Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Discussion of Bird Dog Breeds

Hahahahah, while posting that last entry, my Sheepdog was mauling one of the kids tennis shoes.....whadda ya gonna do?
Don

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon...wonderful family dog and amazing versatile hunter.

it'd be cool to hear of your experience... this is a breed that i've always craved owning....

friends who own brits, setters, and pointers often pick at some other breeds about being ground hounds, or ground scenting... to them, if a dog isn't moving at full speed, with his head up in the wind, there's a problem...

and they believe, with some justification, that the dog that covers the most ground will find the most birds...
such dogs often miss birds, though... i was just going out at mid-day on a piece of family ground when i had the yellow pointing lab.
as i got there 2 guys were leaving who had just hunted it with a pair of english setters... they informed me, matter of factly, that the ground had been hunted, and that i would do better to move on and hunt somewhere else...
i was still uncasing my shotgun when pete went on point... i walked over and busted a rooster while they watched....

i can appreciate style in a bird dog... but not enough for him to race past close birds that are easy pick ups for a more thorough dog...
the buddy mentioned above who has the brits is among the most adamant... he has no time, or patience to hunt over a lab...
but he'll fuss with 2 electronic collars and bust his ass to keep track of his brits... and come home mad even with a limit of roosters...

despite that, there's at least a fair chance that i'll wind up with a brit... they are everywhere, and it seems that they are more of a buyers market then with breeds like the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon... hate to be low rent sometimes, and i'm a bit old to be saddled with a dog that i'm not happy with, but i have seen some good brits, both hunting wise, and around the house...
they started out as a peasants dog... could be that's the way their mojo runs....

Brits make good bird dogs and off-season buddy dogs....course I'm prejudiced...my only and only bird dog was a Brit....

pics of him, ingwe??? love to see them...

was he a close worker or a lined out runner? i've seen a very few brits that hunted like i'd like them to... that is quartering out to around 75-100 yds, and closer if the cover is tight...

field trialling, imo has hurt the breed by concentrating on the big running typr that can compete in their game...
at the other end of the spectrum there's a few who are not much more than boot wipers in the field. if they quarter at all, it's just from one boot to the other...

i hear talk of the french bred imports being a better foot shooting dog, but there goes any aspiration to remain a low-rent guy, if you buy one...

Good hunters tend to throw good hunters. Doesn't mean you have to pay large amounts of cash, although that can be a safer bet.

Two hunters that have proven dogs can couple them up and the resulting pups can be a steal at a bargain price.

That being said, just taking the first xyz breed that is offered can lead to disappointing results.

Knowing your stock, regardless of price, is where one should be looking.

I will take a well-bred GSP over about anything, & the right ones are far from hyper. My first 2 were so off the wall hyper-run to hear the wind whistle- I almost didn't get another GSP, but I researched long & hard, got my foundation boy Buck & never looked back.
They hold up all day in the field in warm temps were Labs & Chessies won't, cover ground to suit the terrain (at least mine do.) I guide with mine and they will hunt plenty close when I want them to -cant have them a mile out guiding, yet they do well in field trials as well.
We waterfowl hunt them & they do as well as any retrieving breed as well.
These are my youngsters(the oldster is in there too) at my shop, they have the run of it, I could never have 5 high strung dogs of any breed running about all day while I am trying to groom, let alone jumping all over clients as they come in.


Snap and Nitro, the 1 YO's in a crate, door is always left open, they go in it by choice.

If I couldn't have a GSP, I would have a good field English Setter or possibly a Viszla.

johnw this one worked according to the cover, tight in thick stuff, wide open in the wide open!
She was a good gun dog, by no means great, but I didnt know how to train then, she didnt come from hard core lines, but I lost only one bird in the 11 years we hunted together....



And her with a bud on another grouse hunt....





Yeah...we can shoot grouse with a rifle here....

GSP's are fine all around upland game dogs. But to say they can retrieve as good as a lab or chessie is just silly. But then again if you are only shooting puddlers sure they will get the job done fine. Where you will see the difference is in Big water and cold water. I would love to see a GSP hunt in nasty Boston Harbor or Southeast Alaska weather all day for sea ducks. Matter of fact I have seen some lab's decide to call it quits in that stuff.

