Recommended breeders for Brittanys in western WA?

[jetjockey]

John... If you are only hunting pheasants, there isn't a dog in the world that will keep up with a good field bread springer.  Especially if you don't want to train them.  They naturally hunt close and they have a natural retrieve.  Any pointing breed is going to need a lot more training to compete.  The problem is getting a good field bred springer.  We hunt over some great springers in PA every year for pheasants.  Id put those dogs up against any other pheasant dogs in the world. especially in millo and corn.  A pointing dog may beat them for early season roosters, but as soon as they get shot at enough, the springeres will smoke 95% of the pointing dogs.  Pheasant hunting over springers is a beautiful thing.

[Happy Gilmore]

Mine is trained by a pro, but only because the pro spends summers in SD and he can put the dog on more birds in one summer then I can in a lifetime.  I started her though, and she was broke by the time she was 14 months old.  She was easily trained and held point to the flush from day one...  There is a myth that brittany's are soft dogs, they aren't.  But you can't beat the heck out of them like you can an EP either.  The problem in the NW is that there just isn't many pro's Id send a brittany to, and many of the brits in the NW are not well bread dogs.  Basically, IMO there are only 2 trainers I would use on the entire west coast, and only a handfull of dogs I would consider breeding too.  Dave Walker, and Paul Doiron are great trainers.  Ive seen some of the work of a couple other Pro's, and to say I wasn't impressed would be an understatement.  The dogs turned out OK inspite of their training, not because of it. 

As far as it being a crapshoot to find a good brittany, thats total bunk.  I have seen very few that weren't bird fools by the time they turned a year old.  Their trial records in all breed trials speak for themselves.  Brits took 2nd and 3rd at the AKC GD NC at 9 mile falls this year and the winningest NSTRA dog in history is a brit.  Its going to be fun to watch all the dogs run at Ames this year at the AKC GD Nationals..  Id be willing to bet you see a brit on the podium when its all over.

I wouldn't pay you a dime for two FC Pointers I've hunted with....not a good comparison for a hunter.

[wildweeds]

Hey happy,

  Since you mentioned the wirehairs................. do you know anyone looking for one? My trainer has one he is boarding for a gentleman who has hung up his guns,sold his horses and trailer and pickup. The dog is a bred to the hilt,completely broke ready to go and git em just turned three year old.Like R.J. told me,you could take him to a trial and be in the money or hunt him and kill a ton of birds,real nice specimen.And For what the old man wants for him it's a STEAL about the price of three well bred pups.

  Also the thing about FC's is............... for every one that actually gets hunted there are ten that have never seen a wild bird killed with live gunfire.My personal experiance with seeing actually who owns em..........in setters it's 90% owned by a woman that is 50+ you can figure out how much hunting goes on.

[Happy Gilmore]

Not really. I know someone looking for a started english setter. No luck with that....

[wildweeds]

how started on the setter,light, medium or near finished?

Not really. I know someone looking for a started english setter. No luck with that....

[jetjockey]

Hey happy,
 Also the thing about FC's is............... for every one that actually gets hunted there are ten that have never seen a wild bird killed with live gunfire.My personal experiance with seeing actually who owns em..........in setters it's 90% owned by a woman that is 50+ you can figure out how much hunting goes on.

Maybe in the NW, but where I live now in the SE, many of the trial dogs get hunted over.  Most of the Pro's I know spend summers in SD and the  trial dogs see TONS of wild birds.  If the dogs don't, they won't get posted in the wild bird trials like the Chicken classics, Pheasant classics, and other wild bird trials....  Many trainers also kill birds over their trial dogs to help improve their steadyness..   As far as foot hunting trial dogs, its just a matter of doing it.  Many trial dogs only get trialed, but that doesn't mean you can't foot hunt over them.  Before I sent my dog off to the trainer I asked him if he could foot hunt his trial dogs.  His response was "every single one of them, even the AA dogs".  My dog finished in the top 10 in the country in All Age points in the American Brittany Club.  Shes not what I would call a "true" AA dog, more of a big running SD, but I foot hunt the heck out of her for quail and wild SD pheasants.  Just because a trial dog doesn't get hunted, doesn't mean they can't do it.

