German Shorthaired Pointers seem to be the state bird dog in my home state of Utah. Open the classified ads in the local paper and you will find several litters of pups to choose from anytime of year. In Utah, shorthairs are everywhere and for good reason – they are nice dogs. The GSP was my first bird dog and is a fine example of the versatile hunting dog. They point hard, have good noses and are a very durable dog for hunting quail and chukar in this desert climate. They can be very energetic and are one of the larger pointing breeds. I no longer have a shorthair in my kennel.

The American Brittany was the next dog to become a part of my hunting life. I grew up with a brittany and was anxious to have one again especially since I have a family of my own now. I think the brittany really excels in a family environment and is a great fit for small children. Some don’t care for the thicker coat of fur, but I don’t mind the extra grooming and brushing burs out. Several times when hunting quail my brittany went into thick brambles that my shorthair wouldn’t even try. The thick coat and smaller size can have their advantages. The result, we shot more birds that day. I think their noses are every bit as good and their temperment a cut above.

English Pointers are one of the original bird dogs when the kings had kennels full of fine hunting dogs. I think they are one of the most beautiful bird dogs and I consider them the Aston Martin of bird dogs. I had to try one and see how they were as pets and companions. The female we had was an easy keeper, no barking and really gentle with my kids. Found her to be an excellent bird dog and an intelligent hunting partner. For nice style and brag dog instincts you just can’t beat the english pointer. I sold her to a friend so I could try another breed.

That brings me to the English Setter. In the photo above is the sire “FC/AFC Riley’s Runnin Hideaway MH” to our english setter female Jess. We bought Jess from Ben Garcia at Hideaway Kennels. She has been a surprise at every turn. A few trainers had told me they found setters to be late bloomers and slow learners. Not Jess. She is sharp as a tack and is blowing me away with her big running nature. She points with style and has the people skills of a brittany. So far I am really liking my english setter. But, I remain a brittany guy.

There are several other pointing breeds that are worth a second look. I have a hunting partner that swears by his German Wirehaired Pointers, the ugly dogs. There is another buddy of mine that has a trained yellow lab that hunts upland game like none other. I’ve seen Vizslas, Weimers, Griffons, Frenchies and Braques of all kinds. There is a pointing dog for every personality and hunting style out there. What breed is your breed?

This was a wary pigeon and a strong flyer and he wanted nothing to do with Turbo and flushed fast and far. Well, Turbo gave chase but did not see where the bird landed due to the heavy cover and brush. After a few minutes he scented the bird and went right in again to grab it. The bird flushed and flew. Turbo gave chase. This happened 5 times in succession. At this point I was having a hard time keeping up. The above picture is how I found him. He finally got the idea that he had to point the bird. The light came on.

At some point I like them to actually catch the bird and mouth it a little. This is a great time to test the pups retrieving instincts. All puppies love to pick things up, its the getting them to bring it to you that is the tricky part. Some pups will bring a bird right to you without much coaxing, while others will run away to enjoy their bird. Either way be sure to pet them up real good before you take the bird away.

Taking Puppies to the Vet

This week we got to try out the new dog training truck and take our litter of brittany puppies to the vet for their 6 week shots and a checkup. They did well on their first ride in a dog box and were a big hit at the vets office.

Back in September I made some great friends at the Dave Walker training seminar. Two of them are Ruth and Mike Zangara of Overton, NV. They have a small brittany kennel down there called Medicine Rockz Kennel. Their nice little female Chloe was due to have puppies right after Annie and they whelped a beautiful litter of brittany puppies on October 19th. You can see the puppy pictures here and their pedigrees. Should be some very nice puppies for hunting homes and Mike and Ruth are great to work with. If you are in the Las Vegas area looking for a good hunting dog puppy, give them a call.

I am very excited about the deposit I have on a dual quality brittany litter in Texas. The breeding is between two outstanding dual champion brittany dogs DC T’Kalis Feel The Wind and DC TC’s Match Box Racer. These puppies are due on June 22nd and should be amazing dual potential quality dogs. This is a repeat breeding by David Downing of Blue Ridge Brittanys. Puppies from last years litter are undefeated in puppy stakes and are doing well in the show ring as well. I have been waiting for this breeding to take place as I wanted to buy a brittany puppy from parents that were dual champions. For more information you can contact Dave directly by phone or email by visiting his website.

Posting this for a friend who had bigger than expected litter of puppies, 11 puppies in all. This is a picture of one of the 5 week old male german wirehaired pointer puppies pointing a wing. You can see a lot more photos and the litter pedigree at his website brucegwp.blogspot.com. Sounds like a real nice litter of hunting dogs for those that like the GWP. If you are interested you can also call Bruce Jabaay directly on his cell phone (616)443-6718. He wants to make sure he finds good hunting homes for thes fine puppies.

Another great litter of german shorthaired pointer puppies is available in Northern Utah. These are from strong german lines and are solid liver for those that really dig the solid liver puppies like me. This litter of puppies were whelped on September 13th and are currently 18 days old. Three females are currently available from this fine litter of GSP hunting dogs. If you are interested in learning more about this litter of pups you can contact Scott Jacob of Sweet River Valley kennels at (801) 330-3986.

Today we launched our new website called DogBreederSearch.com. It is largely based on the same framework and code as our very successul gun dog breeder directory. We received quite a few requests from those raising hunting dogs that also happened to raise other popular dog breeds for pets. We purchased the domain name more than a year ago and finally got around to launching the new site this week. We have already got quite a few new dog kennels added to the site through our free kennel listings. We hope to get the word out on this new site as the pet industry seems to be very strong, especially heading into the holiday season. Please take a minute and look at all the dogs and puppies for sale.

When choosing a puppy from a litter it seems there is always a real go-getter in the litter. The pup that is always first to the feed dish, first to explore the backyard, first to run up to new people and the first to chase a carded pigeon. Sometimes the most outgoing puppy is a female but more often it seems the spitfire is a male pup. The question is – will the pup stay aggresive and outgoing. Usually a bold puppy will stay that way and will continue to have a burning desire to go and do. Some people look for this quality in a new puppy with the mindset that the most aggresive dog will be the best hunter or bird finder as an adult.

Then there is the wallflower. This is the puppy that stays back and watches things develop around them. Perhaps this is a smarter puppy that learns from its litter mates mistakes. The shy or reserved puppy is often a very affectionate puppy. She is often the one that crawls onto your lap for a nap while the others are chasing balls and each others tails. Will the timid puppy be less likely to get out and point birds? Or, does this puppy just require a compatible owner to bring out the best?

While both puppies have good qualities and may turn out to be great bird hunting dogs, I tend to stay in the middle of the road. I tend to avoid the hyper-agressive puppy that is bouncing off the walls and bullying the other puppies into submission. By the same token, I also avoid the reserved or timid puppy that hangs back from the group or stays too close to Momma. To me the perfect puppy is the one who is not the most aggressive and not the most shy. The perfect puppy to me is the one that is happy and friendly but not overly so. The key is in the parentage. If the parents are the kind of dogs that you would be proud to own, then there is a great chance that the pups will be the same.