I posted earlier this year about how after a few years of begging and pleading with my wife for another dog, she finally caved and gave me the go ahead. Instantly I decided I wanted a GSP. Well after a few months of planning and daydreaming I found myself torn between a GSP and another lab. A little background about me; I'm 27 years old. I got my first lab when I was 11. A coworker of my dad has been raising labs for 30+ years. A small breeder, raising dogs that are easy to train and wonderful in the house. My first dog from him was a male that matured to 75lbs. He was my best friend growing up. I did all the training by myself and even though I was just a kid he surpassed every expectation I could have ever had for a hunting dog. He had a motor in him that would not quit. He lived to pheasant hunt. He was an average duck dog. More my fault than his because during the time I spent with him I targeted pheasants more than anything else. He lived to be 9 years old. One morning I went to let him outside and found him laying in his kennel, never to wake up again. Even at 9 years old he hadn't slowed down one bit. The following year I bought another puppy from my dads friend. A dark yellow male that I hoped would fill the shoes of my old jake. Ace turned out to be a spitting image of my old friend. A perfect gentleman in the house and a machine in the field. By the time he was 2 I found myself extremely preoccupied between college and working a full time job. It was with a heavy heart that I gave him to a family friend who could give him the time he deserved. Ace is now 8 years old and is showing his age. Which brings me to my current lab. Zoey is a 4 year old yellow female. I can honestly say that she is the best dog I've ever owned ( I know she's only my 3rd). She has amazing drive and handles like a dream. A terrific family member. Was completely house broke by 5 months old. Never chewed on anything in the house. Great with kids, will let them climb all over and even play with her food while she eats it. She spent a couple months at Fischers kennels this last summer to work on blind retrieves and a little bit of polishing off. I couldn't ask for a better all around dog. When she was two I had a bunch of hunting friends who were asking me to breed her. She was bred to my brother in laws male and whelped 8 puppies. 5 of which were spoken for before they were born. The other 3 went to nice families looking for inside family pets. I have heard only great things from all puppy owners. Which brings me to my present situation. Over the last few months I've been looking back on my style of hunting and the areas that I primarily hunt. I know that a GSP would be completely capable of hunting the way I do, but in my personal opinion, the whole point of having a pointer is the watch the dog work and slam a point. It's pretty hard to do that when 90% of my hunting is in cattails where you can't normally see the dog. I've discussed my options with my wife (not that she really cares) about a pointer vs a flusher and buying a puppy from new bloodlines or not. My old breeder no longer has dogs. After weighing out all my options. I've decided to breed Zoey one last time. I know that their are dogs out there that are better and better bred, an that I'll probably catch some s*** from some people on how there are enough breeders of labs already, but I'm of the mentality that if it's not broke don't fix it. I bred Zoey to Keith Sand's dog Cain. Puppies are due on valentines day and I could be more excited or nervous at the same time. I haven't decided yet if I will be keeping a male or a female. Color doesn't affect my decision on labs.
I'm sorry for such a long winded post, but I thought that some people would share in my excitement
I'm sorry for such a long winded post, but I thought that some people would share in my excitement
