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Starting research on a dog for my retirement!! It will be awhile before I retire but I'm hoping to get a chance to out some real hours in behind several different breeds.

Real interest so far is a german shorthair,wirehair and I also like the Brittney and French spainial.

Am open to suggestions. But really don't want a Lab. Labs are wonderfull dogs and I love them but just wanta try a different breed. Phesant hunting will be the bird.

Can Shorthairs be trained to stay close. I'd like a pointer I guess. Will Brittneys point? Also the dog will need to beable to hang out on the couch and watch sports with me and the wife!!

Thanks for any help
Shag

I have two shorthairs and both love to hunt and love the couch.
When hunting in the northwoods of Wisconsin for grouse my dogs will usally work at 10-15 yards infront of me. I actually wished they would work a little further out but thats ok. When I am in South Dakota in the crp they will open it up some. If the cover is really tall 20 yards if its shorter they actually will go 40-50 yards and at times I need to reel them in some. One good thing is both will hold point forever.
Great dogs I think the preception that they are real high strung and bouncing off the walls is just a crock.
If I lay on the sofa both dogs will try to find a spot on my chest to lay with me.

FROM FIELD


TO COUCH

They are a beautiful dog! And are my first choice. But keep hearing they like top run like heck. Hard to train? Whats the best route for training?

What I did with mine was work them early on quail then moved to hen pheasants. The workout lasted no more than 20-30 minutes. I always used a 30 foot check cord and whistle trained them to work off those commands.I started them young I had them pointing on wing tied quail as early as 9 weeks. I tried to work them every morning before work. I like that time of day especially when you get a little moisture on the grass, plus you get away from the heat of the day in the summer months.
If you do some internet searching you most likly will find a club or group of guys in your area that would be more than happy to include you in there daily training regament.

Have you considered, or even heard of, the Spinone Italiano?

They work close by nature which negates that training.
I'm not sure if it is breed quality or training, but my Spinn has locked up on birds that other fellows dogs have nearly run over. They also have other qualities such as close eyes, thick hide and they are plain and simple a wash and wear dog.

Oh, and yes, they are stellar as family dogs.

I love that thing! Like the color too. Nice dog!!

Thanks for the advice!

I forgot to mention earlier.

Check with NAVHDA for a chapter near you. Those folks can be an invaluable training aid. http://www.navhda.org/chaptmap.html

quote] I love that thing! Like the color too. Nice dog!! [/quote]

Wait'll he tries to join you in the recliner.

Leonard is an orange white. We also have an orange roan as well as a brown roan, both rescues. I've yet to allow Rosso to retrieve birds because he still mouths dummies roughly. Ozzy, on the other hand shows great promise.

AC - that's a great lookin' dog!!!

FWIW, I have GSPs and as much as I'd like to try another breed, I just can't see not owning a GSP so they're definitely my pick. One thing to consider about the pointing breeds over other breeds is that, IMO, they take a lot more training. For me, that's a-ok because I like training but if you'd rather put your time and money in other things other than training, you might want to consider a flushing breed.

That being said, if I were after a pure "pheasant" dog that was also a good house dog, I'd look no further than a Springer Spaniel. They're tops for pheasants IMO and are GREAT family dogs as well. Plus, they're small enough that they won't tear up the yard and eat you out of house and home......

Claycrusher,

Just love that ticking of the dog in the first pic.

I have had GWPs for years. They love being indoors with the family and will use a couch if allowed. My first dog was with me before I got married. As a compromiseto keep him off the couch my wife gave the dog his own chair, a leather recliner at that!

Here are my two current GWPs:



These dogs are not allowed on the couch but they do have their own beds in several rooms.

Personally I feel very strongly that the dog will be better in the field having lived inside the house. The more contact the better.

A couple more for grins:





See how keeping them with you often pays off? You can put silly hats on them or ask them to back up the boat.

If you like the idea of working with your dog year-round, here's some pics for ya....

Rule #1 - get help from people who KNOW how to train. Read books or watch DVDs but "hands on" contact is the best bet IME. This is a pic from ~ 14 years ago of my first GSP and me (on the right) with one of the best trainers I've ever met (Don Paltani). He taught me more in two days than I could've learned in two years by myself.


And some pics of newest "hard-core" huntin' pup....


Looks like a pea in a pod!!


Gettin' properly socialized....


It took me awhile to get her on birds and I've taken it slow but she's doing well so far. Here she is checkin' out some quail....


And honoring a point this season (her first one in the field!!)....


Have fun and good luck with whichever breed you choose!!!

Great pics Nebraska! Your daughter and the pup..a couple of real cuties.

Ain't that the truth.

Hands down, the best dog I ever shot over was a GSP. In high school a freind and I would take his fathers dog out for quail. I fondly recall the time Joe ran himself silly. Between the two of us, we had four birds down on one covey rise. Poor ole Joe could get three of them picked up, but that last one was too much. We were both laughing so hard neither of us could call him back on retrieve in order to send him for the fourth. Radford finally got out "whoa" and walked up to take the birds he had.

The reason I settled on the Spinone is a bad knee and hip, messed up in a motorcycle accident. I wanted a dog that would work close and at a pace I can keep at for extended periods. I've hunted behind GSP's and EP's and found it too difficult to maintain that kind of pace for very long. It's not in me to train a dog to work in a manner that goes against it's nature.

Thanks guys.....she's such a dog-lover, I could see her teaching me how to work 'em one of these days!!



Don't see too many doubles gettin' retrieved like that.....bet you were a "proud Pop" that day!!! Very nice......

That girl is now 9 and is that one dog everyone gets in there lifetime that no other dog will match up to.
The other one is a true sister on a repeat breeding and she is 6 and not even close to the same traits. Great dog but just not what the older one is.
I have had 4 GSP's and just cant seem to walk away from the breed.
I do alot of waterfowl hunting and a lab would fit in real nice but there is something about walking behind a GSP in the field.
Nebraska She has always made me a proud papa.

Chuck,

You mean there are actually other dogs to consider besides labs

I am a lab man for sure. We have 4 right now. Range in age from 1 1/2 to 14, but if you realy don't want a lab, I'll second the Springer as a terrific breed.

I had a springer as a kid and she was an awesome phesant dog, and damn good on waterfowl too.

The only drawback is the grooming. A long day hunting in the burrs and you will have your work cut out for you.

There's a lot of good dogs out there; just do your homework, and find the right breeder in the breed you select. The breeder is more important than the breed.

Just want to throw this out, though. I hear a lot of guys say they don't want a dog that runs. The more I hunt behind dogs, the more I want the dog to run -- so I don't have to. That is the purpose of a pointing dog: find the bird and hold and let you walk up, at a comfortable pace, to flush.

For small, dense plots of land a flusher is probably a better choice than a pointing breed, but make mine a 300 yard or so pointing dog. Cuts WAY back on MY walking. FWIW, DUtch.

LOL,

Love Labs! Just wanta try a different breed. I'm leaning short hair pointer, or the Brittney. For some reason in my old age the Brittney I find very interesting!! We'll see.

When I was a youngster I had a collie that could out pheasant hunt any dog that hunted our farm. I have two labs but always wanted a pointer. Did some looking around a discovered the Wire Hair Pointing Griffon. Bought one a year and a half ago. Took her to the Dakota's at 5 months she was great. Very little training. Stays close.
Hunts just in front of you and just for you. Did even better this year. Even made water retrieves. Don't get one if you plan on kenneling it or leaving it alone. This breed demands attention and runnin room! Mellow as a lab once they out grow puppy stage and will do everything a lab will.