Breed Recommendation/Lifestyle Fit Advice
Howdy everyone! I’ve been lurking here and on r/UplandHunting for a while now, and am in my 2nd season chasing birds in Southwest Idaho now.
In the next year or so, most likely after this season, I’d like to adopt my first bird dog. I’m having a hard time choosing what type/breed of dog I’d like and would be a good fit for me. My biggest concern is determining if I can meet the needs of a bird dog! I’ll be up front and say that I won’t get a bird dog unless I’m sure I can handle their needs. I’d rather take my gun for a nice walk and come home emptyhanded than adopt a dog I assumed I was ready for.
Anyways, about my lifestyle:
I work 8am-5pm, M-F. I have the option for 2 remote days a week, and can flex my hours if needed. I come home midday for lunch and to let our dog/any fosters out to potty and play, and sometimes I have to leave them in an outdoor kennel all day if I need to travel somewhere for work. I have no problem utilizing doggie daycare if necessary, our dog just doesn’t like it. A few times a year the dog will be in my wife’s care if I’m gone for a few days. We like to take our dogs on appropriate errands too.
We live in the suburbs of Boise, ID. I’m about 20 minutes away from Eagle Island State park - I’ve seen trainers using the fields out there and have taken our dog and foster dogs out there to romp around. Our backyard is roughly 70’x30’, and I really enjoy playing fetch with dogs that do so.
During the season I can commit to hunting at least once a week, and would like to go more. I haven’t been going as much since we foster dogs for a rescue, which we would cut back on if we had a bird dog during the hunting season. We have fostered a variety of dogs, some that were exhausted just from weekend activities and others that want to go all the time.
Touching on point 2., I’m concerned about activity level. We’ve fostered a hunting lab that had a TON of energy but all we knew to do for him was play fetch in the backyard. We’re a running family as well and if I’m ever injured from running I take our dogs on bike rides. I can commit an hour a day to exercise after work including fetch, training, bike rides, going to parks, etc. I worry that some breeds would be too energetic for that to be sufficient.
As far as hunting goes, I primarily pursue forest grouse, quail, and pheasant all on public land. I’m open to chukar and huns but am not likely to be walking miles and miles of canyons or hills for them all the time. I generally cover a few miles on my own, walking slow to try to flush birds. I’m in decent shape though and don’t mind covering more ground, I just go slow when dogless.
All that being said, here are my concerns and questions:
- I’m looking into labradors (potentially pointing labs) and Brittanys. The last hunting lab I fostered had a ton of energy and could fetch all day long in the winter, but we were stuck only doing that in our backyard. I don’t mind hunting at the dog’s pace, but I worry about the rest of the year and managing their energy.
What are the general exercise expectations daily/weekly for bird dogs of these breeds?
- As this is my first bird dog, is a flushing dog potentially a better fit in terms of training threshold? Given that I hunt public land in Idaho, would a pointer be worth the extra training for a beginner? I have experience training our foster dogs but mostly in basic manners, and would gladly work with local organizations for training.
I know this is a brain dump, but I’m happy to offer any clarification.