Hunting Lab/Gundogs??

[sillysally]

I am wondering if any chazzers are or have been in the past involved in hunting with gundogs. I'm toying with the idea of hunting with the next lab we get (won't be for a long while), but have never hunted, no longer have family that hunts, and just generally don't know where to start.

Any experiences, tips, ideas, etc, would be appreciated....

[AdrianneIsabel]

I can see if I can convince Denis (my OH) to come on, he grew up with field and trial labs in Alaska. I don't know a ton myself but I think Shai does?

[milos_mommy]

I know we have a few infrequent posters with working gundogs and amber's husband is hoping to get a working gundog. A few members (pops and I think releasethehounds) hunt with dogs but I believe they have coursers?

[Miakoda]

We hunted (ducks) with our male Lab. His sister, Snowflake (black Lab...she earned that name -_- ), failed as a duck dog, but she did well with rabbits (along with bringing live pissed off Kildee birds back to our back dog before gently depositing them into my hands).

I was just 14 at the time, and with us not having any experience, we sent them off for training at 6 months and again at 18 months. Snowflake was entirely too ornery and independent, so she "failed".

[release the hounds]

Originally Posted by milos_mommy

I know we have a few infrequent posters with working gundogs and amber's husband is hoping to get a working gundog. A few members (pops and I think releasethehounds) hunt with dogs but I believe they have coursers?

I do not have Gundogs, and haven't for a long time. I do have a few friends that do, they hunt with Brittany Spaniels, Wirehair pointers, German shorthairs and Pudle pointers.

I've never trained a complete hunting dog. I'm sure there are some tricks to the trade, but mostly it's just dog training. My friends with the Brittanys , wirehair and pudle pointer all bring their pups out and do training with us at our "bite sport" club Of course later they do some different stuff, but the bonding, the foundation, the OB, retrieves, etc are all pretty much the same.

[milos_mommy]

Originally Posted by release the hounds

I do not have Gundogs, and haven't for a long time. I do have a few friends that do, they hunt with Brittany Spaniels, Wirehair pointers, German shorthairs and Pudle pointers.

I've never trained a complete hunting dog. I'm sure there are some tricks to the trade, but mostly it's just dog training. My friends with the Brittanys , wirehair and pudle pointer all bring their pups out and do training with us at our "bite sport" club Of course later they do some different stuff, but the bonding, the foundation, the OB, retrieves, etc are all pretty much the same.

I think I confused with someone else, oops. We had a member at one point who had some cur dogs and I think some lurchers, and I believe they hunted with them. I can't remember the username, though.

[Pops2]

Originally Posted by milos_mommy

I think I confused with someone else, oops. We had a member at one point who had some cur dogs and I think some lurchers, and I believe they hunted with them. I can't remember the username, though.

I have had mostly fur hunting dogs, including curs, bulldogs, mixes & my one greyXsaluki. The only bird dog I had was a Boykin Spaniel. My brother & his dad have had ALOT of English pointers & setters. My BIL has had a couple of GSPs and currently has one & a GWP. I have also hunted hogs w/pointers & pointer mixes.

[sillysally]

Ideally what I would want is a good "go anywhere" dog that I could hunt casually with as well as other outdoor activities, plus dabbling in agility.....that could be too ambitious though.

[Pops2]

All are generally equal in the field & sport potential. My BIL's GSPs seem(ed) more handler oriented than the English dogs I've dealt with. So far his GWP is also.

[Flyinsbt]

Originally Posted by sillysally

Ideally what I would want is a good "go anywhere" dog that I could hunt casually with as well as other outdoor activities, plus dabbling in agility.....that could be too ambitious though.

I know people who do agility with their bird dogs. It's certainly possible. Labs, of course, are typically retrievers, so their work at hunting is confined to bringing the bird back. However, there are pointing Labs. I'm not knowledgeable about hunting dogs, though.