Hunting dog while working full time?.

So I am moving out of my crummy apartment into a duplex with a large yard. There are breed and size restrictions, but nothing that would prevent me from getting a hunting dog. With that said, I am concerned about having enough time to properly train and care for a high intensity sporting breed. Luckily, my new place is literally 1.1 miles from my office, and I have a full hour at lunch I am happy to spend exercising a dog. Still, I do work 40hr/wk and I dont want to be someone that locks their dog up like a prisoner all day every day.

Anyone here successfully train and care for a hunting dog while single and working full time? Any breed recommendations? My goal is something versatile I can put on small game and birds, but honestly a dog that is happy to beat brush in Pisgah would be cool even if it scares off anything in its path!

Is it feasible or would I be setting myself and a dog up for a nightmare? I have no intention of getting a dog until Fall at the earliest, I just don’t want to start deeply researching until I know if this can be done responsibly.
 
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bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
There's a lot to answer. First off, they will definitely demand a lot of your time early when they are puppies. I cannot recommend a new puppy during a time when you work full time and nobody else can help. When I say puppy I mean 7 weeks to a few months. They are demanding a lot of your time then and as a handler it's best if your there creating that bond during these ages. If the dog sleeps while you work what's it gonna do while you sleep? If your looking for a versatile hunting dog, or hunting dog of any kind they will likely not want to lay in your bed a nap with you long. I think your situation is more plausible with a little older crate trained, potty trained, dog with obedience.
So I am moving out of my crummy apartment into a duplex with a large yard. There are breed and size restrictions, but nothing that would prevent me from getting a hunting dog. With that said, I am concerned about having enough time to properly train and care for a high intensity sporting breed. Luckily, my new place is literally 1.1 miles from my office, and I have a full hour at lunch I am happy to spend exercising a dog. Still, I do work 40hr/wk and I dont want to be someone that locks their dog up like a prisoner all day every day.

Anyone here successfully train and care for a hunting dog while single and working full time? Any breed recommendations? My goal is something versatile I can put on small game and birds, but honestly a dog that is happy to beat brush in Pisgah would be cool even if it scares off anything in its path!

Is it feasible or would I be setting myself and a dog up for a nightmare? I have no intention of getting a dog until Fall at the earliest, I just don’t want to start deeply researching until I know if this can be done responsibly.


So I am moving out of my crummy apartment into a duplex with a large yard. There are breed and size restrictions, but nothing that would prevent me from getting a hunting dog. With that said, I am concerned about having enough time to properly train and care for a high intensity sporting breed. Luckily, my new place is literally 1.1 miles from my office, and I have a full hour at lunch I am happy to spend exercising a dog. Still, I do work 40hr/wk and I dont want to be someone that locks their dog up like a prisoner all day every day.

Anyone here successfully train and care for a hunting dog while single and working full time? Any breed recommendations? My goal is something versatile I can put on small game and birds, but honestly a dog that is happy to beat brush in Pisgah would be cool even if it scares off anything in its path!

Is it feasible or would I be setting myself and a dog up for a nightmare? I have no intention of getting a dog until Fall at the earliest, I just don’t want to start deeply researching until I know if this can be done responsibly.
 
So I can go remote for about a month at work without annoying my boss, though that’s still too short for a pup. Im mainly thinking about a started dog to get past the really early stage. With that said I realize it takes a few years for a dog to actually mature...

I am not opposed to an older dog, but it begs the question, can an old dog learn new tricks? How realistic is the idea of training an adult dog to be a serious hunter?

There's a lot to answer. First off, they will definitely demand a lot of your time early when they are puppies. I cannot recommend a new puppy during a time when you work full time and nobody else can help. When I say puppy I mean 7 weeks to a few months. They are demanding a lot of your time then and as a handler it's best if your there creating that bond during these ages. If the dog sleeps while you work what's it gonna do while you sleep? If your looking for a versatile hunting dog, or hunting dog of any kind they will likely not want to lay in your bed a nap with you long. I think your situation is more plausible with a little older crate trained, potty trained, dog with obedience.
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
It doesn't have to be adult, by adult I mean (2+ years). It could be younger but already be potty trained and crate trained. It just depends on your hunting and what you want in a dog. When I had a duck dog, he was very close to me, indoors with me until older. Now I track wounded deer with my other dogs, they are indoors. I feel having them inside and close makes us a closer/better team in the field. In other scenarios, people keep bird dogs outside all the time.
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
If a young hunting dog isn't getting enough attention or stimulation, they will let you know by being destructive and finding trouble. You can teach old dogs new tricks but what matters most is the quality of the breeding.
 
If a young hunting dog isn't getting enough attention or stimulation, they will let you know by being destructive and finding trouble. You can teach old dogs new tricks but what matters most is the quality of the breeding.

Yeah that is a concern of mine. A colleague has a similar living situation to me, and when I see his lab it breaks my heart. He must keep him crated 18 hours a day and its so obvious. Every time I see that dog he is acting up trying to get some attention. I asked him and he literally lets him out on a lead in his yard in the morning, and when he gets home and doesnt really interact with the dog besides fighting him to put on the lead. I don’t want to be that shithead.

