Getting a Bird Dog - Talk Me Out of It!

bloodtrailing said:
Are you dedicated to training it daily to do what you saw a finished dog doing? Do you have the places to hunt where you can get it into birds? Those would be the questions I would ask.
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Absolutely.
It will give me something to do on a daily basis that is at home waiting for me, instead of having to drive miles away.

I also believe it will enrich the lives of my 3 boys, all under 7 years of age right now.

Unfortunately, the birds would probably have to be pen-raised.
No guarantee of getting into woodcock or grouse in the National Forest. Not that I won't try.

As for breed, one concern I have is the dog's energy level around little kids.
A GSP would be a shoe-in for functionality, but I have so much energy that it's a rough fit for young families—I don't want to worry about it getting so eager it's tackling a toddler in the yard.
But I am just basing this off the internet, not experience. The campfire can probably speak to this concern more directly.

Another detail: plan would be (post-new puppy stage) outdoor run, fenced yard during the day, crate indoors at night.
 
We had Irish setters growing up. We always had pairs.
They did it all pretty much. great around the house. High energy they need room to run. Loved families. They knew it was time to work any time a long gun came out.
 
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I wish I hade more. They are a great dog!
 

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Mattt said:
A lot of times I would agree about no birds but not anymore. There aren't many, but they're not gone. If anything it's been improving or I have in the last 5 years. Seems I find quail more in the hardwoods now. I don't have any articles to quote to back it up but I hunt pointers that I raise and train, and I hunt from Northern California for mountain quail to south alabama and Georgia. Around the house in southeast tn it seems that there has been an adjustment to where I historically find them. I've only got 30 plus years chasing them so no where near having all the answers but to say it's lost is incorrect.
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👍 I've never wanted to be more wrong than my statement about the birds being gone! Maybe in my absence of actively looking for them they have adjusted to the new world they live in, I hope so!
 
ImThere said:
We had Irish setters growing up.
They did it all pretty much. great around the house. High energy they need room to run. Loved families. They knew it was time to work any time a long gun came out.
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Were your setters "soft" on point? I had one that liked to creep in on birds and he bumped a lot, he would flag and he had a low tail on point. I've always thought if he could have been with someone that had a lot of birds and knew what they were doing( I was a kid and he was my first bird dog) he could have made a great foot hunting dog.
 
younggun308 said:
Absolutely.
It will give me something to do on a daily basis that is at home waiting for me, instead of having to drive miles away.

I also believe it will enrich the lives of my 3 boys, all under 7 years of age right now.

Unfortunately, the birds would probably have to be pen-raised.
No guarantee of getting into woodcock or grouse in the National Forest. Not that I won't try.

As for breed, one concern I have is the dog's energy level around little kids.
A GSP would be a shoe-in for functionality, but I have so much energy that it's a rough fit for young families—I don't want to worry about it getting so eager it's tackling a toddler in the yard.
But I am just basing this off the internet, not experience. The campfire can probably speak to this concern more directly.

Another detail: plan would be (post-new puppy stage) outdoor run, fenced yard during the day, crate indoors at night.
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From what you're describing I'd say a Brittany Spaniel might be the way to go. They make great foot hunting dogs and retrieve doves too! Great family dogs also. The thing I'd focus on most is getting the right "type" of the breed, they vary a lot. Some are "hot" bred that are high energy and run big, they may get out 400 yds and cover your game farm area in no time, shortening your hunt. Others are closer range and slower with a more laid back disposition. If you're thinking of grouse hunting too you'd probably want a close hunting dog. Pick your breed, look at the parents and don't buy the first one you come across, you'll have this dog a long time and will put a bunch of time and effort in it so take the time to make the right choice.
One other thing, if you decide to get one start looking for a source of pigeons now, whether you buy them or trap them. The first never changing rule of bird dogs is you can't train a bird dog without a lot of birds.
 
Iglow said:
Were your setters "soft" on point? I had one that liked to creep in on birds and he bumped a lot, he would flag and he had a low tail on point. I've always thought if he could have been with someone that had a lot of birds and knew what they were doing( I was a kid and he was my first bird dog) he could have made a great foot hunting dog.
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So Bo and Luke would. They were brothers. Both would creep in. The closer we got to the dog the closer to the bird they got. lol. These two dogs died very young age I think 3 or 4 years old . My Dad thought the neighbor poisoned them. Then we had Red and Daisy. Daisy was our only female that I remember she was the only one who would lock down. Red would when she was with us. When he was alone he would creep. Bo and Red were "my " dogs. Luke and Daisy were my "sisters" dogs. They were just pets that we took hunting we weren't real serious and all the dogs hunted on their own. None were technically trained. Other than our dad and us. We hunted everything Pheasant, Quail, Chukar, , Grouse, dove (red would go get your bird, the other three would sometimes. They were great dogs. Biggest down fall was shedding. They shed and shed! lol. Keep them brushed and beautiful!
 
