Hunting dogs around the world

[UKRay]

I've had working dogs, on and off, all my life. My dad and I were both keen shooters (before the law changed and it became virtually impossible to own a gun in the UK) so the place always had one or two Labrador retrievers stinkin' the place up.

I moved on to keep running dogs (lurchers) for many years and finally provided a home to a pack of working Border terriers. The pack has now dwindled to one very old lady who now contents herself with hunting mice in the garden so it is time to cast an eye around for the next generation.

I've heard of all kinds of hunting dogs but so many are local to a small area so I have no idea what they look like or how they work. It would be interesting to hear from some of the hunting dog owners around the world and perhaps see a few pictures of their dogs at work. I'm very keen to hear about coon dogs and Australian heelers but there are just so many I haven't heard of.

Hope to see a few good pictures and hear some fine hunting stories.

Ray

[dustin29]

I've had working dogs, on and off, all my life. My dad and I were both keen shooters (before the law changed and it became virtually impossible to own a gun in the UK) so the place always had one or two Labrador retrievers stinkin' the place up.

I moved on to keep running dogs (lurchers) for many years and finally provided a home to a pack of working Border terriers. The pack has now dwindled to one very old lady who now contents herself with hunting mice in the garden so it is time to cast an eye around for the next generation.

I've heard of all kinds of hunting dogs but so many are local to a small area so I have no idea what they look like or how they work. It would be interesting to hear from some of the hunting dog owners around the world and perhaps see a few pictures of their dogs at work. I'm very keen to hear about coon dogs and Australian heelers but there are just so many I haven't heard of.

Hope to see a few good pictures and hear some fine hunting stories.

Ray

Hello Ray, My name is Dustin, and I am from the NorthEastern United States. Maine to be exact. Here we use all different type of hound dogs for Coon, Black Bear, and Bobcat hunting. My freinds use mostly English hound dogs, due to the fact that they are a great all around hound dog. They have good noses on them and are just the right amount of aggressive. If you get a dog that is too aggressive than theres a good chance they will not make it through too many Bear hunts. Black and Tans are another good hound, but are very stubborn dogs. Plot hounds have a good nose but are very aggressive hound dog. We have found English hounds to be the right mix for hunting bear or coon in our area.

[TexasJack]

In Texas, Labradors are the most common hunting dogs. They love the water, love retrieving, and can tolerate the weather.

[Spence]

I guess you could call mine hunting dogs - of a sort. German Shepherds, trained to hunt humans - good, bad and missing. I've even got a couple that do quite well against coyotes. One hunts drugs and explosives.

[Crystal]

I just adore the English Springer Spaniels. Although we never hunted with ours, they have been great house dogs that aren't afraid to get dirty. They were easy to train (or we were easy for them to train), love people, hate squirrels, and are toy obsessed. Got to have a ball, stuffed animal, sock or whatever else is near to carry in their mouths. They both have been extremely expressive dogs. First one was bench bred, second was field and bench.

Our vet reccomended to look for UK lines in our next one to avoid some of the common health issues such as: hip dyslpasia, eye problems and skin allergies. They do require some grooming and do need exercise.

No pictures of Suzie in action. But this is one of her doing the job she likes best: Being man's best friend.

Crystal

[Vikti]

No pictures of Suzie in action. But this is one of her doing the job she likes best: Being man's best friend.

Crystal

Is that a picture of a boy and his dog or a dog and her boy?

Very pretty dog though.

Damon

[Hilly]

Upland bird hunting calls for versatile gun dogs. German Wirehaired Pointers are our choice. They are very tough, with thick wirey coats that protect them from the toughest cover. Here's a photo of "Luke" our 8 year old GWP that I took a while out hunting. This is also the dog in my avitar.

[hidepounder]

Ray,

The only hunting dogs we've ever been around were leopard Catahoulas...........they just hunt cows! At the moment we have an ACD.....he is one of the smartest and most fun dogs we've ever owned.

Bobby

Edited September 8, 2009 by hidepounder

[rawhide1]

I was waiting to see if the catahoulas showed up. We have one and she s the most hard headed dog I've ever seen! We haven't trained her to do anything but eat. Although shes hell on moles. There aren't a whole lot of them in Ks. Mostly around here you'll see Labs,heelers, Aus. sheperds and various coon dogs.

Mike

[UKRay]

Now this is all very interesting stuff for someone who has never even seen a coon dog and has no idea what they look like, what they do or how they do it - I understand it all happens after dark. Is this correct?

Those leopard catahoulas look pretty robust little fellas, Bob. Cow dogs eh? Where do they originate from? I understand the Australians have a few specialist cow dogs they like to shout about...

We get plenty of GWPs over here, Hilly, and Springer Spaniels are everywhere in the UK.

Spence, you might like to check out a customer of mine: www.a1k9.co.uk They train personal defence dogs and get a lot of their dogs from Eastern Europe - those are a whole lot different from the average German Shepherd. Not to be messed with!

I was interested to hear that English hounds have found a home in the US. I have spent a lot of time in various hunt kennels in the UK and have always been fascinated by the incredible pedigrees some of these animals have - going back more than 100 years in some cases.

I have never heard of a Plot hound - what do they look like?

Ray