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Preparing for new dog

Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 11:04 am
by hunterw/newhobby
Hello all,

After a few years without a birddog I'm in the early steps of planning to get my next birddog. In the past I have had a brittany and then I had a GSP. I'm definitely a pointing dog guy. I am leaning toward a vizsla or a wirehaired griff. After the small amount of research I have done I think my teacher budget isn't going to be able to swing the griff, they seem pretty proud of them. My question is can I find a nice, not superstar, bred vizsla for a foot hunter pup with a $500 max. Not really interested in field trials, will do a few here and there, but more concerned with a family dog that hunts. If anyone knows of a breeding that might be fitting the bill or a breeder referral that's nice too. Looking at MAYBE getting a pup this summer. Thanks for your advice/ info.
Ross

Re: Preparing for new dog

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2016 10:52 am
by Timewise65
I have been down the road you are now going, although I have been a retriever guy most of my life. I get my dogs primarily to hunt with and I do run them in hunt tests, not field trials. Hunt tests help me test my training, I learn more talking with trainers and breeders that are also at the hunt tests. They will tell you what they see your dog do well or not so well and usually will tell you how to train through it.

The reason I share all of this with you is to pass something a trainer told me years ago about buying a field dog to hunt with. He said if you look at the total cost of a dog over their lifetime (food, meds, training, boarding, equipment, etc.), the initial cost is one of the smallest costs of all, but can have the biggest impact on the performance of the dog and the overall health of the dog. So from then on I bought the best dog I could find, even if I had to struggle with the initial cost.

Now, it does not mean that you could not go to a dog pond and find a great dog, or find a local breeder that is priced great and has great dogs, it does happen. But, getting the best dog with a strong pedigree including health family background, and performance family backgrounds, then your odds of having a great hunting dog that lives a full healthy life is much improved.

I had one male retriever that was bought competitively, he was a behavior problem from the get go, but I was not experienced enough to recognize it. And to top it all off, he died of cancer at 5...from then on I have looked for great dogs from great breeders, and they have all been very special dogs!

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck!

Re: Preparing for new dog

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 12:35 pm
by DeLo727
Seems like you're bouncing about with the breeds a bit. Have you attended a bunch of events? NAVDHA seems to be the best for experiencing a wide variety of breeds. But I'm sure there are some AKC UKC events as well near you.

Re: Preparing for new dog

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 1:26 pm
by DonF
Timewise65 wrote:I have been down the road you are now going, although I have been a retriever guy most of my life. I get my dogs primarily to hunt with and I do run them in hunt tests, not field trials. Hunt tests help me test my training, I learn more talking with trainers and breeders that are also at the hunt tests. They will tell you what they see your dog do well or not so well and usually will tell you how to train through it.

The reason I share all of this with you is to pass something a trainer told me years ago about buying a field dog to hunt with. He said if you look at the total cost of a dog over their lifetime (food, meds, training, boarding, equipment, etc.), the initial cost is one of the smallest costs of all, but can have the biggest impact on the performance of the dog and the overall health of the dog. So from then on I bought the best dog I could find, even if I had to struggle with the initial cost.

Now, it does not mean that you could not go to a dog pond and find a great dog, or find a local breeder that is priced great and has great dogs, it does happen. But, getting the best dog with a strong pedigree including health family background, and performance family backgrounds, then your odds of having a great hunting dog that lives a full healthy life is much improved.

I had one male retriever that was bought competitively, he was a behavior problem from the get go, but I was not experienced enough to recognize it. And to top it all off, he died of cancer at 5...from then on I have looked for great dogs from great breeders, and they have all been very special dogs!

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck!
Buy the best you can find. Just what does that mean? Every dog throws culls now and then and at eight weeks you have little chance of spotting it. A great many people judge quality by price. Well all those great champion's in the pedigree have also thrown culls. Price can be deceptive.