Deer indicator pup

[SakoBavarian]

Hi guys,

Just new to this forum but spent a lot of time on another and have had pretty in depth discussions over a deer indicator dog now that its legal on most species in my state in Australia.

I wanted a GWP naturally as they have the hype in aus but it was a losing battle with the missus so I changed tact and went for the more "visually appealing" breeds. Narrowed it to Vizsla, GSP and French Brittany. In the end to sum up what I was told i think its more to do with the training over the breed so I decided on something that has traditionally not been considered a deer dog - I went the Brittany. At this stage my name is on the list for a pup later this year but I'm still open to the possibility of change although I'm pretty happy with the decision.



Just wondering if anyone has had experience with the Brittany's? particularly for deer? any advice regarding them or reasons to go against them?

I predominantly hunt red deer as well as a few fallow and Sambar. I'm going to be forking out $1500 for the pup so I want to make sure I'm on to something with potential.

I'm also willing to put as much work as it takes into the pup and realise it will be probably a couple of years before any real use comes from it.




Cheers,

SB

[Mountaineer]

I do all I can to have pointing dogs which avoid the worthless deer that are far too abundant hereabouts.
But, I would expect that most any dog could be trained to alert to deer or any trash game given time.
I would suggest you consider a pointing labrador retriever rather than a Brittany.

[RoostersMom]

I would look at a german bred (deutsch kurzar spelling?) GSP. They are a more versatile breed and have been bred to hunt fur and fowl. Britts are not a versatile breed that I know of. Vizslas some, but not like a GSP was originally bred. Mine will retrieve fur, but doesn't have the "kill instinct" like some GSP's I've seen. My older GSP that recently passed would chase raccoon, deer, cats, rabbit and all kinds of birds. A carefully selected GSP should give you the same thing that you wanted out of a DD or a GWP.

That would be my choice if I was looking to work the dog on deer.