Gun Dog Forum

First, Hello to all on the forum.

I need some help deciding which breed of dog would best suit my needs. In order of importance for me would be a good family dog, then a good waterfowl dog, and finally one who has upland dog hunting skills. This would also be my very first dog and I can not express how important it is for this dog to be great with children due to plans of starting a family soon. From my research I have reduced the list to couple different breeds. I plan on spending at least 1 hour every night training it at a minimum.

1) English Pointer.
2) German Shorthair Pointer.
3) Vizsla.
4) English Springer Spaniel.

Any help would be great,

Thanks in advance.

I would say that a GSP would do the best job of fitting the traits that you are looking for.

Walnut Hill Kennels has a line of some very nice GSP's that have the versatility you are looking for.

There are A LOT of people on this forum that have dogs from them, and I am sure that any of them can give you a great reference.

Doug

Where do you live? That will make an impact on some of the suggestions you get.

MillerClemsonHD wrote:Where do you live? That will make an impact on some of the suggestions you get.

That's what I was going to ask. If this person lives in a colder climate they may want a dog with more coat for water work.

Thanks so far for the responses. I live in Southern Ontario, Canada. About 130 miles from Detroit, MI.

You will definitely want a dog with coat. A vizsla probably wont' do well nor will a pointer in such cold weather.

What about a German Longhair Pointer or a Munsterlander? Or a Pointing Lab?

Since waterfowl is more important than upland, I'd go for a lab. If they were reversed, well, that's a different answer .

If upland was more important Greg, what would be your choice?

I think you need two dogs lol

if its your first dog, and its will be doing as much time as a family dog, and it will be asked to go in cold water but do upland, you don't have many choices in a cold climate, but a Spinone might work

http://www.gundogmag.com/gundog_breeds/ ... index.html

A Lab or a Chessie should be your first choice if you are wanting a waterfowl retreiver that will hunt upland. The next choice might be a GWP and then you could go with any of the heavier coated dogs that are available. Minus the water work then I would look at the Heavier coated pointing breeds such as the ones mentioned plus the Brit which is an excellent pet and upland dog. Look around and see whats available in your area and what other people are using. Good luck and welcome to the board.

Ezzy

CherrystoneWeims wrote:You will definitely want a dog with coat. A vizsla probably wont' do well nor will a pointer in such cold weather.

What about a German Longhair Pointer or a Munsterlander? Or a Pointing Lab?

I think you Americans think we live close to the Arctic Circle. I traded in my igloo long ago.
I live in South Western Ontario ( Region 13 American Field) and there are ALL KINDS of folks with Vizslas /Setters / Pointers etc. Most are kenneled outside. Occasionally it gets below -15 degrees Celsius but only very occasionally.Snow has been light over the past couple years. The blizzards of the 70's are long gone.

I would say though that if you plan to do late season waterfowl hunting, you'll want a more substantive dog like one mentioned above.

chessies are great, i see them in NJ in the winter in the bays and marshes and they seem to enjoy frigid water, it just rolls off them...they seem to be more protective than Labs though.

the other thing you have to think about is availability of the rarer breeds

ezzy brings up a good point, and there was another thread a couple days about a first gun dog and no one suggested a Brittany, they are quite popular in the northeast where the weather is not much different than southern canada. i see great hunting Britts all the time doing double-duty at soccer games and horse shows.

I know it was not one of your options but for a pointing breed I would suggest a German Wirehaired Pointer, now if your wanting a a flushing breed for waterfowl and upland then I would say Lab, Chessie, Golden Retriever, or a Boykin Spaniel....Whatever your looking for remember if your going to ask this dog to be a working/companion dog, then I would reccomend finding a breeder who actually hunts there dogs for the purposes you are going to do as well.


Good Luck,

Chip

Sharon wrote:

CherrystoneWeims wrote:You will definitely want a dog with coat. A vizsla probably wont' do well nor will a pointer in such cold weather.

What about a German Longhair Pointer or a Munsterlander? Or a Pointing Lab?

I think you Americans think we live close to the Arctic Circle. I traded in my igloo long ago.
I live in South Western Ontario ( Region 13 American Field) and there are ALL KINDS of folks with Vizslas /Setters / Pointers etc. Most are kenneled outside. Occasionally it gets below -15 degrees Celsius but only very occasionally.Snow has been light over the past couple years. The blizzards of the 70's are long gone.

