Dog breed question

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Dakotazeb said:
I came close to buying a Griff (Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) the last time I bought a pup. Did a lot of reading about them, saw a few and talked to several breeders. All the breeders were very particular about placement, which I liked. They wanted their pups to go to hunting homes and the dog had to live in the house. Griff's don't do well in a kennel and need the people contact.

jarbo, does your dog work close or range out? I know there are suppose to be a closer working dog but one I saw ran pretty big. When I got my last dog I wanted a bigger running dog so I stayed with a Brittany.
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I would say Taz runs bigger than most griffs, but still a close working dog. While in MT he will get to 100 yds or further in open areas and thin grass. He has done well at adjusting to what terrain he is hunting, would say his natural rangw is 40-60 yards, very good for the terrain and birds I hunt.
I had to be a hunter to get Taz from his breeder, and was encouraged to test, will be running NAVHDA UT next year. I hope to get him a VC title.
 
This is like ford or chevy, remington or browning, beretta or bennelli..

Get a lab..they do everything well. A british lab to be exact...especially if your interested in the in house family part.

As a disclaimer..I want to own one of every hunting breed before I go..and every hunting breed has a great traits and some excel in different areas then others. With that being said I have never seen a bird a lab couldnt find or a retrieve it couldnt really make.

It's not going to cover ground like a shorthair, or be a pocket rocket like a brittany or springer, but it will find the birds, bring them to you, and sleep on your lap.

wlffmnnn said:
OK so I may be looking for another dog again. I have had shorthairs and a brittany. My question is this: If you could choose one all around dog for hunting and for a family dog what would it be. I was entertaining wirehairs and viszlas also. Thanks a bunch!
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Gatzby said:
I would do some research concerning Viszlas as pets. It's not that they cannot be good pets. But statistics show they are one of the most dangerous breeds as far as children are concerned. I believe it was State Farm or maybe one of the other large insurance companies that did the study. I will try to find a link
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I'm gonna need to see a link because I find this very hard to believe.
 
cbump said:
I'm gonna need to see a link because I find this very hard to believe.
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i have never seen the viszla on any insurance "blacklist". i actually spent some time researching insurance company policies because when my insurance company came over and saw my dog, he took a bunch of notes. i called my actual agent and he told me that certain companies may not insure people if they own a certain breed. I had never heard of this before. the most common breeds are:

Rotweiler
Pit Bull
Doberman
German shepherd
Akita
Chow Chow
Presa/Dogo Canarios
husky

i even came across a couple insurance companies that had great danes and boxers on their list.
 
Ive seen Vizsla Seeing eye dogs in my state!
High energy..yes.
Biters of children? Dont think so. I call bs
 
LoneRooster said:
This is like ford or chevy, remington or browning, beretta or bennelli..

Get a lab..they do everything well. A british lab to be exact...especially if your interested in the in house family part.

As a disclaimer..I want to own one of every hunting breed before I go..and every hunting breed has a great traits and some excel in different areas then others. With that being said I have never seen a bird a lab couldnt find or a retrieve it couldnt really make.

It's not going to cover ground like a shorthair, or be a pocket rocket like a brittany or springer, but it will find the birds, bring them to you, and sleep on your lap.
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I think youre somewhat misled.
I like Labs, alot.
But they are chiefly retrievers. Not hunters.
In their 'native' lands of Britain, the English Cockers and Springers do all the rough work, and the Labs the game pickup. Its about efficiency.
Much is true in the states here. Sure, You can use them for pheasant and cattaill and field drives, and they do an adequate job. But not stellar. Most times you dont even need a dog for what they bring to the table.

Faults: They run very 'hot', tire above 50F after an hour or so of work, are average only on cripples, and lack adequate range in open country.
For Grouse of any kind, outside of opening day fool hens, theyre not really a breed of choice. Sorry if this offends, but I think its true.


