Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire adding poodle ruins the dog breed!!!

He is at lowes looking for improved Garden Hose hangers.
Had a inspiration for a new scope testing rig at the playground......

My post was more tongue in cheek than claiming heelers make better upland hunting dogs. The point is that "birdie" dogs are just that. Not debating you on the obvious merits of specificity in dog breeds (hunting or otherwise), but ultimately it comes down to individual dogs within the breed, most cases being who's kennel they came from and how they are trained/treated by their owners.

I didn't mean to come across as snotty but a herding dog that will sometimes retrieve a dead bird does not equate to being a good upland or waterfowl dog. Agree that dog's individual talents differ. There are always anomalies but as has been stated you can't beat good breeding and genetics.As as you mentioned early training and treating your hunting dog correctly is important too. I think that wire hairs are some of the few remaining breeds left have breeders that are very protective of good breeding and maintaining standards or at least I hope so. The same with puddle pointers which I think are a great bird dog breed too


cheers

My hunting buddy’s lab was a beast on planted birds. No pen raised pheasant was safe.

Turn him out at the release site and you’d have a limit in maybe 10 minutes. No shotgun needed! Fugker would bring them right back to ya.

Wild birds, you best be ready to run after him. 😳

Love my griff. Hate dealing with her coat. It’s a trade off.

No worries, you're a straight shooter and get to your point.
I couldn't agree more on the lack of good dogs/breeders left in the so called "hunting" and working arena. Many examples of screwed up breeds in relation to their historical physical/temperament for their intended use. My sister was gifted an Airedale almost 50 years ago that would make todays' "standard" blush with envy. Bruno was tough as nails, hard coat not like this soft fluffy hair you see now, and a hunting machine. Protective of the family when needed but trust worthy around kids and friends.

My yellow and brown labs were exactly like that. Non moving birds were finished with no need to use a shotgun shell. Wild birds… you better have your running shoes on.

There’s no doubt that all breeds of dogs can be capable of hunting. When I was a kid there was an acquaintance of my dad that had a German Shepherd that was hell on pheasants. Would flush and retrieve just like a lab. I have a friend that claims his Aussie will bird hunt with the best of them. And there’s no doubt she’s smart but my DD will hunt circles around her.

One of the main attractions to me with the DD is that you can’t just backyard breed any old pair of dogs with their junk intact. Like I said earlier there is a whole process you have to go through in order to be certified. You have the two breed tests known as the VJP and HZP. These test the dogs both natural and trained ability in tracking, pointing, retrieving, gun sensitivity, water work, use of nose, cooperation etc. They have to have their hips,shoulders and elbows x-rayed and certified similar to an OFA and CFA certification. They have to pass what’s called a “hardness” test which the dog has an encounter with a predator of at least 12 lbs is encountered (usually a coon is used). The dog doesn’t have to kill it but that’s what usually happens. They can’t back down. There are size requirements and color requirements. There’s a few more things involved but explaining it all will wear a guy out. Then when you get certified to breed, there’s a whole litany of things involved with your kennel and pups. Basically they make it very stringent to make the DD as a breed, held to a very high standard. This doesn’t mean all other dogs are useless, just that the likely hood of getting an above average hunting dog goes up exponentially. I’m sold on the system and I’ve seen it in action. This was the main reason for the break off of the GWP guys. It was too involved of a process to breed a dog that was never going to be used on rabbits or blood trail a deer.

Oh and yeah I may have only a few posts but I’ve been a lurker since the Eyeball days of the fire. 😁😁

what are the DD pups going for these days

Most are around $2,000 but some breeders are $2,500-3,000.

Yep. When I visit, I pet and love on them and they are happy for the attention. But I don't want to own one. I want a dog that is more hunter/predator than food for coyotes if it gets out on its own.

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Yep, broad strokes. As in an entire breed of dogs. You got me. I also hear APBT can be a bit bitey and beagles somewhat obsessive on a scent trail.

I am sure YOUR *-doodles are wonderful exceptions to my empirical observations. Send me their AP Calculus scores, maybe?

I currently live in suburbia and we are covered up in *-doodles. Can't swing a dead cat without hitting one. I walk & run and am relatively serious about it. Until there is a dog and dog-owner to pet & chat up (in THAT order). And several friends, some of whom have serious cash on hand and are not afraid to spend it, also own *-doodles. Without exception, all the *-doodles have been friendly and not-so-bright. I suspect the breeders must cull when they get an unfriendly *-doodle. Just in my range of walking & running, I have had contact with ~20 of them. Sure, not the sample size I would like were I to present a paper to my colleagues, but good enough for a rule of thumb.

And I do spend a god amount of time in the field upland hunting with my octogenarian dad. Have yet to see a *-doodle out there. Lots of spaniels & pointers and some labs, though.

Wally Conron, the guy credited with starting the *-doodle craze, had this to say about the *-doodle craze:

I am not nearly so down on hthe *-doodles and Wally, but OG Doodle Man may have a point.

Very possible if not likely that Bruno was a redline Airedale.

My first dog was a Poodle pit mix. That dog was smarter than most peoples kids and very protective. Great rabbit dog.

I wish I had a clue as to how some of my English Pointers and GSPs have run in a day. My son covered 18 miles by pedometer one day with short breaks as we drove ranch roads looking for the next covey of blue quail with her making 50 - 150 yard swings ahead of him until they got on birds, then busting it full speed through weeds, brush, mesquite after dead and hauling ass crippled runners and digging like a buzzsaw down 2 feet in varmint holes they like to dive in. I know it sounds crazy but I figure she had to be covering 100 - 150 miles in a long day with a little food about 2:00.

This was pretty tame low grass country.



This country is a lot tougher. Rough sand mougles wear one out just driving over it.

Great pics for sure. Beautiful

This. I much prefer having a shock collar to get ones attention when they get around brush cattle with calves, porcupines, javelina or when out several hundred yards and 4 or 5 coyotes decide to eat dog. It's no fun pulling 18 quills out of a dogs face or letting one tussle with a skunk or badger.

When younger I've seen her evidently smell a covey a long way off and disappear going over a ridge 700-800 yds away. Then it's a 15 minute agonizing wait while honking the truck horn. Its always dicey at night if your dog goes after a bobcat you called in and wounded and they dont get the message to come back or after a wounded coyote even in daylight.

I've had her head out 200 yards from me and cross heavily traveled oilfield roads with me hollering and wondering WTF only to have her come back with a live cripple someone else must have shot hunting the same BLM land earlier in the day.

poodapitty or a pittydoodle would be cool.

Hey, what do you know. Apparently, it's a thing.

I knew someone who had a cocker poodle cross that was pretty danged sharp. About 25 - 30 lbs.

I would have liked having one of those and taken it hunting birds and squirrels and Pecos River ducks.

Looks like my Frosty but he was crossed with a full sized poodle, bigger dog.

I got your standard poodle stud right here. He's a good boy. 1 year old and going deer hunting this fall.

The neighbor up the hill and down the road has a couple of these. St Bernard and Poodle cross. This is the peeled for summer coat but they get shaggy as bears come fall/winter.
This one is about 125 lbs and is a pretty good watchdog as is the other. Both are very kid/people friendly if they know you.
They respond well to the electric collar and perimeter fencing and dont run the Elk or deer that get inside the wire. The pair of them have harassed a bear or two that were after the chickens.
Great dogs imported from Canada they tell me.