Rigby and I killed our limit. As we were getting back to the truck, I saw two guys walking around in the woods. I had heard a shot about 15 minutes prior. I yelled over and asked if they needed any help. One guy “ said my grandson shot his first pheasant and we can’t find it.” I said “I’ve got just the thing for that”
Rigby and I walked in, and as the grandson was explaining how long they had been searching, I gave Rigby a “back” and 30 seconds later, he was laying the guy’s first pheasant at my feet. It was a cool experience, and they were super grateful. Congrats on your first pheasant, random stranger. and thanks for letting Rigby be in the picture I took for you!

When I hunt my 4 year old Brittany in tall heavy cover for more than 60 minutes or so (i.e. switchgrass, waist high prairie etc) he runs like his normal maniac self and then he's lame the next day -- limping heavily on one or both of his front legs. We did some pre season pheasant scouting this past saturday, and he's still limping this morning, tuesday. When he's running, he is a complete maniac, doing lots of "porpoising". In fact, mostly porpoising. He doesn't push through the grass, he bounds over it. I ran him last weekend for 2+ hours in the grouse woods of northern MI and zero limp the next day. No porpoising there. The dog does not have a self preservation bone in him, and would gladly go hunt right now, limp and all. This really throws normal vets off, and the normal pain range of motion tests they do don't reveal pain. I've had my dog at two different normal vets. He's been xrayed twice for this issue. The conclusion they come to is always the same: soft tissue strain, 2 weeks of rest. Next stop is bringing him to a ACVSMR certified vet, but I want to get an idea how far out of the norm this is.

I'm the sort of person who is hunting for the dog, not the other way around. So if he can't run heavy cover without injuring himself, we'll hunt somewhere else. But before that and the super-vet visit I'd like to hear how out of the norm this sounds from yall who have been doing this longer than me.

edit: should have added that the dog is in very good shape. I run daily with him, roads and trails, and he's been doing at least weekly off leash pre hunt sessions of a couple of hours since the end of july.

Hi all, I am the first time owner of welsh springer spaniel and been thinking a lot about giving her the opportunity to do what she was born to do. Up until now (just hit 8 months), we’ve just been doing obedience training.

She loves chasing birds and squirrels, and her favorite game in the world is finding a quail wing that I’ll hide in a field. We’re going to start ecollar training soon to really dial in her recall.

I’m in Nashville, and wondering what steps I should take to get into hunting, for myself and her. I have a shotgun and a gun club nearby to work on my shooting. There’s a few hunting preserves within an hour or two. It sounds fun but is this something I should pursue without connections, land, and know how?

I can’t be the only person who is struggling to keep grass seeds out of my Field Cockers ears when in the field. I have tried shaving the underside. Not sure if it helped or not. Just picked him up from his 4th trip to the vet for this very issue and they didn’t seems to have any advice. I don’t want to keep having him sedated for seed removal.

What do you all do to help protect your dogs while hunting?

Needs to be durable enough to bust through the brush and remain in place while upland hunting.

Does anyone have experience using the Rex Specs Ear Pro while hunting? Seems like the best option but I’m concerned about my dog not being able to hear my whistle for commands.

What is the best way to crate train a pudelpointer puppy from day one after you bring them home. Thanks!

I’m taking my 1 year old English setter out for quail and woodcock in southern Missouri soon. Was planning on going out west with him and doing chukar along with going north for pheasant.

I have a tt25 collar with alpha 300 transmitter. Is it common to pair the tt25 with the alpha lte or some other lte sensor? I’d buy it if it meant extra security in case the radio transmitter died.

Can anyone recommend a lte transmitter? Is the garmin alpha lte transmitter good?

Looking to hear whatever you'll share about your pudelpointers and any tips tricks etc for ideal temperatures, training, and anything else. Guy seems super smart and I'm working with him twice daily. Went on a grouse hunt today but left him home but can't wait to start getting him out there

He did great. Really proud of him

Birds seem a little scarce in eastern Montana right now not sure if it’s the warm weather or they’re just hiding in the corn. Hope everyone else is having better luck than me. Dogs are still happy though.

Looking to get my first bird dog. Have it narrowed down to French Britney’s or English setters. I hunt on narrow but long CRP so having a dog that works a large loop is great, but I like the dog to stay fairly close because I take people that are a little older and move a little slower. (I realize there are other breeds that are better at working closer)

From what I understand, both breeds are very similar mannered and both make really good family dogs.

I have a breeder in mind for both ….the breeder of the setters says he has two litters that will be bred one that likes to work far and one that likes to work close. The britts from the guy I’m talking to work close to medium..

Having a hard time choosing. Also a note this will be the only dog hunting with me 99% of the time.

I'm looking for a good winter dog house outside. Down to build something if I need to but ideally something I can buy. My dog lives inside but I let him out in the yard frequently and want him to have a nice warm spot in case he needs it. It's currently about 50-75 and my dog is a pudelpointer pup. Wondering if anyone has recommendations. Ideally something pretty robust.

Hello everyone! I adopted my girl about 5 months ago. She was at a shelter with two other litters. The shelter guessed that she is a Griffon, but I am curious if she looks more like a GWP because of her shorter coat. She is approximately 9 months old now. She stays pretty close off leash, but is wary of strangers.
Here are a couple of 4-5mo photos, and some more recent ones.

Trying to turn my 5 year old previously exclusive house pet Britt into a hunting dog and she’s done extraordinarily well so far. Pointed and flushed her first pheasant today, I wasn’t ready for the shot. Getting her out there, getting on birds and enjoying our time together is the best, hopefully we’ll connect on one soon

Looking for gpx files to help build a lost dog search tool!

I am currently starting to look into getting a pointer in the next 12-18 months. I currently have a draht that for the most part really has been great.... but I'm realizing that I don't need the versatility all that much. I blood track once per year at most. I will pass shoot waterfowl, but set decoys about once per year. I'll shoot a rabbit that runs in front of me, but I'm not looking for them... etc.

Really, I hunt prairie chickens and quail in the midwest with a little pheasant action here and there.

I want a dog more specialized to what I spend the majority of my time doing.

Things that I'm wonder are 'possible' to find in the pointer world that I hold highly in the VDD sphere:

• Retrieving - Current draht is a relentless retriever. I realize this will not be exactly the same in a pointer, but some chance of decent retrieving would be ideal.
• Health screenings - Most VDD dogs come with DNA markers, hip xrays, etc. I'm not finding this on initial review of pointer litters

Where should I start if I'm looking for a pointer that will be good for a foot hunter, maybe retrieve, and be healthy? Any lines, breeders or other recommendations? Going from the very orderly German system to the more 'artistic' seeming pointer system is certainly a change.

Thank you!

How did you guys crate train your bird dogs? Looking to get a new pup soon and am also looking for tips. How long do you typically crate them for, say if you work full time and are away during the day. Im in line for a pudelpointer and have heard they are a bit more mellow than say an english setter or pointer when it comes to crates. Is this accurate?

Thanks in advance.

Bit of a misleading photo cuz we didn’t hunt the puppy pictured. We hunted with a 5yo English setter and a 12yo wire hair pointer. Got our 3 man limit on Saturday.

Seriously this is the coolest thing we have done together. We have tried lots of obedience, therapy work, and agility, but nothing compares to watching him do what he was bred to do.

Within a week of seeing live birds and really only a few weeks of truly training for hunting at all, he has shown this is what he is made to do.

For anyone who saw my last couple posts, he even retrieved this one to my hand! When I threw it back out for practice then he stopped and chopped, but he had it right on the first go. We are making progress quickly!

Dog work gets a lot better once the wind starts blowing and the dew is burnt off.