[Happy Gilmore]

Hey happy,
 Also the thing about FC's is............... for every one that actually gets hunted there are ten that have never seen a wild bird killed with live gunfire.My personal experiance with seeing actually who owns em..........in setters it's 90% owned by a woman that is 50+ you can figure out how much hunting goes on.

Maybe in the NW, but where I live now in the SE, many of the trial dogs get hunted over.  Most of the Pro's I know spend summers in SD and the  trial dogs see TONS of wild birds.  If the dogs don't, they won't get posted in the wild bird trials like the Chicken classics, Pheasant classics, and other wild bird trials....  Many trainers also kill birds over their trial dogs to help improve their steadyness..   As far as foot hunting trial dogs, its just a matter of doing it.  Many trial dogs only get trialed, but that doesn't mean you can't foot hunt over them.  Before I sent my dog off to the trainer I asked him if he could foot hunt his trial dogs.  His response was "every single one of them, even the AA dogs".  My dog finished in the top 10 in the country in All Age points in the American Brittany Club.  Shes not what I would call a "true" AA dog, more of a big running SD, but I foot hunt the heck out of her for quail and wild SD pheasants.  Just because a trial dog doesn't get hunted, doesn't mean they can't do it.

No, it definately doesn't although, percentage wise, how many Brits do you think win AA stakes in contrast to the other pointing breeds? While yours placed in the top 10 of the American Brit club, that is probably less than 1% of all Brits which ran in Field trials in the USA. Brits don't stand up well in numbers when you strickly look at numbers of entries. Very few Brits win FT's. Same as my favorite breed, Chesapeakes. An AA FT High Point Chessie "MIGHT" have 10 points. The AA High Point Lab probably has 250. I know Brits fair about the same as Chessies in FT's.

[wildweeds]

Happy,

 Actually britts fair really well in FT stakes..............it's because.............................the stakes are closed to all breed competion except for the AAA(amateur All age) and ALGD(Amateur limited gun dog,must have a prior placement to enter).The other thing that happens is the brittanypalooza in Texas in December,a bunch of closed stake trials done to rack up points and  try to secure the #1 all breed gundog for the year.

[jetjockey]

Hey happy,
 Also the thing about FC's is............... for every one that actually gets hunted there are ten that have never seen a wild bird killed with live gunfire.My personal experiance with seeing actually who owns em..........in setters it's 90% owned by a woman that is 50+ you can figure out how much hunting goes on.

Maybe in the NW, but where I live now in the SE, many of the trial dogs get hunted over.  Most of the Pro's I know spend summers in SD and the  trial dogs see TONS of wild birds.  If the dogs don't, they won't get posted in the wild bird trials like the Chicken classics, Pheasant classics, and other wild bird trials....  Many trainers also kill birds over their trial dogs to help improve their steadyness..   As far as foot hunting trial dogs, its just a matter of doing it.  Many trial dogs only get trialed, but that doesn't mean you can't foot hunt over them.  Before I sent my dog off to the trainer I asked him if he could foot hunt his trial dogs.  His response was "every single one of them, even the AA dogs".  My dog finished in the top 10 in the country in All Age points in the American Brittany Club.  Shes not what I would call a "true" AA dog, more of a big running SD, but I foot hunt the heck out of her for quail and wild SD pheasants.  Just because a trial dog doesn't get hunted, doesn't mean they can't do it.

No, it definately doesn't although, percentage wise, how many Brits do you think win AA stakes in contrast to the other pointing breeds? While yours placed in the top 10 of the American Brit club, that is probably less than 1% of all Brits which ran in Field trials in the USA. Brits don't stand up well in numbers when you strickly look at numbers of entries. Very few Brits win FT's. Same as my favorite breed, Chesapeakes. An AA FT High Point Chessie "MIGHT" have 10 points. The AA High Point Lab probably has 250. I know Brits fair about the same as Chessies in FT's.

