# German Shorthair



## waterfam (Sep 26, 2003)

Does anyone have an opinion on German Shorthairs compared to other bird dogs? A friend is looking for a new bird dog and is looking for opinions. Someone said that they are high maintenence and get tired easily and others say they are very hard workers. :roll: :roll:


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

If you are mainly looking for an upland pointer,also look at the GWP and a Brittany.Also try to get one that has a lot of white.They are much easier to keep track of in heavy cover if they are white.

I have a GWP that is liver with white ticking...sometimes tough to see.

They do not tire as easy as a flushing dog.They also hunt with their nose in the air instead of on the ground like a flusher.This allows them to pick up bird sent at greater distances.All are excellent retrievers.

There are 2 good GWP kennels in ND.One in Washburn and 1 in Dickinson.
The one in Dickinson also sells started and trained GWP.


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## Kansas Kid (Nov 20, 2003)

Waterfam, I have owned Shorthairs, Brittanys, Setters, Labs, and Pointers and I liked all of them, but a Brittany is my favorite for hunting several different types of upland birds. I have used my Brittanys for quail, pheasants, prarie chicken, sage grouse, huns, blue grouse, chuker, and sharpetails. I loved the pointers and setters for hunting quail in the flint hills, but they were tough to hunt behind for pheasants. They were fun to hunt Prarie Chickens off of horseback, but not from foot. The Shorthair was decent on pheasants, but much better on quail. The Britts seem to be a better all around choice for me. I don't know much for breeders up your way, but Minn is full of them. You could check The American Brittany for a club that might be up your way. There are two clubs in SD, one in Ia., and a couple in Minn. I'm sure there are Shorthair clubs there also. Spend a couple extra dollars and buy from a good bloodline.


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## waterfam (Sep 26, 2003)

what if he's only hunting pheasants? Which would you recommend. The reason we're inquiring about the German Shorthair is because a local acquaintance has registered pups that are going fast. We don't want to miss a window of oportunity to get a pup local.


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## Kansas Kid (Nov 20, 2003)

The Shorthair would be fine for pheasants if that breeding does not have a lot of pointer bred into it. The field trial guys bred in the English Pointer to extend their range for competition. You could tell this was the case with mine just by looking at him. He was a 50 yard dog as a pup and did a great job on pheasants and the second year he was making 600 yard casts and I had to put the e-collar on him after he started knocking birds. He hunted hard all day long though.


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## IAHunter (Sep 1, 2003)

I have had a German Shorthair for the last three years now and I have decided that it will be the only dog I get. When I was trying to decide what type of dog to get I read an article that stated GSH's were easy dogs to train, and they are. Mine is very intelligent and obediance training was a breeze. Field training took awhile longer because she was a little shy in new surroundings.

I don't know if I was lucky, or what, but my dog started out being a 15 yard dog and now stays within 40 yards, less if I call her name every once in a while. I haven't noticed her getting tired through the day, but since she is my only dog right now I give her frequent breaks and don't push that hard when working through thick cover.

This is just my opinion and experiances. The only other dogs I have worked behind are my brothers Brittney (extremely high stamina and little training, bad combo :eyeroll: ), two Brittney's that are trial dogs, and a couple of labs. But I just LOVE my GSH.

IaHunter


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## goosehtr4life (Dec 16, 2002)

I have owned and hunted behind a GS and would recommend one to anyone...there stamina is outstanding and they have a great nose...they also retrieve very well....I also like Brits.. the biggest difference I see is Brits don't seem to retrieve as well as GS...both are intellegent breeds and both have great stamina...like I said I have bird hunted for over 25 years with dogs and do not have a bad thing to say about one...FYI..make sure to give it plenty of exercise on a daily basis...they can get hyper active if they are not exercised often...good luck..


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## Lars (Sep 5, 2003)

I had a GS and what a hell of a good upland hunter she was. However, my dog was super hyper and need heavy doses of attention (every day!)and space to run. She ran like the wind (and I agree with the guys here, they poop out fast), her nose was excellent. I witnessed my dog once jump a 5 foot fence and clear it with the grace of an olympic athlete. I remember always thinking that her body moved faster than her brain could calate. Training her wooped my *** but it was fun. I've trained two other Labs and the two combined didn't come close to the challenge it was to train my GS.

FYI here's some characteristics of my GS:
HIGH MAINTENANCE, hyper, Loyal, borderline disobedient, protective, eats like a pig to get her share, pukes it all up then eats it again, quick, fast, stupid, hard mouth, shy, ancy, greedy, good swimmer, and good fetcher.

Of course all dogs are different so go with your gut.

Hope I helped. Good luck with your choice!


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Any dog purchase should start with a hard look at both the parents in the field there are great variations within every breed even some within the same litter. ASK the breeder what the dogs normal range is. Range is the number one complaint among people that own pointers and it is bred into the dog and very hard to modify. You can buy shorthairs that range anywhere from 50 yards to 600. Shorthairs and most pointers have lots of energy bred into them and need a lot more exercise than most dogs if you can't commit to regularly exercising don't get a pointer German Shorthair or otherwise. I walk 2 miles twice a day with my dogs off leash ( they probably run 10 miles during the walk) if I don't give them this level of exercise they are hard to control due to the excess energy they have. Just because a dog is registered means nothing as far as what the dogs personality is. Almost everybody that has complaints about pointing dogs has made the mistake of not reserching the dogs parents and doing the analisis to see if the dogs range ect. match what they want in a dog. I've made the mistake myself and its a long term mistake if you regard your dog as something other than an object. Don't buy a dog on impulse another good litter will always come along with dogs that you will actually enjoy.


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## PJ (Oct 1, 2002)

My grandpa was a hardcore Shorthair trainer and if your friend is just hunting pheasants I would recomend them. I will personally get one as soon as I have the opportunity.


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