Can't help with bird dogs, but all hunting dogs are amazing in their own field. I'm into running rabbits, cotton tail and snow shoes. We usually hunt in 8-10 inches of snow in late January so I have a 15 inch beagle.
When I was a kid, I had a beagle that was a natural rabbit dog. Out in the fields, he used to love to not only chase rabbits, but he would try to maneuver them towards me. And this with absolutely no training! After I saw him do that a couple of times, I carried a slingshot on my field trips. I took a lot of shots but never hit a rabbit. Dog's name was Squeaky. Sorry about the jerky name.
Bob G.
You never have to apologize for a dog's name. All you need to do is blame it on someone else.
I had a dog named Sancho. Wife was not happy when the kids asked about Sancho in public. I thought it was cute.
I have a female cat named Slob, who tries to match wits with the turkeys I feed in my back yard...turkeys always win!
The type of dog you use depends somewhat on your type of hunting, type of birds, and conditions. For example a Visla is a fine upland bird dog but would not be suited to pulling ducks out of the Chesapeake Bay in January.
Do you like a pointer or a flusher? A brittany is an excellent flusher for upland game and can be used to a certain extent on waterfowl.
My personal preference for an all around gun dog would be the Labrador. Yes I know everyone has one but they make excellent retrievers in the duck blind and can also be trained as flushing or pointing dogs for pheasants, chukars, etc.
If I were looking soley for a waterfowl dog I would choose either a Chesapeake Bay dog or a Lab. There are other fine waterfowl dogs out there but these two will get the job done. Lab's are typically easier to train than a Chessie but a Chessie will retrieve in water that a Lab will just look at. Currently I have a Lab and use him exclusivley for waterfowl.
He is very well trained and knows his business. In the end it is you as the owner who makes the dog. My Lab and I work out 3 to 4 times a week for 20 to 30 minutes each session. When he was younger, 8 weeks to 6 months, sessions were about 5minutes each once a day. I have done all training myself and would put my dog up against a pofessionally trained retriever any day of the week. Come up with a training program and then stick to it. Consistency is the key!
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