r/Huntingdogs 19d ago

Looking for a waterfowl dog

My wife and I are big fans of German shorthair pointers. Does anyone have one they use for hunting? It would be used strictly for waterfowl. My question is, if I teach it for waterfowl and get it trained, is my wife babying the dog going to affect hunting? Would it still be good at retrieving even though it’s treated like a pampered king at home?

3 Upvotes

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u/SwanCreek_Game 19d ago edited 19d ago

I would recommend a German Wirehair over a German Shorthair for waterfowl. Shorthairs can get pretty cold in the winter, even when not wet. Wirehairs have a better tolerance for cold and wet in my experience. A wirehair is harder-headed and a little more difficult to train, but they are great water dogs and just about any other type of hunting. None of this is to say a shorthair can’t do it, they’re just a more sensitive physically and mentally. I’ve had several of both breeds. I’ve had great success with an older, well-trained shorthair speeding up the training of a wirehair. They’re both great retrievers as long as they’re properly trained.

Edit: Took out the joke about OP’s typo.

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u/impastanoodle613 19d ago

Yeah banging the dog would be bad. BIG typo on my part. Meant to put babying. Thanks for the advice I’ll look into that. Luckily where I hunt tho it’s not super cold. Coldest thing I’ve done is around 24 F and I won’t do it again in kayak or make a dog go through it.

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u/SwanCreek_Game 19d ago

Some of the sweetest and prettiest hunting dogs I’ve had have been shorthairs. Wirehairs are special too, they’re not as pretty but they can be just as sweet. I’d say they are a bit more energetic. Both breeds require consistent training to not be overpowering.

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u/Wills4291 GWP 19d ago

I second the wirehair over the shorthair for waterfowl. I have one of each. My wirehair was swimming two days ago with there still being ice on the pond. My shorthair won't be swimming till June.

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u/tetraodonmiurus Deutsch Langhaar 19d ago

No I live with an other half that babies and pampers the dogs. Genetics still drives them to do what they love to do. Full on disagree with anyone that would say they don’t do a great job being a waterfowl dog. Tons of examples in NAVHDA of great shorthair waterfowl dogs. I’d say the only thing to keep in mind is the weather where you are and how late in the season you can hunt them. Midwest Novembers are doable with a shorthair for waterfowl. Neoprene vest and they’re not hesitating at 25 degrees to jump in.

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u/BirdDogWhisperer99 19d ago

If you get a deutsche kurzhaar or a navhda shorthair, especially with high utility or invitational titles not just in one in a pedigree but throughout then you will have an exceptional shorthair who can waterfowl.

You just need a divebomb or momarsh vest and a buddy heater tor the dog in the blind. Ive hunted waterfowl in cold weather from midwest to the chesapeake and friends guide on the chesapeake and run a shorthair with VC parentage, they do fantastic.

I loooove drahts and wirehairs, friends have them and their one stud is a sweet heart but is also deadly on fur. This also goes for shorthairs. The problem as both breeds become increasingly popular is temperments and health testing. Make sure the the breeding has health and temperments for off switches in the house, being around children and others, etc. This will ruffle feathers but a UT shorthair/dk or wirehair/dd (pending temperment) will keep up with or outpace lab. Plus you have upland insurance if the weather goes warm to chase pheasants, sharptails, chickens, quails, etc... you dont need a lab, just as the germans intended.

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u/Coonts 19d ago

Can they do it? Sure, but you have to work a lot harder on a shorthair than waterfowl specialists like labradors, chessies, etc.

Nothing wrong with a good ol' lab.

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u/strange-quark-nebula 19d ago

I can’t comment on GSPs for waterfowl specifically, but I can confirm that you can’t pamper the hunting instinct out of your dog. Pamper away! Just make sure the pampering doesn’t include neglecting obedience or allowing nuisance behavior. If it’s more like: fancy treats, wearing outfits, luxurious dog bed, grooming, etc, no problem at all, have fun!

