Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Starting search for a dog

They do...

Take a good long hard look at Boykin Spaniels. That’s exactly what they are.

Got 2 great dogs from here. You need to be patient but the right one will pop up. I got a 9mo male from them that will track wounded game to the ends of the earth.

https://www.mdgsprescue.org/

It’s for some and not for others.

We have ten dogs of different breeds. Two are Beagles. I have owned many Beagles. Best dogs ever.

I’ve been an upland hunter for over fifty years and around or have owned GSP, GWP, Pudel pointers, English Pointers, Brit and Springer Spaniels, labs, and a bunch more.

The pointers are just high energy and mine had no “off buttons” and demanded significant time every day. Labs as you know are a little more relaxed as a group. My last GWP, smooth coat needed 6-8 miles a day at 10 mph just to take the edge off..minimum.

Some of the fashion breeds (Goldendoodle, labradoodles) are very nice handsome dogs with good dispositions and don’t shed. Another is the Schnoodle (pure bred Schnauzer and Poodle cross). These three come in small, medium and large though sometimes that’s a crap shoot when ordering a pup..

My daughter has a labradoodle they ordered as a “small” and it’s now fifty lbs, beautiful, intelligent, great with the kids, and I could tell it would be a heck of a hunter with some experience and training.

Dogs do add a lot to life.

We added this little 7-month old Schnoodle to our home this summer. About 12 lbs now. Will be about a twenty pound dog.

rings a lot of enjoyment.

My Brittany had an excellent temperament, was loyal and I could not have asked for a better dog. I used to bring him along on rabbit hunts and the dog handlers would comment about how he never "messed up the dogs". He even retrieved a number of rabbits that once shot, were lost in the honeysuckle vines.

@deflave

Would you mind?

My last dog was a beagle. I really loved that hound BUT she was very hard headed...really difficult to train, took years. She became sort of trainable after she dug under a fence, ran away, got hit by a car and ended up with a false hip. Vets will tell you that beagles are often hit by cars because they are so dominated by their nose. They will walk in front of a train if they are on to something that smells good. They will run off.

I would get a poodle. No shedding, athletic, very intelligent, easy to train, quiet. Find one from European hunting heritage if you want a hunting dog, if no big deal to you then get on from pet type breeder. Avoid a show dog breeder. Get one 25-45 pounds.

You can take your pick of any of the 3 in Bismarck ND. Oahe Kennels (Tom Ness), Absolute Gun Dogs (Dan Murray), Glencoe Kennels (Paul McGagh). All 3 specialize in Spaniels, Cockers and Springers. I'd not hesitate to nab an EC or Springer from any of them. The springers I've seen out of all 3 kennels all run on the small side, 40# and less has been my experience.

The EC's will hunt upland game in any cover you sent them into. My last 2 would also retrieve waterfowl, current dog hasn't had the opportunity yet. I'm not much of a waterfowler and though they'll do almost anything you command them to, I'd not ask an EC to jump into frigid water, they don't have the coat and none of mine have had enough fat on them for a regular diet of that.

My 3 have all been "house dogs" and as such don't develop a super-thick cold-weather coat. 0F ambient is about the limit for hunting for the 3 I've owned. I can't say I enjoy things much colder than that either.........

Catahoula.

For a good one, no it's not.

I have had 4 Brittanys great dog.I cut there hair about every 3 months real short no issues with shedding .Great temperament good with kids.

We've never bought a dog...or cat. Most just show up and refuse leave. The dumpsters down the road always have strays that some Ahole's threw out.

IIRC wildrose kennel has what he called canoe labs.
They avg 45 lbs .
I have two TT British labs. Ben is 58 , my pup Rip will probably go 75

The recommendation for a standard poodle is a good choice to . A good standard can be used for almost anything. Smart dogs.

If you think any of those are a good choice for your needs, you have a lot to learn about dogs.

Labradoodles are not dogs.

They are mutts assembled in some moron's backyard.

If you want a lab get a lab. If you want a full size poodle get a full size poodle.

Both make great bird dogs if purchased from a reputable breeder.

Labradoodles rank right up there with "silver labs."

AVOID.

Rescue a dog from a shelter.

That's a great pic.

You mean like most people?

There are actually many other breeds — could make a list because of inherited tendencies to medical problems and poor physical structure — about which that could be said other than the L- and G- doodles.

The many resulting breeds - some good, some not - are the result of genotype mixing to obtain favorable traits. Most of these ‘doodles are outright good-looking dogs with good personalities, smart, and can have the heritage to be good hunters. And they don’t shed.