The best/worse dog hunting breed??

H

Hunter1971

New member
Is there really a best or worse hunting breed? Or is it just personal preferance, or a opinion based on a one time experience with another persons hunting dog or an personal experience with a particular breed?

For me, I think all of them have their good and bad, but I also think it has to do with the owner more than anything.

When I was 11 years old my parents moved me from Montana to Utah for my Dad's job. I loved Montana and hated to go, but my parents promised me to buy me a hunting dog, that's what I always wanted! Well money was tight so one day my dad came home with a mixed puppy, it was half lab and half sheep dog, mostly all black with a little white on her chest. She was built and looked like a lab for the most part. It made no difference to me at all!! I spent every day during the summer with her and everyday after school chasing the pheasants in fields behind our house. (this was before there were laws about this) By the time I turned 12 she was finding birds like crazy, and she was truly getting on top of her game! I would tell my dad how good she was and he mostly just shrugged me off, but then the opening weekend of pheasant hunting came up and me and my dad followed my "mutt" and she was on fire!! She already knew all the fields we were hunting and she probably knew all the birds we were shooting. My dad was very, very impressed with her!!! For the rest of that season and the seasons that came my dad would take his friends from work with us and every one of them were very impressed as well. My dad's favorite time were when he had the day off from work and I had to go to school so he had solo time with my dog just so he could glout when I got home from school and seen his birds for the day!! Sometimes we hunted with Vizlas, Shorthairs, and other labs and my dog would still get the praise. The last time I saw her was after I took some High School friends hunting after sluffing school with some other kids from different schools. I came out to leave for a Saturday morning pheasant hunt and she was gone! :( Never seen her again! Most certainly the best pheasant dog I've ever owned to date!! I'll always miss the frantic tails of a lab when they are scenting a pheasant because of my first dog Sugar and her pup she had before she left me.

My point is, I don't think there is just one overall best breed!! I think it's a hunters preference and most of all how much time you spend with your dog doing the things you want to do with that dog!!! As much exposure as possible!!!

I've hunted with friends that have had all types of different breeds. I've hunted over very good Pointers, GSH, Brittneys, Labs, and other breeds, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed them all, and still do!

My preference is an English Setter, and I love the way they look on point! I'm hoping that Andy can become my best ever bird dog that I've ever had, I think Andy's well on his way to compete with the previous mentioned dog I had when I was young. I'll put up Andy's pedigree against anybodies, he's breed to be a top notch hunting dog. Does that mean anything?? I don't know, I'm hoping to find out. I'm trying to do my part!! :thumbsup:

I also don't think it's right to insult a hunter because of the breed he hunts with or prefers! It's too personal coming from someone that doesn't know your dog or the hunter as a person! Once you know the person and have the kind of relationship that allows taunting and joking then the games are on!! :laugh:.... Yes English Setters are the best!!! :cool:
 
I've kenneled 4 different breeds in my time as a bird hunter. I had a black lab back in HS for duck hunting. I'd been brainwashed until then and was convinced that "labs aren't for upland game", so I never tried him in the upland fields. I regret it now. I thoroughly enjoyed hunting behind a farm-dog/yellow lab a few years later and only then, realized my mistake. I ended up giving him to a very close friend that duck/goose hunted every w/e like my family hunted upland.

Grampa raised Brits, and had a couple of GSP's. He had a GSP male that climbed the fence in the middle of the night and impregnated a brit female. Both dogs were stellar. Grampa said, "Dammit, you know we're going to have to put those cross-bred pups down when they're born!" At 12 years old I wasn't having any of that. I took all 4 of the pups that survived. We sold 2 and kept 2. One ended up being a newspaper fetching machine (excellent house-dog; didn't like the gun). The other became the best bird dog I've ever had. Granted, he got to see a lot more birds than the dogs I have now, so that was his advantage. He couldn't cover the ground that my current GSP or last Brit could....not sure why.

In conclusion, I will continue to try different breeds. No man can say that one breed is better than all others unless he truly has hunted with multiple examples of each breed.....that could take a guy awhile and he'd have to have a LOT of contacts. I've stated before and surely will again that if I could change my handle on this site, I'd change it to Motley Crew. I prefer a mixed-bag of birds when hunting and I've found that I prefer a mixed-kennel of dogs to hunt with. GSP's, Brits, GWP's, Viszlas, Labs, I like them all. I've never had the opportunity to hunt behind a setter. Maybe after Setternut spends some time with me and my boys on the baseball diamond this spring he'll let us hunt behind his setters next fall;)
 
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A well bred dog with lots of drive, lots of bird exposure, lots of hunting and is around the owner as much as possible is probably going to shine.

Best pheasant dog I've seen to date was my chessie. He would hunt fur and feather but that dog hunted A LOT! We were out at least 3 days a week hunting something. Was my only dog at the time so he was a jack of all trades.
 
I kind of like Setters. Yep, Setters are clearly the best :D

You find good dogs in all breeds and you find some clunkers as well.
The owner can make them better or worse, depending on how much they get the dog into birds, and if they have a clue what they are doing or not.
 
