Looking to add a gsp in the future

G

George

Member
currently have a pointing lab that will be 8 in June. I’m starting to do my research now for my next dog. I know I want a gsp. I’ve hunted with them for years and it fits my style of hunting. I’m located in Illinois suburbs outside of Chicago looking at breeders in Iowa Wisconsin and obviously Illinois. Anyone hear of Highfire kennels? Had a few others in mind like thunderhead or topgun. Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated.
 
George said:
currently have a pointing lab that will be 8 in June. I’m starting to do my research now for my next dog. I know I want a gsp. I’ve hunted with them for years and it fits my style of hunting. I’m located in Illinois suburbs outside of Chicago looking at breeders in Iowa Wisconsin and obviously Illinois. Anyone hear of Highfire kennels? Had a few others in mind like thunderhead or topgun. Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated.
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I’ve heard good things about Top Gun. May have to be patient, waiting list.
 
Top gun is a good one but they are not taking deposits at this time. The waiting list was two years when they stopped I think.
 
I'm pretty sure you can find similar genetics to top gun in several other NAVHDA -type kennels and maybe you'll find improved availability. Off the top of my head, Garbonita comes to mind as a possibility. If memory serves, a lot of those kennels were heavy on sharp shooter, hustler, and pottsiepen lines, including top gun. We're several generations beyond those dogs, but if you look back in the pedigrees and see them in there, that's a good sign in my opinion.
 
George said:
currently have a pointing lab that will be 8 in June. I’m starting to do my research now for my next dog. I know I want a gsp. I’ve hunted with them for years and it fits my style of hunting. I’m located in Illinois suburbs outside of Chicago looking at breeders in Iowa Wisconsin and obviously Illinois. Anyone hear of Highfire kennels? Had a few others in mind like thunderhead or topgun. Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated.
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Did you find what you were looking for?
 
AteUp said:
Did you find what you were looking for?
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Yea for the most part haha still leaning towards Highfire. Their dogs look really good and have some great lines. I'm sure within the next year or so I'll put a deposit down.
 
Highfire - nice looking dogs and Hege-Haus lines. Am i reading their contract correctly that the total price of the pup is $3000?
I paid $1000 for my last one 12 yrs ago and would pay $1500 today from the same breeder for similar lines, as a comparison.
 
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Well shit they must’ve just raised it because it used to be $2500. Wasn’t really trying to go above that but we’ll see. Like I said Gus is 8 so figured by the time he’s 10 I’d get my name down somewhere. Was just trying to see if I was missing a good breeder in my area
 
I'm going to stir the pot a bit and as many of you have seen, I'm a GSP rescue guy and have had several rescues out hunt high $$$ dogs. I no longer put much stock in genetics. I have had direct decendents of Rawhides Clown; some were great and some were nuts.
 
JMc said:
I'm going to stir the pot a bit and as many of you have seen, I'm a GSP rescue guy and have had several rescues out hunt high $$$ dogs. I no longer put much stock in genetics. I have had direct decendents of Rawhides Clown; some were great and some were nuts.
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I had two clown pups back in the day, each out of a different litter. I would have to say both of them were great and well as nuts. Neither were for the faint of heart.
 
JMc said:
I'm going to stir the pot a bit and as many of you have seen, I'm a GSP rescue guy and have had several rescues out hunt high $$$ dogs. I no longer put much stock in genetics. I have had direct decendents of Rawhides Clown; some were great and some were nuts.
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I tend to agree, I've owned several and have spent quite a bit on a couple and hardly anything on others and they're all different. The best dog I ever had I paid $100 for. I think this breed may be the easiest breed to find diamonds in the rough because they can't help but hunt, you just have to figure out how to rein it in a little bit more with some of them.
 
I mean I get it every dog is a gamble you're not guaranteed anything. Some of these breeders are charging insane amounts. But I imagine its very costly to operate and become a reputable breeders. I try to have a cap on what I would spend on purchasing a dog because in the end that's only a fraction of what you are paying in the long run with it. I also think you're increasing your odds of being successful down the road if you dog that has titles in the lineage just to show you that its produced dogs that have went on and done x,y,z. Not to say rescues and mom and pop breeders cant produce a quality hunting dog. You just have a better opportunity of having one from proven breeding.
 
I was at a hunt test this weekend in Missouri and saw several dogs from a well known GSP kennel that I've been told is currently charging $3,000 per pup. Nice looking dogs, but there was nothing magical about the dogs they were running. There are some quality breeders around that produce really nice dogs for a more reasonable fee. There are some breeds that might be more difficult to find a quality pup and therefore can demand a premium but I don't think GSP's are one of them.
 
Yea 3,000 is more than I would be willing to spend 2,000 is probably my cap. Kind of have it narrowed down between shining star kennels, thunder head, and grouse point. I am a bit intimidated about the whole requirement to test the dog but could see myself enjoying it.
 
George said:
Yea 3,000 is more than I would be willing to spend 2,000 is probably my cap. Kind of have it narrowed down between shining star kennels, thunder head, and grouse point. I am a bit intimidated about the whole requirement to test the dog but could see myself enjoying it.
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Don't be intimidated on testing requirements. I'm assuming the requirements are to run a NAVHDA Natural Ability test? If so, the NA test is pretty simple to train for and is something anyone that has a versatile dog should train on. Not saying everyone needs to or should test, but what you train for in prep for the test is a good foundation for any bird dog.
 
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