ImThere said:
So Bo and Luke would. They were brothers. Both would creep in. The closer we got to the dog the closer to the bird they got. lol. These two dogs died very young age I think 3 or 4 years old . My Dad thought the neighbor poisoned them. Then we had Red and Daisy. Daisy was our only female that I remember she was the only one who would lock down. Red would when she was with us. When he was alone he would creep. Bo and Red were "my " dogs. Luke and Daisy were my "sisters" dogs. They were just pets that we took hunting we weren't real serious and all the dogs hunted on their own. None were technically trained. Other than our dad and us. We hunted everything Pheasant, Quail, Chukar, , Grouse, dove (red would go get your bird, the other three would sometimes. They were great dogs. Biggest down fall was shedding. They shed and shed! lol. Keep them brushed and beautiful!
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What state were you in?
 
gtk said:
pudelpointer

Great bird dogs and great house pets!
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We need to talk….. looking at this breed. I'm about recovered enough to jump back into a WPG, but looking at GWP, and Pudelpointer.

Our griff was an absolute dream in the house and super easy to train.

Good luck on your search Younggun308
 
7mm08 said:
We need to talk….. looking at this breed. I'm about recovered enough to jump back into a WPG, but looking at GWP, and Pudelpointer.

Our griff was an absolute dream in the house and super easy to train.

Good luck on your search Younggun308
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While I don't own one, my hunting partner does. Wonderful housedog, loving, and "chill". Small and easygoing enough to stay inside and be a lap dog, but take them out to the field and they are hunting machines ! I've owned several breeds of bird dogs and they all seemed "on edge" all the time.. Not these pudlepointers ..

 
JN said:
If you have figured out how to convince your wife you need a bird dog let me know I have been trying for years.

I think the only way I will get one is to get a puppy hide it in the woods and let the kids find it then we will have to keep it. That at least seems to be the only way we have collected dogs and cats in the past.
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Very easy. Say I work, I pull my weight around the house, I want a bird dog. If she enjoys any kind of hunting you can take her to a preserve and let her shoot too when it's warmer, the kids can learn a lot by trailing a bird dog.

Me on the other hand asked my wife if she wanted to ride 3 hours one way to go look at the one I bought and luckily she was a week out of back surgery and wanted out of the house, so I ended up with a dog!
 
younggun308 said:
As for breed, one concern I have is the dog's energy level around little kids.
A GSP would be a shoe-in for functionality, but I have so much energy that it's a rough fit for young families—I don't want to worry about it getting so eager it's tackling a toddler in the yard.
But I am just basing this off the internet, not experience. The campfire can probably speak to this concern more directly.

Another detail: plan would be (post-new puppy stage) outdoor run, fenced yard during the day, crate indoors at night.
Click to expand...

Every GSP I've ever been around had a quirky personality, and would be outright dismissive of anyone that's not their #1 Alpha. Our Boykin is the perfect family dog. Lots of stories about crazy Boykins, but this one really knows how to play when it's time to play and chill when it's time to chill. He's been easy to behavior train, retriever train, and has been the best dog we've ever had. I work him pretty good in the afternoon, but he needs some engaging play time a couple times a day. If he's left to his own devices for too long, he'll start digging.
 
German wirehair pointer, they can do it all from pheasant, ruffed grouse to retrieve water foul. Great family dogs and low maintenance coats.
 
My wife and I are both 62 and we are 100% dog lovers but after we had to put our Springer down a few years ago, we decided to stay dog-less going forward.

Our reasoning was primarily due to how owning a dog impacted our ability to travel on the spur of the moment...

And something else to think about would be the expenses associated with owning a dog, or dogs. Fortunately, this wouldn't have been an issue for us but if someone is tight on expenses already, they really should think about this. I'd estimate that over a dogs lifetime, the expenses are probably going to be somewhere close to $50 per month (or more) per dog for their food, tags, vet bills, etc.
 
I've had a few dogs over the years, all had different personalities. My ex heard me talking about wanting a setter and "surprised" me with a 6 month old Irish Setter, from a show breeder. He was a great family dog but a real dud when it came to hunting. He was stolen twice, 1st time I got him back but the last time he was gone forever. Next came the Brittany Spaniel. I truly believe he was brain damaged. He stayed in high gear all the time, chewed the metal roof off his dog house and never barked...he grunted like a pig. He, too, was a dud when it came to hunting. The last dog was a stray that my duck hunting buddy found. He called me one day and said he'd found this dog and thought it was a bird dog but wasn't sure as it had no hair. I went to his house to check it out and thought it was an English Setter. He couldn't keep it as he already had 3 Labs so I brought it home. Took it to the vet to be checked out and the only real problem was ear mites. The vet thought the reason he had no hair was because he was extremely malnourished. Cleared up the ear mites, fed him well and the hair came back out. The vet also thought that he was a cross between an English Setter and an English Pointer. I fooled with him a bit in the back yard and he seemed pretty smart. Opening day of quail season arrived and we went hunting. He pointed 5 coveys and a bunch of singles, retrieved what I shot. His only shortcomings were he did not like women and he pointed turtles. Someone had worked with that dog a lot and it was my theory that he was abused by a woman. Quail were fairly plentiful then as were woodcock so we had some great times together.
 
I miss the days I could walk up 4 or 5 coveys from my house on the farm. Those days are gone although we let fence rows grow and there's cover for them. Good memories
 

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