The best/worse dog hunting breed??

peterpointinglab said:
Alot of you guys have britts. Tell me what you love about them... They are fastly climbing my bird dog list.
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Sweet, gentle, funny sense of dog humor, friendly, cooperative... Is how I would describe Junie. Also does what a big dog can do with less feed and couch space. She's my first brit, but she is a keeper.
 
peterpointinglab said:
Alot of you guys have britts. Tell me what you love about them... They are fastly climbing my bird dog list.
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I love the fact that he is a medium /smaller dog yet has the power to follow the larger breeds easily. I have friends who run English Setters and he keeps up easily yet when working the insanely thick woodcock cover he slips through like he was a cottontail. At home he can curl up on the couch and then he's quite small but he actually still weighs 43lbs. Little bugger is pure muscle. He is about as attached and happy in the home as I think any dog can be. Get him around water and he thinks he's a frikken Labrador. Last summer at the cottage I turned my back on him then caught him almost 100 yds out in the lake trying to retrieve a seagull. For hunting grouse/woodcock/pheasant a Brittany will never disappoint. Hell get 2 and then you don't need a television they will entertain you enough.
 
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if you are interested in pointers, I think Pointing Dog Journal said it best about the shorthairs.

"If English Pointers and Setters are the High-performance sport cars of the pointing breeds, the German Shorthair is the pick-up truck. It's low-maintenance, reliable as the day is long and it can carry a load."

I have 3 and man are they some smart bird dogs, and boy are they tough. Always trying to keep me happy and be loyal it seems.

Good luck on finding the right dog for you! This is what works for me I guess.
 
peterpointinglab said:
Alot of you guys have britts. Tell me what you love about them... They are fastly climbing my bird dog list.
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Well, I have had Britts for 20 plus years now and I would say loyalty is the most appealing quality. Again like stated earlier, they are not happy unless they are with you. Their size helps too as they can get to places my Lab can't. I also like that they are easy to train. They are a sensitive breed than doesn't take well to heavy handed training or being yelled at. For the most part they work close and retrieve pretty much anywhere the bird drops.

Here is my mom Britt Ellie and her two sons Rufus & Jack in 2009.:)
My lab helped too but was too tired to get out of the kennel. :D

PS. Labs & Britts make a perfect team:thumbsup:
 
I'll stick with my Braque du Bourbonnaise . . . exceptional upland dog & at less than 2 years old & 44#, Hank is devoted, a great house dog & companion, doesn't shed much, no burr magnet, smart, easy to train & quick to learn, goes thru/around/over dense cover like a snake, and is all heart. Doesn't tolerate Arctic conditions for long, but neither do I anymore & we rarely experience such where we live. When I still hunted ducks & uplands, I had Labs, but prefer hunting over a pointing breed now. I will admit that Puds are intriguing, however.
 
Lol.... Ok this thread has gone on long enough, and I've made my decision!!!

ENGLISH SETTERS ARE THE BEST, AND MY SETTER ANDY IS THE BEST OF THE BEST SETTERS!!!! :thumbsup:

LOL...... Just kidding, Andy's got a long way to go, and like I said before......... all breeds have their good and bad, but it boils down to the owner and how he handles his dog and time in the field.......... I'm sticking to my opinion!

All the responses have been great and who knows maybe it will help someone that doesn't have a dog and is thinking about getting one decide what might fit him/her hunting preferences best???? :cheers:
 
peterpointinglab said:
Alot of you guys have britts. Tell me what you love about them... They are fastly climbing my bird dog list.
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my brittboy is 2+ yrs old and 40 lbs. still filling out. he is deseptively strong; what i call wirey strong. high energy and can hunt me into the ground. very smart and totally in the now. he is one of two (the oldest doesn't hunt) and i recommend two so they can spend the day in the back yard burning off that high octane britt energy. they love being part of the family, are always looking for ways to get us to play with them and have the most petable coats of any dog on the planet.
 
