Breed question

[92python]

Lost my best friend yesterday. Had to put down my hunting / fishing partner because of arthritis. He was a 10 year old Lab.

I can go on and on about what a great dog he was but I won't. What I need to do is start looking into what breed of dog I should look into.

I am allergic to dogs but I deal with it as best I can. I build up a tolerance to them and take allergy medicine.

Have owned 2 Chessies and a Lab. The Lab was fantastic as a hunter, fisher and most of all member of the family. The only negative was the shedding. He shed way more than the Chessies.

Temperment wise I had one good experience with a Chessie, one bad. Neither one was as good of a hunter as the Lab. Both were very loyal and liked to gather up my shoes and guard them.

I mostly hunt grouse and ducks. Nothing too extreme with the ducks. Mostly early stuff in MN. I have 2 small children. This will be an inside dog.

I guess I am looking for something like a small Lab that doesn't shed too much.

Any opinions?

[irvingdog]

"HONEST TRUTH"

One of the better dogs I've hunted over, and certainly one of the best temperments, was a standard poodle with a normal haircut. These are the original water dog (pudel is German for water). Strong. Beautiful physique. Rock solid rugged. Smart as the day is long. Also, very stereo-typed because of the yipping little cousin, the toy and teacup poodles. Why do I bring this up? Because they are Hypoallergenic. THEY WILL NOT TRIGGER YOUR ALLERGIES UNLESS YOUR ARE ALLERGIC TO HAIR AS WELL AS FUR! Do a search engine for "Hunting Poodles".

It is my next dog. I dare to be different. You only go around once.

[Wild Willie]

92python - Sorry to hear about your loss. With every sad ending there is always the hope of a happy new beginning. I made the decision seven months ago to add a new puppy to our family. It had been many years since I owned a hunting dog. The time was right as my two young sons wanted a dog to grow up with. I personally had always wanted to get back into upland bird hunting and it seemed like just the right time. I'm glad we made the emotional and financial investment in our new faithful friend and life long companion.

I choose the Brittany breed of dog for a couple of different reasons. Positives: They are great family dogs. Eager to please and will respond to all family members. They are extremely social and have a gentle soft nature which makes them easy to train. Extremely intelligent and quick to learn. They are medium sized maxing out at about 21 inches tall, 21 inches long and 32-36 lbs in weight. I like the style of pointing dogs. Britt's are natural pointers that will faithfully retrieve with minimum amount of training effort. The ones I have hunted with are extremely serious and focused when they take to the field. I plan on making many successful pheasant trips for years to come. I am told they also make great grouse dogs as well and I plan on getting into take this year. Negatives: Some have been known to be too hyper. You just need to be careful about where your pup comes from. Get to know the breeder and the history and personality traits of both the sire and the dam.

Good luck with your search. I seriously believe that any great gun dog is a true reflection of just how much love and attention its owner has invested into its development regarding obedience, socialization and field time!

[Swamp Scooter]

92python. I have had in the past and had great luck with the Vizsla as a great breed. Great with the family, only one coat of hair, excellent in the field for land and water. Medium sized too. I will have to get another one again in a couple of years as a replacement too.

Very sorry to hear about your loss. It helped me to switch breeds after having to put a dog down. Easier to appreciate the new one and not compare to the old one.

[Canuck]

92python: Real sorry for your loss. I totally relate as we lost our best friend last Sept 26 very suddenly after only 10 1/2 yrs. She made our house a HOME. Piper was the one who greeted everybody with tail wags and wiggles that came to our place and was one of the best hunters I have ever seen. It took us until last Friday to finally get another pup.

I am biased and have always owned Labs because of them being to loveable and yet diving through bush, freezing water and so many other reasons. Yes, she shed about twice a year but we lived with that for all the joy she gave us. All my dogs have been inside dogs and it has never seemed to hurt them for huntin in the cold and up here in Manitoba we can have some COLD weather for huntin.

What ever breed YOU and I mean you choose ALL THE BEST.

[92python]

Thanks for the repies.

I think I will go out and check out a few different breeds like Brittanys, Standard Poodles, Springers and Visalas. Don't have much experience with them.

[duckbuster]

CANUCK any chance a guy could get up there with you to shoot some divers. I'm with you with the house LAB and the cold water, I have not had a problem with that at all. Are the divers plentiful up there or is it as bad as it is in Minnesota? If you want to hunt divers here you have to get lucky alot of the time. Right place at the right time if you know what I mean.

