Gwp's Cross Labs

[keepdiggin 9,561]

why waste a good GWP imo.

[greenshank1 407]

How good are gwp's in and around water ?

I don't just mean on the shore wildfowling , I mean crossing large burns retrieving from lochs and working wet boggy moors

It's just I don't recall ever seeing a pic of one working in and around water .

I do think they are bonny dogs and know a few people who have them for deer work but am still yet to be convinced they are any better than a good lab for most things.

[Tiercel 6,986]

How good are gwp's in and around water ?

I don't just mean on the shore wildfowling , I mean crossing large burns retrieving from lochs and working wet boggy moors

It's just I don't recall ever seeing a pic of one working in and around water .

I do think they are bonny dogs and know a few people who have them for deer work but am still yet to be convinced they are any better than a good lab for most things.

I think it is the way it is brought on that determines how the dog fairs at any discipline. The second GWP I had really did not love the water he would enter but under duress. I had him as a rescue when the owner was going to live abroad and all he had done with him was pheasants and rabbits. he would retrieve but was really slugish, where as what he had been trained on he excelled at. As with most dogs you get out what you put in. But with the foundations already there a GWP can hunt like a spaniel, retrieve like a lab and still be going when the other dogs have had enough.A

 

As always just my opinion.

 

TC

[Mickey Finn 3,014]

It's like crossing a Maserati (wirehair) with a Dumptruck (lab).

 

Nuff said?

[camokev64 36]

It's like crossing a Maserati (wirehair) with a Dumptruck (lab).

 

Nuff said?

Well,Such a non statement that is ! and best left over your side of the water..But as you maybe or not be aware we do send alot of trialing dogs over to your part`s, so some things cant be that bad.

 

Stick in

Edited June 25, 2013 by camokev64

[Mickey Finn 3,014]

 

It's like crossing a Maserati (wirehair) with a Dumptruck (lab).

 

Nuff said?

Well,Such a non statement that is ! and best left over your side of the water..But as you maybe or not be aware we do send alot of trialing dogs over to your part`s, so some things cant be that bad.

 

Stick in

 

Non statement? It's the truest thing you can say on the matter. Wirehairs are the product of some of the most intricate breeding yet done. They are fine gun dogs for the foot hunter, as well as fine in the water. On top of that, they blood track, dispatch vermin, and guard you while you sleep. What exactly could a Labrador retriever contribute to this breeding?

 

By the way, I meant no offense to anyone.

 

ATB

[Lab 10,979]

 

 

It's like crossing a Maserati (wirehair) with a Dumptruck (lab).

 

Nuff said?

Well,Such a non statement that is ! and best left over your side of the water..But as you maybe or not be aware we do send alot of trialing dogs over to your part`s, so some things cant be that bad.

 

Stick in

 

Non statement? It's the truest thing you can say on the matter. Wirehairs are the product of some of the most intricate breeding yet done. They are fine gun dogs for the foot hunter, as well as fine in the water. On top of that, they blood track, dispatch vermin, and guard you while you sleep. What exactly could a Labrador retriever contribute to this breeding?

 

By the way, I meant no offense to anyone.

 

ATB

 

What proper trained working Lab cant do all those things like?

[dee mac 579]

having recently aquired my first gwp after a life time of spaniels i ve had my eyes opened to the different temperments of the two breeds the gwp seems to grasp things over a shorter period which i think is due to its more layed back temperment on the flip side i find it hard to adjusts to the way he works an area ranging down wind and lifting his head to get his nostrils filled or just walking up the back of hedges having a good draw then walking on if nothing interests him were as the spaniel will have shook same hegde to its roots before passing it on were by you know nothing is at home now when the gwp does get a scent then he goes up about 5 gears and his whole attitude changes and nothing stops him hedges etc he just punches a hole in them so i suppose i just have to trust the dog and his nose as for the water i just introduced him slowly to it and he eventually took to it no prob and will enter no prob for a retrieve he will walk the shore up to his belly but he will not enter like the spaniels just for the fun of it but its early days and maybe after a hard days running he might take to it without a retrieve also the gait and build means that even tho he looks like he s cantering hes actually eating the ground up and when i first got him he put me in mind of a well boned deerhound lol anyway so far so good with him but once hes entered to game for the first time this coming season i expect the switch to really flick on plus id say alot of the steady work he s doing at the moment may go out of his head on a few ocassions but i ll just have to keep a firm hand and keep him on track

[Mickey Finn 3,014]

 

 

 

It's like crossing a Maserati (wirehair) with a Dumptruck (lab).

