any insight

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Originally Posted by jobbershunting

The conversation is on 'popular dogs' Terry. Jake owns pointers and his argument is they are better choice (among other 'popular breeds') for a reason. I am illustrating that his argument holds no weight because if I chose a 'popular breed' I would not be able to pursue the quarry of my choice with a 'popular dog' to the same level of success that I do.

Is that more clear?

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I see what you are saying but I don't think you get his point. There are several breeds considered pointing breeds and used for the same games/purposes as an English pointer. None of them are more effective at finding birds quickly , covering ground and pinning down the bird for a shot. Nobody would choose an EP to hunt ducks. If I also hunted waterfowl I would not have chosen my Britt which is primarily a pointing breed. He will retieve ducks but can't sit still at all. Would be a disaster in a blind and couldn't handle the cold most likely. And really your dog isn't what I would consider an "unpopular" breed either. Actually quite common in Ontario so buying a good bloodline wouldn't be as big a challenge.

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Originally Posted by jobbershunting

One of the funnier comments I have read in a while.

When you can show me an everyday pointer or retriever that is equally as effective in the grouse woods as it is in the December boat blind hunting late season mallards then I will give your comment some consideration. Until then, the 'popular' breeds are completely useless to me.

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They may be useless to you but they are pretty handy for lots of other people. By your statements you own a true versatile dog, it is adequate at many things and a specialist at none of them.

From the OP's breed choice I don't think late season waterfowling is in the cards so I am not sure what you are getting at.

For the people looking for an all day dog. Just because a dog is fast doesn't mean it can't go all day just like a dog with a slower pace doesn't mean it can go all day. There are a lot of other factors in play that make a dog an all day dog.

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Originally Posted by Big Gunner

"Breed Fancy" no its not breed francy and it's very much hunt talent. Like I said rare has a lot a lot to to do with popularity. The 150 is just the best bang for the buck there's better trucks out there they just cost more. This is a very common breed around the world just not in north amaerica.

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I would say go for it D.A.D.D since you have clearly done the research. Everyone on this forum has valid experience with many of the hunting breeds . Some clearly do not have a full understanding of what other breeds have to offer but that would be lack of interest on their part. I had a rare bloodline of Siberian Husky that i helped rebuild through a twenty year breeding program will full the cooperation of other breeders. If you have any questions please PM me.

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Originally Posted by Big Gunner

Hello all. I'm looking at picking up my first gun dog this spring and have decided on the Braque Francais. Does anyone have any information on the breed, has anyone ever hunted with one,does anyone in south ontario have one. I would love to see one in action.

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Why is it that when a person requests some information on a breed they are researching, that we get posting attempting to make them reconsider their selection, sell them on the breed they have chosen, start a war on who dog is better at what.
Possibly this site is not the place to ask for assistance, but it should be!

Congratulations to Big Gunner on doing some research, and looking for assistance.

At least he is not going to the classified section of a newspaper , and selecting a cross breed (IE Labadoodle) .

Gentlemen, we are all in the dog game together and have larger issues to be concerned on such as electric collars, tail docking and bird releases traps to be quibbling over who's breed is better.

Dick

Dick just for the record I have not been trying to dissuade the OP at all, in fact I agree that he's done some spade work in his search. I do agree that being in the same game...meaning we are sporting dog owners, then yes we should be concerned with larger issues at some point.
Would you like to elaborate on the three issues you have mentioned?

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Originally Posted by BDH

Why is it that when a person requests some information on a breed they are researching, that we get posting attempting to make them reconsider their selection, sell them on the breed they have chosen, start a war on who dog is better at what.
Possibly this site is not the place to ask for assistance, but it should be!

Congratulations to Big Gunner on doing some research, and looking for assistance.

At least he is not going to the classified section of a newspaper , and selecting a cross breed (IE Labadoodle) .

Gentlemen, we are all in the dog game together and have larger issues to be concerned on such as electric collars, tail docking and bird releases traps to be quibbling over who's breed is better.

Dick

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I would add to that with the overwhelmingly obvious assumption that since the OP may be new to the forum or their post count is not greater than 100 that they are not knowledgeable about the topic at hand.

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Originally Posted by terrym

I see what you are saying but I don't think you get his point. There are several breeds considered pointing breeds and used for the same games/purposes as an English pointer. None of them are more effective at finding birds quickly , covering ground and pinning down the bird for a shot. Nobody would choose an EP to hunt ducks. If I also hunted waterfowl I would not have chosen my Britt which is primarily a pointing breed. He will retieve ducks but can't sit still at all. Would be a disaster in a blind and couldn't handle the cold most likely. And really your dog isn't what I would consider an "unpopular" breed either. Actually quite common in Ontario so buying a good bloodline wouldn't be as big a challenge.

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Couple problems, what is rare is different to many people. In Canada, there are from year-to-year no more than 25-30 litters of WPG produced and that may even be an over estimate. So in comparison to say Labrador litters, the WPG is rare but in comparison to Braque Francios, you are right they are not rare. So where does that leave us with the orignial statement of "rare dogs are rare for a reason", rare compared to what?

A "rare breed" may be "rare" because of what it is utilized for. Like you said, Jake runs pointers and pointers aren't traditionally used for waterfowl. I suspect Jake doesn't partake in a lot of waterfowling. Kraka runs Labradors which aren't traditionally used for pointing, and I would suspect Kraka doesn't spend much time pursuing woodcock with his Labradors either. So in this example, my WPG may be "rare for a reason" which is it's utility. However, this differs from how I interpreted the use of the "rare breeds are rare for a reason" by Jake in his initial post. Which in my mind was a slant towards "rare breeds" and their general abilities as bird dogs.

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Originally Posted by Jakezilla

They may be useless to you but they are pretty handy for lots of other people. By your statements you own a true versatile dog, it is adequate at many things and a specialist at none of them I don't disagree with any of this.

From the OP's breed choice I don't think late season waterfowling is in the cards so I am not sure what you are getting at. Answered in post $49

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Originally Posted by terrym

I see what you are saying but I don't think you get his point. There are several breeds considered pointing breeds and used for the same games/purposes as an English pointer. None of them are more effective at finding birds quickly , covering ground and pinning down the bird for a shot. Nobody would choose an EP to hunt ducks. If I also hunted waterfowl I would not have chosen my Britt which is primarily a pointing breed. He will retieve ducks but can't sit still at all. Would be a disaster in a blind and couldn't handle the cold most likely. And really your dog isn't what I would consider an "unpopular" breed either. Actually quite common in Ontario so buying a good bloodline wouldn't be as big a challenge.

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As a setter owner now I'm getting tense. :)