Dog Size

[Fenway]

My dogs aren't in my kennel, so being in the house all year and hunting 4 months of the year size is a factor, yet not the only one. The last two times I bought a new dog I took size in mind. The first time I bought a Springer about 40#-43# and good size for the house, the second which I wanted a pointy bigger running dog I was liking the trend in FT Setters of smaller females, but I ended up with a leggy 55# Setter who is good in the house when settled down, but when excited his tale can piss my wife off something awful. I was thinking GSP but the size of the ones I see afield scared me off, I have to stay married at this point, although they don't have that tail my Setter has.
The worry of heavy cover the Setter I have is a beast as far as that goes, he was trained on thick Grouse woods, and know no bounds. The only problem so far is he beats himself up he's always bleeding or torn up, last year he stabbed himself in the mouth with a branch and almost bleed to death and in ND stepped in a hole and tore his shoulder up and missed 6 weeks. Hope he can stay healthy this year.

 

[blueweim]

For me I like to hunt with a bigger dog. I can see some advantages of a small dog, like they are much easier to carry if you had to but I don't know if they are easier to live with. For me a short hair dog is easier to live with in the house than a something with longer hair. size does not matter as much as breed to me. I like leggy dogs that can go all day and are easy to see in the tall crp and other crap I find myself in. I like things quiet when I am hunting so I avoid beeper collars or other tech items I feel I would have to use with a small pointer. If I wanted a flusher I would go with a spaniel in a heart beat.
My weims weigh in at 70 and 85 pounds and they are very lean and tall 27 and 29". The other thing that I like about big dogs is wild life gives some respect to big dogs. Small dogs can look like a meal. I know when my weim pointed a yote last year had that been a small dog it would have been lunch or at least an attempt would have been made.

 

[Gatzby]

Hey GATZBY what is your opinion on the height requirements of kennels??

I like them to have to crouch in order to stand (when traveling). This keeps them laying down. At home I use XL's once they are crate trained and house broken.