family/hunting dog

[swampdogg]

Need some advice. My boy wants a dog, being 6 ol'dad will be taking care of HIS dog. I figure that I might as well get some use out of it. I just took up waterfowl hunting, dove hunt when I won't get peppered idioits, quail hunt if I can find them. My thoughts are choc. or yellow lab. Big enough to rough house with the boy, but not a horse. fairly short hair to keep the wife happy on the cleaning subject. Never had much interaction with labs, but they seem like a good family dog. Any advice would be welcome. P.S. Also heard they can be trained to point any info.on that would be helpful.

[BILLY D.]

labs and people go together like chocolate syrup and ice cream. you can't get a better all round dog. i've never seen a mean one. but they can be very protective especially with children they have bonded with.

i had a black lab that if anybody messed with my kids would bristle up and looked like a razorback hog if someone made a threatening move around them.

they are intelligent and will bust their backside to please. they take minimal training, their instincts are natural. pick pups that are interested in people. especially the ones that run right up to the kennel fence or wall when you first approach them.

some are specifically bred to point but i don't know how prevelent they are. mine didn't point but he would push birds and if you train them properly they will work at whatever range you want them too. they have great noses.

they are a great choice for a house and family dog. i loved mine.

good luck.

[fabsroman]

I have a yellow lab, and will say that I will probably never buy a different breed after having this one. In fact, he is so good at home and in the field, that I think this is my once in a lifetime dog.

I have had him for 2 1/2 years and prior to getting him, I had experience with an English Setter, English Springer Spaniel, and 2 Golden Retrievers. The yellow lab beats them all hands down.

I have used my lab, Nitro, for hunting waterfowl and pen raised quail. He has done rather well with both. Sometimes, when he gets a scent, he will freeze for a second and raise that front paw like a pointer; however, he doesn't stay in that pose for very long. I have heard that with the right amount of training, you can get any dog to act like a pointer, same goes for retrieving, but some breeds are just better at certain things than others.

Now, as far as shedding goes, Nitro sheds a ton. Granted, it is a lot easier to get out of fabric than the Golden Retriever's hair, but he still sheds plenty. My vet said that every dog, not every breed, is different about shedding. Essentially, I could have a yellow lab that doesn't shed at all, and then I could have a yellow lab like Nitro that sheds constantly.

If you don't want a huge dog, you had better pay a lot of attention to the size of the parents. Me, I wanted a big dog because I hunt a lot of geese and the small ones just cannot handle them as easily. So, Nitro is 101 lbs. according to the vet last month. Of course, he is 101 lbs. of hunting machine when we are in the field and 101 lbs. of love when we are in the house. It is 2:30 in the morning and he followed me up to the 4th floor to work on another computer, and now he followed me down to the basement.

At the end of the day, I think a lab will suit your hunting needs and house needs better than any dog (i.e., I hunt doves, quail, and waterfowl and plan on having kids in the near future). Just look for a lab that fits your size requirements.

Here is a pic of my lab.

[multibeard]

My 12 1/2 year old fox red lab is laying at my feet snoring as I type. I wouldn't trade her for the world.

Fabs is right about the shedding, it can be a problem. I got smart and took Sandie to a groomer last spring for the first time. I don't know the technical term for it is but they took the under fur and the loose guard hair out and what a difference. I guarantee it will be done again this spring

Fabs------- I can see why nitro messed up your truck! He could see what you were going to do to him in the future!!!!!!!!

[fabs -just ran spellceck suggested changing fabs to flabs LOL]

[Mil Dot]

SD,
You can't go wrong with Labs and kids. Your son gets mad at you, send in the Lab. He may still be upset with you, but he won't be stewing on it 'cause his buddy's there for him and for you.

My yellow, Lenny, has been part of the family for 9 yrs and was one of the best acquistions I've ever made. He has been around a multitide of kids throughout his life and has always performed flawlessly with them. My neighbors kindergartener tells her teacher that she has a dog named Lenny. 85lbs of yellow lovin'. Even keeps the neighborhood cats out of the backyard.

