So im really thinking hard about getting a versatile dog. Im very fond of drathaars, but have no lengthy experience. Ive seen em work and ve been impressed. I also like Weimars and vizlas. Please share your firsthand experience and pros/cons. As much as i can appreciate a gsp, every one ive come across has been a very neurotic dog and just not my flavor.

There are plenty of well bred well tempered gsps out there if you can do some work. If you reallyv like GSPs, you might try a DK.

The big river chapter of vdd gna breed warden is also in lake Jackson as well, maybe you have already talked to him.

A well bred weim will be hard to find.

Where and what do you hunt?

Drathars, I've never seen one. I also don't know much about vizslas. I've only hunted with one that a buddy of mine had in San Angelo 20 years ago. I remember I wasn't too impressed. He wasn't in the same class as the dogs we were running. I've also hunted with several Weimaraners and even had one for a short while when I was a kid. He didn't make the cut. I never saw a real good one. They are pretty though.

I always had pointers and shorthairs when I lived in the Sandhills in west Texas and could hunt every evening of season. They're hard to beat for quail hunting but like you say all of them I ever had were high strung and I didn't treat many of them like pets. They had a job to do and that's what we kept them for.

I'm now stuck on Brittany's. I don't get to hunt as much as as I used to and they're just as good a pet as they are a bird dog plus they're not as big. I don't know the official definition of a versatile dog but mine will point bird, hunt dead, retrieve ducks and dove, and have even helped me find a wounded deer or two. They're also easy to train and you don't have to get too rough with them. Theyll hunt all day or lay on the couch and watch football. That's my .02

I'd get a female GSP.

Ive spoken to kevin he is best friends with a good friend of mine. He is in Lake Jackson. I need to speak more to him. He has 2 impressive drathaars. I think one finshed 8th in the world competition in germany if im not mistaken.

Well, to answer why i havent considered a gsp is solely based on temperament, and personality. Im ok with a working dog being a robotic machine. My retriever has a lot of that, but i dont want to deal with high strung and neurotic. And thats all ive ever seen with gsps that ive been exposed too. The ones ive hunted over impressed the hell out of me in the field, but left much to be desired at home.

I hunt by mcallen, tx in about the friendliest terrain you could ask for. Not many sticker burrs, not a single cactus on the place, mainly hay or johnson type grass with sand soil. Right now only duck and dove with a dog, but because our place is usually pretty good for quail that is what has me interested in a pointer. It would make quail hunting so much more enjoyable.

Ive always thought weimers and vizlas were good looking dogs. And the 2 weimers i have been exposed to were excellent retrievers, but dont know about pointing. Its right now based on looks for them.

Before i get flamed, ive alwayd been a lab guy. Is it sacreligous to have a pointing lab

When I was looking, I spoke to Kevin for hours. He knows more about DDs than anyone I have spoken to. He has some great videos for beginner DD owners too. I was sold on the DD when I went to a breed test down on Lake Jackson. I saw what these dogs were capable of doing. One thing that I think is huge about DD is that not just anyone can breed them. The dogs have to pass a ton of tests and be approved to breed. With all American registered dogs, any puppy mill can breed dogs. If you get an American registered dog from a breeder that isn't proven, then you are just getting a Walmart parking lot dog.

Whatever you do, make sure you are buying from a proven breeder.

I'm not a weimer person, but Mo has a nicely bred litter of weimers.
They may all be spoken for, but you could ask.
Lindley's Kennel 864-243-3583

I have a vizsla and she's been great. She points well, retrieves great. She's only a year old now and I can't be more happy with her. After several months of using bass pro deer blood, I finally shot a deer to put her on a live track. She was nose down for the first 30 yds then lost the trail. She then went into search mode and would pick it back up. She covered about a 100 yds before she found him head first buried under some briars. All this was in knee high broom weed. I was super impressed with her. With that being said she's not a hound so she did a lot of wind checking instead of being nose down. Over all this exactly why I got a versatile dog, she's been good at dove hunting, quail, tracking, at this point she's a jack of all trades master of done. Pointing dogs are by far the most fun to watch them hunt.

