Kind of off topoic but has anyone ever heard of of anyone using a german sheppard as a hunting dog

I've had many different breeds of dogs in my life, but none of which compare to my rat terrier(the Jack's cousin). His natural hunting instinct is unbelievable and he is so determined that I believe you could get him to fight a bear.

Don't forget about the rat terrier. I have one and she is a natural.

I am was born and raised in NC, and now live in Lincolnshire England. I have a 15 month old English working Cocker Spaniel and he is amazing, small, strong as an oz, full of energy,a bit to smart, quick learners and he has no problem fetching geese, partridges and pheasants are a breeze, and great and hunting in the thick stuff. I would give a few words of advice, that I got from the man that is training me, keep all training short, simple and fun. My dog only has 4 commands, set,hunt from side to side, return and retreive....Thats it. Don't show a dog to much to quick, takes forever to get the dog right only takes 10 minutes to spoil it.And last you are the leader of the pack not the dog.
For me that are amazing... and I am getting another one next spring.....oh, and loyal.....

A word on the Jack Russells, they are not afraid of anything...and I mean anything. over here we use them to catch rats etc. for ole barns etc. Great little breed, they will always try to be the top of the pack.

If anybody would like to know any thing about these breeds from someone that lives in UK and works his Cocker, please get in touch.
Beoutdoors1@tiscali.co.uk

Regards,
Bryan Nelson

I hope the blackdawgz post was a joke-but sadly I doubt it. The article is titled Small-Breed Hunting Dogs, so WHY do you feel the need to pontificate about Blah, Blah, Black Labs? I train my own, hunt my own, compete and judge AKC retriever hunt tests. I have goldens so I'm used to this type of ignorance. Thanks goodness when I judge I don't hold your type of dog attitude against the dog. Afterall it's not the dogs fault to be saddled with a mental midget for a owner. I have a wonderful Russell terrier who is a fantastic dove dog and awesome retriever. She is quiet(training issue guys),obedient and a blast-you should see her hunt em up, mark, swim and handle. People who can't appreciate other breeds and have this kind of attitude are obviously incapable of training the 'off' breed because they lack creativity, brains and motivation.

I hope the blackdawgz post was a joke-but sadly I doubt it. The article is titled Small-Breed Hunting Dogs, so WHY do you feel the need to pontificate about Blah, Blah, Black Labs? I train my own, hunt my own, compete and judge AKC retriever hunt tests. I have goldens so I'm used to this type of ignorance. Thanks goodness when I judge I don't hold your type of dog attitude against the dog. Afterall it's not the dogs fault to be saddled with a mental midget for a owner. I have a wonderful Russell terrier who is a fantastic dove dog and awesome retriever. She is quiet(training issue guys),obedient and a blast-you should see her hunt em up, mark, swim and handle. People who can't appreciate other breeds and have this kind of attitude are obviously incapable of training the 'off' breed because they lack creativity, brains and motivation.

I hope the blackdawgz post was a joke-but sadly I doubt it. The article is titled Small-Breed Hunting Dogs, so WHY do you feel the need to pontificate about Blah, Blah, Black Labs? I train my own, hunt my own, compete and judge AKC retriever hunt tests. I have goldens so I'm used to this type of ignorance. Thanks goodness when I judge I don't hold your type of dog attitude against the dog. Afterall it's not the dogs fault to be saddled with a mental midget for a owner. I have a wonderful Russell terrier who is a fantastic dove dog and awesome retriever. She is quiet(training issue guys),obedient and a blast-you should see her hunt em up, mark, swim and handle. People who can't appreciate other breeds and have this kind of attitude are obviously incapable of training the 'off' breed because they lack creativity, brains and motivation.

I hope the blackdawgz post was a joke-but sadly I doubt it. The article is titled Small-Breed Hunting Dogs, so WHY do you feel the need to pontificate about Blah, Blah, Black Labs? I train my own, hunt my own, compete and judge AKC retriever hunt tests. I have goldens so I'm used to this type of ignorance. Thanks goodness when I judge I don't hold your type of dog attitude against the dog. Afterall it's not the dogs fault to be saddled with a mental midget for a owner. I have a wonderful Russell terrier who is a fantastic dove dog and awesome retriever. She is quiet(training issue guys),obedient and a blast-you should see her hunt em up, mark, swim and handle. People who can't appreciate other breeds and have this kind of attitude are obviously incapable of training the 'off' breed because they lack creativity, brains and motivation.

