Bird Dogs Afield host Paul Fuller is the gun dog columnist for Northwoods Sporting Journal. The Journal has granted permission to re-print Paul’s articles. Thank you Northwoods Sporting Journal.
Important Traits
Your author was recently asked what are the most important traits to look for in a bird dog. The traits I feel are most important are intelligence, nose, conformation, prey drive and biddability. Let’s look at each trait.
Regarding intelligence, I recall reading many years ago the following: An intelligent dog with an average nose will find more birds than an average dog with an exceptional nose. Although not a bird dog, I trained and field trialed beagles as a young man. I had my dog down in a major field trial and the dogs were running for first place. They came to a fence. The rabbit had obviously gone through the fence. My brace mate struggled to get through the fence. My dog ran along the edge of the fence until he found an opening. He then went back and picked up the sent and was off on the trail. My dog used intelligence and won the trial. For a bird dog, working a running ruffed grouse takes intelligence.
A dog’s nose is really his eyes. The nose tells the dog everything about his environment. Here is a quote from my book, 21st Century Pointing Dog Training, “A dogs nose not only dominates his face, but his brain as well. In fact, a dog relies on his sense of smell to interpret his world, in much the same way people depend on their sight. Also from my book, If you make the analogy (human to dog), what you and I can see at a third of a mile, a dog could see more than 3,000 miles away and still see as well". A good bird dog needs a good nose.
We all like an attractive dog. Although beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, dog breeds have established conformation standards which typically result in the most desirable physical traits for a breed. If a dog has most of those traits, it most likely will be attractive to most any eye. Let’s use the German shorthaired pointer as an example. A male will stand between 23 and 25 inches at the shoulder and weigh anywhere from 55 to 70 pounds. The female runs smaller. The coat is usually liver and white. Aristocratic is often used to describe the appearance of a well-bred shorthair. Conformation standards for most breeds can easily be found on the internet.
When a young man suddenly becomes interested in young ladies, he’s developed prey drive. It’s genetic. Young men want to pursue young ladies. Bird dog prey drive is wanting to locate and chase birds. However, eventually, with our bird dog, we only want the locate and not the chase. Prey drive gives your dog excitement and enthusiasm. Prey drive will motivate your bird dog to hunt all day until it drops. However, as good dog owners, we pickup our dog long before it drops. Your author has personally watched some of the finest pointing dogs in the United States. Horseback all-age field trial dogs may have too much prey drive for the average foot hunter. A cast of 1000 yards is possible and that’s a great deal of land to cover on foot. If your a foot hunter, you’ll find excellent hunting dogs in the cover dog field trial circuit.
Biddability is very important for our bird dogs. A biddable dog listens and cooperates. As owners/trainers, we don’t want to squash that prey drive, however, you can work with positive reinforcement, to get them to listen. Through loving and understanding your dog, they’ll become obedient members of the family. And, they’ll learn they don’t have to chase down their meal everyday, their loving owner will deliver it in a pan.
The bottom line is that all these traits are genetic. When buying a puppy, search for the traits you feel are most important to you. Hope to meet you in the field some day.
Copyright 2023 Paul Fuller
Paul and Susan Fuller are co-hosts of Bird Dogs Afield TV show. All past episodes are available on their website: www.birddogsafield.com. Contact: paul@birddogsafield.com.