Upland dog choice

[TylerS]

Wirehairs! Do something different than the same old vanilla.

My GWP Remy has the exact "switch" you speak of. He's a love in the house, cuddles with my wife, is great with kids and visitors, but turns into an absolute bird-finding beast when hunting. Be it grouse, pheasants, ducks, or 15-pound honkers, my little 50-pound Remy finds and retrieves them all.

Plus, you gotta love hunting behind pointers. Nothing else quite like it!

[Todd Caswell]

Wirehairs! Do something different than the same old vanilla.

My GWP Remy has the exact "switch" you speak of. He's a love in the house, cuddles with my wife, is great with kids and visitors, but turns into an absolute bird-finding beast when hunting. Be it grouse, pheasants, ducks, or 15-pound honkers, my little 50-pound Remy finds and retrieves them all.

Plus, you gotta love hunting behind pointers. Nothing else quite like it!

I agree Tyler some day if I ever get over the retriever gsmes and strictly want a gun dog I will own a Wirehair, there was a guy on Nodak that used to post from time to time, he was a Retriever FT pro for many years when he got out of the game he baught a wirehair and told me it was the most naturaly talented gun dog he had ever trained, but told me if you expect them to train and handle like a lab youll be disapointed, but if your looking for an all around gun dog with great natural abilities the wirehair is a great dog. Plus you gotta love the beard...

[raymondk]

if you want a pointer the only real choice would be a britney.

[jjz]

Kyle,

For one cut down on the dummy work if your dog knows the drill, going over it till it gets bored with it is doing you and it no favors. Unless you plan to force fetch, let hunting do the training. Any hunting dog that is average will get more benefit from hunting than training. To me it just sounds like you need to hunt more, the rest will take care of itself. I would just hunt in flusher cover, willows, cattails and heavy stuff, places the birds are concentrated and will allow success without covering tons of ground, but covering it well. My old springer male was similar, got bored with training fast, but once I hunted him a lot and got birds under his belt he has made retrieves I never thought possiable some a full section in distance and 45 minutes to complete. As far as best breed for pheasants, any can be, kinda a ford/chevy thing. You really need to do homework on the parents, that is more important than anything on how the pups turn out. For burs shave him down and very closely trim the fur in and around the paws if his feet are fuzzy, sand burs and ice balls love fuzzy feet.

Good Luck

[Kyhl]

For all of the GSP lovers,

How do you deal with the hyperactivity? I have multiple friends who have them, and I have read quite a bit about them, and I get the same picture...I also hear they never stop hunting, and that they are unreal hunters, but just like someone else said previously our dogs hunt maybe 3-4 months/year. For the other 8 months, I wonder how the average working person can deal with the energy levels of this breed?

It's not that bad. The trick is excersize. A tired dog is a good dog. That means physical or mental.

Hit the off leash park a couple times a week. Three or four while they are pups. If you are in the south metro, join the southern MN pointer club and train him weekly through the summer. That gives them both mental and physical training. Plus you get to fill your freezer with quail.

That hard part is in the depths of winter. That thin coat was not meant to be out in zero degree weather. I find mental stimulation works good in the winter. Hide a dummy or wing in the house and let them find and retrieve it.

Or occasional obedience training in the living room, heeling, whoaing, right, left, back, etc.

Anythign that gives them some work, physical or mental, will calm them down.

[Kyle]

Todd,

Obviously you are a big fan of the Lab. I know quite a few people that have labs, and they have all said that labs are great once they are trained but training/breaking a lab is a nightmare...Growing up I had always read and heard that labs and GR's are easy to train. I think my GR was pretty easy to train. Whats your take on this?

[rundrave]

For all of the GSP lovers,

How do you deal with the hyperactivity? I have multiple friends who have them, and I have read quite a bit about them, and I get the same picture...I also hear they never stop hunting, and that they are unreal hunters, but just like someone else said previously our dogs hunt maybe 3-4 months/year. For the other 8 months, I wonder how the average working person can deal with the energy levels of this breed?