I got my pup from a guy in Abilene. I noticed he's got a litter just born.
http://www.gundogbreeders.com/classifieds/44956.html

I've got a gsp, if I were to do it again I'd probably get a Brittany. Gsp takes alot of work and damn near borderline abuse. It's been a crazy road, but I will say everytime we hunt my dog gets better and better. She dug 3 ducks outa the woods so thick I couldn't get into em, I couldn't believe it. I'm on my first yr w her, she's done dove and did quite good. Now we're doing duck, she's high strung but a good animal. IL keep at her she's part of the family now. She's still a pup only a yr old, but I ll work w her till she gets it.

Thanks for the all the info keep it coming.

If your main thing is to have a pointing dog, then get a breed that is known to be good at it. What breeds win field trials the most?

I'll probably get some abuse for this, but it is what it is. My one year old GSP lives in a 600 square foot apartment with me. That wasnt the way it was suppose to be, but things happen and jobs change. He is high strung like they all are, and hard headed doesnt even begin to describe him correctly. That being said, he is a fantastic dog and will do whatever I ask of him, and do it well. He brought doves to hand at 8 months, is woah broke and pointing quail at a year and retrieved a 3 man limit of ducks thanksgiving day. He is good around my place, knows his boundaries and isnt the headache I thought he was going to be. I suppose the 5 miles of bike riding a day does help.....
I say all this to say, he is a great dog and I wouldn't throw the breed aside because of their temperament. He will adjust to your expectations and do everything you want out of him, both in the field and at home.

Pointers and GSPs?

You also need to consider where you will be hunting, and buy a pup that was bred accordingly.
Thousands of acres of open land, and you'll want a big runner. Smaller fields, heavy cover, a mid range dog is a better fit. Narrow down the breed first, but do your research on the litter.

Thanks kindall it will be the family place which is less than 600 ac, but holds good amounts quail for its size.

What is an example of a mid range dog.

I honestly don't know for sure. I would bet top 3 are EP, GSP & Brittany though. But I could be wrong.

My opinion it's a dog that normally hunts 30-60 yards from you, dependent on the cover. Thinner cover and they may range a little further out. Easy to follow for hunting a foot.
Bigger runners can be 1/2 mile out, some even more. Easier to follow them with a utv.

GSPs are pretty well dominating NSTRA.

If anyone has any recommendations for a gsp breeder. Because we had to move to lake jackson in an apt their size would allow me to have one. Also, lots of guys seem pleased with theirs.

My family is starting a quail and dove club in the rio grande valley on one of the ranches. so id like a dog for when im out there.

Bill wasn't there a NSTRA judge that bred the smaller sized gsps?
I know a couple of the gsps out there had to be pushing 70 lbs or more.

My first thought is John Rabidou out of Hondo, Texas. Extremely knowledgeable, if he doesnt have any dogs I am sure he can point you in the right direction.

Jorge, I guarantee you can find a good GSP around. Try Charlie Rose up around Seamore (sp) if nothing else, if he is still around. No matter what else can be said about the man, his kennel puts out GOOD dogs.

Jorge,

I had a GWP(German Wirehair Pointer) and trained one other for a client. Like any breed, there is variation, well bred dogs and bad. So with that said, my experience with the breed was all good. My personal dog (out of Treborwolf kennels in Idaho) was a female, 40lbs, jet black(yes all black), hunted close, trained easy and had heart, loyalty and disposition like a Golden retriever. She passed her first master hunter test at age 2. She also had an amazing on/off switch. She was just as comfortable with her head in your lap as she was working a field for upland game. This breed will not win any beauty contests, but win as a companion, hanging out with kids, and with those that you hunt with.

My client's dog was very similar in trainability, loyalty and disposition. The breed's coat is rough, wirey(go figure) and repels waters, burrs and other obstacles well.

These are truly versatile dogs, will point, back, retrieve and swim well. With that said, any versatile dog, like a GWP, will become a specialist in those things you spend time training on.

I do not have at GWP today. I have a golden. As I said earlier, they are very similar in temperament.

Have fun making your choice.