Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Most low key versatile gun dog?

Triggernosis,

I return to suggesting a QUALITY Weimaraner or Vizsla that has been TRAINED by a real PRO & TESTED by a recognized/competent breed group in Europe..
(The Czech Republic has numerous breeders/trainers that does good work in breeding/training gundogs.)

Neither canine is GREAT at ANY "specialized task" but they do an ACCEPTABLE job of any number of gundog tasks. = Those breeds were INTENTIONALLY bred to be a GENERALIST.

Note: The failing of BOTH breeds is that they aren't suitable for waterfowling in Northern/frigid Winters.
(BOTH of "my girls" were VERY disinclined to retrieve geese/ducks when WI Winter arrived. = Dolly & Emily would DO what they were ordered to do but NOT at all happily.)

yours, tex

Thanks, tex. I can certainly do without retrieving ability in cold water as I'm almost 100% guaranteed not be be out in that mess anyway.
I'm liking the Visla, as it is smaller than the Weimerweiner.

Triggernosis,

A Vizsla does (generally) NOT have the "body mass"/brute strength to fight a wild boar (and win) OR to take out a determined housebreaker.

BOTH of my girls DID do both needful tasks. = Both of "the girls" have been gone for over a decade & I still miss them.

Emily may have looked like "a pussycat" & a "champion couch potato" but she was turned into a LEOPARDESS full-grown, when an armed criminal "came to visit" our farm late one Fall evening.
(The thug spent several hours in the ER getting places that LEAKED profusely sewed-up.)

My "Dolly-GRRL" was our version of the Fouke Monster & "would fight a circle saw & give it time to warm up."

Note: I was present the night that an AR State trooper KILLED the REAL Fouke Monster, which turned out to be (by DNA) a large severely-scarred/disfigured black bear.
(She was likely burned in a woods fire, according to the late biologist Dr. Victor Oliver. - Dr. Oliver stated in an interview with THE TEXARKANA GAZETTE that the she-bear started killing stock & attacking people because she was unable to take her normal prey & that he suspected that she was "in near constant pain" .)

yours, tex

I owned the best bird dog I ever saw. A little 45 lb shorthair I got as a pup out of an ad in a local ag paper. She amazed me every season and I bought here many a steak for her feats , but she was wound a little to tight to keep in the house with little kids. She loved them but knocked them over like bowling pins. I loved her and will always miss her. I have a 35 lb Brittany now and and for me is the best all around choice for a hunter and a family dog. Loves the water, good nose , intense hunter and great in the house. One of the smartest dogs I,ve seen.

BigPine,

You could do a lot worse than a GSP or a Brittany for a gundog.

yours, tex

American or French brittany

I've definitely been keeping my eye on them as candidates.

Another vote for Small Munsterlander. Have a GSP as well she is great. SM is mellow and sweet in the house but really comes alive in the field. Kinda a have to see to believe personality. Wouldn't trade either for the world but a SM would fit your needs better I do believe.

English cocker for me. They are wonderful if you train them well and simply don't allow them to be hyped up in the house.

Otherwise, a Small Munsterlander might be right up your alley. I've never seen one that was hyper anyway.

Have you ever read Smokey and the Fouke Monster?

Definitely wouldn’t put drahthaar/wirehair on the low key list,they’re a handful.

And I have 2 drahts within reach of me currently.

For upland game, an English Setter. Setters are known as the "ladies and gentlemen" of the dog world. Great pointer that can be taught to retrieve. Gentle mouth. Wonderful with children. They are affection sponges and give lots of affection in return. Fit into a family well. They can be a bit stubborn at times, though. They respond best to training that incorporates lots of praise and positive reinforcement and require lots of exercise. Reasonably intelligent and eager to please. Quite biddable.

They are definitely not water dogs.

Drahthaars are a handful and need to be worked hard and consistently. I'd not put them in the low key group either. Though I do love my 18 month old drahthaar dearly.

Wired haired pointing griffon

Upland, small game, waterfowl

Great all around versatile breed. Or a puddle pointer

Depending on one's definition of low key, I could probably include a pudelpointer. Hank is pretty darn good in the house. He's energetic, not so much it drives you bonkers, but he's most often always doing "something". Whether that's checking out the yard through the glass door and window to windoq, chewing on a bone, nuzzling you for ear scratches. All in all, I think the breed fits well for us. My wife may not agree totally as he does shed a bit more than we expected, yet less than any other dog we've had.

Versatile = Griff

Same dog different situations. Hasbeen

They both look nice!!! I had pointers for years. I don’t take the American Field anymore. Has a setter won the National championship? There was a big bonus posted for a setter to win. I quit quail hunting in 2004. Pointers won most everything in all age since the forties. I always liked the Christmas issue.

I owned at least 40 pointers through the years. Lots of run to them. Most were hard mouthed, hard headed, hard to break, and they killed lots of skunks. I had one that would find any cripple bird, she would retrieve ducks out of the water. If you hunted her by herself she would point birds, but if you had her down with another dog, all she would do is hunt the other dog and back the other dog. I never owned a dog that didn’t have a fault of some kind.

I miss quail hunting but don’t miss taking care of 8 to 10 dogs. I got lazy!

I'm partial to German Shorthair Pointers. They retrieve for dove, duck, and point quail/pheasant, etc. I raised, trained, and hunted with GSPs when I ran my guiding business. They work for you where English pointers seemed to hunt more for themselves. My partner hunted strictly with English Pointers. I never lost a shorthair whereas he had at least one dog run off every year.

Good hunting whatever you choose.

I never lost one of my pointers, but I spent time looking for one once in a while.