Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Post a pic of that great one

My pup doing her thing.

Here's one from last weekend with my GSP Mojo..........incredible nose, guides plead with me to buy him.

Here's my GSP "Shooter" and the neighbors GSP "Duchess" both about a year and half old. While he isn't my 'great one', I don't have pics of the half shorthair, half Irish Setter I had as a kid. No training and that dog would embarass any pedigreed retriever when it came to hunting dead and wounded birds.


Shooter's story is my gf heard a woman in a neighboring town had some good shorthairs to get rid of. She drives over, the woman offers her 20 bucks to take them. Turns out the womans hubby had cheated on her, she kicked him out and told him to take his dogs. He hadn't yet, but had sold a few for several hundred bucks. She showed my girlfriend pics of the dogs hunting all over the country, supposedly some high powered award winning dogs. She wanted them gone just to spite him.

Shooter has turned out to be great so far, lots of pointing on wild pheasants this past year, wild quail, and now we're wrapping up the season on pay as you go places with pen raised birds just to get some more experience. Done some pretty respectable retrieving as well.

Shooter is the lighter colored one, Duchess is the darker one, she's a good dog as well, even if not mine.

Pointing lab goes fishing............

Is it possible to be notified when a reply has been made to a post I've made? I don't want you guys to think I'm ignoring posts but I don't get a chance all the time to check in...

And thanks to luv2safari,elkjager and yourself for the kind words WRT my FB "Buster". He is a stud dog yet to be bred locally because the other FB owners have not had their bitches OFAd and I will not jeopardize the breed just for the money I could get. If their dog has the wrong height or doesn't have the hunting drive I want to see or anything else that's wrong, it's a no go. I'm not alone here with many FB breeders but there are enough out there (just uneducated) to cause a problem.

Are FB similar to Brittanys?

For the most part less and less anymore as the FB's size is diligently adhered to by the pro breeders and a few back yard breeders. There are a few similarities to the Brittany still however. Officially the two breeds are suppose to be the same height. The biggest different is in the conformation now.

And the hunting drive aspect doesn't win field trials. A FB typically will get out like the Brittany but the FB wants you to be with him more often as not. A FB has ideally to have a 'cobby' look, i.e., they are suppose to be pretty square. Most Brittanys are longer than they are tall by a big margin. The FB is ideally much closer to being square and that's what gives them the cobby run style.

With many FB backyard breeders it is too often another story and a guy really has to check out a back yard breeder. 'Buster' came from the latter but this man (Von Lilly, Southwest French Brittany kennel name) is just the epitomy of quality. He surpases a few of 'pros' IMO. I've previously owned 4 FB that were NG for one reason or another and I gave them away neutered. I got bamboozeled by some fast talking unethical types in the Southeast.

There is a great more deal of attention payed by ethical breeders to the total dog with FB as compared to 'regular' American Britts or just Brittanys as they are supposed to be called today. I see this difference in the Brittany bacause of clandestine cross breeding (to make a more competitive Brittany to win trials and satisfy the human ego)....we all have one but some more than others.

In European trials a FB has to pass a conformation inspection and if the FB doesn't fit the requirements.....he's not allowed to compete. AMAZING TO SAY THE LEAST. But not so here on the other side of the pond. Diamond ?Jill or something similar was the Brittany of the Year recently and her picture is plastered in all the Brittany magazines. Her head shape is horrible; it's like a coke bottle and I can see that some midnight breeding has taken place in her background. I'm sticking my head out here but that's my opinion. Of course she's been a fantastic winning dog and many of the Brittany people look the other way. How can you NOT breed such a fantastic bird dog???? That's heard far too often, IMO. Same for the height of the Brittany. I see long legs too frequently that are more in line with a breeding somewhere along the line of a setter. Now, the Bench Brittany that is a dual champion has passed both the requirements and is much the same as a FB. That is a great dog and I would hunt with one in a heart beat.

