Need a little advice

[Thunderfan]

New to the forum and looking to get a little advise. I am going to be getting a 4 legged hunting partner. I have looked at a few places and narrowed it down to a few possibilities. The breed I am leaning to is a gsp seems like they are a great all around breed. Our new dog will be a part of our family and be an inside/outside dog. One of the questions I have is the best age to get them. Is it better to get them as a puppy and then take them to the trainer when they are old enough or get a trained dog that is a little older? I always had the opinion that you should get a puppy when they are ready so they bond with you early but we adopted a mini schnauzer that was 2 or 3 and you can't tell he wasn't with us from the beginning so my theory changed a bit. Housebreaking is an important part obviously so will a dog that grew up at the trainers be hard to get adjusted to house life?
Thanks for any help and sorry for being long winded.

[RoostersMom]

If you can put up with the puppy teething, peeing in the house, and general disarray - then by all means, get one. If you prefer a dog that is through all of that and just ready to go hunting, then go that route. I've had many fosters in my home that bonded just fine with us (and two we've kept that we hunt with a lot - you couldn't tell the "degree of bonding" any different between them and the ones we got as 8wk - 10 wk old puppies).

Best advice I would give you is to decide EXACTLY what you want the dog for (hunt tests, field trials, hunting, etc.) and find a breeder that produces that kind of puppy. If you are going to join a local club (NAVHDA or similar) then join that club before you decide on a litter. Those guys may just have exactly the dog you're looking for. There are always nice GSP's for sale (or free) that are started on this site and others. We recently found a great home for a 18 month old GSP that is very happy in a new hunting home. I work with a lot of rescues and there are a lot of dogs turned in lately because of the economy, divorce, or moving - not because the dog won't hunt or has aberrant behavior.

[Thunderfan]

Thanks for the reply. I guess I should have put in what my intentions are. I don't have any plans on doing any competing. I am really just wanting a dog to be a good hunter and companion. One of the places I looked is muddy Creek kennels. From what I understand he focuses on training hunters more than dogs for competition. He would be one I wouldn't get until later.

[whoadog]

t advice I would give you is to decide EXACTLY what you want the dog for (hunt tests, field trials, hunting, etc.) and find a breeder that produces that kind of puppy.

Great advice! I wish I had started with labs 30 years ago instead of pointing dogs. The waterfowl hunting in my neck of the woods is good to exceptional every year and I hunt pheasants now far more than any other type of upland bird. The best pheasant dog I've had so far has been a lab.

Your dollars, IMO, are best spent by getting a dog that has already been started. Puppies are fun and there is no better feeling than watching a dog you have trained put it all together and produce a bird for you. But, if this is your first dog, you can avoid a number of self-created problems by purchasing one that is far enough along that you can see what you are going to get. As far as cost goes, your upfront money will be necessarily higher. However, if you make certain the dog is up to date on shots, the final price is usually fairly close to the same when you figure in vet bills and a year or so worth of feed, especially this time of year when you might be able to swing a great deal on a good dog. I know I would take less than I am asking for some dogs I have to avoid carrying them this summer. Bonding with a well socialized older dog is usually no big deal. I just sold an 18 month old Brit to a family on Saturday and they say he is already responding like he has known them all his life.

Good luck no matter what you decide. Hunting for me has become so much more about the dog than harvesting birds. I can go all day long without shooting anything as long as my dogs are working well and producing for people around me. It is almost like watching one of your children succeed!