Gun Dog Forum

My buddy and I are getting pups out of the same litter of GSPs. Both are livers. He has always had ticked dogs and never a liver. I have had both, and am partial to liver only because my favourite shorthair was a liver. His comment was that he sees very few livers doing well in FTs, and thinks they are somehow genetically inferior. I said no, it is only a function of # of dogs on the ground, similar to black and yellow labs.

I know this is a chicken and egg type question, but any thoughts?

Two of the best shorthairs I have had the priviledge to watch work a hunting field and compete in trials were solid liver dogs.

sns2
It is true that not many solid dogs run in field trials and very few win. There are several reasons for this.
Trialers like lighter color dogs because of their visiibility. In the trials that require big running dogs, there will be more white GSPs. Many of the white GSPs have a good shot of pointer in there bloodlines. There are also many more light colored trial bred GSPs.
Tradition also has alot to do with it. Your solid dog wil haveto turn in a great performance just to get a look from a good number of judges.
There are a good number of solid GSP field champions most are gundogs. Very Few all AA. maybe none.
Their are many very good solid GSP family hunting dogs out there. I have owned several.
As far as a personal family/hunting dog goes a FC dog in the pedigree has very little value toward what most people want. Except the the cost of a puppy is less........CJ

Had a litter sired by solid liver FC Ammertal's Boss Ranger back in 80's - great bird dogs and certainly competitive! Related is solid liver Ammertal's Lancer D - both he and dam Ammertal's Kitt von Shinback are NGSPA Hall of Fame dogs:
https://ngspa.org/inducteesdogs/ammertals-lancer-d/

Both those dogs were in my favorite shorthair's pedigree. That was back in the 80s though. Been away for a while

Color makes no difference in how a dog works. A difference in pedigree might make a difference in how a dog works, but you are talking about pups from the same litter.

My suggestion is to train the heck out of your dog and then show your buddy up in the field.

The dog can be pink or Tartan for me , as long as it does the job it is trained to do. The color has no relevance to performance, although achievements in any competitiveness can and has had restrictive progress based on the vision of those deciding any awards.

I don't care for solid liver dog's but they sure are easier to see in the snow. Don't care for heavy ticked dog's either, all that ticking is great camo in the woods and sage brush. Like lots of white but sure can be hard to find in the snow! Color has absolutely nothing to do with performance! What makes a better cook, a pretty woman or an ugly one?

It is a differnt breed(sort of according to some!!), but I believe the sentiment is relevant here.

A good pointer cannot be a bad color."

I'd say the the same thing holds for shorthairs, as I have seen some dandy ones that were very different coloration.

RayG

I've had dogs of all the popular colors. I must say the two best gun dogs I ever had were solid Black GSP's One was a male the other a female.

Ya got two Chevy Camoro's. Same engine, trans and read ends in both. One is white and one is black, which one is faster?

DonF wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:13 pm

Ya got two Chevy Camoro's. Same engine, trans and read ends in both. One is white and one is black, which one is faster?

Don--
The one that has gas in the tank

Same arguments are made about Kentucky Derby horses.

Color doesn't matter.