Your first hunting dog

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First of all, what is a hunting dog? As you imagine a hunting dog is a dog that we help us in hunting. Dogs can do many things better than human, but the most important sense is the smell. Next important questions are:

Do we need a hunting dog? and What type, or better what breed do I need?

I grew up in family of hunters and we had dogs since I remember, so if you ask me, yes, every hunter should have a dog.
On the other hand, the real answer to that question is …NO! Dogs requires time and money. Period! A dog with the best pedigree in the world without training will be almost acceptable hunting dog in the best case. And training requires time and experience and/or money. I own 3 hunting dogs and at the end of the year, we I calculate how much money they cost me with food, vet bills and gas for training I always say I will sell one or two 🙂
So, if you like hunting with dogs, you can always find a friend who own a dog or go in a trip with an outfitter that own dogs.

Next question will be, what type of breed do I need? Or what breed is best for hunting?

The answer is simple, you had to choose a breed that is suitable for the type of hunt that you like and practice most of the time. Now let’s get further in this subject.

All hunting dogs are divided into several major groups of hunting dogs breeds.

SIGHT DOGS

The English Greyhound, the Russian Borzoi, the Whippet and the Arabian Saluki all belong to sight hound breeds.
This dogs are not suitable for a hunter with a gun and hunt mostly for themselves.

SCENT DOGS

Scent hounds pursue animals that run away, following their tracks, and they usually give the hunter an idea of where they are by “giving voice” or “baying” – barking in simple terms. The animals can range from rabbit and hare to big game such as red stag, bear, mountain lion, and even leopards. For some types of hunting one or two hounds are enough, but mostly it’s a team effort, involving a pack of dogs. Beagle, Black-and-Tan, and Foxhound are examples of scent hound breeds.

POINTING DOGS

Pointing dogs, sometimes called bird dogs, are a type of gundog typically used in finding game.
he name pointer comes from the dog’s instinct to point, by stopping and aiming its muzzle towards game. This demonstrates to the hunter the location of their quarry and allows them to move into gun range. Pointers were selectively bred from dogs who had abundant pointing and backing instinct. They typically start to acquire their hunting instincts at about 2 months of age.

FLUSHING DOGS

Flushing dogs work in the same manner as the pointing dogs, only they try to make the bird flush instead of pointing it. The Springer Spaniel is the iconic example of a flusher. Even though flushing dogs work not farther than half a gunshot away from the hunter, and so can’t search an area as big as pointing dogs, they are extremely useful for hunting birds that prefer to escape by running, and many hunters describe hunting over flushers as “more dynamic”.

RETRIEVERS DOGS

A retriever is a type of gun dog that retrieves game for a hunter. Golden retrievers and Labs may be the most well-known types in this group, but there are several other dog breeds under this classification. Most of them are used for ducks hunting when they retrieve the ducks form the water.

WHAT BREED IS THE RIGHT HUNTING BREED FOR ME?

This depends on what type of hunts you prefer. For a waterfowl hunter the best dog is a retriever. The most known and used breed are Golden retriever and Labrador. They like water and do not have problems to enter in the winter in cold waters to bring your birds. They also are fantastic companions and children likes them.

If you are an upland hunter and like pheasants, partridges, quails, woodcock, etc you have more options:
pointing dogs, like The Pointer, The German Shorthaired Pointer and The English Setter are amoung the most well known breeds. While The German Shorthaired Pointer is the most versatile and The Pointer has the better nose (but he is not retrieving the birds and is difficult to train) from all pointing dogs, The English Setter is the best dog for wookcocks.

So, the right breed depends on what and how do you like to hunt.

I can not end this article without advising you:

It’s All About Training!

It doesn’t matter what breed you choose, and how many field champions are in your pup’s pedigree, if you don’t train it right, you’re likely to be disappointed.
Training is not a destination, it’s a process, and you’ll be training yourself as much as, if not more than, your dog. Start with general obedience and agility courses, move on to specific training for the game you’re after.

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