Hunting Forum

I'm curious what got you looking at labs and german shorthairs? They are two different breeds that excel in there own fields, shorthairs on upland game and labs at waterfowl. Either way you have two good choices but you are not really comparing "apples to apples". Both of the shorthairs I have had, had whole different personalities, both were great in the house but when you took them to the field my female was always within 50 yards and my male would be in the next county, my female hated water and never retrieved, whereas my male loves water and retrieves everything he can find. I'm not sure about labs but I can only imagine that there are good ones and bad ones as in any breed, but you are comparing pointing dogs to flushing dogs, what tyoe of hunting dog do you want to follow?

If you don't have a lot of time or knowledge for training I would reccommend getting a started dog. I have had two started dogs now and two puppies and I will say that without a doubt the dogs I got as started dogs are far better than the dogs I have tried to train myself, and they all have turned out to be very loyal dogs that crave attention and are great in the house. I just purchased a english setter for 1/5 the cost of my current draht and she will run circles around him in the grouse woods all day long. My female shorthair that has now passed away was a pointing machine and I didn't pay a dollar for her. I guess what I'm saying is that if you don't have access to the birds for training and you are going to send the dog to a trainer why not save yourself the money of the puppy stage and buy a started/finished dog that you can see work and you know what your getting?

Either way I wish you luck in your search and I'm sure you will find a great dog.

Go with the lab puppy will do everything you need to do but labs are crazy. I trained mine myself with a few books the internet and a e collar. It was fun to teach him and then see him hunting knowing that your the one that taught him everything he knows. It was also a sense of accomplishment at the end to be able to hunt and know he is going to know what to do before and after the shot. And as for male or female it is up to you. And the lab will be nice and warm in the snow water or out in the field so. I would say definitely the lab good luck and have fun

I picked ol Abe from one of two choices when I won him at a DU banquet....gotta be a poor bloodlinehe or they wud not be giving him away....best waterfowl dawg I have ever owned and fine on upland....maybe "getting lucky" is best...he just turned 10 and still has full desire...just a little slower, especially coming back , and a little hard of hearing.
He has pretty well done it all from fields of SK to rice of SE MO to timber of ARK to marsh and mud of LA with Pheasants in MT and quail in IL and lots of doves....deep water, disappearing horizon in big water, gator racing back to blind (gator did not like three of us unloading on him), air boat, john boat, pirogue, pit blinds, day blind, laying in a corn field, fighting a Sand Hill we thought was dead, diving after a diver and disappearing under water, hiding from rain and thunder under blind seat, breaking thru ice....I am a lucky man and I tear up when I think he only has a season or two left....he is asleep under the table behind me right now...my once in a lifetime buddy!

I was in the same boat as you when trying to pick a breed of dog about a year ago. I know that labs are great dogs and everyone has them, they are good for family and hunting dogs. One day I met a gentleman and we got on the topic of dogs, he breeds GSP's so of course he was a little biased but I learned alot from him that day. After that I started looking into the GSP breed more and decided that was the breed of dog that I wanted. If you look into the history of the GSP breed you will find out that it was orginally a poor man's all around dog, it was used for hunting, herding, gaurding, and family pets. I am working on starting him on water first and then the upland should be natural (hopefully). The biggest turn off that I had about labs is that they a very well known to have problems with hip dysplasia and there is alot of inbreeding which makes high strung and stupid dogs IMO. I was worried about a GSP being very engergetic and hard to control but we have not had that problem with our pup, he is 11 weeks old now so time will tell. I think alot of a dogs attitude is attributed to the way it is handled, ie. in a kennel all day or a family pet. Good luck and make sure to do your research.

Don't go disparging Labs! If you get them from a reputable "hunting" breeder instead of lap dog puppy mill! I have owned or hunted over Labs for over 30 years....Labs are awesome!
Now hush up before you wake Ol Abe from lying in breeze thru dining room door and he comes bites you for disrespect......oh, I got three friends who tried GSP's when their Labs passed....all got rid of the hyper sob's and went back to Labs....our personal experiences may not matter but don't be too quick to judge esp without any personal experience!

Go with a Chessie. I am a little biased though.

Tom,
I am not trying to place judgment on labs as they are great dogs, just trying to give a different perspective. I have hunted over labs and they have all been good dogs and I almost got a lab. And you can run into the puppy mill problem with any popular breed, that is why you should always do your research about a breed and the breeder. As for the hyper dogs I can say the same about friends having labs that were so hyper the owner's didn't like them and got rid of them, which can be said for any breed. And don’t take me as an expert either, just another person’s views.

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lankas labs atwood kansas pointing labs i have a 9 month old that is a hunting machine . it is unbelievable how fast his dogs learn. i like so much just bought my second one he is on the web LANKAS LABS ATWOOD KANSAS MY DOG WORKS OUT ABOUT 25 YARDS ON UPLAND AND WILL FIND AND RETRIEVE ANYTHING THAT HITS THE GROUND. BUT LIKE MIKE SAYS IF YOU WANT A HUNTING KENNEL DOG THEN THESE MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU MINE ARE A PART OF THE FAMILY AND REQUIRE LOTS OF ATTENTION

lankas labs atwood kansas pointing labs i have a 9 month old that is a hunting machine . it is unbelievable how fast his dogs learn. i like so much just bought my second one he is on the web LANKAS LABS ATWOOD KANSAS MY DOG WORKS OUT ABOUT 25 YARDS ON UPLAND AND WILL FIND AND RETRIEVE ANYTHING THAT HITS THE GROUND. BUT LIKE MIKE SAYS IF YOU WANT A HUNTING KENNEL DOG THEN THESE MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU MINE ARE A PART OF THE FAMILY AND REQUIRE LOTS OF ATTENTION

lankas labs atwood kansas pointing labs i have a 9 month old that is a hunting machine . it is unbelievable how fast his dogs learn. i like so much just bought my second one he is on the web LANKAS LABS ATWOOD KANSAS MY DOG WORKS OUT ABOUT 25 YARDS ON UPLAND AND WILL FIND AND RETRIEVE ANYTHING THAT HITS THE GROUND. BUT LIKE MIKE SAYS IF YOU WANT A HUNTING KENNEL DOG THEN THESE MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU MINE ARE A PART OF THE FAMILY AND REQUIRE LOTS OF ATTENTION

lankas labs atwood kansas pointing labs i have a 9 month old that is a hunting machine . it is unbelievable how fast his dogs learn. i like so much just bought my second one he is on the web LANKAS LABS ATWOOD KANSAS MY DOG WORKS OUT ABOUT 25 YARDS ON UPLAND AND WILL FIND AND RETRIEVE ANYTHING THAT HITS THE GROUND. BUT LIKE MIKE SAYS IF YOU WANT A HUNTING KENNEL DOG THEN THESE MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU MINE ARE A PART OF THE FAMILY AND REQUIRE LOTS OF ATTENTION

What???? Would you repeat that?