German long haired pointer

[lancetkenyon]

Best pack of hounds ever! (One not in pucture)
2 GSPs, two GSP/Walker mixes
They will run ALL DAY LONG. Then crash.

 

[GRG]

Lost our GSP/Lab mix a couple months ago. She was an incredible dog, maybe the best we have ever had. She didn't realize she was a mutt, she thought she was royalty. As I am getting older and with health issues I will probably go back to a Lab or even a Labradoodle. The GSP is such a good dog but as said needs exercise and room. I grew up pheasant hunting with registered labs and love working with a dog that stays closer in. After my dog turned around 6 she started staying in closer which I liked better.

Look at how you like to hunt and choose accordingly. The one thing my wife insists on is for it to not be a shedder as she is a clean freak. lol . We were lucky with ours as she shed very little. Labs also shed and that is why we are looking at the Labradoodle.

To the point I don't think you would go wrong if it hunts like you do.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

I ran Field Trials for many years on foot and Horseback. English Pointers are the TRUE Bird Dogs of a Southern Gentlemen for Looong range hunting and covering ground. BUT if you want a HUNTER that can Find, Point, Flush, and Retrieve Birds get yourself a German Short/Long Hair Pointer!!! Great companions to sit in front of the fireplace, on your couch or on your lap!
Send us pictures.

 

[Trm82]

Best pack of hounds ever! (One not in pucture)
2 GSPs, two GSP/Walker mixes
They will run ALL DAY LONG. Then crash.

View attachment 534121

That's frigging awesome

 

[GSRetrievers]

VDD German Drahthaar by far. Check them out or your doing yourself a disservice. Not the American version the pure German one. I had an amazing girl from Vom Altmoor kennels on NJ. What a hunting beast. Woods water fields she could do anything. And I mean anything.
At 9 month's old I had her breaking through skim ice on a lake for duck work. There are not enough adjectives to describe how wonderful she was.

1 thing as they or she was is STRONG ON FUR. don't take that lightly. Raccoons possums yotes are in trouble.
I miss my girl

How she cuddled with my daughter and the other at the vet for check up

RIP
Sasha

The Drahthaar is one of the most versatile dogs I've been around, not to be confused with a German wire hair. They set the standards very high for drahthaar registry and the handful I've been around have been nothing but amazing. From tracking wounded/downed big game to upland and waterfowl, extremely intelligent dogs, and very useful. Great demeanor and attitude as well, all this coming from a Labrador guy.

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

Many of the versatile breeds are awesome dogs. We have a first gen american gwp from imported german parents. I cant call her a vdd, but her parents are. She is amazing. 50#, looks like the Sasha dog pictured above, but bushier in the face. A real hot mess after drinking water. And if she gets into burrs. Personality for days. Willful. Im sure if she were male I would have had to run him nearly to death before any training. Quick learner. Use the navda or similar books for training basis; they are good and necessary. She will swim in a river amongst the ice flow when its 10F. She will hunt early season upland all day if you keep her in the water. She drinks copious quantities of water. Like watch out amounts. An angel in the house with our littles. She plays super hard with other dogs; some dogs are put off by it or will think its a fight.

I cant say enough good about the draht breed. Had a gsp as a kid. She was a great house dog and hell on cats, untrained and a meh hunter because of it. Ive been around pudelpointers and they were great too. Never hunted with a griff nor a stichelhaar so i have nothing there.

That was my Sasha's summer haircut.

Yes she did get a summer hair cut. Then quickly fluffed up for season

 

[cynjon]

My GWP is a hunting machine...she'll be 13 this year but still has pep in her step although she doesn't have the stamina for long days in the field anymore. Luckily my 6 year old pointing lab still has the energy for that!

 

[Montana'eer]

I've hunted with a guy here that has a pair of Drats- male and female. He also has a GSP. He is a Drat die hard and swears by them. I'd say they are along the same lines of my 2 DK's (more stringent standards than an American GSP). I also have 2 'standard' GSP's. His Drats are very high strung. Hard wired for hunting. My two DK's are the same way. One is an absolute handful but is by far the best in natural ability.

So my .02c for whatever it's worth. My 2 run of the mill 'American' GSP's are all around better dogs. They are mellow in the house, and very good in the field. It's like getting a toy with batteries- they are good to go out of the box, requires some training but just great dogs. No biting, no crazed wild eye's, rarely do they run off and self hunt...

My DK's are not as mellow- they're a handful. One of them will generally only listen to me. My buddy with the Draats has a similar thing with his male. I'm not in the market for another dog- my two standard GSP's are 11 and 10 respectively and pretty much retired. My two DK's are 6 and 3. But when the time comes I'm getting another GSP, not a Draat, not a DK.

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

My Sasha DD had an off switch in the house. But when she saw me grabbing my gun and clothes and her E Collar she knew it was game on , and she couldn't stand it. What a Dog. Would never of chose another breed ever if my Rheumatoid Arthritis didn't take that away from me. It would of been DD for life.

 

[epoletna]

Ok, time to admit it -- GSPs are not perfect. The second one we had developed a major flaw. On passing shots on doves, I'd miss a few. After doing this on several different hunts, he'd begun to look at me after a miss with pure disgust. No mistaking it -- even my wife saw the look one day and recognized it. He'd roll his eyes up and do a dog imitation of a spit. I swear, I could hear him thinking "not another miss! Get with the plan." Other than that we had a perfect relationship. I miss him terribly, and he's been gone almost ten years.

 

[WYOBOY]

If I only hunted upland, I would consider another shorthair. After having a wirehair ill never have anything but. Its draht or wirehair forever for me.

 

[Montana'eer]

View attachment 537400
If I only hunted upland, I would consider another shorthair. After having a wirehair ill never have anything but. Its draht or wirehair forever for me.

I get woody every time I see bird dogs working. My wife just shows clips of our dogs and then *bam*- faster than a blue pill.

It's a sickness I tell you…

 

[ridgewalker]

I have a limited amount of ownership, so take this with a grain of salt. Only owned 1 GSP. A runt male at under 50 lbs…perfect for the amount of travel we did. Got him after I retired. We hunted from Montana to Texas and New Mexico hitting all states in between. Mostly just he and I in my cab-over camper. Great time, great memories!
Only dog I ever saw that on pheasants would wait until you are 15 or so yards away, back out swinging wide to block the bird. Some pro breeders who saw this wanted to breed him and were furious at me that I had him cut before he could be bred.
Died at 15 years and 4 months old. Hunted until the fall before he died. I miss that old dog now gone 3 years this month…not that I miss him every day.
Too old now to get another.
Best of luck finding a friend and hunting partner! You will love him no matter what. JMO&E

 

[BIGJOHNT]

Go to the https://www.vdd-gna.org/ web site. Look for a breeder in your area. Puppy test start this spring called a VJP go out and watch these first year dogs run. My Drahthaar is great with the grand kids and in the house. Hunts fur, upland ,water fowl and helps with wounded game. He goes everywhere with me and is a great hunting companion big game or birds !