Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs How about the good/bad on the Griffons?

We might be looking to add another dog as an eventual replacement.
Been kinda kicking around the Griffon. Not too many around but I like what I see. Any thoughts out there either way? It would be for pheasants and grouse.

I've spoken to quite a few people over the last month or so in my search for a Griff pup. To a person, everyone I spoke with has nothing but praise.

Great hunting dog, a little closer working than GSP and some other field dogs although im sure much of this is training. Solid pointers and retrievers with great noses.

Spoke to one person who had a dog with hip problems, apparently rare with Griffs but something to be aware of.

Great dogs in the home. Affectionate and a pleasure to be around.

The coat on a dog has always been one of my top conciderations.

I groom my dogs daily and a smooth coats is much easier to maintain.

Why groom daily? To check for injuries, burs, foxtails and they love the attention. Don't forget between the toes and pads.

Also some long haired dogs get mud and or ice balls between their pads which can take them out of the hunt. I don't know if the Griffs have that problem.

A small gene pool in the USA might hurt the breed quality.

down side:

UGLY!!!

UPSIDE:

The one that I hunted behind had received absolutely no bird/gun training and did a surprisingly damn good job in the field first time out... just natural... all I could think was... with just a minimum of training this dog would be a near perfect gun dog.

Only real negative of that one dog (which I have now hunted with 3-4 times): She did not like to retrieve... that was annoying...generally she would just repoint the dead birds... at least she found them...


a very limited perspective for sure... several here have them and should provide better info.

My buddy got one.. Good hunting dog..

Downside, burs,burs,burs....

And they are ugly,but i like them got a wirehair myself...

They only negative I've ever heard is that they are tough on cats. Or is that a positive? Dutch.

Definitely a positive!

A hunting partner of mine has a pair of Griffs and they are really good dogs. Good hunters and retrievers with real good dispositions.

we love ours! my dads female just had a litter. they will be ready april 25th. pm me if interested i can hook you up w/ all the info.

-Brandon

My nephew has one. It's a great dog and does everything he's asked to do. Also, my nephew trained him so the dog has to be pretty good to start with.

Over the years I've seen and judged plenty of them at NAVHDA and AKC events.

They generally are slow methodical hunters. They can get it done but I like to see a lot more flash desire and style in a pointing breed.

Some love the breed but I'm not one that does. Honestly I'd quit bird huntring if they were the only pointing breed I could own.

I'd take a Drathaar anyday over a Griffon.

i dont know how one could ask for anymore desire then what a griffon has... style, maybe but that has to do w/ training. mine are def not the most "stylish" but i dont care mush about that, neither do the piles of ruffys and woodcock that we kill each year.
also, NAVHDA doesnt impress me at all. we have hunting buddies from verious parts of the state that we hook up w/ and hunt together w/ who brag about their grand prize gsp and brittanys and how they do this at those events and do that, yet on the afternoon of day two and then the rest of the week its our giffons who are relyed on to keep the hunt going day in and day out. and when we split up and hunt in groups we always seems to bag more birds then the "super dogs". plus i love duck hunting and the griffon is very well suited for finesse hunitng one day then opn the river duck and goose hunting the next and then shed hunting on sunday. they are the "4x4 of gun dogs". but each to his own, if we all had the same thing it would get pretty boring dont ya think!

to the OP, good luck and have fun w/ which ever breed you choose.

-Brandon

I doubt that anyone here has had a griffon to hunt behind as long as I had. I started at age 8 hunting with our griffons. My dad was a breeder-trainer as a very serious hobby, and we had one win best of breed at Westminster back in the day.



I don't particularly care for a sports car in the field. I prefer the steady Hummer.

Griffons can do it all well enough for a hunter who hunts a wide variety of game. That was their purpose and end result in the development of the breed. As well as being a competent upland dog, they are a great water dog and have webbed feet and an undercoat for cold water work.

They are a good family dog, but they do have an odor.

Our constant companion on hikes. Ozzie turns 4 this month and is a wonderful running partner and provides plenty of laughs on trail.

Seems kind of neutral on birds but so am I so I deal with it.

Cute feller. I like 'em.

I LOVE those rubber noses!

Nice looking partner...

I have two - they do it all and are superb companions. Burrs are an issue but they seem to know the drill when brushing them out of their coats. Not sure about cats but porcupines need to beware.

..... flash and style?

What does one get when trying to "impress" people?
Only a bunch of impressed people!



nicely said!

Regarding burrs or foxtails, can a Griff be trimmed to shorten some of the problem-fur?

Trimmed...not really. They also have that undercoat. Ours had wiry enough coats that we seldom had much bur problems.

Compared to the setters I now have, the griffons are bullet-proof.

Show Sheen is your friend. It's a horse product.