I've been afield in the uplands with the following breeds: GSP, vizla, Chesapeake Bay retriever, Brittany, Lab, Welsh springer, and English springer. The Brittanys were the best and that is all I have had - two brits.
 
dog breeds

somehow my last thoughts on the subject got lost, maybe it is age or i just pushed the wrong button. as far as the post from hunter1971, you don't have to worry about insulting a guy that hunts setters, just don't think it can be done. what's a good breed of dog for hunting, one that pleases you at the end of the day, palooka's come in all breeds and all breeds have problems, whether or not they have more problems than their owners/trainers, probably not. read lots and lots before you decide and find one that matches your style or dream or a hunting dog, some dogs are high percentage dogs and some are not. meaning if you are not up to speed yourself, you will never get the dog there whether he is johnny crocket, moseguard, snakefoot or panther. strange names? you are not reading enough. some have a large list of known health problems. in any event, you can read the dog only so many books and then you will have to hunt it, a dog with plenty of time in the field will shine in spite of most owners, enjoy
 
my neighbor,when i was a kid, about 1968,in indiana ,had english pointers.
the big male ,the good one, was named Doc.
"real bird dogs must live outside,it ruins them having them inside" he told me.
i think many won't agree nowadays
There's no opinion assciated with that description only that the old bird dogs should probaly come out of our memories and be enshrined on the electronic "wall of fame".
i remember him working with the dog with a fishing pole and a quail wing in the back yard and thinking how cool that must be to have a dog that would find the birds for you,like a mine detector or metal detector.
for me it's 4 brittanies, a lab, and a braque du bourbonnais(the present dog)
i would say the lab was the most user friendly,but they've all had different attributes.
arguably ,the best brittany i had was a rescue. a male that had been professionally trained and iguess you say broke hard that had to be re-programmed.there's an old picture ,i should probably figure out how to scan it ,load etc.
 
bird dogs

have only seen one braque in my life and he was tied up while we were fishing, maybe that's all he had, dont' know, the owner love him anyway. don't hear of see much of them
 
English dogs are the best but not those foo foo setters or ugly pointers, no.:D A big wide chested, knot head springer. The one you think will drive you mad chasing jack rabbits into the next county is the one. The one who comes back after a day of hunting with his muzzle raw and ears bleeding because he hunts the cover other dogs care not to and begs for more of the same. He is the one, the finest bird dog in the land (and best looking as well)!:thumbsup::D:cheers:
 
quail hound said:
English dogs are the best but not those foo foo setters or ugly pointers, no.:D A big wide chested, knot head springer. The one you think will drive you mad chasing jack rabbits into the next county is the one. The one who comes back after a day of hunting with his muzzle raw and ears bleeding because he hunts the cover other dogs care not to and begs for more of the same. He is the one, the finest bird dog in the land (and best looking as well)!:thumbsup::D:cheers:
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You made me think of "Priss", my Springer of past years. She would end a day of hunting with eyes swolen almost shut, raw nose and foot pads and ready to do it again tomarrow.
 
brittboy said:
You made me think of "Priss", my Springer of past years. She would end a day of hunting with eyes swolen almost shut, raw nose and foot pads and ready to do it again tomarrow.
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They are gluttons for punishment but they hunt that kind of cover because thats where the birds are.:cheers:
 
pointshoot said:
"real bird dogs must live outside,it ruins them having them inside" he told me.
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My grandfather always claimed the same thing. In fact, the dog I kept from the litter of cross-breeds was raised inside. Grampa told me repeatedly that if there was a chance that cross-bred dog would've hunted, I'd ruined it by letting it live in the house! God Bless the Old' man, but he was wrong that time:cheers:
 
Dogs in general are the best friends we have! Remember the saying of put your dog and wife in the trunk of your car and drive around for an hour , then open the trunk and see which one is happy to see you??????:cheers:
 
I have owned labs and shorthairs. I can honestly say any dog that was given lots of opportunities in the field turned out fine! They all seem to hunt a bit different, in style, range and enthusiasm, but give them birds as a young dog and they all turned out fantastic!

My best pheasant dog may have been my first one...trained by a 12 year old and the reason that dog was so good was because she saw more wild birds than any other dog I have owned has seen since. She was a $250 newspaper dog with no titles for 6 generations, but she blossomed more because of nurture than nature.

Birds=Bird Dogs...It can be simple if we allow it to be.
 
Guys the dog only has to please one person and that is the one who feeds it. That is a direct quote from my dad to my son opening day of kansas pheasant season 2012. Buck Quincy has raised some of the finest find me dogs I ever hunted. Breeds mean nothing to him. He just gave them time and hunted them. Breeds don't matter, only thing that matters is your commitment to be with them. My best bird dog right now is my wires foot warmer cocked spaniel. Best breed is the one your loving and feeding.
 
Ok how about ugliest hunting dogs?

I know they aren't bird dogs but damn those walker hounds are funny looking :D and whats up with the hair doos on those wire haired breeds right?:cheers:
 
Here's a trick answer for you...

Best breed: Labs. Loyal, friendly, forgiving to train, good in the house, low maintenance, would rather die than disappoint you. They are like a multitool, able to hunt anything anywhere. Their #1 mission is retrieving the shot game, which is arguably the most important function of a hunting dog.

Worst breed: Labs. Bad breeders, health problems, overweight suburban lawn art. Slow, no drive, waste of dog food...

All true.:nutz:
 
kansasbrittany said:
My grandfather always claimed the same thing. In fact, the dog I kept from the litter of cross-breeds was raised inside. Grampa told me repeatedly that if there was a chance that cross-bred dog would've hunted, I'd ruined it by letting it live in the house! God Bless the Old' man, but he was wrong that time:cheers:
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No truth to this old saw about keeping dogs out of the house. I believe the opposite is true. The more time you spend with a dog the more that dog wants to please, obey, and perform for you. My Brits have been so wonderful to have in the house, why miss out on that? I tried mostly outdoor kenneling on my first Brit and he howled with loneliness, he wanted to be with me so badly, and paced like a jungle cat. Could not bear doing that to him and gave up on it.
 
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BritChaser said:
I've been afield in the uplands with the following breeds: GSP, vizla, Chesapeake Bay retriever, Brittany, Lab, Welsh springer, and English springer. The Brittanys were the best and that is all I have had - two brits.
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I second that with a Lab in the mix as well.;)
 
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