should do and the only breeds I have experience with are labs a Brittany and GSP. My whole family hunts with labs but I don't want to get a lab just because of what my family has, they all hunt ducks majority of the time and rarely hunt upland.

Good. You've just given us more info than what we had before. I would urge you again to take a look at the Versatile breeds. It sounds like a Vizsla or Weimaraner would fit your needs, as would any of the various "fuzzy" breeds. I just bought a Braque Francais, but he's still a baby and I can't recommend him one way or the other, but I'd suggest you at least look into the breed. One of my hunting buddies has a stable full of Llewellin Setters, and they're a joy to hunt behind when chasing phez/quail; not sure how they'd do on waterfowl.

I think you should pick what kind of hunting you like to do best, and focus on the best dog for that purpose. If he's fair-to-middlin' on the other stuff, at least he's a crackerjack on the stuff you like best. My 2¢

AAA Gundogs · Post by **AAA Gundogs** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 1:23 pm

Brenttos wrote:I've searched on the forum and read many people's responses from a few years ago but figured I'd ask again.

First off, I'm a hunter in central California. I've been hunting upland and waterfowl for a few years now and have decided it's time to add a dog to my family that I can hunt with. I have years of dog experience and training just nothing hunting related. I've seen most people on here saying pick a type of hunting you want do and get a dog for that. I can say within the last week or so I've been hunting dove/pheasant/ duck/ quail almost daily so I would really like to find an all around hunting partner. I can say I'm not into GSP very much I've been around a handful and maybe it was just a bad batch but they were a handful for their handlers and seemed at times to be more of a chore for the hunters.

So feel free for opinions I'm very open to hearing all options I'm trying to research before I make a 12+ year decision.

I'm going to give you the answer that you don't want to hear, German Shorthaired Pointer. For our California weather conditions, you'd be hard pressed to find a more well suited breed.

Just like cars, there are several types and lines of GSPs. Dogs coming out of the NAVHDA system or from the NADKC will most definitely give you a versatile very trainable manageable dog that will fill your needs. You can find some great dogs out of the AKC but it is going to take lots of research at lines, etc.

Btw, I'm not putting down the other versatiles like pudelpointers, drahthears, wpg, etc. They're fantastic but their ideal weather is quite a bit cooler than the SJV.

If you need any help with lines, just ask and you've got it.

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 1:53 pm

AAA Gundogs wrote:
Brenttos wrote:I've searched on the forum and read many people's responses from a few years ago but figured I'd ask again.

First off, I'm a hunter in central California. I've been hunting upland and waterfowl for a few years now and have decided it's time to add a dog to my family that I can hunt with. I have years of dog experience and training just nothing hunting related. I've seen most people on here saying pick a type of hunting you want do and get a dog for that. I can say within the last week or so I've been hunting dove/pheasant/ duck/ quail almost daily so I would really like to find an all around hunting partner. I can say I'm not into GSP very much I've been around a handful and maybe it was just a bad batch but they were a handful for their handlers and seemed at times to be more of a chore for the hunters.

So feel free for opinions I'm very open to hearing all options I'm trying to research before I make a 12+ year decision.
I'm going to give you the answer that you don't want to hear, German Shorthaired Pointer. For our California weather conditions, you'd be hard pressed to find a more well suited breed.

Just like cars, there are several types and lines of GSPs. Dogs coming out of the NAVHDA system or from the NADKC will most definitely give you a versatile very trainable manageable dog that will fill your needs. You can find some great dogs out of the AKC but it is going to take lots of research at lines, etc.

Btw, I'm not putting down the other versatiles like pudelpointers, drahthears, wpg, etc. They're fantastic but their ideal weather is quite a bit cooler than the SJV.

If you need any help with lines, just ask and you've got it.

I appreciate the response and info. I am not against a GSP by any means, I guess from the dogs I've been around I couldn't see the "hype" behind them. At the same time it could be lack of training most definitely, so I can't discredit the breed as a whole over a dog with a poor handler. I like your input, going to look into them more!

Urban_Redneck · Post by **Urban_Redneck** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 4:22 pm

I can't give you a full throated recommendation as my pup is just 6 months old, but, since you already have French dogs... consider the Braque d'Auvergne.

