doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gun dogs; Braque Francais (French Pointer)

For longhaired critters in the briars and such, I use the cheapest, unscented, no dye hair conditioner, just rub it on before you turn them loose, works wonders!

Is that the standard tail length ? Looks a bit short to me.

Apparently, they dock the tails per the tradition. Otherwise, I suspect you couldn't tell the difference between that male and a E-pointer.

Cute as they were, I still couldn't bring myself to buy a freshly welped pup. I asked to buy the yearling, but they declined.

So, I'm talking to George Hickox and Ronnie Smith about finished dogs. I may have to cash some stock options to do that! English Pointers.

Just did that reasoning with a new yellow Lab pup, Chuck. He's eleven weeks. I talked with some trainers about him, and realized I would have, at the very least, $5K in training. Decided to do it, again, myself. I've done it before, I can do it again.

Five big ones will buy lots of shells and dog food.

Stan

Stan,
I really envy you guys that have the experience, time and grounds to train one. It's just not in my cards. I live in the suburbs south of LA and just letting a dog off a leash is a $180 fine. There's some formal training grounds about an hour from me, if the traffic is light, two hrs if it's rush hour.

With my dog, the first year was had direct costs of about $5k not counting the cost of the dog. We encountered an elbow problem that cost $3500 of surgery, xrays, meds, etc., to fix, and a number of normal smaller/maintenance vet issues, toss in the dog food, equipment, etc., (which my wife kept copious, meticulous notes of) and there you have it. That didn't include fuel costs, stacks of books on dogs or such. The next year, I attended a Hickox class, which cost me $1500 with me and my wife, plus lodging, meals, for 5 days, 2000 miles of driving and fuel costs, etc., etc.. Then there was the DVDs, new training gear, super special E-collar, bird launchers. Probably a $3500 or more trip in the end.

So, while initial costs of a trained dog are pretty big numbers, I see it as either a lump sum outlay for a known dog capability vs. installments amounting to similar total costs and having me do the training, definitely resulting in a less capable dog than any professional could offer. Anyway, I have the wife convinced of this. So don't wreck that for me.

Another breed you might consider: the Braque Obama. Not sure where they come from, lots of melodious barking, no bite. Short curly black hair.

I had to replace a dog in the last year. Ask around before you pay a kennel big $$ for a trained dog. You'd be surprised how many people have their circumstances change and need to move a well-trained dog in the 1-4 year old age group. When they do, the price is often $1000 or less. Tell your friends, your taxidermist, your vet that you need one, mention whatever breeds you are interested in, and sooner or later you will get a call or two. It only took a few months for me.
I strongly recommend glucosamine chondroitin for your current dog. Don't waste money on the veterinary version; get the Costco 1200/1500 tables for people, cut them in half, and feed one-half in the morning with food. You will see the difference after a few weeks.
Finally, I live in Arizona, so I know the need to have short haired dogs and cover ground. English pointer is the way to go.
Germans look close, but aren't in my experience. But I am prejudiced after 5 generations of English....

PFD,
I've been doing the people glucosomine with my lab since we got her just as preventative maintenance. Lately, I've upped her dose with the Costco stuff (I use it too) and my vet told me to find some with not only MSM, but also HA (hyaluronic acid) a.k.a "joint fluid". I couldn't find glucosomine with both so I'm getting a separate supplement. Our vet also recommended we start her on Adequan which is an IM injectable form of glucosomine. This is apparently more effective in getting to the joints in larger quantity and therefore more effective in building soft tissue. We start those injections today with an 8 dose over 4 week start and then to a maintenance program of about 1 a month depending on need. I'm using Tramadol for pain control, which is much less impact to kidneys and such as the normal NSAIDs.







Gil,
I looked into that breed. The problem is that they always hunt left and ignore everything on the right.

Not to mention the pedigree verification issue.