Ok I have never heard of Pointing Labs untill I joined this Forum. Is there a big differance between Pointing Labs and regular Labs or are they the same? And do Pointing labs cost more? Depending on the answers I get, I might be buying a pointing lab once I get to Colorado. But your help is greatly appreciated.

A Pointing lab is a lab from front to back no difference, only difference is they point rather than flush. the price of a pointing lab pup compared to a flushing lab pup is the same. I own a pointing lab and love watching him work. If you are going to Colorado, I know of a pointing lab kennel/breeder there. PM me if you want that info.

They are getting more popular but as a pointing dog owner I feel if ya want a good pointer get a "pointer" if ya want a good upland, waterfowl retreiver get a "Lab".

do you have to train the lab to stop and point even tho they have it in them?

If I trained a german shepard to point birds do I then have a 'pointing' shepard? The dog has to pointing instinctively, that is, point on its own. Then you can train the dog to be steady.

here is good one. my brothers son hit toby with stick when toby was like 9 months old.
he hates aaron.aaron was here toby with big ice cream cone.

toby POINTED and then jumped and took that cone right out of his hand.

it was funny.

That's perfect! A nice foundation to start training Toby for his elder days. Have someone hold a can of beer and have Toby steal it from them. You can do it at parties and gatherings. And if you are ambitious enough, Toby can slip inside store, grab a cold one (not 7-11 types convenience stores, they have coolers) and zip out for a quick get away.

if the Lab is a true pointing lab no, the point will be natural. If the dog does not have the natural point or pointing instinct and you train it to stop on game then all you have done is train the dog to stand game not point. After your dog is pointing natural, you will have to steady the dog, but you can also add a command to release the dog to flush the bird for you if you want. but you WILL NOT have to do any thing with the point.

Mite, if you train a Sheppard to do what you mentioned, all you did was train the dog to stand game, you did not train the dog to point.

I will say this, I am not going to get into a debate on natural point and standing game, that was hashed out not long ago

toby likes Miller Light.

"Real" Pointing Labs will point as naturally as any 'true' pointing breed.
If you teach them to "point", it's called Standing Game (easy to tell the difference).

Here is a pic of recent "winners" of a Bird Dog Challenge.
My PL took 3rd place behind a really sweet English Pointer and a Viszla.
My PL was the only Lab entered. The entire rest of the field was composed or "real" pointing breeds.
Last year, my old dog took 3rd place on Saturday --- would have been 2nd if my shooting would have been better and my youngster PL took 3rd on Sunday.





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