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Advice for my next dog ?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:43 pm
by SgtRick417
I would appreciate your comments and advice. I am going to retire in January and will have the freedom to enjoy a new dog.
My situation is that, in January thru March I will live in a small house in Central Florida and the remainder of the year in another small house in North Central Pennsylvania. The Florida house is not rural; the Pa house is in great hunting country. I expect that I will drive between these two locations.
It seems to me that my hunting companion needs to be fairly small to fit comfortably in the two small houses as well as comfortably in a mid-size sedan for the lengthy drive from Florida to Pennsylvania.
The hunting I hope to do will be grouse, perhaps wood cock, occasionally a pheasant or a rabbit.
I am open to hearing opinions of a breed of dog that will be a good fit. Please comment.

As a farm boy and as a young man I have had many beagles for hunting pals. So I am not new to having a dog in my life but all these beagles were given to me or I acquired them thru working for someone who gave a dog in exchange. I even acquired one little fellow thru a trade for a shotgun (but… that was way back when all the authorities did not need to know who was giving and receiving sporting guns.)

How does one go about finding a dog who has the right stuff to be both a hunting pal and a house pal?

Again, your comments will be appreciated.

Re: Advice for my next dog ?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:09 pm
by ezzy333
If you want a pointing dog I would look at the Brittany and if you want a flushing dog I would check out the English Cocker or the field bred Springer.

Ezzy

Re: Advice for my next dog ?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:16 pm
by 3Britts
I'll have to go with Ezzy on this one, minus the cocker. (I just don't like cockers much.) :)

Re: Advice for my next dog ?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:26 pm
by hpvizslas
I really like the vizsla breed. We have two that lived in a two bedroom apartment with us. The main thing is to make sure that the dog has plenty of excercise and they will do fine. We travel everywhere with ours. I have friends with most of the other pointing breeds and each has their own preference.

The reason that I would recommend the Vizsla to you, is that they will point and retreive both fur and feather. If you have any specific questions, let me know.

Jeff

Re: Advice for my next dog ?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:59 pm
by spaniel_man
Ezzy gave you solid advise. I would seriously consider a field bred cocker for your needs. I have hunted over one for the past 5 years, he is on the larger side as far as cockers go, about 35 lbs. and is very quiet in the house. In fact I can't recall hearing him bark for the first few months I owned him. He does a great job in the field on pheasants and rabbits if I allowed it. The only draw back I have found with the cocker is he gets tired quickly when we are going through the tall, thick stuff.

Re: Advice for my next dog ?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:51 pm
by Kyle Wintersteen
I think we're all pretty biased toward our favorite breeds (IMO go w/ a springer!), but whatever you decide, be sure to investigate the temperament of the parents before buying a pup. I'm stuck outside D.C. in a small apartment. My springer is 50 lbs. (big for his breed) but does well indoors. I think a big dog with the right demeanor handles city living better than a small dog that's high strung.

Out of curiosity, where do you hunt in central PA? I grew up in Danville and did a lot of hunting between classes at Penn State.

Re: Advice for my next dog ?

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:35 am
by Greg Jennings
Grouse with a flusher?

Would think that a pointing dog is in order.

After that, I think it's the individual dog, not the breed. Find a breeder that works for you (do your homework!) and have them get a dog with the temperment that you can live with.

Greg J.

Re: Advice for my next dog ?

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:16 pm
by BlueRiverSpringer
Well I would think that if you are hunting rabbits you would not want a pointing dog, they kinda have to track and chase em up don't they. I like the Cocker or ESS Idea .