 

Nuff said?

Well,Such a non statement that is ! and best left over your side of the water..But as you maybe or not be aware we do send alot of trialing dogs over to your part`s, so some things cant be that bad.

 

Stick in

 

Non statement? It's the truest thing you can say on the matter. Wirehairs are the product of some of the most intricate breeding yet done. They are fine gun dogs for the foot hunter, as well as fine in the water. On top of that, they blood track, dispatch vermin, and guard you while you sleep. What exactly could a Labrador retriever contribute to this breeding?

 

By the way, I meant no offense to anyone.

 

ATB

 

What proper trained working Lab cant do all those things like?

 

Well, if you have all day. Then Maybe.....

[Tiercel 6,986]

having recently aquired my first gwp after a life time of spaniels i ve had my eyes opened to the different temperments of the two breeds the gwp seems to grasp things over a shorter period which i think is due to its more layed back temperment on the flip side i find it hard to adjusts to the way he works an area ranging down wind and lifting his head to get his nostrils filled or just walking up the back of hedges having a good draw then walking on if nothing interests him were as the spaniel will have shook same hegde to its roots before passing it on were by you know nothing is at home now when the gwp does get a scent then he goes up about 5 gears and his whole attitude changes and nothing stops him hedges etc he just punches a hole in them so i suppose i just have to trust the dog and his nose as for the water i just introduced him slowly to it and he eventually took to it no prob and will enter no prob for a retrieve he will walk the shore up to his belly but he will not enter like the spaniels just for the fun of it but its early days and maybe after a hard days running he might take to it without a retrieve also the gait and build means that even tho he looks like he s cantering hes actually eating the ground up and when i first got him he put me in mind of a well boned deerhound lol anyway so far so good with him but once hes entered to game for the first time this coming season i expect the switch to really flick on plus id say alot of the steady work he s doing at the moment may go out of his head on a few ocassions but i ll just have to keep a firm hand and keep him on track

Has the dog had his terrible teens yet? Around the thirteen months age they get a period where you could swear you had never trained the dog. It usually lasts a couple of months where the dog is constantly trying you. The first one I had it drove me nuts. Yet by the time he was fifteen months he had settled and was doing everything he should.

 

You are right about the different working style, and then never stop learning they will take to almost any type of work just show them what you need them to do and they will do it. My first one was bought to use with the hawk and both his parents and grand parents worked with hawks. From there it was a small step to ferreting, then during the summer months he would sit in the hide with me, totally relaxed and would only be sent out for wounded birds. Winter then he would wildfowling on the marshes and it was his retrieving ability tha prompted me to start picking up with him.

 

His first drive and he did not know what hit him, the volleys of shots and birds dropping all around him, a runner dropped into a gutter and he was sent to retieve it, but he just kept picking up dead birds and bringing them back to me. He was like a kid in a sweet shop. Once all the easy birds had been picked I took him to where the runner had dropped and he was off on the drag and eventually came back with the bird. By the end of the first day he seemed to have grasped what was needed of him.

 

Any rough shooter could do no better than to use a GWP. But as stated if you have to see a dog rattle the hedges just on the off chance that there is something at home then they are not for you.

 

TC

Edited June 26, 2013 by tiercel

[Lab 10,979]

 

 

 

 

It's like crossing a Maserati (wirehair) with a Dumptruck (lab).

 

Nuff said?

Well,Such a non statement that is ! and best left over your side of the water..But as you maybe or not be aware we do send alot of trialing dogs over to your part`s, so some things cant be that bad.

 

Stick in

 

Non statement? It's the truest thing you can say on the matter. Wirehairs are the product of some of the most intricate breeding yet done. They are fine gun dogs for the foot hunter, as well as fine in the water. On top of that, they blood track, dispatch vermin, and guard you while you sleep. What exactly could a Labrador retriever contribute to this breeding?

 

By the way, I meant no offense to anyone.

 

ATB

 

What proper trained working Lab cant do all those things like?

 

Well, if you have all day. Then Maybe.....

 

Obviously never seen a proper Lab'.............just as i thought.... Bring on your GWP's......