Loves the water.

Easy for this novice to train

To my eye, she looks like a hunting dog. One disturbing development this week- after treeing a squirrel in the yard, she let out a short, quarter volume, coon hound bawl

Good luck on your quest.

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 4:50 pm

Urban_Redneck wrote:I can't give you a full throated recommendation as my pup is just 6 months old, but, since you already have French dogs... consider the Braque d'Auvergne.

Loves the water.

Easy for this novice to train

To my eye, she looks like a hunting dog. One disturbing development this week- after treeing a squirrel in the yard, she let out a short, quarter volume, coon hound bawl

Good luck on your quest.

Interesting recommendation, wasn't even on my radar. This is the examples I'm looking for, something to make me second guess myself when I think I've made up my mind or crossed something out. Thank you for your input!

Steve007 · Post by **Steve007** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 8:52 pm

greg jacobs wrote: The scruffy versatiles vary a lot also. I've hunted with some pretty good ones. Not as fast as other breeds though. These are general statements and you sure find dogs in all the breeds that don't fit the norm for the breed.

A decently groomed German Wirehaired Pointer is a handsome dog, and a long way from scruffy. And my formerly nationally-ranked FC wirehair finished her FC at the Shorthair Eastern Regional field trial. It depends on the breeding, but you can find what you want.

greg jacobs · Post by **greg jacobs** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 9:33 pm

Rare breeds. Everything from the Braques Francaises or
Braque Bourbonnais to the Spinone Italiano and German Long Hair pointer.

greg jacobs · Post by **greg jacobs** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 9:36 pm

Steve007 wrote:
greg jacobs wrote: The scruffy versatiles vary a lot also. I've hunted with some pretty good ones. Not as fast as other breeds though. These are general statements and you sure find dogs in all the breeds that don't fit the norm for the breed.
A decently groomed German Wirehaired Pointer is a handsome dog, and a long way from scruffy. And my formerly nationally-ranked FC wirehair finished her FC at the Shorthair Eastern Regional field trial. It depends on the breeding, but you can find what you want.

Sure you can.
Certainly no disrespect meant.
Let me reword that. "Nicely furnished versatile"

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 12:24 pm

One breed that has kept popping up is a Boykin, a smaller breed but seems to be very versatile and resilient. Any info on them??

IANative · Post by **IANative** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 1:39 pm

Brenttos wrote:One breed that has kept popping up is a Boykin, a smaller breed but seems to be very versatile and resilient. Any info on them??

Had one for 9 years. Can be trained as a flushing spaniel, much like a Springer or Cocker. Excellent retriever, both on land and water. Very biddable, but (males) can be stubborn. Non-pointing breed. Mine did best, especially when he got older, when paired w/ good pointing dogs. He learned to watch the pointers, then move in for the flush and the retrieve.

Shellottome · Post by **Shellottome** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 1:53 pm

Brenttos I'm here in central California as well. There's a guy here close that breeds Brittany's. Nice Brittany's. I'm a gsp guy myself. What you described on your first post is what I desire. I love smaller spazzed out crazy GSP's. Love it. Good luck on your search.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 1:57 pm

Shellottome wrote:Brenttos I'm here in central California as well. There's a guy here close that breeds Brittany's. Nice Brittany's. I'm a gsp guy myself. What you described on your first post is what I desire. I love smaller spazzed out crazy GSP's. Love it. Good luck on your search.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm looking for a dog 6+ months old I love some puppies but I feel with it being my first hunting dog, one with a little bit of training will help my learning curve. Brittany or GSP I'm okay with I just want a dog that can water retrieve when needed. I was duck hunting this morning and one landed right in the middle of the pond so here I am throwing out a treble hook to bring them in. At that moment the necessity for a dog was growing by each cast of frustration.

RoostersMom · Post by **RoostersMom** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 7:50 pm

I like a lot of the shorthaired breeds, have Pointers, GSP's, a Vizsla, and a chessie. Love 'em all. The one thing I would be aware of in your hunting area, is a dog that handles the heat well. I have an Elhew bred male that just doesn't have good heat tolerance. Great hunting dog, wonderful nose, easy to break, retrieves well, tries his best to swim with the other dogs, but has very little heat tolerance. He shuts down pretty quickly in high temps.

mtlhdr · Post by **mtlhdr** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 8:25 pm

Brenttos wrote: Steve007 wrote:

B) Do you have a preference for a pointing or flushing dog on upland game?

