Best all around dog?

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Heh, that's funny, I was reading all this again earlier and was thinking, "Gee, if you could only take just the good traits from all of these and put them in one dog." :D

Interesting read here. Two things that came up are something I hadn't considered. Energy level and stamina. At this point I'm leaning towards the Spaniels. We had a Springer mix when I was a kid and more recently aquired an older full Springer that passed after only a short time but both were good dogs with good dispositions. I do remember the mix used to go beserk for the squirrels in the yard. We'd open the door and he'd roar off in hot pursuit although he never actually got one IIRC. :p

Plus we need something that's not going to overpower the timid Lab cross we have now and I think a Spaniel type might fit the bill there.

BTW I've been keying these breeds in and reading up on them. Interesting stuff. Thanks for all the ideas!
 
Any size preference?
My father in law's english cocker is a great little hunter.
Our Irish field setter is a sweet mid-sized dog which was never trained to hunt (GSPs and Vizlas are nice mid-sized dogs too).
Labs and goldens are great bigger dogs.
Beyond that I don't want to think about the food bill, let alone hoisting them out of trouble... :D
 
Lots of good suggestions! Had to put my last Britt down a few months back and I've always been devoted to the breed. Tears ago I came very close to buying an American Water Spaniel from Paul Bovee's Kennel out in Wisconsin. I have also heard good things about the Boykin Spaniel, however I've only met one in person.....Essex
 
I think Labs are the best all around dog by far, especially if cold weather is calculated in. Plenty of versatile breeds do great retrieving waterfowl, but I seen plenty of them tuck tail and whine when the water gets icy.

Another big plus for the labs is that they are exceptionally easy to train. Their temperments are generally much easier to deal with. They don't have quite the nose of some of the pointers, but they do have stamina that no other breed beats.
 
Springers were the best hunters I ever had. Too small for waterfowl really, but perfect for upland game.
 
Vizla's are suppose to do it all. Have a black lab, myself and am very partial. It's the do anything dog: retrieving, upland flusher, jogging companion, foot warmer, and child protector. Never blood trailed with him, but probably shopuld have taught him a few things along that path.
 
Not sure of the genetics but it seems a lot of the AKC dogs seem to have a lot of recessive genetics inside them to get that specific look, getting a mix breed seems to bring the good genes back to the front. JMHO.

Neighbors got a Vizsla, a hunting breed from the balkans. man what a pretty dog, and the thing has a nose.

instead of looking for AKC papers on a dog, there are several organizations more interested in output of the dogs rather than just looks.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the AKC has ruined more dog breeds than you'd ever imagine. That's why all my German Shepherds come from European lines (and are "registered" in Germany). They've (mostly) been bred to WORK. Although the best GSD I ever had was an American line dog (who had acquired every AKC obedience title, AND most Schutzhund titles AND the AKC "good citizen" title by the time he was 2), but he was a "throw back" to the time when AKC standards were quite different. Nowadays they would've thrown him outa the show ring (for one, because he was easily 9" over the standard, and weighed 125 lbs!) I can't even go to an AKC show and see what they've done to the breed any more. I don't even bother to register any of my (breeding) dogs with AKC any more.

P.S. Once owned a "purebred" GSD, w/ AKC papers, that had webbed feet, and a long coat. She was 1/2 Newfoundland, but since AKC doesn't verify any paperwork, she had been registered as a GSD.
 
By no means am I an exper on this, however, I have heard for a long time that the Louisiana Catahoula has earned a reputaion as an all around dog. From hutning most game, to being a well respected gaurd/watch dog, the "Cat" is supposed to be able to do it all.
 
German Shorthair.
Lucy was put up for adoption because she's black and white, and AKC
only recognizes Liver for the GSP. She's never had any sort of training,
but she points, flushes, and chases (oh, Gawd, how she loves to chase).
She has a really high drive, and keeps us on our toes when outdoors.
On the other hand, at home, she's perfectly fine sleeping in on Saturday morning, keeping my feet warm.
Twizzler is a Catahoula/Collie mix, and is more of a furry cartoon character
than a huntin' dog. He's deathly afraid of loud noise, but he's high-larious
to be around, and I wouldn't trade him off for nothin'.
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No news here...

...but my Chocolate Lab bitch has done great on quail, dove, woodcock, chukars, grouse, pheasants, ducks and geese. She will also retrieve cottontails and squirrels, attack coons and other varmints on command, blood-trail arrowed deer, and well as bring coyotes right to me. She's great at busting up turkey coveys in the fall. That being said, I think it's because she's a great dog. I don't think every lab will be as useful, and some of the versatile breeds might be more what you're looking for. Good luck.
 
I've got a black Lab that: hates the water, goes psycho with gunfire, won't fetch more than five times, and sometimes won't return when called. My Grandpa, on the other hand, has a black Lab that does everything mine doesn't and is one heck of a bird dog. Great eyes and remembers were the birds fall.
 
