Thanks Huntrfishr!

my black lab is american lab.he weights around 80 pds.he is not best at grouse or pheasants or rabbits or turkeys.but he hunts them all and can handle cold.i have him out in feb at 10 above with no trouble at all.his feet are very strong.he can swim in any water cold/warm.will break thru ice and swim out .can walk thru swamp water.

his hair is no problem after hunting. i just use a beach towel to dry him.very little hair in house and no burrs on him after hunting.he will not back down from bear,
bobcat,fox,big housecats,coyotes.

he does not point,he flushes.he hunts within 20 yds all time, NO COLLAR to find him.he does not chase deer.he is looking for me all the time not me looking for him.
he is great at home,will catch a frisbee or ball.
so you can see there is more to hunting than just having best GROUSE breed.there is weather,how the dog hunts and stays with you, how they do in storms, wind, water, cold,heat, around gunshots,other dogs,people.

lab is very good dog for listening to you,they train easy, good at home,will give up their life for you .here is few pics of tobys brothers /sisters.notice they are american labs.hope this helps and pick dog that does all those things and not the best breed for hunting a certain game. take care.

www.wetland-retrievers.com

Thanks Sproulman

I have had 3 males and 4 females what I have found is that there doesn't seem to be an :easier" sex. I have also had experiance with AKC breedings along with German breedings. The differance here sems to be that the German breedings seem to have more prey drive in relationship to cooperation. Both breedings have great trainability. So as you can see there is no good answer for you which sex question. If you have male dogs in the house adding a male may tend to start "marking" contests for this reason my wife has limited me to 1 male in the house at a time :)

Good Luck with your future pup DD's are a great breed.

Thanks jodis girls! Really appreciate that input.

dude of the examples you listed i like labs their the most loyal

bird dog choices
 

Why not look into the Spinoni Italiani? They love the cold do not have the odor of the other breeds because they have the dry skin (not oily) are a versitle breed for both fur and feather and land and water. Have the wire hair that cleans off easily and doesn't hold burrs. About 2 minutes checking/combing after hunt mostly to check for injuries or lodged objects in paws and pits. Very docile in the house and all day hunting machines.

Busy B's Spinoni

There are 2 Spinone breeders near my house so I have inquired with them. I'm not a fan of the AKC though. "Vanity is the deadliest of the 7 Deadly Sins" Show breeding in any form really turns me off!

I live in northern MN, Internation Falls MN is the coldest average temp in the lower 48. Fact. Im about 2 hrs south of there. My last 2 dogs were GSP. They do fine. Give them a little shelter, one of mine lived in the house one didnt.

Thanks TeeJay!
My cold temp concern isn't about housing.

I am a professional backcountry snowboarder. I do research and development for a ski and snowboard company. My dogs snowboard with me. I am obliged to be out in the most inhospitable conditions possible to test equipment.

For example- I had a day in Dec.'07 when my climbing skins wouldn't stick to my bases. Essentially we were stranded until I could defrost the skin glue. It was -22F. My dogs curled up and took a nap in the snow while I defrosted my skins inside my jacket. I know that only dogs like my current ones will be comfortable under those conditions. They don't shiver even at -40F. I want a dog that doesn't need to be left home when I'm working.