No preference I've hunted behind both.

Figure out your preference. Most people I know have a strong feelings one way or the other. You hunting pheasant clubs or wild birds for upland?

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 9:43 pm

mtlhdr wrote:
Brenttos wrote: Steve007 wrote:

B) Do you have a preference for a pointing or flushing dog on upland game?

No preference I've hunted behind both.

Figure out your preference. Most people I know have a strong feelings one way or the other. You hunting pheasant clubs or wild birds for upland?

Wild birds. I don't have a preference because I like to hunt everything, my uncle is apart of the duck club so I occasionally head out there than my friends hunt upland game frequently so I head out with them. I'm never really in one place and it makes the season more enjoyable for me.

Brenttos · Post by **Brenttos** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 9:20 am

It's beginning to look more and more like a lab will be one of the best choices for my family. I know that we don't have very cold weather where I live but I am wanting to hunt in other states that get cold enough I feel will warrant a dog that can withstand it.

CDN_Cocker · Post by **CDN_Cocker** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 10:36 am

tekoa wrote:I've had a number of breeds and hunted waterfowl and upland birds with all of them. I've never found a perfect dog for all types of bird hunting. My observations of the pros and cons of several types might help you decide:

Springer Spaniel, great Pheasant flusher, good water fowl retreiver in lakes, ponds, canals in cool weather. Good retreiver in rivers and cold weather but only for a couple of hours. Found and flushed Quail, Huns, Sharptail and Chukar very well but often out of range and always at long shot distances.
If you are a decent shooter and strong enough to keep up with a flushing dog, the Springer is a great choice.
Vigorous, energetic, need significant daily excercise to be good house dogs.

Cocker Spaniel, Same as Springer except poor to fair retrieving Geese. Hard to see in tall grass and heavy cover. Fair to good house dog but requires consistent and firm instruction. Possessive of family members around other dogs.

Labrador, Very good retriever in all places and all conditions, fair to good upland flushing dog. Great house dog. Easy to train. Hard to beat as an all around hunting, testing, field trial, and companion dog. In my experience , Labs hunt more by sight and less by scent than most pointing dogs. What they lack in scent finding ability they make up for in tenacity.

Chessie, Will retrieve anything from anywhere under any conditions and do it over and over in very cold weather. Chessie same as lab in upland hunting, doesn't handle very warm weather well, will hunt enthusiastically for two hours in cool weather, all day in cold weather. Has a better nose than other retrievers I've had but tends to hunt by sight. Easier to train than their reputation would suggest. Great family dog but not for small children. Protective of family and territory, will bark and bluff but not attack. Big, strong, scary looking dogs that are sweet as pie.

Brittany Spaniel, great upland pointer, great bird finder, mine pointed ducks along canals and ditches and was an enthusiastic retriever. Struggled with geese but always brought them in eventually. I didn't like her to retrieve in rivers but she never really had any trouble with them. Wonderful companion and house dog. Used to running and when sitting gets cold quickly in wet cold weather. Can be antsy and noisy in a blind, the have a great nose and seem to sense game a great distances. Easily trained. My only objection to Brits is that they have no tail.

English Setter, In my experience, Setters are generally excellent upland bird finders and bird handlers. Fast, thorough, great stamina, easy to train, great house dogs, companions and pets. They are generally only fair very reluctant retrievers. Mine pointed ducks and geese, and would retreive from land, small canals and some still water, but rarely were they consistent or enthusiastic. Today I hunt with two Setters and a Cheasapeake who is trained to stay by my side until a bird is down then find dead and retrieve to hand while the Setters move on to the next point. The Chessie brings em back dead or alive but always brings em back.