[Canuck]

What do U call divers? I am not big in migratory birds but I sure can put U in contact with a few good areas for Mallards, and geese. The one problem up here is the lack of hunters. When fall rolls around I am big time huntin the whitetail, I start the end of Aug and hunt them til the end of Nov. I actuallly head south to hunt pheasants that was until they messed up the movement of guns south. It is a real pain right now, so I might have to take up bird huntin again to keep my puppy happy.

[Swamp Scooter]

I just heard of a litter of vizsla's due this week. I am posting this as the parents are both way too young in my opinion. The dam is not 2 yet and the sire is not even a year old! This was an on purpose breeding and the family's first one. The sire is supposed to have some great bloodlines but I have not had a chance to view the papers yet. Since neither of the parents are really old enough to have proven anything I think they shoudl be very reasonable in price. When I hear more I will post. It is puppy season!

[92python]

irvingdog: I did a little research on the Standard Poodles. What type of hunting did you do with the poodles? Was it field hunting or duck hunting?

I had a smaller poodle when I was a kid. It was a very smart, loveable house dog but she wasn't trained for hunting. My dad brought it hunting once but it didn't work out.

[92python]

Swamp scooter: I have been doing some research on Vislas.

From what I have read it sounds like in general they like to be with you as much as possible, are good watch dogs, are good with the family, need a fair amount of exersize or things to do or they will get bored and possibly destructive. It was recommended that they have a fenced in yard.

Do you agree?

[irvingdog]

"92Python"

Both pheasant and VERY impressive duck. It was a cold fall weekend. Pheasants held tight, and the ducks were moving fast. Long retrieves were ordinary, the dogs worked close, and they were very cool company. All said and done, I enjoyed the way they looked, they were very "pettable" (there were 2 dogs) and I was hooked immediately. I currently own multiple field dogs( springers and German Wirehairs), but I am really hot to try a standard poodle.

To heck with shedding!!! These dogs work close, smart and are very effective. I long to continue the tradition.

[Guest]

Have you ever heard of a Labradoodle? They're pretty neat dogs, and they're "allergy friendly".

[Swamp Scooter]

92Py. I think you are pretty accurate with their needs. The thing I found most pleasurable is that even if you cannot "run" them every day the mind games you can play and hide and seek for toys in the house isa lot of fun. As they grow they do need regular exercise. I would usually take them out in the afternoon and have a check cord on and let them air it out at a local WMA. I do not mind doing this ona hot July day for a little while either. they do not last long and they are done int eh field but then on teh way home it is lake time!! Water retrieve work and then home to a quite evening at home.

A fenced in yard is a very good idea. It does not need to be huge but a place to stretch out. Exercise in the yard is nice but not a requirement. When they are young and growing they do not have a lot of stamina but the deal is if they catch on to the training and get in to it they get into shape and then NEED more time in the field.

Their demeanor is as you described. They are not too big with males going up to about 60# and about 23" at shoulder. they are not a fearful dog either which is nice. They do love the family and attention of children when they squeel. It can send the V into a scoot fest all over the house! they only have one coat of hair too. They do shed but it is not what seems to aggrevate the allergies. My Dad has bad allergies and he has one of my dogs and has no trouble. Even as the thing sleeps in bed with them every night. I have hunted with many of the continental breeds and for what I was looking for this was the choice to have. Versatile in the field, good temperment, good looking, short hair, not a totally white dog( gets kind of noticable in the duck blind), and something new for me.

Glad you are looking in to all breeds and asking the right questions. [email protected] In case you want to chat more and I do not have to clog the thread with too many specifics.

[This message has been edited by Swamp Scooter (edited 05-11-2004).]

[French Spaniel]

Python,

I have a litter coming in early June. You can check the HSOforum and contact me if you have further questions.

www.minnesotafrenchspaniels.com

They will hunt everything. They are primarily a Canadian dog so they can handle the cold.

French Spaniel

[bassgal71]

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. We had to put our Lab down last August from an auto-immune disease and it was so terribly hard to do. Our other dog is a Weimaraner. They are a very enthusiastic dog that will hunt anything from upland birds to ducks, they can do it all. They needs lots of room to run. They are a very loving dog that are great with kids. They do shed, but it's not like a lab or longer coated dogs. They are truly a family pet and need to be indoors with people. I'll never be without one that's for sure. Just a suggestion.

[Maverick]

French-
I am in the market for a new dog, preferably a pointer or setter. How much are your pups going for?
Mav