They do shed. If you give them a few real good brushings in the spring you'll minimize it and be amazed at how good your dog will look. Like a snake with a new skin.

I don't take him out hunting as much as I should, on the other hand I don't get to go out as much as I want, but he has always held his own with upland birds. He does a heck of a job on the morning paper, I had to call the paper because the carrier started porching it and he thought he was being replaced!

You'll need patience for the first couple of years ( Good thing they're cute!) because they have a tendency to chew till they get the permanent teeth in. Don't be cheap on the chew toys.

[fishnfrank]

I always had weimeraners growing up and they were really loving and protective over me and my sister. They even hated it when my dad would spank me. Which was quite often. That's all we had for big dogs growing up and they were great.

[Nulle]

I like the GSP but do have an English Setter that is a great little dog for upland hunting.

[gspsonny03]

Well SD, All I can tell you is you will get whatever you put into your dog. It really doesn't matter what kind of dog you get if that dog is the dog that works for you. You have heard from the Lab section and some of them said that they wouldn't own anything else. I find that totally absurd. I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to dogs. Put me with a good dog and I don't care what kind it is. Oh sure, I have my preference, but I love to watch good dog work. Some say that the this dog or that dog is the easiest to train. It really doesn't matter unless you have the gumpshen to go out and do it everyday and that means everyday. You don't have to spend hours doing it everyday But you do need to do it a lot.

Some dogs are easier than others to train within the same breed. Quite frankly I would think that Labs would be a little tougher to train than a pointing breed for example, simply because you are asking them to do more things for you. For example: blind retrieves, double and triple retrieves, then you want them to hunt upland game on top of that, which requires tracking and scenting. This last could be ground scent or maybe you want him to air scent. Two totally different things. It takes a lot of work and patience to get a dog trained the way you want him, but I like doing it myself. Granted my dog wouldn't last ten minutes on a trial course, but I have him trained to my likes and he hunts for me and I wouldn't trade him for any Lab on this forum and there are some really great Labs on this forum that I would enjoy having. By the way if you want to know more about Pointing Labs, you might want to send Doc E an E-mail or a pm as that's what he has and it's one of the best. I'm sure he would be happy to help you out.

By the way I'm partial to GSP'S like Nulle. Whatever you pick there is lots of help here if you need it. Just ask away.

Good luck in whatever you decide. Pick a good one and enjoy.

[fabsroman]

GSP,

My wife saw the LL Bean commercial that has a GSP pointing at a mailbox for the new LL Bean catalog and she thought it was a chocolate lab at first. I had to point out the subtle differences.

I have no issue with GSP's or pointers for that matter, they just wouldn't fit my style of hunting right now.

You also have to admit that some breeds have more of a tendency to be aggressive compared to other breeds. Not saying that a GSP has that tendency, but I think one of the issues was house/hunting dog. Not only what is good in the field, but what would be good at home.

Am I correct in saying that a pointer would need a lot more room at home than a lab? Then again, Nitro always, and I mean always, wants to go outside.

When I was about 16, I wanted a GSP really bad after we hunted with this awesome one that had won several field trials in the Maryland area. However, I didn't hunt waterfowl back then and did mostly upland and dove hunting. There is no doubt that GSP are great hunting dogs.

[Jack]

Seems to me that if waterfowl hunting is first on your list, the question is answered - Lab.
Finding a dog that's good at waterfowl, dove retrieving, and quail hunting is a rather tall order- kinda like finding a pick up truck to haul stuff that will also win the Indy 500.
So, you need to prioritize.
As far as the dog for your son aspect, I think all 3 breeds in question would do fine. My experience would be that the amount of space you need for any bird dog is a function of size- they're all gonna want to go outside. Not gonna be much of a bird dog if they don't.
I know thru experience that Labs make great house dogs, and so do English Setters.
BTW, if you'd said upland bird hunting was first priority, I'd have voted English Setter.

