ezzy333 wrote:RyanDoolittle wrote:Urban_Redneck wrote:The ideal point for most continental dogs is tail, back, and head, in a straight line. The OP said his dog was from German lines, his point sounds perfect.
The ideal point is whatever suits the owners fancy. A dog like that appeals to you, I would out it up for sale pretty quick.
I would have a hard time putting a dog that finds and points birds up for sale because the angle of the tail was wrong. If that was the case I would sell the 12 o'clock tails and go for the 10 o'clock tail with the forward sweep like you see on most setters. I have always found it more advantageous for me to concentrate on the other end of the dog when deciding which one to keep.
Ezzy
With the selection of dogs now a days why would you feed one that didnt suit your fancy.
Developing a good wild bird dog is easy in my parts, we have the wild bird populations to develop young dogs. So why waste time with a dog that doesnt have the style we enjoy.
Your right the tail isnt what finds birds, but if you have a great dog to start with its time to pick what you really like in a dog.
For me its a big running dog that is fast, doesnt slow down, doesnt potter, runs with a high head, high cracking tail, and on point he stands tall, holds his head high and has a straight up tail. Shorthairs I dont mind a little lower and setters I dont mind a slight curve forward. Heck I even go as far as preferring a white dog over a dark one, though I dont worry as much about that as I do with the aspects of the dog listed above.
FYI I have owned dogs with high tails, straight tails, and low tails.