As to the pointer's that hunt with a low head. If you don't mind it I guess there really isn't an issue with it. To me it is just not the way a pointer should hunt. High heads to me is were it is at in Pointers.

There aren't to many hunting breeds I don't like and see some sorta value to. Everyone has their favorites for whatever reason. My favorites are in no special order.

French Brittany's
English Pointer's
Chessie's
Springers
Cocker's

Never said they could handle bitter temps as well, but they can certainly handle big water & cold. I know several people who hunt waterfowl with them in the Boston Harbor & they hand tuff with the Labs.

I have yet to see a GSP out there in Boston Harbor not saying their haven't been any. I did see a guy try to bring one out in Casco Bay in Maine. The dog never touched the water. Owner claims that he has used him many times before and never had this happen. All I know is that dog didn't touch the water or a duck that day. Like I said GSP's are a great all around bird dog, but they are not going to beat a retriever at its game.

By the way like I said GSP's will get the job done as far as puddlers. All I see in that picture is puddlers and geese. Oh and a retriever!

Shame you never have been able to see a true versatile GSP in action, but I can gaurantee they hold their own! I live on Lake Erie and my dogs have NO issue with big water. I run with some retriever guys (Lab & Chessie) and can give you several references to contact, Bob Reckart of Amberwood kennels in OH is one, he has finished many FT champion Labs. I am not very into waterfowl/duck hunting myself, only some goose and upland, but work on Lake Erie training, I breed versatiles so prove my guys muster in the retrieving world as well as upland & know of several breeders who do the same.
This is an 11 mnth old pup in action, if he would cross 80 plus yds of water do you really think larger water will stop him?? LOL!! I will tape mine at the lake this week. Best I can do is bumper tho, nuttin in season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8g78WqCt1s&feature=related

the shorthair is there... ya gotta look...

Thanks John, I missed what he said.....that is Josh on the far right, the sire of my puppy in the above video. This is onviously a cold weather hunt.Josh is a Versatile Champion in NAVHDA, of which one thing required is up to a 30 minute duck search w/o handling. Google NAVHDA Utility and the Invitational, it is very stringent testing.

i have friends who run their dogs in navhda tests... and i've watched a couple of them run... i hunt over them as well, and have seen a couple of the dogs used very successfully for water work...

the best shorthair i've ever seen lived and died before navhda came to be...
she had the heart for anything, and was good on ducks and geese... but she was not built for, or coated for heavy, cold duty water work... i have no doubt that she would have killed herself trying if my buddy asked it of her... but when the water got vertical, he got the boat out to pick his ducks up...

he'll be 80 in a couple of months... his last shorthair died a couple of years back... he doesn't think he has the energy to raise another dog, although he still hunts extensively...

beautiful brit, ingwe...

why was she the last???

have a GSP i bought off a member here for $100 plus my gas to run down and pick him up in SD......great dog, definitely a family dog, he is hyper when not properly exercised but if my wifes dachshund was 55 pound she would be more trouble than he is....he loves the family, loves hanging out with the family chewing a bone or sleeping at our feet in the living room....

he and my wifes 3 pound mini dachshund are best friends, infact had to switch vets cause he got labeled as aggressive cause he was in the same room when the dachshund got a shot and yipped and he decided no one was gonna hurt his lil buddy and held a grudge on all future trips to the same office...the two dogs no longer go to the vet on the same trip and a new vet and there has been no further issues....

other than that he is a happy go lucky goofball that i couldnt imagine keeping outside ina kennel, he is most definitely a family dog....

I saw the GSP. The reference was to the ducks and the retriever was added to say that we see not just the GSP but a Retriever! Sorry it went over your head.

The GSP owners do not own the retriever also and I guarantee the GSP holds his own with the Lab. I have had a Lab breeder and a Chessie breeder joke if I have bred either into my GSPS, in fact the judge this weekend at the water test asked the same and he is a GWP guy.
If you are ever in PA be sure to look me up, be glad to show you some versatiles & BTW, my guys will even break ice to retrieve game off water & continue hunting, they aren't wussy dogs. <grin>