smaller sized gun dog

Thunderbelly suggested a beagle. They are great pets and hunters but mine is a constant shedder. Vacuuming is required every 2nd day. My male small munsterlander is 55 lbs. He is mostly a non-shedder, he only sheds his few white hairs twice a year which isn't bad. He also requires the chance to run and hunt every day. The only small dog that I have owned that was a great house pet and didn't shed was a miniature schnauzer. The schnauzer did chase rabbits and kept the mole, mouse and chipmunk population in the yard down.

after hearing opinions on this forum and doing a bit more research i feel i can find a smaller pointing dog that
can fit what im looking for. im thinking a female britt or munsterlander are strong contenders for what im looking for
minus some shedding which wont be a huge deal breaker. the french britt is even smaller and closer working plus as sharon and others have said there are also smaller setters, pointers and maybe vizslas that are out there. there are a few obstacles to overcome but the hardest part in all this is getting the green light from the ladies and making sure everyone is happy and on board. right now though the britt and sm are prob my best options and im more than fine with that

Are European gun dogs dogs, smaller than North American dogs? I know there are many examples of other breeds being bred larger than the original intention. I am just wondering if searching the breeds country of origin would provide smaller dogs?

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Originally Posted by thunderbelly

Are European gun dogs dogs, smaller than North American dogs? I know there are many examples of other breeds being bred larger than the original intention. I am just wondering if searching the breeds country of origin would provide smaller dogs?

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Your probably right. Just like cars North American models are bigger.

Hunting dogs are not necessarily smaller in Europe. You would only see a significant difference after many generation of breeding; e.g. UK lab vs. Canadian lab; therefore one cannot generalize and need to look at each breed individually.

Some guy on here was looking into Braque Francais (Pyrenees type). You'll face the issue of a very small number of breeders, but if the size matters so much to you, you'll get a "GSP in Brittany size".

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Originally Posted by thunderbelly

Are European gun dogs dogs, smaller than North American dogs? I know there are many examples of other breeds being bred larger than the original intention. I am just wondering if searching the breeds country of origin would provide smaller dogs?

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In the sense of a board generalization I would say you are correct. Breeds bred in the country where they originated in tend to have a lesser tolerance for breedings that are outside of the breed standards, that and the parent breeding clubs tend to be much more involved and garner more influence with local breeders than here in NA.

In my breed of choice, Griffons, those individuals bred south of our border tend to be transitioning into a physical form that resembles more of a German Wirehair or Pudelpointer as opposed to European or even Quebec based breedings of Griffons. The WPG should be one of the shortest versatile breeds (<60 cm in males and should be longer than tall) with a deep broad chest and powerful form, not a tall slender dog breed to cover larger areas in shorter time periods.

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Originally Posted by gboa

i recently lost my little papillon after almost 13 years and was thinking about addding a new addition in the spring to help keep company with my vizsla. i have a hard task convincing the mother in law (who we live with:madman:) shes too upset to want to go through that again but at least the wife is ok with it. here is the crirteria i have handed to me...1. small in size 2. not too much of a shedder 3. a closer working gun dog as most days i walk in fields close to the house and don't need a big ranging dog to get on the streets. so far im thinking brittany as the obvious choice but have been curious about field bred cockers after seeing some work on tv. i prefer pointers but am open minded to all breeds. 30lbs range is a good and exludes most other breeds but maybe im missing certain lines that are smaller. any other breeds out there running smaller that i might be missing?

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Female Pudelpointer.....the ladies will be in love with her shortly...

Look into setters red setter would be my choice.

i really like the pudelpointers ive seen at pineridge, but they are bigger than what im looking for. easily 50-60lbs if not more.

Claymore Kennels has a litter of field bred cockers coming. They can run under 30lbs. I have English Springer Spaniels, my females are smaller, under 35lbs. Cockers and female ESS's will work close. They are both field bred so the hunting ability is a given.