Which do you prefer as a family pet? and to do light deer tracking? mostly just as companionship tho.

been leaning towards a Lab or German Shorthair Pointer.

open to other suggestions

Beagle for what u want Penut rolling feildtrial blood

I have a jack russell that's very calm, has a great nose, a lot of drive and is very good with my kids. He has found 5 deer this year 2 of witch wouldn't have been found without him. When I go fishing he rides on the bow like a hood ornament. A lab or a gsp are great dogs for both needs but be careful,a lot of hunting dogs don't make great family pets from my experience.

More considerations need to be made. How much land does the dog have to roam? Do you plan to exercise them daily or does the dog need to exercise themselves? Big breeds with lots of energy like the two you referenced need lots of exercise, without it, they'll exercise themselves doing things you may not like. Smaller breeds don't require as much. Buy a dog book and read it. You may find a breed that you hadn't considered. Retrievers and spaniels are natural hunters as are several other breeds. For companionship, a livestock dog is hard to beat. They are great at keeping a watch over kids.

Unless youre just dead set on a tracking dog get a mountain feist. Im sure they could be trained to blood trail though

I'm a fan of big dogs. Never been much on small dogs. He'll have about 2 acres to roam and when we go to my parents right down the road(which is nearly everyday) he will have about 27 acres and other dogs to play with. Also the reason for consideration of Lab is because that's all I have ever had since I was about 4 years old and we had at one point 5 Labs at the house.

I have always like the looks of GSP and could never afford one until now and thought I might try one out.

I've also had bad luck with livestock dogs killing my parents chickens and turkeys and I don't want to just be visiting and the dog kill some of her chickens now. They have enough problems with coyotes and fox killing them they don't need my help to.

When considering a dog which is best male of female?

do A LOT of reading on a gsp before you try one out. I`m on my 3rd one and my grey hairs have multiplied drastically over the past year. love the breed but damn they can be work.

get a gsp, I wont ever own a different breed

I own both! I have an 11 year old lab (she may not be around much longer) and she is by far and way the best dog I have ever owned. She loves my 2 young kids, she has chased down every dove I have ever shot and she has tracked a few deer for me. She use to chase tennis balls until I couldn't throw them anymore. My 12 week GSP has been awesome up to this point, everything that I've taught her, command wise, she has learned almost immediately. I am working on training her to track deer and so far so good. She also adores my kids and follows their every step. GSPs are more hunters than labs but labs are way more retriever than the GSP. Both are awesome dogs, the GSP IMO has more energy and needs more room to roam than the lab, both should train fairly easy and be wonderful family pets. I went with the GSP this go around because I don't think I'll ever be able to own another lab and not compare it to my Sadie.

I'm a retriever trainer and train mostly labs but have trained 6 gsp and here's what I can tell you gsp need more exercise are for the most part more nose driven meaning little more
Stubborn. Gsp are are hard to force fetch even though I've seen labs that are very hard to ff also. There very active and if your looking for just a pet I reccomemd a lab.

I think I have came to a decision. Im getting a lab, im going to stick with what I know and have always had. That being said, does anyone know a reputable lab breeder, and or pups for sale? and would you get male or female?

I have my female being bred now. Her grandfather was Pachanga Magnum Force. The sire is a Cajun Roux Pup. If breeding takes pups will born around mid March.

Where do I look up pedigrees of labs? or dogs in general?

Hunting lab peidgree contact me , Jonathan Watts 256 996 4256. I can put you on what will fit you

Or go to my kennel page bear creek retrievers on facebook

check AKC and CKC. But Jwattsmojo can point you in the right direction.

okay! will do!

I pm'd you Volfan

Did you get your Lab?

no. I didn't DeltaRuner.

From reading your original post it sounds like me. I wanted a hunting dog but mostly wanted a good pet. In other words it wouldn't matter that much if my dog was a 'good' hunter--I know we would both be having a good time. I went with a Springer Spaniel which turned out to be an excellent hunter but also the best companion dog I've ever owned. She will be 8 this summer. I prefer females. Male dogs pee on everything and if you get them fixed they are prone to weight gain issues. I've never owned a lab but both of my older brothers hunt with labs. Great companion dogs and great hunters. I'm sure a GSP can be a good companion but I think the lab would be better.

I know they’re not very well known but a Kopov also doubles very well as a companion dog. A knock on them, if you want to call it that, is that they’ll just lay around if you let them. I find that to be a great attribute versus a dog that’s constantly harassing you because they’re so damn amped up. That’s the thing about trying to mix a working dog with being a pet….most of them are bred to have a strong desire to go, go, go.

Mtn. Cur
Very smart dogs. Love to hunt. Mild mannered, well behaved.

im still stuck between a lab and a GSP...

I want a GSP
the ' ol lady wants a LAB.

Don't be scared of the GSP. I've had labs my whole life with a couple other birders mixed in...I won't have a dog that won't help me put food on the table.
Wife talked me into getting a GSP 6 months ago and I'm hooked.
Excellent family dog that's easily trained and doesn't look like every other dog on the block.

Mountain Feist.... or Mountain Cur. They are mostly known as squirrel or coon dogs, but I've read about and heard stories of them trailing wounded deer, or blood trails like it was their job.

I have one of each... good all around dogs that listen well, will curl up beside you on the couch, great dogs for the kids, tree squirrels and coon, and will terrorize armadillos in the yard, and pretty much anything else that counts as vermin.

I had bird dogs (E. pointers and an awesome E. setter) too in the past. They were very loving and loyal and extremely trainable too.

Boykin spaniel. I've had labs all my life and now I'm on my first Boykin. He's a great family dog, hard hunter and eager to please.

Mountain cur

I've had 3 short hairs and not that they aren't good dogs but like the trainer said they are more stubborn!!!!!some trainers won't even train them. I got rid of mine. I now have 2 labs and a German wirehair and both the labs and wirehair are great!!!! I would say the wirehair is probably the smartest hunting dog I've seen!!!! I even bred my lab to my wirehair twice and those pups r unbelievable

Finally got me a GSP!!!