A springer, wachtelhund, boykin is a much better, more tireless and efficient phez dog that a Lab, similar in retrieve dept for most waterfowl work.
And for Pointers, I prefer DKs/GSPs and DDs/GWPs, and PPs.
Roosters run, they are hard to kill, If you value shot game and dont stand losing cripples, get a well bred German or NAVHDA bred dog.
Additionally, youll have a more versatile dog that you can do more with, imo.
Coons, Hogs, Waterfowl, All Upland et al.
 
jsdriggs said:
Alright, that's enough lab trashing guys. Jeez, someone has to stick up for the greatest breed ever. Black Labs, to be specific. 50 pounds females.
My dogs don't tire during a day.
They don't eat alot
They are perfect little house dogs and travel oh so we'll
They make game like nobody's business
Hunt in temps from -10 to 60. I watch the high end.
Lack adequate range? Yeah right. These girls go and don't stop if I let them.
Trieven Sungold Kennels- Lovell Wyoming
Best bird dogs ever.
There, I said it Robert!
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John,

I have been fighting this fight on here for a long time:rolleyes:. Whoever posted that labs are retrievers not hunters has never hunted behind a good lab. The only thing we will differ on is I prefer males and they weigh like 65lbs of pure muscle and will go all day. I have hunted with several on here that can attest to stamina. I have hunted with many breeds that I wouldn't give you a nickel for we all have. Gawd I can't believe I am commenting on this again:confused:

Oh and the hair thing, easily solved by paying my daughter 10 bucks a week to hit the dog with the furminator a couple times
 
the comment labs " are only average on cripples" made me laugh out loud, no dog is better on cripples than a lab...none

I have shorthairs, English pointers and a boykin all good breeds but none hold a candle to a lab when it comes to hunting down cripples.
 
One wonders why Labs and Golden's are used as guide and rescue dogs: intelligent and easy to train.

Both have excellent noses, are intense hunters; both breeds point as well, if that's your thing.

It seems the pointing breeds hunt differently than the flushing breeds...then it's a matter of choice within each type of breed.

nuf said...
 
jsdriggs said:
Alright, that's enough lab trashing guys. Jeez, someone has to stick up for the greatest breed ever. Black Labs, to be specific. 50 pounds females.
My dogs don't tire during a day.
They don't eat alot
They are perfect little house dogs and travel oh so we'll
They make game like nobody's business
Hunt in temps from -10 to 60. I watch the high end.
Lack adequate range? Yeah right. These girls go and don't stop if I let them.
Trieven Sungold Kennels- Lovell Wyoming
Best bird dogs ever.
There, I said it Robert!
Click to expand...

People are always trying to topple the top dog. Pun intended. But you are wrong on one point. Black males 65 pounds from either CandleWoods or Crosswind. And to cure the hair problem.... Get divorced and adjust the color of your clothes and carpet. Use the money you save on jewelry to hire a cleanng lady. And Christmas and birthday presents become shot guns and puppies!

Steve
 
Ok John and Tom, maybe there are some exceptions but FCs post cracked me up.:D
 
carptom1 said:
I have been fighting this fight on here for a long time:rolleyes:. Whoever posted that labs are retrievers not hunters has never hunted behind a good lab. The only thing we will differ on is I prefer males and they weigh like 65lbs of pure muscle and will go all day. I have hunted with several on here that can attest to stamina.
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+1

I have been hunting all manner of upland birds for 60 years and still going strong. I have personally hunted birds behind over 50 or more Labs- "The Good, The Bad and The Uugggllly".

Tom's Buddy dog is, easily, in the top 1% of those 50+ Labs. He flat out gets it done, all day, every day. Finds the birds other dogs miss and catches the cripples from days before. Great disposition too. He has it all.:10sign:

NB
 
Gatzby said:
People are always trying to topple the top dog. Pun intended. But you are wrong on one point. Black males 65 pounds from either CandleWoods or Crosswind. And to cure the hair problem.... Get divorced and adjust the color of your clothes and carpet. Use the money you save on jewelry to hire a cleanng lady. And Christmas and birthday presents become shot guns and puppies!

Steve
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Now your speaking my language.
 