I would say though that if you plan to do late season waterfowl hunting, you'll want a more substantive dog like one mentioned above.

LOL Compared to where I live you are close to the Arctic circle! I crossed the Sub-Arctic line when I went to MI this past summer

I was thinking of the later season waterfowl hunting.

You might as well throw in the Wirehaired Vizsla to your consideration, too. Since most other breeds have been mentioned.
We enjoy our smooth vizslas a great deal and think it is a great breed but I am in the process of getting a Wirehaired Vizsla, because we are in a little cooler climate now and I want to see how they compare to the smooth. We have also considered adding a pointer to the mix in the next couple of years; however, I don't think the pointer would be what you want for water work.

The main thing is to look at a breed that your family and will enjoy. You will learn that there are a lot of favorite breeds out there and when one gets that breed, they can become a little bias. There are some gun dog breeds that I cannot understand why anyone would want that breed and why anyone would call them a hunting dog. You will find the next person thinks the world of the breed and would never even hunt behind anything else. Kind of like brands of cars/trucks.

You will have to make the personal decision of what you like. You might try asking what are the pros/cons of a certian breed and that will help you get some other responses.

Good luck
Jeff

CherrystoneWeims wrote:

Sharon wrote:

CherrystoneWeims wrote:You will definitely want a dog with coat. A vizsla probably wont' do well nor will a pointer in such cold weather.

What about a German Longhair Pointer or a Munsterlander? Or a Pointing Lab?

I think you Americans think we live close to the Arctic Circle. I traded in my igloo long ago.
I live in South Western Ontario ( Region 13 American Field) and there are ALL KINDS of folks with Vizslas /Setters / Pointers etc. Most are kenneled outside. Occasionally it gets below -15 degrees Celsius but only very occasionally.Snow has been light over the past couple years. The blizzards of the 70's are long gone.

I would say though that if you plan to do late season waterfowl hunting, you'll want a more substantive dog like one mentioned above.

LOL Compared to where I live you are close to the Arctic circle! I crossed the Sub-Arctic line when I went to MI this past summer

I was thinking of the later season waterfowl hunting.

ROFLMBO

Sharon wrote:ROFLMBO

Thanks for not circumventing the offensive word filter.

this is a great post on this subject:


Wilber wrote:
I went through this same process a year ago. For me it came down to livability. You can only hunt 4 or 5 months a year and only once or twice a week if you're really motivated (and it's not far away). The rest of the time you've got a dog under foot in the house. A friend has a GWP that is a machine in the field and unfortunately at home too. I couldn't live with a dog so high strung.

So I focused my search on birds dogs that could also be family dogs (house dogs). This pretty much meant staying away from field trial lines. Every breed has them. I looked at GSP's, GWP's, WPG's, Gordon and English setters, and Pudelpointers. Frankly for what I wanted (grouse and pheasant with occasional ducks) the Pudelpointers sounded best, but I couldn't find a litter on the ground. I finally settled on Ryman line English setters. They were represented as calm in the house, active in the field though closer working that GSP's etc., and beautiful to watch. I can confirm that the pup I wound up with is all of these things and a natural retriever to boot.

You may prefer the look of sleek pointers or the wilder look of GWP's and Pudelpointers, but if you're going to live indoors with the dog find a breeder producing dogs for the home, not for a field trial.

Good luck. And whatever you wind up with, you and your kids will love it regardless.

Wilber

Sharon wrote:Occasionally it gets below -15 degrees Celsius but only very occasionally.

What the heck is Celsius? We go by Fahrenheit here in the States. LOL

9/5 C +32 = F ( just for you Tommyboy )

Best water dog I ever owned was an English Springer. My buddy's labs wouldn't go in the water until my Springer would. I always got a kick out of that one. Springers are great with children, have a coat that will keep the cold out, and give you what you want when hunting upland.

if you are primairily a waterfowler and want a good dog with kids that will hunt the uplands well you want a lab, nothing else will come close if those are your order of priorities....of that I am certain


and I am a gsp guy

can a nova scotia duck tolling retriever hunt upland?

I had to use a fahrenheit to celsius calculator to figure out what -15C really was.