Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Wanted : pheasant dog...

Please no "my... is the best dog ever..." tales.

Needs to hunt big fields close, often all day in 70 to 0 degree weather. Needs to hunt down , kill and retrieve clipped birds in 6 foot tall CRP. Have had (5) GWPs, almost perfect. Hunted E-pointers impressive... (if you can stand a dog that shivers 24/7 and may or may not retrieve). Britts... plucky little dogs that do OK except in the tall grass... GSPs some have been great...some duds. Have had two Springers, (family pets) one nearly scared a neighbor girl to death (rage?)... will not chance such a thing again.

Of course a point is the real deal, but, dog-gone-it I just hate to lose a bird. ('have upped the power level to Prairie Storm mags, with just a slight increase in kills)

Just taking the fun out of the hunt spending an hour, (plus) to try to find hit-hard birds that get away.

Never warmed up to labs. (Seem to suffer in the heat and a hundred pound slobber dog following me through the weeds has no appeal.)

Another complication is air travel to hunt... otherwise I would hunt with a pack of Retrieving Beagles. see Pointing Labs...just kidding.

A Pointing Lab that is white and possesses a "stay skinny gene" would be an answer.

The German superdogs I have had needed to work all the time or they got into trouble, when I am retired I can be a 365 day a year dog handler...until then...

Suggestions...

"Have had (5) GWPs, almost perfect". Sounds like you answered your own question. Don't know there is any perfect dog. Why would you want something different, if they have worked this well for you. Sounds like you have had enough dogs that you have figured this one out for your hunting needs anyway. Best of luck to you.

Sig

2 GWPs I owned got bored one day (my fault) and pulled all of the siding off a garage as high as they could reach. A male GWP I use to have, one day looseded a fence board and tried his best to pull the neighbor's St. Bernard through the gap by the nose...A female attempted to kill the pet Springer we had, Had one that non stopped barked from a half hour before until a half hour past sunset even after a voice box-ectomy. Great dogs, alot of trouble...

Can't beat a good springer for what you describe. I've only seen springer "rage" in dogs that are bred to show lines.

So almost perfect hunters not so much at home. The are genetically same as Drahts. Mine is young & busy most the time & me trying to keep up with him. Has to have something in his mouth all the time. My first one calmed down at about 2.5 years old. He is showning signs of being able to lay down in the evenings now. Laying on floor by side now.

I have only owned 2 dogs both Drahtaars. Been around G Shorthairs, labs, Britney, Vistula, several others, Drahts fit me & my hunting. I am breed blind first to admit it. Not a die hard wish I were a German though.

If you like the game drive of GWP / DD dogs but would like something a little more even tempered, you could try a Pudelpointer. They are one of the breeds used to develop the Deutsch Drahthaar They have an excellent work ethic without the (sometimes) hard head and mouth. They are good family members and work very very hard. I use mine in Saskatchewan, big country with climate and conditions you would find in Kansas as and Alaska. In NAVHDA and VHDF tests that our Saskatoon Gun dog club hosts, PP's have scored consistently well over the years.

I usually scoff at the more obscure breeds, but that pudelpointer of yours is one of the most handsome dogs I've ever seen. If it hunts as good as it looks it is definitely worthy of looking into.

catnblast
Could you please post a picture of your Pudelpointer. I thank you.
Cheers NC

Interesting while I understand the need to keep the GWP busy the ones I have known / hunted with have never had those issues. Is it possible they are from the breeder? I've seen some great ones & if they werent' so ugly would probably have one, will stick to Weims for now, but they just aren't as tough when it comes to the bitter cold.
There are a few GWP's owners that occasionaly have litters in & around Anch / valley area that I know of if you want a couple names.

I have a buddy in Iowa that just had his Drathaar bred. She was imported from Germany. He has raised them his whole life and usually produces good pups. Not cheap but impeccable breeding and good scores in the "tests" that they use to rate their dogs.
Can provide info if you are interested.

NC, I had posted a few pictures here, and also earlier in the same discussion.
www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/u..._What_kind_of_Mutt_do_you_ha#Post5875793
and one more, since we're talking pheasants...

One word of caution with Pudelpointers - the breed suffers from variable hair coats. I prefer a dense, harsh coat for hunting in the thick stuff and icy water. My old dog has an open coat. The young pup is better, but I quizzed the breeder at length this time around about what hair coat to expect. You can see in the photo above that Bear's knee joint and belly has most of the hair worn off from chasing those pheasants. I will have no such problem with the pup.

My nephew has had great luck with a Wirehaired Griffon in all types of cover.

catmblast
Thanks for the "pics" seeing all those geese and ducks brings back
memories of my days in Alberta.
Once again thanks and a Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Cheers NC

Sooo, you want a perfect dog that can hunt all day that doesn't need to be worked consistently.

Good luck.

Jog hits a nail, although there are breeds that do have a switch that turns off when they leave the field. Some of the European versatile breeds have an innate calmness, without losing drive in the field.

Look around. Small Muensterlanders, my breed, several others have that off switch, and also have very good reputation for work after the shot. HTH, Dutch.

By consistent work I meant conditioning. There isn't a dog alive that can hunt effectively all day without proper conditioning, and that means consistent work. The risk of injury from pushing a soft dog all day should result in having a guy's dog card revoked.

Agreed.

Just to be clear, I know you know.

I've by no means sampled most of the pointers/retrievers but am on my second GWP in ten years. It's true they are quite high energy dogs and can get bored and bark or get destructive. I've been pleased overall though nothings perfect and no dog does it all. Both have outstanding noses, have been biddable, and the first retrieved quite well but the second, just a year and a half, gets a mouth full of feathers and he's finished.

But the rock steady pointing and cold weather tolerance are big for me.