Brit

Terry,

That is one fine looking dog. If he hunts as well as he looks you will have a great dog. Good luck with him. I had a liver and white Brit and he turned out to be GREAT Rooster dog. He could track forever and would not let a hit bird get away. I sure miss that boy....

SS
 
terrym said:
I'm on my first bird dog right now and chose a Brittany. I hunt some really thick and nasty cover for woodcock and grouse so the size seemed to make sense to me. Years ago we used to run beagles and those little guys moved through cover as fast as a rabbit so I didn't see the point in having a long legged dog. My pup came from very good field trial lines so when the cover opens up he runs like a jackrabbit on steroids. As for kenneling him, yeah right. This darn dog worships the ground I walk on and is never more than 5 ft from me if I am not at work ( except of course when out in the field hunting or training). Wife wanted nothing to do with getting a dog now she takes him to bed with her. I have never seen an animal so attached to humans, almost strange actually. Little bugger is everything I want in a dog can't see me getting another breed.

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http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/3genview.php?id=3772
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Man that is one good looking dog.
 
There is no best breed. I'll just answer the post to state there are 5 breeds of dogs ID NEVER own for hunting.

1) Pointer - there are some good ones, I just hate this dog, hate is a strong word and I mean it...I do not like their dispositions nor their looks. Id rather own a lap dog than claim to own a pointer.

2) German Short hair - though Ive hunted behind some good ones, just dislike their personalities

3) Golden Retriever

4) Vizsla & 5) Weimaraner for no other reasons than Ive only seen worthless representations of the breed and they are ugly.


I own 2 English Setters and have owned a brittany. Those are the only two breeds Id purposely pay any money for. Id hunt with a lab if it was free but couldnt fathom paying money for one.

Just personal preference.
 
terrym said:
I'm on my first bird dog right now and chose a Brittany. I hunt some really thick and nasty cover for woodcock and grouse so the size seemed to make sense to me. Years ago we used to run beagles and those little guys moved through cover as fast as a rabbit so I didn't see the point in having a long legged dog. My pup came from very good field trial lines so when the cover opens up he runs like a jackrabbit on steroids. As for kenneling him, yeah right. This darn dog worships the ground I walk on and is never more than 5 ft from me if I am not at work ( except of course when out in the field hunting or training). Wife wanted nothing to do with getting a dog now she takes him to bed with her. I have never seen an animal so attached to humans, almost strange actually. Little bugger is everything I want in a dog can't see me getting another breed.

217%20%282%29_zpsc71a767c.jpg


IMG_3112_0909_edited-1-2.jpg


http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/3genview.php?id=3772
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Are you sure that isn't a springer? He's far to hansome to be a Brit.:D:cheers:
 
A REAL bird dog spends time learning about birds, how they think, and what makes them tick.:D

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dog breeds

your list is only partly correct, probably due to limited experience and a closed mind on your part. a springer can be a significant dog and if everybody was smart enough to understand a gsp, there would not be enough of them to go around and the price would go up, good for me, you lose

cheers
 
britts

i know a lot of you guys love your britts, good for your as all dogs need a home. i have been around them for at least 25 years, never owned one but my hunting buddies have and i have seen a lot of them run in various competitions and every one and that is about 60 of them have all been ball droppers and i consider them a low percentage dog. good one's out there, i'm sure they are, just try and find one! i believe that their breeding program has been trying to catch up with the labs and irish setter and it need help. when they do point a bird, if find their high head and cocky posture a delight, problem being, it doesn't happen often enough. we all enjoy our thoughts, those are mine and whatever dog you have keep at it and enjoy

cheers
 
mustistuff said:
your list is only partly correct, probably due to limited experience and a closed mind on your part. a springer can be a significant dog and if everybody was smart enough to understand a gsp, there would not be enough of them to go around and the price would go up, good for me, you lose

cheers
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There must be a reason why the GSP is such a popular breed. I'm actually a big fan of them but wanted a smaller dog in the house and car.
 
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