get a retreiver, in my opinion

Life's too short to hunt with a beardless dog!  Labs are the experts at retrieving but many of them still need to be force fetched.  Force fetch any of the versatile breeds and you get much more from your dog, IMO.  Versatile breeds point and retrieve upland birds, retrieve doves and ducks from land or water, trail wounded game, and can be used to hunt rabbits or other fur if desired. 

Consider the GSP, the German Wirehaired Pointer, the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, the Viszla, and others.  Your expectations for the dog will help you narrow the breeds and find the right one.  I went to Wisconsin to get my WPG but there are some good GWPs here in TX.  I know folks involved in breeding them out in East TX if you want contact info.  Also check out the Lone Star Chapter of NAVHDA and maybe attend the upcoming test (next month, near Austin).

Do your homework on both the breed selection and picking the right litter.  That is far more important than which pup you take from the litter.  A fantastic resource is versatiledogs.com and the forum there has searchable archives for many of your questions.  If I can be of any additional help, email me direct.  Arrow is my first gun dog and I am very pleased I chose a versatile breed.  Don't get me wrong, labs are awesome but this dog really fit the bill in terms of what I was looking for in a hunting dog.  Good luck and keep us posted.

"Life's too short to hunt with a beardless dog . . ."

Retriever

Keep yer eyes peeled!

I raise and train pointing labs and in my opinion that is the way to go. My dogs will shag ducks for me in the morning and hold steady over a covey of quail that aftrnoon. A good place to see others is at the American Pointing Labrador Association web site. My main dog is trained to blood trail but you must realize in the state of Texas that is not legal.

Donnis Adams

You are welcome to come watch my dog work.

Donnis Adams

Merry Chistmas All!!!

In my humble opinion and since I have had and raised Labs in passed years, I would steer you in the direction of what is known as the "German Shorthair Pointer". They are the most versatile in my way of thinking. We also think they are better looking dogs in general.

If your interested, send me a PM as we raise that bred and all my studs and bitches are out of NFC dogs (National Field Trial Champions) We have started dogs on the place but NO pups this go around OK.

Have hunted over a number of different breeds...labs, short-hairs, britts, goldens, and boykins.  I was in your shoes a few years ago, looking for the same attributes.  Decided to try the boykin.  I have been really pleased with my choice.  Plus, you just don't see too many of them.  I have hnted duck, dove, quail, pheasant, and am pleased to say that he tracked a wounded deer for me this year. 

labs...

I have trained every gundog breed out there for the last 25 years. The simple fact is any of the breeds mentioned above can be trained to do what you are asking of a dog. I started out training nothing but labs and am still a lab guy but for the last ten years or more I have trained about 75% pointing dogs of different breeds. If it were me I would put my money on either a lab or a shorthair for one reason. They are simply easier to train as a breed in general. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule but as far as pointing dogs go shorthairs learn quick. Everyone knows of the intelligence labs offer. Wirehairs are also a nice dog but all in all they are probably the breed where I have run into the most problems with aggression. Don't get me wrong, I like wirehairs as well. Right now at our preserve I run about twenty dogs and a wirehair is a far better dog then any other in the kennel and these are all guide dogs use to wild pheasants in South Dakota. Good luck but in my opinion your training of the dog is more important then trying to choose an individual breed to automatically do all of these things you are wanting.

Pointing lab.

Donnis Adams