Hunting 2 dogs

J

jonmac

New member
I have an unfixed male Brittany that is a year old and have beethinking about getting a female Brittany to hunt with him and possibly breed them.

My question is, would a male and female hunt together or would it be total chaos?
Would I be better off with 2 males?

I thought that it would be nice to have 2 dogs also when I go to South Dakota to hunt.
 
It will not be an issue.
 
Get the health issues for Brittany's checked and then possibly consider breeding.
I hunt multiple dogs together all the time but some others never do.
Just know 2 dogs is 3× the work.
 
I hunted multiple dogs for many years, both same sex, so no problems. Went on out of state trip with friend who had a female, I brought a young male. The female was in heat (unbeknownst to either of us). My male would not hunt at all, he only had love on mind. Could not use him at all. Was a real bummer for me. Good luck.
 
So as long as the female is not in heat they should hunt okay?
That is my biggest worry that the male would not leave the female alone wether she is in heat or not
 
Jonmac, just remember Murphy's law? Your female will come into heat for 3 weeks during phez season (?). You will lose one or the other of your dogs during this time.
 
jonmac said:
So as long as the female is not in heat they should hunt okay?
That is my biggest worry that the male would not leave the female alone wether she is in heat or not
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Yes. There was about 3 or 4 days a heat cycle when it was really hell on my male dog. Chances are 50/50 that your female may come into heat during early hunting season.
 
BrownDogsCan2 said:
Yes. There was about 3 or 4 days a heat cycle when it was really hell on my male dog. Chances are 50/50 that your female may come into heat during early hunting season.
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Heat cycles vary soooo much. My female has been in heat for almost a month before. Last cycle just finished probably 10 days of madness between the intact male and the neutered male. As for coming in season during season😉that is more like 95%.
 
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Weimdogman said:
Heat cycles vary soooo much. My female has been in heat for almost a month before. Last cycle just finished probably 10 days of madness between the intact male and the neutered male. As for coming in season during season😉that is more like 95%.
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I guess I've been lucky. I have had four females and they've come into fall heat between august to dec. And a lot of falls not at all. Spring for them has always been more reliable. I guess Ive only had the one male with a female on each end of him like you said one with a three and half week heat cycle. Yeah he'd want to mount them but there was only about three days when he was tearing off the crate door and howling at the moon.
I can only remember a couple of times when one of mine was in heat during pheasant season but we have a mid Nov. opener. Honestly though I think most have mine have been done sept. to early Oct
 
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jonmac said:
I have an unfixed male Brittany that is a year old and have beethinking about getting a female Brittany to hunt with him and possibly breed them.

My question is, would a male and female hunt together or would it be total chaos?
Would I be better off with 2 males?

I thought that it would be nice to have 2 dogs also when I go to South Dakota to hunt. twice a year
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Mara5 said:
I hunted multiple dogs for many years, both same sex, so no problems. Went on out of state trip with friend who had a female, I brought a young male. The female was in heat (unbeknownst to either of us). My male would not hunt at all, he only had love on mind. Could not use him at all. Was a real bummer for me. Good luck.
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Happens every time, I live in Texas and invited my breeder down from Minnesota last year for quail. The day he left his house with three males in his truck my female came in heat, it was a real pain in the butt.
 
Should not be an issue hunting a male and female together as long as the female is not in heat. I hunted a male and female Brittany together for several years with no issue but my female was spayed.

As far as wanting to breed them. I would highly discourage it unless the dogs are something special with great pedigrees on both sides. And then only if both have had eyes and hips checked. I believe breeding should be left to the pros that really know what they are doing and breeding to improve the breed. There are too many "backyard breeders" out there not knowing what they are doing and breeding inferior dogs. Just my 2 cents!
 
I got a second dog for the same reason but had my female GSP fixed before my Vizsla male pup matured. He is now 1.5 and intact, she is 3.5 and spayed they get along great and I don't have to worry about her going in heat when I'm in a small motel room somewhere in Iowa or SD. One less thing for me to deal with.

I might think about getting a second male if getting a pup or look for an older female that's been spayed.
 
I was kind of afraid to get another male thought that they might fight alot.
As you can tell I have only had one
 
jonmac said:
I was kind of afraid to get another male thought that they might fight alot.
As you can tell I have only had one
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Should be no problem except for the heat issue. I decided a long time ago to let breeders make all my dogs… so many good dogs out there from professional breeders.
 
An intact male and female together in the same house or motel is going to be an issue at some point unless you have kennels and are set up for it. I would probably take my chances with 2 males or get a started spayed female unless you want an unplanned litter of pups running around.
Regardless, the last thing I want on a hunting trip is a dog in heat. It happens obviously but it is a pain and can disrupt a hunt.

As an aside and fwiw, older guys would tell you to put a few years in between pups, so you can give them the time and work they need but when you want another dog, the force is strong. Pups from a quality breeder are normally going to have restrictions on breeding, spaying etc., in their contract so I would talk with a few before making any decisions. There are benefits to getting a started spayed female when you have a young male at home.
 
I had one britt male that had a beautiful disposition in every way, except he would fight over drinking water. He would fight male or female
 
As long as your female isn’t in heat- you shouldn’t have any issues. If you do out of state trips every year, I recommend having 2 dogs. One just isn’t enough
 
I prefer to follow 1 dog in the field. I’ve hunted with 2 at one time and have had situations where they’ll go in different directions or, alternatively, one won’t hunt with as much enthusiasm as the other, knowingly watching for the other to find a bird. It can also become competitive. I do alternate dogs and hunts day to day so having 2 or 3 is beneficial. A female in season is a huge distraction, and an intact female can be a distraction in and of itself, based on what I’ve experienced.
 
I hunt with two intact males, DD and a GWP, and my son has two fixed female labs. 50% of the time WE have all four dogs and just us two hunting at a the same time. I think they compliment each other nicely and work together. I do need to tighten up steadiness for testing after season but very easy to do,
 
chad.vis: just curious, why are you hunting pointers & flushers together? Or are the labs pointing labs?
 
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