Never had any of the versatile breeds, but have hunted with Shorthairs, Wirehaired Pointers, Griffons, and Pudlepointer. I know that these comments will be hotly disputed by versatile dog fans, but remember this is based upon my limited exposure to these breeds. I've found these breeds to not be great at any one thing, (except for Shorthairs which may the best Chukar Dogs) but very good at just about everything and thus make great hunters for today's low bag limits and restricted habitat. Usually natural retrievers, easily trained to point, can stand a wide range of heat and cold, good in the water, rocks, desert and prairie, waterfowl, upland birds, and in some breeds, fur. In fact the only drawback I could find in the dogs I've seen is a strong curiosity about weasels, skunks, porcupines, badgers and other fur bearing critters. Don't know how they are as house dogs , pets, companions. No tails but they don't knock lamps off tables either........

Good luck finding the 'one'. Let us know what you decide..............

This is a fantastic post. What I particularly liked was how each dog was in the house. I am getting ready to add a second dog and am having a hard time deciding. My big thing is that first and foremost it will be a house dog and I want something that will be easy to live with as I have small children. My cocker is batsh!t crazy in the house and you need to run him into the ground for him to be tolerable and even then he doesn't settle well - always on the move. BUT, he is a fantastic hunter with great drive and I hunt him in tough conditions - from grouse and woodcock, to field hunting for geese and late season diver action on big water where he sometimes needs to break ice (and break ice he will!). He is not best suited for geese and cold water retrieving, but even so he does it well for his size. My absolute favourite game to hunt is upland but retrieving is important as I do hunt a lot of waterfowl due to it being more available. I kind of know that a lab is probably what I should be getting next and I'm 90% leaning that way, but I fear the upland hunting won't be as exciting. I keep reminding myself that the cocker is only 4 and has lots of prime hunting left but its still in my mind. I understand your tough decision!

polmaise · Post by **polmaise** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:57 pm

Over the years I have had Border Terrier,Jack Russel, Cocker, Collie,Vizsla, Springer ,Labrador ,Golden ,Greyhound and Whippet.
I never chose the breed to suit my situation ,the breed was conformed to my situation.
A cross breed of any of them would have had to do the same

IANative · Post by **IANative** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 5:47 pm

CDN_Cocker wrote:This is a fantastic post. What I particularly liked was how each dog was in the house. I am getting ready to add a second dog and am having a hard time deciding. My big thing is that first and foremost it will be a house dog and I want something that will be easy to live with as I have small children. My cocker is batsh!t crazy in the house and you need to run him into the ground for him to be tolerable and even then he doesn't settle well - always on the move. BUT, he is a fantastic hunter with great drive and I hunt him in tough conditions - from grouse and woodcock, to field hunting for geese and late season diver action on big water where he sometimes needs to break ice (and break ice he will!). He is not best suited for geese and cold water retrieving, but even so he does it well for his size. My absolute favourite game to hunt is upland but retrieving is important as I do hunt a lot of waterfowl due to it being more available. I kind of know that a lab is probably what I should be getting next and I'm 90% leaning that way, but I fear the upland hunting won't be as exciting. I keep reminding myself that the cocker is only 4 and has lots of prime hunting left but its still in my mind. I understand your tough decision!

All pups go thru batshit crazy stages when little. I'm living it right now w/ my BF pup, lol. My Boykin really hit his peak around 5-6 years. Sadly, he started to become arthritic at age 8 and his field stamina really fell off. Like you, my favorite is upland, thus my current foray into pointing dogs w/ little Gus.

CDN_Cocker · Post by **CDN_Cocker** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 6:00 pm

Yes I'm ok with that stage when young but when the dog is 4 or 5 years old and still wound up like a top it can wear on your nerves... or the wife's (which in turn wears on yours lol). I know all dogs are individuals but just as a whole spaniels tend to be busier than labs... just as terriers tend to be busier than just about everything. Hearing how some of the other breeds I've never owned are in the house is a point of interest for me.

Post by **Sharon** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 9:31 pm

I feel really badly that for 5 years you've had a wild dog in the house Nick. I know it isn't you,because you definitely know what you are doing.Should we bring up hyperkinesis ?

CDN_Cocker · Post by **CDN_Cocker** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 4:57 am

Sharon wrote:I feel really badly that for 5 years you've had a wild dog in the house Nick. I know it isn't you,because you definitely know what you are doing.Should we bring up hyperkinesis ?

Lol most definitely not. I just like to say he operates at a higher frequency lol

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