Pitbulls for Upland Birds?

[Mite]

Pits come in many shapes and sizes from nearly boxer size (little more stout) to monstrous dogs (easily 150lbs and 36" at the shoulder). I can envision a small pit being able to outrun and out endure a traditional gun dog breed - if the owner of the gun dog don't exercise the dog enough. But that is dependent on the individual dog. Like people, athleticism is dependent upon exercise.

I would question the desire. Take a random pit and a random (traditional) bird dog breed. Both never exposed to birds. Let both be trained by two equally professional dog trainers (like Smith brothers, Duffy's, etc.) - one on one with no other influence from other dogs. For the gun dog, how much time would it take from complete novice to finished gun dog vs. the same for the pit? Then take into account how long each trainer spends upon which aspect of training.

Now, consider the failure rate for each if both trainers trained a hundred random dogs (gun dog vs pit).

A simple Gedanken experiment (thought experiment) would be less failures for the gun dog breed but it shows how much is bred into the breed.

My setter is a wuss; She doesn't like dogs who are the same size or larger to sniff or approach her. Especially larger dogs. She immediately comes to me for protection. During hunting season, everything changes. She complete ignores strange dogs and other hunters. I've seen her bowl over another dog because it was in her way. This is the level I would personally expect for any hunting dog, pit or otherwise. Anything less and I would not commit my limited resources and time (a huge portion of my money is going into saving for extending the upcoming season which I would not commit to if I didn't have my setter - normal season is two months which I would be happy with.)

[peterjackson]

The first rabbit it flushes, its going to give chase and if it catches it, will tear it apart.

[Jorgy]

I don't know much about Pits, but I can tell you from my own experience that other breds can be "adequate" for bird hunting. My german shepard went most places with me. I took him pheasant hunting with me here in Colorado while my buddies gave me a hard time about it. He was a really well behave dog, and would do just about anything I asked of him. The first few times he was just a extra body to walk the field, My buddy would call him and he would walk to him, then I would call him back and he would zig zag his way through a field between us. That in itself was a help.

After the first few times of him going with us I bought some pheasant scent and would put it on his toys when we would play. The second year we took him he got what was going on. He would flush a pheasant, hunt down wounded birds, and run up do dead birds. He would not pick up birds, he would just sit by them and bark till someone picked it up. He would take off chasing rabbits sometimes, but all I had to do was call him and he would stop and come back.

I"m not saying my German Shepard was a awesome birder by any means. We hunted over the years with a GSP and a few labs of friends and their dogs did a much better job. Our dogs always got along well, there were never any issues. My dog would hunt all day, he had no quit in him.

[Muley Hunter]

It was said a pit can't run like a bird dog. Mine sure can we hike the mountains everyday, and he never gets tired from running.

If I was a bird hunter i'm sure I could train him to do it. He's very smart, and really wants to please me. He also has no interest in fighting other dogs unless they start it. He loves all people.

He's my 5th pit, and the best of the bunch.

[DuanePipe]

Originally Posted by Yellowsnow

You would save yourself a lot of headaches and your daughters dog a lot of scolding if you just let the dog be what it is and purchase a Bird dog for yourself. Bird dogs are bred, not made. Were the Pit's parents and grandparents bird dogs? If not then throw a stick for the dog in the backyard and enjoy the retrieve and companionship.

I too agree with this and you better try in this way. But my opinion is not to use pit bulls in upland bird hunting.