Have hunted behind many labs, mine included, all have been very good regardless to what we were hunting. To say they are the best on cripples is nonsense though, that is an individual dog thing, not a breed thing. Those who work on tracking and get their dogs on the most birds, will be the best, it's very simple. I shot early prairie chickens over and sharptails over my lab, not ideal, but he was good at flushing birds towards me, he hunted alongside my britt very well, he was a cripple finding machine, plus a great water dog when weather permitted. Me getting a WPG was a no brainer, haven't seen a retrieve he couldn't make, plus he runs with any bird producer in the uplands. Add the minimal shedding and low maintenance, I don't know why any hunter wouldn't own one.
 
I had a male yellow Lab back in the mid 80's that was a super dog. He was a lean, mean hunting machine. 65 lbs. of solid muscle. A little leggier and certainly leaner than most Labs I see today. He could do it all, pheasants or waterfowl. He also had a great temperament. My biggest complaint was the shedding. I've had mostly Springers and now Brittanys and they don't shed a fraction of what that Lab did.

For the most part all my dogs, regardless of breed, have turned out to be very good hunters. Besides breeding, I attribute most of that to how much exposure that my dogs get to birds out here in SD. Like I've said before, my dogs probably see more birds in one season than a lot of dogs see in a lifetime.

jarbo, I told you I almost bought a WPG 5 years ago and if I get another dog the WPG will be on my short list.
 
I have to say the the Kleine Munsterlander is a very nice LITTLE all around dog. Pound for pound they are tough as nails, but great in the house. if they arent..........then alter that dog and get it out of the gene pool. :)

Look into them. Type in Small MUnsterlander in google.
 
Wilhelm said:
I think youre somewhat misled.
I like Labs, alot.
But they are chiefly retrievers. Not hunters.
In their 'native' lands of Britain, the English Cockers and Springers do all the rough work, and the Labs the game pickup. Its about efficiency.
Much is true in the states here. Sure, You can use them for pheasant and cattaill and field drives, and they do an adequate job. But not stellar. Most times you dont even need a dog for what they bring to the table.

Faults: They run very 'hot', tire above 50F after an hour or so of work, are average only on cripples, and lack adequate range in open country.
For Grouse of any kind, outside of opening day fool hens, theyre not really a breed of choice. Sorry if this offends, but I think its true.


A springer, wachtelhund, boykin is a much better, more tireless and efficient phez dog that a Lab, similar in retrieve dept for most waterfowl work.
And for Pointers, I prefer DKs/GSPs and DDs/GWPs, and PPs.
Roosters run, they are hard to kill, If you value shot game and dont stand losing cripples, get a well bred German or NAVHDA bred dog.
Additionally, youll have a more versatile dog that you can do more with, imo.
Coons, Hogs, Waterfowl, All Upland et al.
Click to expand...

I think you're somewhat naive with your generalizations here. Have you ever seen a real good upland Lab in action? I'm not talking about one that points, either, but a hard-charging, aggressive flusher that can go all day and still want more when the people are ready to quit? One that has the power to bust the heaviest cover that a rooster can sneak into and an overwhelming desire to do it?

Some of them are indeed "stellar," to use your term, and they'll absolutely put birds in the air that wouldn't be seen without a dog, or even without a dog that wasn't extremely tough and determined -- regardless of the breed. And they'll go after cripples as if their life depends on it.

I know of a kennel that produces such dogs regularly, and I also know of a private breeder who's turned out dozens of them in a line he started more than 30 years ago. They're out there, and they can be found by someone with the desire to find them.

Your stereotypes might be applicable to litters that are available via newspaper classified ads. In the hardcore hunting dog realm, not so much. Sorry if this offends, but I know for a fact that it's true.
 
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Lets be careful with this thread so that it doesn't head in the wrong direction. Any more bashing of dog breeds and I'll shut it down. We all have our beliefs and opinions which others may or may not agree with. Let's keep it friendly. If you don't like a particular breed, that's fine. Keep it to yourself. You don't have to own one of that breed. The next guy might think that breed is great.
 
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