Jack of all trades

Toad

Toad

Active member
If you had to pick one breed of dog to hunt everything with feathers, which one do you think would do the best overall job? Say your challenge was to bag every species of upland bird and waterfowl in the USA, just you and one dog. What breed of dog do you think could handle them all with the least trouble?

I think all the dogs I've owned are capable of doing it, if I made certain accommodations for them. Not too cold of water for Daisy and Junie, and not too many miles of hot, hard running for the lab or golden I had in the past... I guess if I had to pick one of the dogs I've owned, probably the GWP would be the best jack of all trades among them. But I haven't owned or hunted behind the variety of dogs that some of you have, so I am just curious what you think.

A friend of mine has a pointing lab, and that dog has been reasonably effective at everything it has ever been asked to do, and a very fine water dog...

There are a lot of dogs out there I've never seen before, only read about in books and magazines. Some of those are touted as the best jack of all trades...

Just wondering to the group, if you had to pick one dog to do it all, what kind of dog would it be? :cheers:

-please don't bash anybody or feel the need to prove them wrong. Just, from your experience, what would your personal choice be and why?
 
I studied this for a couple years before purchasing my last dog. For years I hunted with a lab and a britt. For the most part, they were both on every hunt I went on, but some days were not suitable. My britt couldn't handle a day of cold water retrieves, and chasing prairie chicken on a hot Sept was not an option for my lab. I really wanted to have only one dog, in the end I chose a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon and couldn't be happier. From dove and chickens in Sept, Pheasant, sharpies and huns during upland, and ducks and geese in January, he has done them all very well.
 
david0311

Toad said:
If you had to pick one breed of dog to hunt everything with feathers, which one do you think would do the best overall job? Say your challenge was to bag every species of upland bird and waterfowl in the USA, just you and one dog. What breed of dog do you think could handle them all with the least trouble?

I think all the dogs I've owned are capable of doing it, if I made certain accommodations for them. Not too cold of water for Daisy and Junie, and not too many miles of hot, hard running for the lab or golden I had in the past... I guess if I had to pick one of the dogs I've owned, probably the GWP would be the best jack of all trades among them. But I haven't owned or hunted behind the variety of dogs that some of you have, so I am just curious what you think.

A friend of mine has a pointing lab, and that dog has been reasonably effective at everything it has ever been asked to do, and a very fine water dog...

There are a lot of dogs out there I've never seen before, only read about in books and magazines. Some of those are touted as the best jack of all trades...

Just wondering to the group, if you had to pick one dog to do it all, what kind of dog would it be? :cheers:
:)
-please don't bash anybody or feel the need to prove them wrong. Just, from your experience, what would your personal choice be and why?
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OH!!!!!!BOY!!!! here we go ---

Seriously I vote the Lab---but would go with the Wirehair as second choice

NOW PLAY NICE GUYS:cheers:
 
This breed;)

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GWP! Mine is a swimming machine. Unfortunately, he probably can't keep up with well-bred, well-conditioned labs in most cases. My britts and GSP run circles around him and they have better noses. However, if I were to start waterfowling regularly again, I'd likely stick with GWP's.
 
duckn66 said:
Where is Myth Busters when you need them! ;)
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No joke. I've seen my springer retrieve a big old tom turkey, it was a little tough but he did it. As for cold or "big" water well if its above zero and swells are less than 10ft a good springer should be fine.:cheers:
 
To each their own. But mine would be a Kleine Munsterlander hands down. Especially when it comes to game recovery and tracking deer.
 
mstand said:
To each their own. But mine would be a Kleine Munsterlander hands down. Especially when it comes to game recovery and tracking deer.
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I gotta get behind one of these dogs someday. I've had the pleasure of hunting behind quite a few breeds, but never a munsterlander.

Wanna bring yours to KS so I can see 'em in action mstand? :)
 
kansasbrittany said:
I gotta get behind one of these dogs someday. I've had the pleasure of hunting behind quite a few breeds, but never a munsterlander.

Wanna bring yours to KS so I can see 'em in action mstand? :)
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I would love to hunt with you anytime. If your up my way, give me a shout. I have 3 of them all with their own range.
 
quail hound said:
No joke. I've seen my springer retrieve a big old tom turkey, it was a little tough but he did it. As for cold or "big" water well if its above zero and swells are less than 10ft a good springer should be fine.:cheers:
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Do you put a neoprene vest on them when you duck hunt? I don't know anything about Springers I didn't read in a book, magazine, or this site.
I have to put a vest on Daisy because her hair is so short. And I don't think Junie would last too long without a vest in cold water. She's so small and her hair is very fine. She is about the swimmin-est dog I've had though. She could live in the lake all summer. :laugh:
 
Deutsch Drahthaar for me:10sign:
 
Everybody's going to have their preferences of course...(duh!) ;)
But, the question reads "which would do the BEST overall job"
And, "Which breed could handle them all (all birds and fowl) with the least trouble".
So, if we were to set up some kind of grading scale, I would think the smaller breeds would lose a lot of points on geese. Not saying it can't be done, (so don't get your feathers ruffled), but I still think they'd lose a lot of points in this category.
At the same time, the bulkier heavy coated dogs might lose some (theoretical) points on warm weather upland hunts.
(Can't use deer or blood because it wasn't part of the original question) ;)

So, since we're just talking all birds, and all fowl, I'm going to have to go with either the Labrador, the Griff, or the Draht.

If you took geese out of the equation, it'd level the playing field a lot. And, if frigid cold water was taken out, it'd be pretty hard to pick a "best".
Just my opinion of course.
 
HolyMoses said:
Forgive me....but, is that the fancy name for a wirehaired pointer, or are there differences?

Also....how does your dog hold up in extreme cold?
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From what I understand, yes. The testing systems are different though. If they are like my Griff in cold weather and water, they handle it very well. Have many hunts on the river in single digit temps, along with breaking ice with no problems.
 
jarbo03 said:
From what I understand, yes. The testing systems are different though. If they are like my Griff in cold weather and water, they handle it very well. Have many hunts on the river in single digit temps, along with breaking ice with no problems.
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Thanks. :thumbsup:
 
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