Uncommon bird dogs

How do they handle cold water? My shorthair is finished with water after early teal season.
This is the first one I’ve had, I’ve got 2 chesapeakes to. Night and day difference, the Boykin comes out a wet rat. People duck hunt them though. That’s what they were bred for. They are not going to break ice for sure.
 
We hunt with Labs, which I'm glad of. Hardy as hell, very biddable, always ready to hunt, no long hair to catch burrs, great water retrievers and swamp busters. A few years ago my wife wanted a Boykin so we went to a well known breeder in Wisconsin and brought home a beautiful little dark chocolate brown Boykin female. She was the most athletic dog I've ever seen! Bouncy, energy to burn, a 28 lb. bundle of fire, and drop-dead cute. BUT...her nose was only so-so and she was a less-than- accomplished swimmer, plus, when we took her to the field, she was a barker...wound up being a a coddled house pet; died at 4 years old after multiple surgeries to remove rocks she swallowed.....
 
I grew up with labs and love them. We didn’t hunt with ours tho. Sorry to hear that about the boykin, that’s rough.
 
I can’t keep my Boykin out of the water. He’s a swimming fool. Lives to retrieve. We duck hunted AZ last year so no ice but cold water didn’t seem to phase him.
 
My Munsterlanders don't seem to care about cold water either. I'm not a duck hunter but they've been in some cold water. Extremely cold temps pheasant hunting they could care less about too. I was in SD in January a few years ago and the warmest it got the whole week was 8 degrees. She would whine a little bit when we took a break for 10 minutes, probably because she was cold standing there but once moving she could care less. Supposedly they have hollow hair, like labs, so I assume that helps their insulation. They have webbed toes like a lab too.
 
My Munsterlanders don't seem to care about cold water either. I'm not a duck hunter but they've been in some cold water. Extremely cold temps pheasant hunting they could care less about too. I was in SD in January a few years ago and the warmest it got the whole week was 8 degrees. She would whine a little bit when we took a break for 10 minutes, probably because she was cold standing there but once moving she could care less. Supposedly they have hollow hair, like labs, so I assume that helps their insulation. They have webbed toes like a lab too.
Labs have halo hair interesting.
 
Labs have halo hair interesting.
That's what I've always heard. A quick Google search didn't yield much for me in way of facts one way or the other, maybe it's an old wives tale haha but I've always been told that (I had labs when I was a kid).
 
I hunt with a small, brown Boston Terrier! He will be 9 years old in January, we hunt doves, ducks, geese, blue grouse, quail, and our favorite, pheasants. He especially shines in a pheasant field, zig zagging between a couple of hunters. He doesn't point but tracks and flushes as good as a real hunting dog, dare I say BETTER than most "real" hunting dogs. Here's a couple pics of him. We usually get 20 to 25 roosters per year in Colorado on public WIA Land.
 

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Is he tough on birds? I talked to a guy one day, said he pheasant hunts with a jack Russell. He said the dog was an awesome bird finder, but if he shot a bird he'd try and get it before the dog, because he really chewed them up!
 
Nice try Rat, I once had a six legged Boston, fastest dog in the county. Only thing that slowed him up was putting his waders on.
 
I have a young Vizsla that turns 2 next week. He's my 3rd and hopefully not my last.
 
Sadly my Weims are way less common in the field then I believe they should be. I don't see them as rare because I have hunted behind them for 40 years. Often behind multiple dogs. Back in the late 80's we often had 4 or 5 going.

Perfect dogs for most of the marginal ground I hunt.
 
Hunted with guy once whose dog was a small Jack Russell named PD for pocket dog - small enough for a coat pocket. With his short legs he stayed close but aggressively went through cattails with the owner urging him on with "get that bird, PD." If nothing else, it was amusing.
 
I hunted with a guy who used a german sheperd. That dog didn't have a great nose, but he flushed and retrieved birds. Crazy .
 
Hunted with guy once whose dog was a small Jack Russell named PD for pocket dog - small enough for a coat pocket. With his short legs he stayed close but aggressively went through cattails with the owner urging him on with "get that bird, PD." If nothing else, it was amusing.
Jack Russell lol
 
Is he tough on birds? I talked to a guy one day, said he pheasant hunts with a jack Russell. He said the dog was an awesome bird finder, but if he shot a bird he'd try and get it before the dog, because he really chewed them up!
I once had a monkey who hunted pheasant. That thing was incredible...
 
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