[uplandchessies]

I'd say it has more to do with the individual who's picking the dog. Not that I would recommend the Chessie, but I heard every negative stereotype about them when I acquired my first dog. Mine are excellent house dogs, would protect my daughter and/or I to their death and have gone above and beyond when it comes to hunting. My dogs average 8 to 10 different species of upland game birds per season, hunt waterfowl several times each season and have successfully handled every game bird with the exception of spruce grouse and the 3 ptarmigan. I think any of the breeds would fit what you're looking for if you are willing to socialize, train and do what it takes for the dog to meet your standards. People put way too much emphasis on breed in my opinion.

Since you mention waterfowl and doves, Labs are a good choice. But I know plenty of pointy dog guys who use Griffons, GSP and GWP (and a few other breeds) just the same. Shedding is something you'll have to deal with if the dog is to be kept indoors. All breeds shed to some degree. And don't base the dogs size on that of the parents, either. I bred my 65lb female to an 85lb male and have their 118lb 4 year-old pup now.

[skeet]

Being a bird(any kind) hunter has had me owning all kinds of dogs. Pointers Settrs retrievers and an all purpose dog or so. Had 2 Chessies...great dogs but a bit(a lot) harder to train. Not the retrieveing part but the little things. Labs are easily trained and for the area I hunt probably the best dog for the job. Really easy to keep in the house. Pointers are NOT an all around dog. Setters can be used for an all around dog if you have a good one...GSPs are good dogs also..probably close to the all around dog. Usually not as easy to train either. Never had a few of the other dogs. Had a friend who had a Standard Poodle that did everything. His wife wanted to have the dog have a hair cut so that it looked like one of the lap poodles..but the guy threatened her with a fate worse than death(although I don't know what that was...something about a picture of her in some pose or whatever). Seriously the dog pointed, retrieved, took care of the kids, patrolled the house and I think it even cooked french meals. The sucker did collect cockleburrs though. For all intents and purposes the lab will probably be the best dog for your needs. It really has been for me. My first and probably the dog of my lifetime retrieved over 2400 geese 2200 ducks and more than 10000 doves. a deer, quite a few pheasants and quail and sundry other stuff. Woodpeckers is what I trained her on. They were depredating the apples.

[gspsonny03]

Fabs:

No you would be wrong on that point. A lot of breeders will tell you that you can't have a GSP for a house dog because they are too energetic. My experience has shown that dogs and I mean all dogs are a lot like kids, you will find that some are full of energy and some would perfer to be couch potatoes. Both of my dogs will find a comfortable corner until I get home and then they will be bouncing off the walls and I mean that literally. After I've been home a while and played with them, then they will settle down back in their comfortable corner and just lay around. If I happen to get up for any reason then they run for the door. They are ready to go in a moments notice, and heaven forbid if I get their collars out or a shotgun out, then it's just utter chaos. We have a two story house with about 2300 sq ft total so the dogs have all the room they need and as long as I take them out and run them for exercise every so often, everything is cool. I didn't answer all SD's questions because it sounded like he had already made up his mind and that's cool I wish him all the best in his choice. I was just giving you crap on your one comment just to see if I could get a response from you. Oh by the way Nitro is going to catch a lot of crap if he continues to wear outfits like that. The other dogs are going to talk. Take care.

[fabsroman]

GSP,

You will rarely get a heated response out of me on any point unless you are just saying something to be mean. I like talking about dogs and finding out about different breeds.

The funny thing is, the way you described your dogs in that last post is the exact way Nitro acts. He saw me hanging up my hunting camo in the garage the other night and he was whining like you wouldn't believe. He was fired up the rest of the night and didn't leave my side at all because he was scared I was going to go without him. Same thing happens when he hears my cell phone alarm go off at 5:00 in the morning because I usually wake up with the wife's alarm and only set the cell phone alarm when I am going hunting. He has already learned that and as soon as it goes off he is up and fired up.

Now, every once in a while he has been bad when I have left him at home for extended amounts of time, but that is rare.

That in that pic was the only time he has worn an outfit other than this outfit.

[losthwy]

From your post sounds like a lab is what you need- good in the house, great with kids, and excels on the water. Some lines have more of a tendency to point, but basically they are a flushing breed.