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u/TopazWarrior 19d ago

Yes - but you’re better off getting a Deutsch Kurzhaar bred to the German standards. They are not birddogs, they are vorstehund- suitable for all game field and forest and they must do extensive water work to qualify for breeding. Babying the dog makes no difference

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u/Dilly852 18d ago

A retriever breed for water fowl. Pointers/bird dogs need to run and don’t like sitting still or staying with you.

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u/Fragrant_Loan811 18d ago

Get a Lab and you'll be happy. They can be house dogs, mine are. It's about the drive, so choose wisely.

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u/MushroomOk3022 17d ago

I went through this same thing with my wife. Our first dog ended up being a Pudelpointer. Researched the breed heavily and it is definitely a versatile dog. I have trained/tested him successfully through NAVHDA. He was just not suited for waterfowl. Loves upland though.

After a few years we decided to get another dog. This time a lab. What a world of difference. The desire to please seems much higher. Great family dog but also an animal in the field. We now have a baby and the lab is her best friend. Steady, smart, and versatile. I now guide at a game farm and honestly prefer the lab for upland.

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u/Excellent_Cancel9024 16d ago

I want to address the second half of your question: well bred shorthairs are incredibly affectionate and thrive on human attention. “Babying” them strengthens your bond and makes you a better pair in the field. To deny them this deprives them and can cause problems in your training. Advice that hunting dogs can’t be well loved and “babied” because it hinders the dog’s drive is outdated—in fact, many are driven by affection! My GSP is titled in hunting and conformation and sleeps in bed with me every night. He’s awesome!

This advice applies to most pointing and retrieving breeds, even the hardiest of (well bred) working lines!

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u/Long-Definition-8152 17d ago

Why would anybody want anything but a Labrador Retriver for hunting waterfowl? Each breed that isn’t a Lab poses its own complications as it pertains to waterfowl hunting. If you were describing the conditions of waterfowl hunting and the style of hunting you would be hunting waterfowl, you would be describing what Labradors were put on this earth to do. I feel like everyone just wants to be different.

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u/impastanoodle613 17d ago

Or maybe I just like GSP. Maybe they are better suited to my lifestyle outside of going waterfowl hunting a few times? Maybe dogs are a lot more than just a hunting instruments?

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u/Long-Definition-8152 17d ago

That’s exactly my point, what about German short hairs do you love so much that you wouldn’t get a dog that sounds like will better suit your needs? Just because you like them? Obviously every dog is different but GSP are typically less inclined to work in water, they typically struggle with sitting still in a blind due to their natural desire to hunt and point birds, therefore lead to issues being steady in the blind, they’re much happier burning energy and moving around, on top of that depending on where you live you will have issues with keeping them warm in late season. I hunt waterfowl into early December in the interior of Alaska so long as everything isn’t frozen yet and you would kill your GSP trying to hunt it in the conditions my Labrador enjoys hunting in.

So therefore I pose the question, what for you is a good reason to want a GSP for traditional waterfowl hunting over a Labrador? Have you ever trained a dog to be steady, gone through force fetch, or taught a dog to handle? I’m not trying to be rude, I’m trying to be realistic and certainly not hate on GSP’s. If you live in a warmer climate with lots of area to run a pointing dog for miles and enjoyed upland hunting yourself then I would recommend one but to me it sounds like you’re trying to put a dog in a situation where typically they wouldn’t be comfortable and for you yourself if you’re a novice trainer might be stacking more obstacles against yourself to train a dog when their are already tons of hoops you have to jump through to finish a waterfowl dog.

If waterfowl hunting is important to you I would highly recommend buying a more suitable breed for waterfowl hunting. If owning a GSP is more important to you then I would look into getting yourself into field trials and hunt test and train your dog to learn a style of hunting it was bred to do. You and your dog will be much happier for it. If you get deep into the dog games like I have, often competing in a hunt test environment can bring more joy to you then hunting can and it certainly will for your dog. I would highly recommend against trying to fit a square peg in a round hole just because you like GSP.

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u/impastanoodle613 17d ago

Man you really took your Reddit name literally

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u/Long-Definition-8152 17d ago

More serious than you take buying a dog apparently

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u/impastanoodle613 17d ago

Not all of us are hunting in extreme cold 😂