Well, hell must have frozen over! Two facts prove this to be true: 1) J.T. was able to actually shoot close enough to a grouse to actually make it change its flight path wherein it hit a tree and rendered itself dead – thus giving Mr. T the illusion that he finally hit one on the wing (sorry J.T., it’s a well known fact that you’re a ground-swatter”), and 2) my wife actually suggested that we might need to get my new son Hans a puppy. Now the odds of both events occurring in the same year are slim to none, so something big must be going down in this world.
Anyway, there was one condition to this suggestion by my wife – that the puppy must be a mutt (not one of those pure-bred-inbred-dogs as she likes to call them).
So, I’ll dare to open the door on the second most controversial topic for any grouser (no, its not about scotch): what kind of dog should I get for my son, and if possible, what 2 hunting breeds should be used to create the mutt?
My criteria are these (for the dog, not the kid):
-Must hunt close
-Must like the water
-Good with kids
-Won’t spill your Segrams 7
-Will not point coots or grebes
And now I leave it all to you....
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
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12 comments:
the "mutts only" suggestions is (sorry dude), in a word, dumb.
you can tell her I said so.
:-)
even a Lab would be better ....
Bitches in Andy and Jim's line of "Setters" are regularly "outcrossed" - read, bestickered in the back seat of the deSoto up on blocks - to whatever sire is wandering around the trailer park. Not only will you get "hybrid vigor," but maybe a good rabbit dog, too.
Milt
oooooo - I forgot about wabbits......
Recently on these very pages appeared a decent review of a GSP... might consider as it is nice for "close-in" work and super around the kids. There ARE noticeable differences between the GSPs and the more "uppity" grouse dogges, namely nose differences I think (ES does better, in my view, based on observing Jim's and Andy's dogs...I know, small sample.) But as a newbie to pointers, I feel the GSP is a great choice.
(Thanks to Mzzzack for introducing me to the breed a few Autumns back!)
first you've got to decide:
1)if you want pointing or flushing;
2)is late season duck retrieving a high priority
3)does it really need to be an ankle sniffer
4)does it really have to be a mutt
if: 1=either & 2=yes, then pup = (pointing) lab, no mutts allowed
if 1=pointing & 2=no & 3=no, then mutt pup = red setter (IS x ES)
if 1=pointing & 2=no & 3=yes, then pup = wired haired pointing griffon or such, no mutts allowed
if 1=flushing & 2=no then pup = ECS or lab, ESS(research "springer rage")no mutts
Hmmmm, wired hair sounds very good, much wisdom from the gang indeed. Reason for the close-in dog is the issues of wolves. Where I hope to spend my days afield in WI and MN the wolf populations are strong and they are loosing dogs withing hearing of the hunter, plus the birds do not tend to hold well and you need to be close to the dog to get a shot......
super bull shooter, if the birds "don't hold well" where you're hunting -- which is where most if not all of us have also hunted -- then sadly you must not have had the pleasure of hunting behind a quality pointing dogge. you have my pity.
be that as it may, if you're really worried about wolves Red Riding Hood, may I humbly suggest one of those ankle biting English cocker spaniels that our colleague from Buffalo favors? works close, actually works, and basically never out of your sight.
and a wolf would likely never mess with one as being to small for the trouble. a mere hors d' oevre ....
For your reading pleasure:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/mammals/wolf/dogdepred2004.htm
Just a reminder that the C.O.s suggested that many instances are unreported; to hunt the favorite haunts you need a smart, big or quick doggie....or one within shooting disctance of da boss!
Red Riding Hood,
interesting link. Seems to me that you shouldn't train your bear hounds in a fairly discreet area around Glidden during wolf pup season. Since wolves breed in late winter and have a 63 day gestation period just like dogs, that would put wolf pups on the ground around Glidden (and elsewhere) sometime around May or June.
Well guess what Red--you can't have yer bird dog in the woods at that time anyway. And newsflash: grouse season is in October, when the tamaracks are smoky gold.
The guide that you linked us to specifically says the following:
"Hound dogs used for hunting bear, coyotes, bobcat, and raccoons, are perhaps at greatest risk of being attacked by wolves. Dogs used for bird hunting are less likely to be attacked. Wolves normally avoid people and are less likely to approach dogs that are in visual or auditory range of humans."
guess what Red? "Dogs used for bird hunting are less likely to be attacked." In contrast, people running hounds are often three to five miles away from those animals, and sometimes overnight for more than a day or two, making hounds far more vulnerable to being preyed upon than your run of the mill bird dogge.
If you are seriously worried that an English setter you're hunting over is so far "out of range" that it's liable to being eaten by a wolf, you need more advanced psychological help than I'm prepared to give at this moment.
This is not to say that a bird dog couldn't get attacked by a wolf. But it is far less likely to happen to a pointing dog (or even to a stupid flushing dog) than to an unattended bear or coon hound.
just my .02 cents, your mileage may vary
Hmm….. For those that have experience extrapolating beyond the lines ;)…… My experience out there was that a few far ranging setters and beagles during the fall and early winter had some hair raising encounters with wolves in the areas commonly visited by grousers. Our English pointer always was a concern for us, always liked to investigate freshly killed deer way out in front.
I’ve run into wolves twice while grouse hunting at close range (<30 yards), and there numbers were increasing rapidly when I left the area. Its not that I’m afraid to tangle with them (if they do attack your dog you get to SHOOT at them!!!) but its more of an issue of having to fill out all of the paper work if there is an incident.....
allow me to extrapolate some more.
I'm pretty sure I ran into two wolves last season near the Michigan/Wisconsin border. Luckily they never saw us, crossed the trail right in front of us.
There are plenty of hazards in the woods. a dogge with porcupine quills up its snout can die. Plenty of the places we hunt have bear sows with cubs nearby--not a good recipe for dogge/bear interaction. I don't think either is a reason to get an ankle biting mutt. Maybe what you need is a cockapoo.
you take your chances and take the best possible precautions. you can't guarantee 100% safety of your dogge. but I'd stay out of those woods near Glidden in June.
your mileage may vary. :-)
Indeed, there are many hazards in the woods, just ask our beloved VP about that.....BTY, does a cockapoo point?
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