I think you are right about the teenage/early 20s dog over a puppy. It just makes more sense in my situation.

Ideal state I would like to keep the dog in the house without needing to lock them in a crate, though I would crate train and make sure their crate is comfortable so they have somewhere they can go if they choose. This is how we raised our family weims and lab/pointer mix back in PA, and I would like to do it with my own dog.

As to the hunting I would want to pursue: I am located in the western half of the state, but just outside of the grouse range. I would like to take it up into the mountains for grouse a few times per year, but my primary quarry outside of big game are squirrel and rabbit, Im not sure how versatile a dog really can be with regard to fur and feather, but I’m ok with a jack of all trades and master of none buddy.
 
You can do it. Whether you have all the time in the world or not, it’s about making a dog a priority. Most of us end up with the dog we deserve.

I think I can to a point, I feel like its just not possible with the highest intensity breeds. Looking at how my schedule is, I feel comfortable with the following assumptions:

I can dedicate an hour in the morning, an hour at lunch, and 2 hours in the evening to working out and training a dog- as well as much larger chunks of time on the weekends as I tend to hike south mountain or pisgah at least 2-3 weekend days per month (more in fall and winter for obvious reasons). That isnt to say that the dog would receive no attention otherwise, I just mean that is time I can dedicate entirely to them.

GSPs, GWPs, WPGs, EPs, and Brittanys are the most appealing to me from a hunting perspective, but I feel like all but the Brittany are probably too much for the amount of time I can promise.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
So I am moving out of my crummy apartment into a duplex with a large yard. There are breed and size restrictions, but nothing that would prevent me from getting a hunting dog. With that said, I am concerned about having enough time to properly train and care for a high intensity sporting breed. Luckily, my new place is literally 1.1 miles from my office, and I have a full hour at lunch I am happy to spend exercising a dog. Still, I do work 40hr/wk and I dont want to be someone that locks their dog up like a prisoner all day every day.

Anyone here successfully train and care for a hunting dog while single and working full time? Any breed recommendations? My goal is something versatile I can put on small game and birds, but honestly a dog that is happy to beat brush in Pisgah would be cool even if it scares off anything in its path!

Is it feasible or would I be setting myself and a dog up for a nightmare? I have no intention of getting a dog until Fall at the earliest, I just don’t want to start deeply researching until I know if this can be done responsibly.


I did it for years, you will have to be willing to sacrifice time that you would rather be "hunting" when you will be burning time with the dog. if you can get the dog out for 30 mins that is 30 more minutes that it most likely will learn something as opposed to 30 mins that it may be going nuts because it needed to burn energy off.

first and foremost no matter what breed you get, be it treedog, retriever or flushing dog do your homework and get a decent handle on the dog and get basic obedience taken care of before you start "training" it for whatever game you plan to use it on. You also don't want to start out in the fall of the year with a 7 week old pup. If at all possible get it at the age you can get the obedience and yard work done and it be of an age it is ready for serious woods work around the fall and you won't be spending a bunch of time getting frustrated at a puppy that has absolutely no idea why you have it out in the woods walking around.
 

surveyor

Old Mossy Horns
I'd like another dog. Pretty sure my Cocker is seeing her end times now.

But I'd try to get something a little more intelligent this time, and I'm sure my boss would be OK with me having it in my office. Be nice if it could hunt squirrel also, but I'd settle for a good truck passenger seat dog.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I'd like another dog. Pretty sure my Cocker is seeing her end times now.

But I'd try to get something a little more intelligent this time, and I'm sure my boss would be OK with me having it in my office. Be nice if it could hunt squirrel also, but I'd settle for a good truck passenger seat dog.
Squirrel and coon dogs can do passenger seats. IMG_0140.JPG
 

JONOV

Twelve Pointer
I think I can to a point, I feel like its just not possible with the highest intensity breeds. Looking at how my schedule is, I feel comfortable with the following assumptions:

I can dedicate an hour in the morning, an hour at lunch, and 2 hours in the evening to working out and training a dog- as well as much larger chunks of time on the weekends as I tend to hike south mountain or pisgah at least 2-3 weekend days per month (more in fall and winter for obvious reasons). That isnt to say that the dog would receive no attention otherwise, I just mean that is time I can dedicate entirely to them.

GSPs, GWPs, WPGs, EPs, and Brittanys are the most appealing to me from a hunting perspective, but I feel like all but the Brittany are probably too much for the amount of time I can promise.
The only meaningful difference between the other breeds and the Brittany is that the Brittany is smaller and was marketed as being a better house/family dog. They aren't. That isn't a criticism of Brittany's so much as its a defense of other breeds.

I'm biased towards the wirehair breeds. Griffs are, on the whole, one notch calmer than GWPs, and GWPs are one notch calmer than Shorthairs. The flip side is that GWP's/DD's are a lot more interested in killing things with teeth (mine have dispatched 4 nest raiders this spring at least.)

If you wake up, and can walk/run/play with the dog, go to work and crate it, come home and let it out at lunch, and walk in the afternoon, you'll be fine.

