The perfect dog breed

HUNTIN4FUN said:
Can't beat a GSP in my book. The drive, stamina, tracking ability and personality are top notch. Just so driven to succeed in your eyes and will quit at nothing to do so. Awesome around kids and so smart as well. GSPs for me from here on out.
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AMEN!


Now we could go on and on and have a battle of the dog breed.... but like mentioned above in clear point of view... its whatever fits YOUR personality that you have a preference in a dog. some like britts, some like GSP, some like Labs and some like border terriers... ;), and whatever else dogs that you fall in love with.


I think if Bob had started with GSP, he'd be talking all GSP.. but we woldnt know that unless we have a time machine and make him buy one first and then see what happens. but BOB is downright all for Brittanys and i have nothing against them.

some days when im not hunting. I wish my GSP was sized like the brittany bc they come barreling down the hall way ready to curl up with you on the couch or bed and hit your mommy and daddy button.. and BOY they have an astounding pressure. ;) just talking from experience!

KUDOS!
 
Birdman you should look into a Braque Francais. I have heard them referred to as a "GSP shrunk down to Brittany size"

I'm not trying to have a battle of the dog breeds just trying to find out why people choose the dog they have or have had in the past and what they like about the breed's traits in the field and in the home. Everyone is going to have a different opinion but thats expected. I started this thread so that someone maybe being on the border between picking one breed or another can have an additional resource from which to help them decide. Instead of just reading an article from a magazine where the author just hunted behind a set of dogs, here we have actual owners and breeders where you can hear their opions straight out of the horse's mouth.

I myself have a black lab. Although he isn't directly from a hunting background he still has enough instinct and nose to find me birds and retrieve. He was very easy to train to quarter and a natural retriever. I primarily hunt pheasants but occasionally find a covey or two of quail. Theayo will point if the birds will hold, both pheasant and quail. He is determined to find me a bird for all he wants to do is retrieve them back to me.

This is my ideal image of a lab upland hunting. Being smart enough to know when a bird will hold but still determined to bust through anything to get a bird up for the gun.

Thanks everybody for the responses keep 'em coming!
 
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I really love my Springer. He has an incredible nose, far better than any retriever Iâ??ve owned in the last 25+ years and I much prefer hunting pheasants over a flushing dog. Iâ??ve made a considerable effort over the years to improve my shotgunning to the stage where shooting pheasants that hold tight for a pointing dog just isnâ??t very sporting to me. On the other hand, following a flushing dog as he puzzles out the trail of a running cockbird is the ultimate thrill.

I also love the time I spend training my dogs the finer points of retrieving; both complex marks and blinds. If I had a pointing breed, Iâ??d probably over-train him to the point where the control I instilled could inhibit his focus on finding birds.

Finally, I enjoy the dog games, (hunt tests and field trials). It keeps me entertained the rest of the year that I canâ??t be hunting wild birds. If I had the means to own a lot of land and horses, I know Iâ??d love to run the horseback field trials w/ big running pointers but sadly, thatâ??s probably not going to happen. Spaniel field trials are much more like hunting than either the pointing dog or retriever trials and Iâ??m fortunate to live near a spaniel club that trains almost every Saturday. We take turns planting and shooting pigeons, chukar or pheasants for each other then breast the gamebirds and take them home for pheasant fajitaâ??s or nuggets.

My Springer loves to ride in my canoe and retrieve tennis balls I throw for him w/ a chucker. He naturally stays close when we go camping or fishing and heâ??s a handy size to accompany me in the front seat of my truck on errands and to my office for a few hours on Sundays.

Iâ??ve had several nice labs and a field bred golden that were wonderful gun dogs and companions but for my lifestyle at this point, my Springer is the dog for me.
 
Birdman, You are putting me someplace where you know not of what you speak. My first dog was a Lab, great on ducks but lousy on Upland. Sold him to a duck hunter. Next came my first GSP Brandy Fantastic Dog. He got cold and wet hunting and he developed a cough. It went away when the weather was hot, but cold rainy weather, he went around coughing all the time. Next came Mike, a GSP. He was a good hunter until late in his first season. We were hunting by a lake and he went to retrieve a downed Pheasant. Some guys on the lake seen the weeds move and shot him. He had shot in his head and ears, that were removed. But he was no good for hunting anymore. He would point frogs, mice and what you but not a bird. With my luck running so lousy with GSP's. I then went to Brits and they have been great for me. I only had 1 female that turned out not to be a great hunter. My daughter took her for a house pet and I moved on........Bob
 
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oh bob.. im sorry about your dogs..


i hope you know im just merely giving you a hard time about the GSP and britts. thats all.
 
I'm sorry to hear you had such bad luck with your other breeds in the past, Bob. I'm glad you found Brittanys and seem to have fallen in love with them. I think my next dog will be an American Brittany.
 
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[Birdman quote]"I think if Bob had started with GSP, he'd be talking all GSP."
I was just setting the record straight, I had them most of the 1950's. I should add I have 2 son's with dogs. My eldest son had a GSP Sarge for a number of years, he got stolen. Then came an ESS Danny he had him for while, Len sold him. He then went and got a Brittany Val, the sister to my Tony. My other son had a GSP Panzer, it got old and developed a cancer. He just had him put down. But he has another GSP spoke for in a litter that will ready the middle of May.....Bob
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All breeds have their pluses and minuses. There are so many factors to concider. They must blend with you and how you hunt, where you hunt, so on so forth. There is a best breed for me and its a Field Bred ESS. They do it all for us. Love the flush. Love the speed of the shooting and the dogs. Pointers are great and I have trained a lot of them but I'll take my springers out with me. Its important to make sure the breed fits you.
 
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