Dog or Bitch

Boiled-egg

Folks I'm on the verge of buying a springer pup but as the title suggests I'm not sure wheather to get a dog or bitch?? Any opinions??

endasmail

have ya any other dogs?

charlie10

shooting times had an article on this very question,it is a very good read and bitches do seem to be the first choice of people buying a pup. one man who had 2 male labs was asked the very question and he replied "when it came to commiting crimes male dogs were open and transparent whereas bitchs had a sneakier approach". And at the end of the article the autor qoutes that"one can sit down and make long lists of pros and cons,but i think that in the final analysis it is abou that gut feeling that a male dog gives,and i personally am prepared to put up with the percieved drawbacks that in so many cases are simply hearsay".

deerhunter1

Boiled-egg wrote: »

Folks I'm on the verge of buying a springer pup but as the title suggests I'm not sure wheather to get a dog or bitch?? Any opinions??

A bitch much more loyal, cuter, have a secure place to keep her

EPointer=Birdss

I prefer dogs.
However i currently know of 2 Springers from the same litter in the same household. The bitch is naturally leaps & bounds above the dog. To me it was obvious at 8 weeks she was going to be better & so far she hasn't let me down. She's hunting, flushing & retrieving excellent at 4.5 months.

Down to the pup & your selection process I reckon...

Boiled-egg

Thanks Lads.
It will be my first Gun Dog so Im trying to glean as much info as possible. No other dogs in the house at the min.

deeksofdoom

I have 3 bitches at the moment, had a dog once and I just found that there was just a constant battle for dominance with him, but then again that was his personality he was stubborn.
The bitches I find are more biddable and loyal. But then you have problems with them coming into heat, on the other hand you'll have problems with dogs lifting their legs everywhere.

endasmail

id go with a dog
i find the bitches more quirke ,,sometimes they will ,sometimes they wont

dogs are hell for leather ,most of the time

highduck

I have 5 Springers at the minute-2 dogs and 3 botches.

My advice would be to think practically.

1st I'd buy a pup that I like the most out of the litter whatever the sex.If you really like a pup you'll give yourself the best chance of training it.

Are you a major shooter that shoots or plans to shoot a lot?If so I,d sway towards a dog pup.My experience of bitches is that they will nearly always come into heat during the shooting season.(hunting them in heat is not ideal as nature takes over and their body tells them to prepare for pups so they may damage,eat or kill game).Some bitches heat arnt too bad but others cows and are dodgey for a few months after heat.

I have found bitches smarter and easier to train as well as quicker to start hunting.

Dogs tend to be a bit thicker and slower to develop.It wouldn't be unusual for a dog to be 2 b4 showing any real class as a hunter.

Dogs dont come into heat so you have the whole season to hunt them.

I would advise buying a good training book.These all give top advice from pup to trained dog.I read these b4 buying my 1st dog 20 years ago and my 1st dog was one of the best I,ve owned.

Gundog training and field trials-by peter moxen-Brilliant book covering how to train springers,labs and pointer/setter-well worth any shooting man owning.(ebay)

Training spaniels by Joe Irvine-another brilliant book worth having.(ebay)

Good DVDs-Basic+Advanced spaniel training by Ian Openshaw v good-He did one b4 these called spaniel training for the gun which was better but is hard to get now.(e-bay or loads of UK online shooting shops)

Spaniel training by David Lisset 4dvds is good but its dear.(paul french video-on google he has loads of dvds on his website)

Id read moxons book above b4 buying any dvds.Once you read that and understand that you will train a dog better than a lot of so called "dog men"
Ian Openshaw in the UK has made up over 80 field trial champions and he started by reading moxons book.

Best of luck with your purchase

HD.

pheasntstalker

personally i , went for bitch after bein advised by father inlaw because this is my first dog and he stated that a bitch is easier to train,not as headstrong as male,bitchs are far more obedient,though as an other op pointed out,the only time u get a bit of hassle is when there in heat which is what im having a the minute,oh just a tip i was given by an old timer, when she comes into heat ,rub raw dettol round her rear and it,ll keep randy rover a bay one sniff he,ll turn tucktale an leg;);) trust me i tried it it works:D:D:D

Bamanlou

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

I prefer dogs.
However i currently know of 2 Springers from the same litter in the same household. The bitch is naturally leaps & bounds above the dog. To me it was obvious at 8 weeks she was going to be better & so far she hasn't let me down. She's hunting, flushing & retrieving excellent at 4.5 months.

Down to the pup & your selection process I reckon...

i was just wondering is that pup sitting to shot and flush at 4.5 months and if so how did you train her so fast

EPointer=Birdss

Hunting, flushing birds & rabbits in a rabbit pen for all intents & purposes. She's not been shot over yet.
Retrieving wise she will take a dummy from land & decent size water with confidence. At this stage of her development the hunting instincts are been encouraged. All of the polishing work is done after. I am a firm believer that a dog is a hunter first. I noticed with a lot of Springers they constantly look to their handler for direction rather than figure it out for themselves to some degree. I put this down to the amount of heavy handling we do as pups drilling in commands before any field work is done. After stop & recall are trained you have control & then the Ecollar is useful as a back up.
I watched Ian Openshaw over the weekend at the fair & he was very good at what he does but I noticed his dog never stopped looking at him or turning every few steps for a command. A tad robotic I thought.

I am unsure if steadiness to shot & flush will be trained. I doubt it as this a friend of mine & we train & hunt similarly.
In our grounds the land is fairly wild & with springers 90% of our game is birds flushed from Thick ditches. We don't have rabbits in big numbers for shooting so don't. To me a good springer is 1 that lives in the cover. It's very hard for them to mark a bird from there at times.
If I was trailing or hunting crop or more open country or rabbits then I would considor training steadiness but for now I doubt he will either...

Boiled-egg

Folks
Thanks to all for the replies, all valid points and appreciated
Regards
B Egg

cavan shooter

I never let it worry me, bitches can be easier and My Bitch is softer, cuter and cuddly, does what she is told and would bring me anything I tell her to get. The hunting dog is excellent too