Not to mention he started with "Not to spark the age old debate of what breed...". He has owned a lab before too, so not his first rodeo.

The basics from Delmar Smith, Evan Graham type stuff are going to do you better than water dog for sure. For texas weather your gsp should be fine for your retieving needs. The Lone Star HRC club is very receptive to the versatile breeds and would be a good resource for you. Looking forward to more posts about the pup.

I call BS. One of the best duck retrievers I ever saw was a GSP. GSP's and GWP's are "Versatile Breeds" IE: Hunt, Point, Retrieve.
Now if you're talking retrieving a sea duck off the coast of Nova Scotia I might agree with you, but fetching a duck in a warm water state like Texas not so much.

And you sell shorthairs right?

Robby

Nope. But our family has always had labs while I was kid. My first dog as an adult was also a lab. I do have a 14.5 year old GSP and she has been the best dog in my lifetime. The retrieving GSP I referred to made me switch ... after seeing that dog fetch Ducks in Central California. I had to give a GSP a try... I'll stick with the GSP from now on. Labs are overrated in my opinion and way overbred. Being the most popular breed in the US has been a detriment unfortunately.

Only if you go buy a newspaper lab.

I own a versatile dog as well and he is pretty good at everything at 2 years old. But I have a 5 month old lab that I can already tell will be a retrieving machine.
As a whole a versatile dog won't be an expert in any one area like a dog specifically bred for that area imo (outliers not included).

My thoughts are that people should get whatever dog they like, I know I did. But I do agree with huck that it's almost a disservice to get a versatile dog JUST to be a retriever.

thanks for the recommendation, I've been following this thread for my vizsla pup ill be getting in two months. I've had many of the same questions.