Picking a new pointer puppy

Hunted over a well- trained pointing Lab today, she was great! No style points however. My French Brittany made some stylish points, but not quit the retriever yet. She will be though.
 
matto said:
As long as the breeder is truthful about the dog's ancestry,
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There's the rub. I never saw a breeder selling "pointing Labs" with a whip tail that stood straight up who showed a pedigree that was anything but purebred Labrador.

Sure, outcrosses happen all the time. The 97 flavors of "doodle" being a great example. At least the doodle folks are honest enough to name the outcross.

<edit>

In fact this was a topic on the board back on Oct 24, 2021. I said then I didn't have a problem if the guy was honest.

Chestle said:
He’s still breeding and selling “America’s Versatile Gundog" on his website.

$800 if you are the adventurous type

Link:

Rocky Mountain Kennels Home of the Wesslpointer

wesslpointer.com

I guess he has a dream and has gone after it. Good for him.

I think I’ll just stick to Labradors.
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In my completely unscientific opinion, a "pointing lab" will never be a pointer like the versatile breeds previously mentioned. No matter how much breeding, training, etc happens. At least not for many, many years of man tinkering with breeding pairs.

To the OPs original question, make sure you pick a breed that will fit you and your needs. GSPs for example have a tendency to be very high strung, which is great for hunting but if you want a house dog as well as a hunting pal, may not be the best fit. Brittany's on the other hand, see to make great house dogs, but are a little small for my liking. Again, all comes down to what you want and the pros and cons you can live with.

Small Munsterlanders on the other hand, are completely flawless and I'll die on that hill 😂
 
Munster927 said:
In my completely unscientific opinion, a "pointing lab" will never be a pointer like the versatile breeds previously mentioned. No matter how much breeding, training, etc happens. At least not for many, many years of man tinkering with breeding pairs.

To the OPs original question, make sure you pick a breed that will fit you and your needs. GSPs for example have a tendency to be very high strung, which is great for hunting but if you want a house dog as well as a hunting pal, may not be the best fit. Brittany's on the other hand, see to make great house dogs, but are a little small for my liking. Again, all comes down to what you want and the pros and cons you can live with.

Small Munsterlanders on the other hand, are completely flawless and I'll die on that hill 😂
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The OP never mentioned anyting about a house dog.
 
Guys I appreciate everyone’s responses. I believe I’ve made up my mind, I’m going to stay with labs and utilize them as flushers. I personally don’t get into the whole pointing lab thing. I don’t discount them, I just stuck with the field trial lines as that’s what I’ve had success with and also what I love studying. I hope everyone has a happy thanksgiving
 
I run a pheasant hunting business so I have seen a lot of dohgs. The best retrieving dog I ever saw was my Deutsch Drahthaar. Of c ourse I am prejudiced and I saw him a lot but he was an amazing retriever with an amazing nose.
 
So after only 2 days of asking for advice on picking a pointing breed, you’re going back to a flusher? This was time well spent.
Good luck.
 
After 2 days of also speaking to people off of this forum I realized that all the things I want a pointing dog out of a pointing dog outside of pointing are things my labs do very well. I grew up with my grandpa’s English setters he quail hunted with and hunted with a few pointers since then. I’m not a stranger to them, I’m looking for a utility type dog. I think trading off for a flusher and possibly keeping a pup out of one of my own labs would be special. I think most could understand that.
 
matto said:
Now I'll jump into the pointing lab debate, or rather, possibly derail this thread.

I've never understood this point of view, except as it pertains to a "truth in advertising" ethic. The breeds we have today were ALL created by mix-n-match breeding, at least until we decided that "breed" was a thing and that we shouldn't mix breeds anymore. Years ago were they better at it than we could be? Is there some sort of fundamental problem with the creation of new breeds? As long as the breeder is truthful about the dog's ancestry, who's to say that a careful breeder of GSP/Lab mixes couldn't produce a line of dogs that some hunters find absolutely perfect for their needs? Or any other combination of currently recognized breeds.

As a breed, the Boykin Spaniel is less than 100 years old and has this exact history: a hodgepodge of dogs selected for certain traits and then refined into some degree of consistency to meet a specific set of needs.

I'd bet that at some point AKC will recognize labradoodle and golden doodle as breeds. And who knows what other variety of "doodle".
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Labra- friggin-doodle?
The originator of this abomination stated he is sad he ever cross bred. He was trying to get a hypoallergenic dog for one particular customer, from this playing of God gave the others, Winky-poos, Mini-poos, and other"boutique" dogs there start.
These types are rife with genetic abnormalities, breathing issues, gait problems, all so humans can be " the first on their block"
 
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