[Todd Caswell]

Todd,

Obviously you are a big fan of the Lab. I know quite a few people that have labs, and they have all said that labs are great once they are trained but training/breaking a lab is a nightmare...Growing up I had always read and heard that labs and GR's are easy to train. I think my GR was pretty easy to train. Whats your take on this?

Kyle,

Your right I am a lab fan, never owned another breed, I have had black s, yellow's and still have a 12 year old choco. More importanly I believe a retriever is the best all around gun dog for the average hunter. Will a retriever be able to keep up with a springer in a pheasant field all day long? most likely not but I can almost guess that the best trained Springer will not be able to handle like a finely tuned lab on a 300 yard blind either.

Getting back to your queastion about Labs, I'm lucky and get the chance to run, train, judge and watch all the retriever breeds (labs, goldens, chesse's, Irish water Spanials, Tollers ect.) .

And a well bred lab is very easy to train for the average hunter. And as with any breed the "WELL BRED " part comes into play alot.. Marking, trainability, and wanting to a team player are the three most important to me.

Goldens can be very easy to train as well there are just ALOT less quality litters out the to choose from, and I could never afford a puppy from one of those.

[FCspringer]

Grew up with 30 plus years of owning several Labs, German short hairs and some other misfits. For about 20 years now the Field bred English Springer Spaniel has my devotion till death do us part. Just simply cant beat the drive, bird finding, house hold pal, and train-ability for me. The last breath I take from here on out will be with one at my side. Never another again. Period, I love em.

[raymondk]

Picked up a 5 month old britney had the thing for a total of 10 days (It had no training before I got it) Took less then a day to house train and a total of 5 days in the field it retieved a bird to my hand and hunts better then some dogs years older then it.I have some more work to do but this is why my pick would be a britney.

[STMA_I_HUNTER]

GWP for me!

I have only owned GSP or GWP but hunt with a bunch of guys with labs. While they have the duck dogs, I would not trade them for the field ability of the GWP & GSP's I have owned.

It never fails to get a comment from one of the group(lab owners) about how enjoyable and exciting it is to see that dog lock up on point.

As far as the nose, there are many times the labs go right past a spot and my GWP comes along and finds a bird (in fact quite a few just this past weekend).

With the longer hair, I actually trim my dog down some and do not get the issues with burs or tangles.

[CaptainMusky]

Do GSP's have energy? YUP! I have personally owned 4 from all different breeding stock over the last 25 years. Each one had different characteristics, but only ONE would I consider hyper.

I will admit as the years have progressed and having kids and a busy job my time with the dogs have decreased dramatically so they get out less and less BUT, I can say that I have never had an issue with any of my GPS's tearing things apart due to hyperactivity.

My dogs are and always will be an outside dog. GSP's are very friendly, but those who have said that their #1 instinct is to hunt are 100% correct. They dont necessarily want to come and sit by you, they want to find something.

I have had springers and labs in the past and out of all the dogs I had the springer was far and away the most aggressive and hyper out of ANY dog. He basically killed my elderly GSP because he would always pick fights with him.

GSP's that I have had over the years are very protective, but dont annoyingly bark. My dogs only bark if there is something seriously wrong, like the Scwann's man in the driveway. LOL

My neighbors didnt even know we had dogs because they never heard them bark, I said thats a mark of a good dog (they had labs).

If I let my dog in the house, he would run and sit on the couch and probably lay there all day.

The second he is put outside or out of the kennel he runs.

Just because a dog runs when its out doesnt mean its hyper. I really dont get the mentality that some seem to think about GSP's.

For me upland hunting doesnt have the same experience unless its behind a pointing dog of some kind. I prefer shorter hair so I dont have to deal with burrs etc so that elimates the hair options.

There was a time I could walk all day and never see another GSP, but now, many people have them. That doesnt mean they are the best option for everyone, but I will probably never own anything different.

[mcne0101]

For all of the GSP lovers,

How do you deal with the hyperactivity? I have multiple friends who have them, and I have read quite a bit about them, and I get the same picture...I also hear they never stop hunting, and that they are unreal hunters, but just like someone else said previously our dogs hunt maybe 3-4 months/year. For the other 8 months, I wonder how the average working person can deal with the energy levels of this breed?