Your kidding me right?  Look at the AKC National Gun Dog Championships that are held every year.   Its not a closed stake, its open to all AKC registered pointing breeds.  Brits do very, very well against other breeds at the AKC GD Nationals.  Many of the Pro's from Washington attend.  Heck, Wildweeds dog he has posted at the bottom of his posts actually ran against a brit at the AKC Nationals in 2008. The Brit his dog ran against finished 4th.  That year brits took 2nd and 3rd in the retrieving stake and 1st, 3rd, and 4th in the non-retrieving stake.  Usually only Paul Doiron shows up at the west coast trials, and he consistantly beats the Pro's from Washington who run ES's, GSP's, and other breeds.  Look at the winningest NSTRA dog in history.  It aint a EP, ES, GSP, GWP, or any other breed.  Its a brittany.   There is only 1 dog who was the first dog to be inducted to the NSTRA hall of fame.  And Buddy is the most famous dog in NSTRA history.

As far as my dog is concerned.  I guarantee you that 90% of the brits in the country run in the same ABC circuit as my dog.  Every major horseback Brittany Pro runs the ABC circuit.  While many of the Brit trials are closed, not all of them are. Brit pro's also run in stakes that aren't closed such as the AKC GD Nationals.  Brittany's do very well against other breeds of dogs.  I will agree, that their aren't many brits who run AF AA trials, but some of that has to do with the fact that AF judges simply won't post a dog with a short tail.  Those trials are open to all breeds, but lets face it, with the exception of the occasional ES, you are only going to see EP's running. 

Wildweeds... What is the brittany palooza that you talk about that supposidly occurs in Texas?  Ive heard of pretty much every major brittany trial there is, but Ive never heard of the brittany palooza.

[KFhunter]

I did the same thing johng,
 
posted up I wanted a britt and guys like this chimed in and overloaded the thread then got into arguements about breedings and trainer and before I knew it the thread I made was hyjacked and I was a 3rd party listener trying to understand wtf they were all talking about 
 
I got a Britt, my 1st and I tried (trying) to make a bird dog of her.  She was a cull, got her pretty cheap last pup in the litter and smaller than the rest - half off normal price.   great little starter dog I learned a ton from her.  I won't get another dog though until I move out of town *hopefully soon* then I'll have my own birds and can train out the back door.   I'm raising a few pigeons now, and I really hate them.  Wouldn't be so bad if I had them further away from the house though.  feed is expensive, so I'd check into buying birds if you can find a supplier and get em 5 bucks ea you'd be ahead!
 
you need gobs of birds. 
 
I had some medical issues with my dog, so her training all but went away.   I'll do it all over again, got a ton of money in all the equipment to do it. Launchers, collars, you name it I got it.
 
been expensive!
 
 
britts are weird, quirky and seem intellegent.  all the labs I've had were all single minded hunting machines - this britt is not like a lab...at all.
labs will take a good amount of pressure to train - britts will fold
 
having said that, I'd get another britt in a heartbeat.  not a boring dog!
 
 

Wow... thanks for all the responses and opinions... Now I am not so sure on the Brit.   

Basically, this will be my first hunting dog and what I am looking for is a good dog "out of the box" like someone put it in the thread.  I am not saying that I don't want to train with the dog or even go to a few classes from an expert but I don't want to end up buying some expensive dog that will not be a good choice for a guy who doesn't have unlimited time (or experience) to train his new dog.  Ideally, I want the breed and genetics of the dog to put me on birds and for me to just help him or her on its way.  I heard "Gun Dog" was a good book to get.  Perhaps I will buy a copy before purchasing my dog.

I have hunted with Brit (he was old but birdy), some labs and a German short hair.  I liked the hunting experience best with the old Brit and the German short hair.  The short hair was a great dog and had an awesome heart, very personable and is a great family dog as well but I think a little too high strung... I would be afraid of my new expensive doggie running off after a pheasant and not coming home... 

Hmmmm...maybe I need to look at the Springer Spaniel?

Cheers,
jg

Springer and a Britt are totally different, springer isn't going to hold birds for ya they dive into cover and put the bird in the air - they always in gun range.   
 
Britt is going to range out and will hold "point" the bird until you get there, after that you can train how you want the dog to handle once you finally *cough, huff huff huff ok breathe.... whew" get there