Dog advice / experiences

Jäger1

Jäger1

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So I'm looking at getting myself a dog in the next few months and I'd like to ask if anyone has any first-hand hunting experiences with some of the breeds I'm interested in.

Tamaskans
Malamutes
Laikas
Elkhounds


Feel free to suggest any other similarly sized breeds of similar appearance that you feel might make better hunting dogs.
 
We need to know what game you are hunting. I personally have never heard of any of these dogs used as hunters but I'm from southern Ontario.
 
a friend of mine has used elkhounds on moose. seems like a great idea but have heard it is difficult to train them. Akita might be another one you want to put on that list. Seen one used on a bear. Karelian Bear Dog is another one.
 
Jäger said:
So I'm looking at getting myself a dog in the next few months and I'd like to ask if anyone has any first-hand hunting experiences with some of the breeds I'm interested in.

Tamaskans
Malamutes
Laikas
Elkhounds





Feel free to suggest any other similarly sized breeds of similar appearance that you feel might make better hunting dogs.
Click to expand...

I have spent time in Moose camps with Finns and Norwegians who loved there Laika and Elkhounds but I would expect it would be difficult to find stock in north America that has been hunted. They use them on all sorts of game like Martin and lynx as well as moose.
 
I am a loyal GSD owner and I believe they can be trained for almost anything. That said, there are better choices as others have mentioned. Definitely scratch Malamute from your list. Awesome dog but for hunting, not so much.
 
Best I can say is maybe look into a versatile breed dog.

Rabbit is run with beagles.
Birds with labs, springers, versatile breeds etc.
Squirrel and coons with Jacks or coon hounds.
coyotes with walkers hounds.

IMO a sled dog might try and hunt but it won't be effective. If you just want a dog to wall around in the bush while you do the hunting you could be on the right track.
 
Verein Deutsch-Drahthaar! Have a look at vdd-canada.ca

My Drahthaar 'Nos' vom Dan-Son is one awesome hunting dog!

BUT!!! I would NOT recommend this dog for anyone who can't put the time into the dog. Nor anyone who has not been around dogs alot, this is NOT a beginner breed...

Nos gets run DAILY & he has cost me over 2000 dollars in additional vet bills this year... He killed a porcupine & got into two dog fights... Surgery ($1271) for the porcupine, ya it was UNREAL, and stitches ($520) and puncture wounds ($260)... He's still recovering from the puncture wounds where a Doberman latched onto his rear leg about a week ago...

Is he hard headed, yes. Is he determined, yes. Is he a HELL OF A HUNTING DOG, YES!

Cheers
Jay
 
I have a field spaniel from a breeder that breeds dogs for hunting. He comes form a long line of excellent field dogs. Does not have the classic spaniel 'look". he was bred as an athlete, not a model. A dedicated and enthusiastic hunter. Runs back and forth in the field, with nose to ground, flushing everything.

Dog is very friendly and eager to please. Smart, too.

Talk to breeders. They can describe your pup before he is born.
 
I am assuming the dog will be living with you. Get one your wife can stand. There many versatile gun dog breeds, with varying temperaments. Choose one that suits your personality. If you travel while hunting, get a smaller breed. They can go all day and when crate trained most lodgings will accept them. You will fall in love with any pup you see so make sure you are looking at the right breed when that happens. You will have that dog for 12/13 years and spend countless hours training him/her so make sure it is the one you want. Good luck.
 
I agree with several of the previous comments as far as there are a lot of better choices for what you are wanting to hunt. The breeds you have mentioned aren't really multi purpose hunting dogs and they don't always play well with others. Thing is, if you want to run coyotes successfully you would do best with running scent hounds or lurchers. Coons are best hunted with treeing scent hounds. Bird flushing is a spaniels specialty. Squirrels are usually hunted with feists or curs. Beagles are best for bunnies. There are multi purpose dog breeds but they rarely excell at every discipline the way that dogs that have been purposely bred for a particular prey will excel. That said, I think it would be fun to go out with a multi purpose hunting dog and see what it rooted up each time.
One last thing, you will only get out of your hunting dog what you put in. Eg. If you want to hunt coon successfully, you will need to put hundreds of hours into training and hunting your dog in order to let it reach its full potential. Part time effort will get you less than best results.
 
Pigeonman said:
I'd stay away from any type of sled dog for off leash work, they tend to wander in my experience. I'd check out the American Kennel Club website and look at herding and working breeds.
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"Tend to wander"??? If it's a husky or derivative it will run (maybe it will turn around long enough to stick it's tongue out at you, mine always did) and be back in one, two, three days, depending on how much fun it's having. Great dogs, loving, smart but they sure like to wonder. A German Shepard, on the other hand, won't stray more that 50 feet from you in the woods and is always looking back to make sure they haven't lost you.
 
Thanks for all the input guys. Just to clarify, this is a family dog first and a hunting dog second. These were the breeds that have particularly caught my attention and I was mostly asking what hunting usefulness they might have and personal experiences.

Keep the input coming though! I've been checking out some of the other breeds suggested
 
Your list of animals/birds is too varied for one dog to do it all. Super dogs that hunt everything and anything with any degree of proficiency don't exist by breed. The one ouside possible exception is the Drahthaar but as "Jay" stated above they are not a beginners breed and require a tremendous amount of dedication and time to train especially since you want the dog to do everything.

I have extensive experience hunting upland birds especially pheasants, my choice of breed has been labs. Over the years I have had many hunting companions with other breeds, several Drahthaars.

My best advice is to pick a particular type of game you wish to hunt be it water fowl, upland, rabbits, fox, coyote, deer, and buy the breed of dog to your liking that fits that type game. By your own admission it will be a family pet first, a hunting dog second, the kids are going to spoil it some what regardless.
 
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