[hily 379]

TIERCEL I have not shot over pointers on a rough shoot but seen them working on a few grouse moors and driven shoots.As for rough shooting the breed aint for me and I have to disagree with your comment THAT A ROUGH SHOOTER COULD NOT DO BETTER THAN A GWP. I want a dog to hunt out cover and surprise me with a flush both labs and springers do tell you by body language if owts about but it doesn't lower the excitement because you don't no if its going to fly or run or even if it's just a hot seat . On the other hand a pointer in a hide or water or on a moor pointing as you say works well but to me that's not rough shooting and I suppose it depends on folks idea of a rough shoot

[Tiercel 6,986]

TIERCEL I have not shot over pointers on a rough shoot but seen them working on a few grouse moors and driven shoots.As for rough shooting the breed aint for me and I have to disagree with your comment THAT A ROUGH SHOOTER COULD NOT DO BETTER THAN A GWP. I want a dog to hunt out cover and surprise me with a flush both labs and springers do tell you by body language if owts about but it doesn't lower the excitement because you don't no if its going to fly or run or even if it's just a hot seat . On the other hand a pointer in a hide or water or on a moor pointing as you say works well but to me that's not rough shooting and I suppose it depends on folks idea of a rough shoot

It's each to their own I suppose, in the fifty odd years I have been into field sports I have had most breeds of working dogs Labs, Spaniels, lurchers, terriers and of course the GWP's. The only dog I would chose out of that list as one dog scenario, would be the GWP.

 

As a bye if you have never shot over them, how do you know they are not for you? How are you qualified to disagree "THAT A ROUGH SHOOTER COULD NOT DO BETTER THAN A GWP." You may not like the idea, thats fair enough, everybreed of dog has it's devotees, I have not knocked any other breed save to say that the GWP can do most other dogs work as well as that other breed and a lot more besides.

 

TC

[hily 379]

 

TIERCEL I have not shot over pointers on a rough shoot but seen them working on a few grouse moors and driven shoots.As for rough shooting the breed aint for me and I have to disagree with your comment THAT A ROUGH SHOOTER COULD NOT DO BETTER THAN A GWP. I want a dog to hunt out cover and surprise me with a flush both labs and springers do tell you by body language if owts about but it doesn't lower the excitement because you don't no if its going to fly or run or even if it's just a hot seat . On the other hand a pointer in a hide or water or on a moor pointing as you say works well but to me that's not rough shooting and I suppose it depends on folks idea of a rough shoot

It's each to their own I suppose, in the fifty odd years I have been into field sports I have had most breeds of working dogs Labs, Spaniels, lurchers, terriers and of course the GWP's. The only dog I would chose out of that list as one dog scenario, would be the GWP.

 

As a bye if you have never shot over them, how do you know they are not for you? How are you qualified to disagree "THAT A ROUGH SHOOTER COULD NOT DO BETTER THAN A GWP." You may not like the idea, thats fair enough, everybreed of dog has it's devotees, I have not knocked any other breed save to say that the GWP can do most other dogs work as well as that other breed and a lot more besides.

 

TC

 

your right I haven't shot over them but the times I have seen them out I honestly don't know how you would stop them from ranging to far other than keeping them at heal you say you havn't knocked other breeds that's not strictly true as you is it ? by stating (not do better than gwp!).as for qualified who is it's just my opinion giving in the reply to your post and by the way TC you must be as old as me a.t.b.

[dogs-n-natives 1,182]

having recently aquired my first gwp after a life time of spaniels i ve had my eyes opened to the different temperments of the two breeds the gwp seems to grasp things over a shorter period which i think is due to its more layed back temperment on the flip side i find it hard to adjusts to the way he works an area ranging down wind and lifting his head to get his nostrils filled or just walking up the back of hedges having a good draw then walking on if nothing interests him were as the spaniel will have shook same hegde to its roots before passing it on were by you know nothing is at home now when the gwp does get a scent then he goes up about 5 gears and his whole attitude changes and nothing stops him hedges etc he just punches a hole in them so i suppose i just have to trust the dog and his nose as for the water i just introduced him slowly to it and he eventually took to it no prob and will enter no prob for a retrieve he will walk the shore up to his belly but he will not enter like the spaniels just for the fun of it but its early days and maybe after a hard days running he might take to it without a retrieve also the gait and build means that even tho he looks like he s cantering hes actually eating the ground up and when i first got him he put me in mind of a well boned deerhound lol anyway so far so good with him but once hes entered to game for the first time this coming season i expect the switch to really flick on plus id say alot of the steady work he s doing at the moment may go out of his head on a few ocassions but i ll just have to keep a firm hand and keep him on track

Im in a similar position myself Mr Mac, always had spaniels as I was a keeper, but I changed when my old spaniels died, and got into the gwp's, I gotta say I have more of a connection with the pointers, they really suit my sort of mooching and rough shooting, with a bit of deer tracking, and some boar hunting too. In fact they get involved with pretty much everything I get up to. I reckon I would happily keep pointers for the rest of my days.