I hope the blackdawgz post was a joke-but sadly I doubt it. The article is titled Small-Breed Hunting Dogs, so WHY do you feel the need to pontificate about Blah, Blah, Black Labs? I train my own, hunt my own, compete and judge AKC retriever hunt tests. I have goldens so I'm used to this type of ignorance. Thanks goodness when I judge I don't hold your type of dog attitude against the dog. Afterall it's not the dogs fault to be saddled with a mental midget for a owner. I have a wonderful Russell terrier who is a fantastic dove dog and awesome retriever. She is quiet(training issue guys),obedient and a blast-you should see her hunt em up, mark, swim and handle. People who can't appreciate other breeds and have this kind of attitude are obviously incapable of training the 'off' breed because they lack creativity, brains and motivation.

I hope the blackdawgz post was a joke-but sadly I doubt it. The article is titled Small-Breed Hunting Dogs, so WHY do you feel the need to pontificate about Blah, Blah, Black Labs? I train my own, hunt my own, compete and judge AKC retriever hunt tests. I have goldens so I'm used to this type of ignorance. Thanks goodness when I judge I don't hold your type of dog attitude against the dog. Afterall it's not the dogs fault to be saddled with a mental midget for a owner. I have a wonderful Russell terrier who is a fantastic dove dog and awesome retriever. She is quiet(training issue guys),obedient and a blast-you should see her hunt em up, mark, swim and handle. People who can't appreciate other breeds and have this kind of attitude are obviously incapable of training the 'off' breed because they lack creativity, brains and motivation.

ChuckG, I don't know that I can afford your camp.There isn't a bed big enough for a Lab of any color at my feet. Now, my Brittany is small enough to leave my wife and I ample foot room. In the field , I watched as the Lab walks right over and past the pheasant the Brittany is pointing.

I have owned 2 springer spaniels in my adult life and over the past 20 years they have served me very well.both of my dogs were loving loyal and hard working.There lack of finesse was due entirely to their trainer. There drive and ability to find birds was pure instinct. I have hunted with some very well mannered labs but they never had the drive or enthusiasm my springers had.I once watched a lab and his owner search endlessly in the cattails for a downed teal, as my springer and I stood by,after a while i offered to cut my dog loose to help. She swam the channel and got up on the land and ran past both owner and dog as I stood there ,she was gone for quite some time before she brought back that teal.The bird had gone under the water to the cattails and onto the dry land and had hid in the tall grass where my dog found her.Not bad, for not being a black dog!

This article was on good SMALLer breed bird-hunting dogs. Labradors do NOT fit in this category, I don't care how wonderful you think your labs are, a fat 100+ pound lab isn't a small dog, no matter which way you slice it.

I've been around dogs pretty much all my life. I've raised and trained many different breeds of dogs in several disciplines: bird dogs, competition obedience, LG dogs, herding, and canine SAR (search-and-rescue). Rat terriers are great little natural hunt and retrieve dogs, and properly trained they can fit places labs can't - whether as deer retrieval dogs, or as SAR urban rescue rubble dogs. My dad always preferred Britts for bird dogs because of their natural talent, desire to please, and ease of training. For pure natural scenting ability with a brain attached, give me a Catahoula cur any day of the week. We have a SAR Cat that air-scents off-lead, will re-find and lead us to a victim in large acreage, and she'll do it all day long in 100º heat and 90% humidity. Folks in the SAR community are turning to German wire-haired pointers as having better noses than the GSDs and labs, but not so aggressive and unthinking as a bloodhound. I've found Australian Shepherds and Border Collies to be very intelligent, versatile breeds with great noses, very easy to train.

I understand that die-hard lab fans love their dogs, but the every lab I've ever had spent longer in the stupid dipstick puppy phase, and was far harder to train than any of the other dogs we've owned - even the most obdurate Catahoula. Sure, a mature, well-trained lab is great, but by the time you get that dog, you only have a good year or two before it dies. Different dogs do well in different disciplines, but you can keep your labs - I've owned a few and seen beau coup working in many disciplines - I am not impressed.

The cool thing about all these comments is that we all thing our dog is "the best." Kind of the way we see our kids and friends isn't it?

thanks for the article, my old girl has been retired she has been very ill so she's now the ruler of the house. When she passes on, hopefully in the far future, I'm going to look into a smaller dog.