Do you genuinely enjoy running/walking your dog? If not, do not get a GSP. My Shorthair is the perfect house dog, super mellow and cuddles with my wife. That said we run him two hours a day, when I get home from work that's my stress relief; I love it. That said if it feels more like a "chore" to you then it isn't sustainable and you and the dog will be frustrated. I wouldn't call it hyperactivity, I just say you cant have it both ways. All that hunting drive/instinct has to have an outlet, they can't just bury it for 8 months.

If you want a dog that will "go for days" then you'll have to accept that they'll want to "go for days" in the off-season and during off days. Just like a human there isn't a breed out there that can "go for days" if they are out of shape.

[gspman]

They key to good dog behavior is exercise. A tired dog is a good dog.

[muskE]

If you love the breed and don't have time to condition one, why not get a second and play the "bench" by rotating dogs through the day? They will play and compete in the off-season which will make conditioning easier.

I had a lab and a goldie at the same time and my goldie was a better field dog overall as the lab didn't understand limits well and kept trying to bust in front. The goldie would quarter about 20 yards and found more shootable birds. The lab was a get to business dog while the goldie sometimes would weigh his options before getting in the truck. Both, however, were all business when the tailgate dropped.

But I guess there's a bigger question; Can you keep up all day?

[CaptainMusky]

But I guess there's a bigger question; Can you keep up all day?

Isnt that the truth!

[Rick]

I've pheasant hunted over them all. A lot of breeds will get the job done for you just fine.

If you are hunting pheasants you won't find a better breed for it than a field bred Springer Spaniel

and the English Cocker spaniel will surprise you as well.

[chasineyes]

Quote:

Do you genuinely enjoy running/walking your dog? If not, do not get a GSP. My Shorthair is the perfect house dog, super mellow and cuddles with my wife

+1

We got our 3 year old GSP in March and so far she is a treat. Not hyper at all. She is a house dog but we throw the dummy daily, take her for runs by the river and the kids take her for walks. It's not nearly as bad as I imagined. I'm guessing a 1 year old might be a little different.

[401TE]

Field bred springers look almost identical to a brittany, except for the ears from what I've seen. They are basically a brittany except they don't point. Same energy level, same size for the most part. At least that's what I found in my research. I wanted a dog that would point and would fit nicely in a boat, so I got a brit. Very happy with my choice. She's outhunted every dog I've had her around so far, including labs, springers and english pointers. Incredibly smart dog with a personality. Only drawback is I'm hoping she chills out around the house in the next year. She's 21 months and still has a lot of puppy energy in the house. Her mom and dad were very laid back when I visited the breeder, so I expect that will come with age.

[Rick]

There are two types of springers - Bench Bred (Conformation) and Field Bred (Hunting)

Springers are not basically Brittanys. Other than coloring I don't think they look alike any more than an English Pointer looks like a larger version of Britanny. A Brittany is a small pointer. Nice dogs for sure.

It's well known pheasants run and that's where a flusher (Springer Spaniel) comes in handy.

Normal Labs are usually outstanding at taking out a runner. They're bred for duck hunting and their noses and my bird mentaility lead them into being good pheasant dogs as well.

Field Bred Springers are bred primarily to hunt pheasant in the USA and rabbits as well in the UK. They're also good with birds that hold tight, but that is where pointers shine.

Pheasant hunting and running birds are where a Springer shines. They're fast with good noses. They quarter the field using the wind... they're especially good going downwind (wind at your back). With a downwind or crossing downwind often times they will wind a bird and drive them right back to you or at least into the wind.

With their speed they can take a runner out quick and flush in range.

Simply put, field bred Springers were bred to take out running birds quickly like no other breed.

[LABS4ME]

As a Lab guy, I can attest to the Springers ability in the field... I aquired Cory this spring, a 10 year old, retired trial dog, I believe he has never hunted grouse, well he figured them out! all the while hunting like a 3 year old dog... you'd never guess he is in his senior years!

