Choosing a dog breed

[79Ford]

So I have been looking into getting a hunting dog for quite a while and am undecided on what breed to get. I have always associated labs with duck/goose hunting and spaniels, pointers and setters with upland game. Is there a dog breed out there that does both well?

[sneekeepete]

I have never hunted with any dogs other than my old hunting dog who I had to leave at home when I joined the Marine Corps. He was a springer spaniel and would hunt anything. I was the same way with you as far as associating the same breeds with the same hunting but ol Buck would do both. I don't know if it was just him or all springers are like him. Just my experience which is not much compared to many of the guys on this site but it may help a little.

[one hunting fool]

i raise labs and they are a good all around breed. I usually only hunt upland game and my girls never let me down. I have a started female i am looking for a good home for if interested shoot me a pm

[chet]

labs are great... but I really enjoy a pointing dog in the chukar hills.
that said, flushers are really fun to hunt behind too....
heck I dont think you can go wrong with any dog, as long as you get one!

If the ducks are a must then you should probably stick with labs and chessies, GWP's can be quite versitile, but the ones I've been around didn't do excellent at either upland or waterfoul. Its always a compromise.

I've seen some english pointers that were awesome duck dogs until the water got really cold, which should be a consideration.

why do I ramble so much?
peace out brutha

[79Ford]

heck I dont think you can go wrong with any dog, as long as you get one!

Kinda where I am at too, but part of my fear too is getting a dog I cant handle. My buddy got a German short hair and she has energy that just wont stop, which is fine for a hunting dog, but they need to have a second speed that is not quite so intense and in your face when they are home.

[cwp]

I was raised with a brittany and I have 2 of my own now. They are great family dogs and good hunting dogs as well. I think it all depends on your style of hunting. If you want a flusher you don't want a GSP or brittany. If you want to hunt ducks a GSP probably wouldn't be the best. However if you want to hunt everything a lab would probably be the best.
Cory

[ABert]

In my experience, the best "all around" hunting dog would be a lab. The are not as good as some other dogs on upland birds but are more than sufficient. They can't be beat for ducks/geese, whereas some of the other breeds just can't handle the cold water as well as a lab.

As far as having a pointer or flusher, it really depends on the terrain you hunt. I been in some high, thick stuff that pointers would be useless in. You would never know they were on point. On the other hand, there is nothing like seeing a dog on point, with other dogs honoring. Just one of the very tough choices we, as hunters, must make.

In a perfect world, we would all have two dogs. One for upland and one for waterfowl. Of course, we would bring both dogs hunting regardless of what we were hunting...

[79Ford]

In a perfect world, we would all have two dogs. One for upland and one for waterfowl. Of course, we would bring both dogs hunting regardless of what we were hunting...

True true, I would love to have a chocolate lab and a brittany, yet unfortunately the city laws here say we can only have two dogs and the wife already has a lap dog.

[one hunting fool]

my 2 1/2 year old is very intense she is so high octane that she is hard to controll. until i decided to make her settle down. now she is excited to see methen i have her settle down. Labs are smart enought to do anything you want them to. you just have to teach them what you expect. and they will give it to you.
the avatar is a picture of her when she was a pup.

[Wild Antlers]

There is a new breed a pointing lab they are new and not well know but as far as ive seen they look to be great upland and waterfowl dogs! BTW The best dog I ever had was a black lab and he did point on upland game!!