Bird Dog Questions

I have trained 5 shorthairs and am currently helping another guy with his first. Can a GSP break ice to retrieve geese? Yes. But that's not what it's optimized for.

A couple of friends were getting into upland bird hunting and got trapped into one way of thinking. They ended up focusing on getting litter mate labs, so that's what they did. The thing is, they both liked upland hunting far more than they liked waterfowl. They also were simply taken by the sight of a GSP slamming on a point, holding it until you walk it up to shoot it, and then you getting to stand around while the dog retrieves to hand.

GSPs are generally easier pointers to train and will cover up your training mistakes. By "well bred", Greifshorthairs means -- learn about the pedigrees and choose a good breeding. The best way to do this is to buy a repeat breeding, i.e., one that has been done before. Then take the time to actually watch the prior offspring work in the field. This will take effort, but it will be worth it.

Finally, look into a local NAVHDA chapter. They have training days all the time in the spring/summer. Great guys and they will share what they know, their equipment, and leads on dogs.

Good luck, there's nothing like a good bird dog!
 
Another thing -- all the work you do to choose a breed, breeder, and pup will seem like a lot of work. It is. And that is only a fraction of what really matters.

The thing that will really pay off is knowing how to train a dog. Read what you can -- some suggestions: How to train a gun dog to train themselves (Joan Bailey), anything by Ben O. Williams if you go with a pointing breed, and Cesar Millan's book Be the Pack Leader. The only reasons Cesar has made millions is because his concepts work and the average person doesn't understand that a canine is a canine and they don't have the same value system as we do.

Enjoy the journey. I have never regretted having my GSPs.
 
Agree with prior post - not a chance, and I'm a GSP man. They're not designed to do that. It isn't that they won't do it either -- a friend's GSP retrieved his goose limit and his 3 friends and broke ice to do it and did so with intensity. But that's not common for the breed -- it's one story, not a breed trait. Again, they're not optimized to do so as a lab/chessie is. Wirehairs for that matter would have a distinct advantage in the ice.

The thing to do is be honest with yourself. What are you going to do most? I watched my friends get pointing labs because they thought it would be cool to have an ice breaker that points. Well...they both own pointers now. That's because what they like the most is watching a pointer slam on a point. They either didn't know that or weren't 100% sure (or honest with themselves) at the time they bought their lab pups. And their labs are good dogs. They just don't excel at what they, as hunters, most strongly prefer to do.

So the better you know your preferences, the better off you will be as far as breed selection goes.

The real thing will be...will you be willing to do the yard work, the exposure to wild birds, etc. Will you be able to read your dog, understand what he needs in the way of training at each step, and have the discipline to deliver what he needs?

One thing I like about shorthairs is that they cover up a lot of my training mistakes. And it isn't a question of IF you will make training mistakes....it's how many and which ones. For that, you can seek advice here or in a local club like NAVHDA or something.

Good luck and post pictures!
 
I would definitely check out Griffons, German Wirehairs, and Droths. Do your research and you will find that these are great at pointing and water retrieving.
 
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