Now onto roosters! I haven't had a chance to get out yet this season, but always do quite a bit of late season hunting... He'll be in heaven when we go out on our annual SoDak trip... and I am really looking forward to watching him work! That to me is 80% of the joy of the hunt... watching a good dog unravel roosters! In all my years of hunting, I have never tired of watching those scenes play out.

url=http://fishingminnesota.com/forum/file/userpics/2012/10/full-357-25720-cory.jpg]

I will always have a Lab, I have been really happy with my field bred American Cocker, and now I have a penchant for a well bred Springer. I guess once a flusher guy... always a flusher guy! Trust me these spaniels are every bit as beautiful quartering a field as a pointer!

Good Luck!

Ken

[401TE]

Springers are not basically Brittanys. Other than coloring I don't think they look alike any more than an English Pointer looks like a larger version of Britanny. A Brittany is a small pointer. Nice dogs for sure.

It's well known pheasants run and that's where a flusher (Springer Spaniel) comes in handy.

Field Bred Springers are bred primarily to hunt pheasant in the USA and rabbits as well in the UK. They're also good with birds that hold tight, but that is where pointers shine.

Pheasant hunting and running birds are where a Springer shines. They're fast with good noses. They quarter the field using the wind... they're especially good going downwind (wind at your back). With a downwind or crossing downwind often times they will wind a bird and drive them right back to you or at least into the wind.

With their speed they can take a runner out quick and flush in range.

Simply put, field bred Springers were bred to take out running birds quickly like no other breed.

The field bred springers I've seen, including the picture Labs posted, are smaller dogs with facial features, coloring, and coat very similar to a Brit.

As far as how they work a field, what you're describing sounds a lot like how my Brit and the others I have seen work pheasants, except a Brit will point a bird that holds tight. Similar energy level and speed from what I've seen, too.

Not that any of this stuff really matters, though. Field bred springers, Brits, labs, English Setters and Pointers, GSP's, etc. all get the job done in their own way if given the opportunity and appropriate training.

[RangerJack]

There are two types of springers - Bench Bred (Conformation) and Field Bred (Hunting)

Springers are not basically Brittanys. Other than coloring I don't think they look alike any more than an English Pointer looks like a larger version of Britanny. A Brittany is a small pointer. Nice dogs for sure.

It's well known pheasants run and that's where a flusher (Springer Spaniel) comes in handy.

Normal Labs are usually outstanding at taking out a runner. They're bred for duck hunting and their noses and my bird mentaility lead them into being good pheasant dogs as well.

Field Bred Springers are bred primarily to hunt pheasant in the USA and rabbits as well in the UK. They're also good with birds that hold tight, but that is where pointers shine.

Pheasant hunting and running birds are where a Springer shines. They're fast with good noses. They quarter the field using the wind... they're especially good going downwind (wind at your back). With a downwind or crossing downwind often times they will wind a bird and drive them right back to you or at least into the wind.

With their speed they can take a runner out quick and flush in range.

Simply put, field bred Springers were bred to take out running birds quickly like no other breed.

Rick, I couldn't agree more. My springer can handle any rooster that decides to run. Everybody says hunt with the wind in your face, but I hunt with the wind to my back or perpendicular to the wind. That way my springer flushes the birds right in front of me, offering me excellent shots. I rarely have birds fly away from me, usually they come right towards me.

My vote goes for the field bred springer. I have 10 pups that will be ready by Christmas by the way.

good luck.

[gspman]

If I wanted a flusher a trial bred springer would be for me. Love the speed, drive, and windshield wiper pattern. Have to keep all that drive under control with a lot of consistent training though.

If it's a pointing dog it is a trial bred gsp, pointer, or setter. Once again, you have to keep all that drive under control with a lot of consistent training.

If you can't tell, I like a dog that has a ton of drive and runs like it's hair is on fire.

[gunmunky]

I've hunted upland game with labs, spaniels, and pointers. But IMHO my current dog will be the only breed I get from now on. A standard poodle. She is 68lbs and the perfect dog for me. Extremely smart and can go from full blast to laying at my side instantly. I think they get looked over on how good they really are, IMHO. A BIG plus is no shedding!