So look at Buster and his overall head shape, the shortness of body and the chest. Look at the length of him, how his ears are set on his head and his nose/muzzle shape. Compare him to the Brittany and forget the color as many many FB are orange and white. BTW, I still see Brittanys out there that are very similar to the average sport and I've even been guilty of thinking the Brittany was a FB but I was wrong.

But I must stress that the biggest difference between the two is a combination of everything. Both are wonderful dogs. I just like a smaller dog that hunts within 300 yards of me out in the open and I don't have to go looking for him (very often...grin). Part of the reason is the FB has not been 'fooled' with to make a more competitive big running dog. The European hunters very often have small plots of private land to hunt and they breed for a closer working dog.

We all are dog lovers and enjoy our partners, no matter the breed, sometimes better than any person can imagine. When you hunt with a dog that loves to hunt and pleases you...... Then you've got something that is akin to being in heaven.

That last statement sums it up very well. Glad to see this great thread still going.
Here's another picture I probably posted before but worth posting again.

My two boys, Buck and Floyd doing their thing.

Yep,

Those are a beautiful pair. I'd like to see more of them in Hunt Tests put on by AKC....same for the Red Setter. I've recently hunted with a fellow that has 3 of them and they are outstandingly hunting machines and run with a very easy gate. Can go all day long and never give up. I'll see if I can get some pictures. Just like your Gordons, they are fantastic.

Many great pics of our dogs. Sure glad the hunting community as a whole doesn't realize what hunting with a dog is all about. It is a sum greater than the parts kind of thing. If all the hunters knew, we would be crowded out of our hunting places.

I know many quail hunters here, in S. Az., that think it ia a bad idea to use a dog. Too many thorns, stickers and sharp rocks. They don't know what they are missing.

Rica is one spectacular animal, and what a coat! I've had one
GWP and two WPGs, but none of 'em had a coat to match hers.
I'm green with envy!

Good job! Hope you breed her and pass those fantastic genes
along.

My 2 Girls. Unfortunately they are gone now and I miss them terribly.

They were sisters and Friends For Life!


...and always ready to go!


A dog day afternoon!

Wow, love to see all the dogs! Well, I guess I better post a few of my girl.







The cat and the little white dog, were my girlfriends, they have both passed onto the rainbow bridge!

I just spent an hour looking over this thread. I do not have a dog right now, but trying to buy an acre and put a house on it so I can buy a Labradoodle. I miss my GSP, Labs, Springers that have been my friends over the years. Hope to get a big black male Labradoodle and name him Goober. thanks to everyone who took the time to post great pictures and renew my desire to have, again, a bird dog buddy. MARK

[img][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v336/Georgedevries/IMGP0807.jpg[/img][/img]

Bosch is a GWP and this is obviously my avatar pic taken just after he locked up on a rooster pheasant. He is a very good pointer, a smart-bomb on birds and an excellent retriever too.

Incidentally, the pheasant tolerated my slowly bending down next to and just in front of Bosch, take out my camera and take the pic, all before his nerves got the best of him and he flushed.

Gdv

mod71 - Great pics of your dogs and beautiful canoe, too!

This is Callie, an AWS and hunting partner for 14 seasons. She is one of the featured AWS in Barrons "Sporting Spaniel Handbook" and won the upland hunting competition at the AWS National Specialty. It was really hard to say good bye to her.



This is Trooper a GWP and looks like he's going to be a great one also.



Never trust a dog that can't grow a decent beard.

erich

Godiva [Gigi] worlds best cookie eater and bed warmer [not too shabby on mountain grouse either].


Giving me her best telekinetic mojo to get me to give up my steak



My usual view of her working


Hurry up!!!!! The birds won't wait!!!!!!! TURN RIGHT NOWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great thread. I'm not smart enough to post pics, but, enjoy all of yours. I've got two pudelpointers, and have found them to be a great versatile breed. How many of you guys are familiar with NAVDA? Any guys using NAVDA bred dogs out west? Tim.

This is a pic of the Lab pup I lost last year, just three day's after this pic was taken. He was truely going to be a good one for sure.