"I have this sweet little black lab cross that's just about 2 years old. He'd probably be a great hunter but he is as shy as I've ever seen. Especially around me. He was obviously abused by his previous owner which we figure was a male. He won't come anywhere near me and shrinks away when I approach. He's been like this with me for almost a year now"

We have a lab/german shorthair like that, she got abandoned at our farm last winter, and she's just starting to warm up better to guys. We still have to be careful when a guy raises our hands around her, but she's coming around. I haven't really started working on her yet, but she points naturally (mostly our cat, or my mom's birds). We'll see this spring how she takes. I do know she HATES fireworks, so I am going to assume she's going to be gun shy.
 
ha!! make mine a mix (rambling)

in my experience, Labs are good dogs

Lab mixes seem to be the only mix dog where temperment is far worse than a standard bred

The best hunting dog I ever owned (probably the smartest and easiest to train) was a Golden Beagtreaver (tubby) my MIL gave me. (the neighbors golden retriever got to her beagle, my MIL is the only person I know that went to a garage sale and traded Avon products for a registered beagle :neener: :D )

One of three dogs in a row that I had out at the farm that were very protective of the wife and kids.

A friend that used to run field trial beagles was very confused when he came over. He heard a beagle baying but only saw what he thought was a goldie.
Tubby became a medium sized dog, about 20 inches and 50 lbs. Come and stay took some effort, everything else was easy. He would head the oldest boyoff before he got to the road, and on command heard him back to us. And he hated people dressed in suits!!! He turned up missing Turkey season of 2006.

to get on topic, if I was to actually go out, spend money, and buy a hunting dog it would probably be a Rhodesian Ridgeback.
 
I'm a bit biased, as I have two of them... But IMO the Rhodesian Ridgeback is the absolute best "all-around" dog... Family, protecting, hunting ,etc.... Unbelievable patient and well behaved with small kids, fiercely protective of family and property, amazing endurance, very smart, amazing noses, decent retrieving skills, etc.



I have a story about 1 of our Ridgebacks, a 9 year old female Ridgeback named Belle (our hero). About 9 months ago our family (wife, 2 young kids, and I) are sleeping in our home, which is thankfully in a really nice neighborhood here. Outside the house our 2 cars, parked in front of the garage (we were obviously home). The pathway leading to the entry of our home has the Security Co. sign in the flower/rock garden (obvious we have an alarm). We have a 6' wrought iron fence that surrounds our yard.

Ok... So we are all asleep in our beds... at 3:30 am we awake to hearing our Ridgeback Belle going literally Bizirk!!! I jump out of bed to see what is the matter.. Our dog will bark at people walking down the road by our house, or if a neighbor has guests stay late she will bark as they leave... but nothing compared to what she sounded like this night.

I walked out of our bedroom, anticipating finding Belle (our dog) barking at the front door at a neighbors house... As I rounded the corner there is Belle, going NUTS! barking (frothing, etc) at the stairs leading down to the basement.

Realizing this is not good... I quickly go back into our bedroom and get a 12 gauge Semi-Auto Browning Gold shotgun. I return to the hallway that only leads to my bedroom and our kids bedroom, I tell my wife to get the phone and the glock 27, get in the kids bedroom and call the police.

Belle is still going CRAZY. While watching all around, my primary focus is on the stairs. We wait for the police to arrive. The dispatcher tells us the police are outside, that a window in the basement is open, and that the police are coming to the front door. The dispatcher asks that we gain control of Belle and put the Shotgun away....

The Officer comes inside (1 stays outside)... After telling the officer that NO window should be opened. He and I go downstairs, his gun and flashlight out, I see the open window (freaky).. The basement secure, we go to take a closer look at the window, and see a huge muddy footprint on the couch (more freaky).. He was in the house.

I think Belle was sleeping on the floor near the couch... the guy slid open the window (my fault for not having it locked) quite enough to not wake Belle.. but when he came in and stepped on the couch, that woke her and she went crazy...

The best thing: The kids slept through the ENTIRE thing... innocence preserved!

Long story short... We love Ridgebacks. Here's a couple pictures of our newest Ridgback pup... She is 62 lbs at 4.5 months old.. She's gonna be a big girl.


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LABS

As I spend parts of a hundred days or so in the woods and marshes my vote goes to the lab. They sleep on the range when I practice high power, or practice with the pistols at a private range. They check traps with me in the marshes, hunt ducks, grouse hunt, and sleep on the floor on my side of the bed. However they come to my wife in the evening and look at her until she says "ok" and then they follow her to bed! They do need room to run and ours could not be left alone in the house until 2 years old or they would chew something.:D
 
One word.......Drahthaar(German Wirehaired Pointer)..... will do everything from pointing upland game and retrieving waterfowl to bloodtrailing deer. There's a reason they call em "versatile hunting dogs".
 
Every kind of hunting with dogs that I have done much of has required a dog that will fight something that fights back, so I'm partial to Black Mouth Curs (like Old Yeller) or mixes of them with a splash of pit bull. They will hunt, and they will guard. They are probably not the best on the retrieving and pointing end, though. Catahoulas are good too.
 
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