HikeNHunter

I've hunted labs and lab crosses for 25years and swear by them but I have a friend who hunts German Shorthairs and he loves them as much as I love my labs. His brother has a Chesepeke Bay Retriever and she is excellent as a flushing dog and as a duck dog.

Big Lead

I have both a Springer and a Lab. Both will do double duty. The only problem the Springer has is she has a hard time getting a huge honker back on a land retrieve. As she returns with the bird she steps on the dragging wing and the bird pops out of her mouth. She just takes another hold and keeps coming back.
She only weighs 34lbs. so most Springers are bigger than her. My Lab is slightly more versatile, because she can do almost anything my Springer can do, plus she blood trails big game. Both have hunted Mountain Quail, valley quail, dove, snipe, Pheasant, Blue Grouse, Ruffed Grouse, Chuckars, Huns, as well as Ducks and geese. They are masters at better than half of these species, and do a good job on the others. The one weakness both have is on Chuckars. When they hit the scent of those runners they follow as fast as they can. Most of the time this means they get flushed out of range. My last two trips have been more sucessful because I started using a remote sit, when my Lab gets birdy. Now she can be 60yds. out and tracking, and when she is winding hard, I give her the Sit!! command. She plops down on her rear and waits for me to walk up and release her. Our last day of hunting produced 14 chuckars and 5 quail, so I feel like I found the secret weapon now. I love both of my dogs. I feel if I had to choose one or the other, I would lean toward the Lab, but having both is twice the fun. I know of an awesome litter coming up of Labs, and I know where some world class Springers are at near here. There are many other breeds out there that do double duty. Just make sure you socialize your chosen breed, and expose them to as many hunting situations as possible. Thats what makes them versatile. Training and multiple sitation exposure. Good Luck in your hunt.

OhioDuckHunter

spadluigi,

I have and hunt Labs. They are great! If you prefer upland with occasional waterfowl, I recommend the English Springer Spaniel. I do not recommend rescue services for a hunting dog as you do not know the background of the dog, and a large percentage of the rescues have been abused at one time or another. This would not be desireable as they may not be the hunter you want. If you'd like some information, check out my friend's website below. If you decide to contact him, tell him Bob sent you.

Brent competed in the Illinois Pheasant Challenge recently with 2 dogs. He place the top 2 places both days with only two dogs. His pages have some good information on Springers and some very good links.

OhioDuckHunter.
http://www.guadairakennels.com/

ESetter1

I know that it is not a real well known breed, but I would recommend an american water spaniel. It is a very versatile breed. They are only about 20-25 lbs and a great dog for both upland birds and waterfowl.

Big Lead

I have worked with several American Water Spaniels. I took care of about 9 of them for about 4 mo.s. I would have trouble recomending them to someone who is seriously looking at a Springer or a Lab. They are a breed suited for those hunters that want something that hardly anybody else has. I have personally never seen one smaller than about 35lbs. I dealt with dogs from the 2 largest kennels in the USA so I think I have seen a healthy sample of them. They are not as quick to learn there lessons as other breeds. They are slower to mature, and you can not pressure them at all, or else they will refuse to do the easiest things. There are some good ones out there. I personally have not seen nor hunted with any. I hunted with a fellow for a couple years who had 2. They were the same age within a day of my Springer. We trained together quite a bit. He had a Female that would do water retrieves, but was very slow at them. She also could not mark a single bumper even if it was tossed 20 feet in front of her. She would swim around and around until someone tossed enough rocks to lead her to it. Meanwhile my Springer would be starring at it wanting to be sent. If his gave up I would give the command and my Springer would launch so hard she would just about land on the bumper. His other female AWS would not even get in water on a hot day. Low drive to be certain.
I thought that maybe it was his training methods so I worked with the dogs. They just did'nt seem to have any drive, nor where they very biddable. To sum it up I have just worked with a handful of these dogs, so I may be wrong.
Just be sure to get your facts from some people besides the breeders. The breeders are a dedicated lot who will sell you on there good points, but may not be so eager to show them at work.