ALl of them, be they shorthairs, Pointers, Chihuahuas, Walkers, Feusts, pit bulls, or Labradoodles or Shihtzus, spend most of their day sleeping. It's a question of what they require in their waking hours.

I've had 17 fosters, mostly wirehairs, a few shorthairs. Shorthairs, we see a lot of them that get returned at 10-14 months to the rescue. Nothing wrong with the dogs, and people will say "they don't have the time," but in reality, they didn't anticipate what they were getting. Time had little to do with it, expectations did.
 

buckshooter

Old Mossy Horns
It's simple really. If you get a hunting dog , the dog deserves to be given the time , attention and love required to make the dog happy. The owners happiness always comes 2nd.

But if the owner/handler gives the animal what it deserves then both the animal and the human are very , very happy.

Just my 2 cents worth.
 

Loganwayne

Ten Pointer
I have French Brittany’s which in my opinion are a little bit more clam and civil in the house than an American Britt. I raised one going to college full time working an internship and a job working 20-30 hrs a week but he came with me to work. The other I’ve raised working 45-50 hrs a week. But with what your wanting one of the German dogs is probably more along the right line.

2 things
1st I’d consider the versatile dogs are fur driven more than the other bird dogs. They don’t care if it’s the neighbors cat or little fluffy dog they just wanna get it. It’s in their dna.
2nd it sounds like you’ll still be renting. How sure are you about the dog policy and what happens if your dog grabs the neighborhood cat? Would you be evicted or have to get rid of the dog. You’d hate to get a dog and put in the work to have to get rid of it because you have to move again and can’t find a place that will take it as well.

Also birds your gonna need them for training at some point. Pigeons are easy to keep but fairly nasty. You’ll need a place to keep bird no matter what kind you want to use
 

Cootmeurer

Six Pointer
Lots of good advice here.
I’ve had labs for a long time and from the right bloodline they adapt very well to being house/hunting dog.

If you go the retriever route - I suggest the book “10 minute retriever”. Bottom line of the book, 10 minutes spent EVERY day with your dog will be more beneficial than crated for a week mad crammed weekend. Doesn’t mean that 10 minutes is enough -
Just that daily routine is great for a lab or other retrievers.

However, this still doesn’t solve the puppy problem and it may make sense to get an older or rescue dog
 

JONOV

Twelve Pointer
I have French Brittany’s which in my opinion are a little bit more clam and civil in the house than an American Britt. I raised one going to college full time working an internship and a job working 20-30 hrs a week but he came with me to work. The other I’ve raised working 45-50 hrs a week. But with what your wanting one of the German dogs is probably more along the right line.

2 things
1st I’d consider the versatile dogs are fur driven more than the other bird dogs. They don’t care if it’s the neighbor's cat or little fluffy dog they just wanna get it. It’s in their dna.
We've caught five possums this spring already...Small dogs are usually fine. For whatever reason the females seem to be worse than the males with the small dogs. The males on the whole have been fine with them.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Earl spent 20 minutes chasing a beaver around a pond this morning,,,, even opened for a while when it stayed on top,,,

God help the pup if he ever catches one!!
I can tell you firsthand that they can be a handfull. I had a big male cur catch one (a grown one) a long way from water and he had his hands full. It was out in a clearcut and I didn't know what in the world he had come up on to I got there.
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
They are correct in that a truly versatile German dog tends to be very game on fur. This is because fox/badger and hunting for fur is priority in Germany over pointing. Even so for tracking wounded game as they do it off lead with larger breeds, they like dog to latch and hold. So those traits of aggression on fur are continued intentionally. The littermate to my male is hunting fox underground in Germany and killing them with no negotiation, just gets to them and kills, she is 19 lb. I have an Americanized German dog, and I have a straight German dog, I see difference even between them because breeders hand pick the dogs based on what they do or hunt for the most. Pointing/den work/tracking/water etc.

The dogs will do it all, but some will be better in certain categories.
 
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Lowg08

Ten Pointer
If you want a one dog show from rabbits to bears that don’t take up allot of room. Go German jagd terrier.
 

Lowg08

Ten Pointer
This is a hunting dog even 99% of hunters can't handle. Expecting one to be a good "pet" for someone is silly.
I have a friend who raises them. Never seen one that wouldn’t fall into this category. They just have to know your the boss. They are extremely loyal and driven and smart. With time it would be an outstanding companion. When my fiest dies( house dog) ill
Replace it with a jagd.
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
I have a friend who raises them. Never seen one that wouldn’t fall into this category. They just have to know your the boss. They are extremely loyal and driven and smart. With time it would be an outstanding companion. When my fiest dies( house dog) ill
Replace it with a jagd.
A responsible breeder of well bred hunting jagd wouldn't sell you one if you didn't hunt it the way it should be hunted, they certainly wouldn't call it a great "pet", not all breeders created equal I suppose.
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
I have a friend who raises them. Never seen one that wouldn’t fall into this category. They just have to know your the boss. They are extremely loyal and driven and smart. With time it would be an outstanding companion. When my fiest dies( house dog) ill
Replace it with a jagd.
And your reaching with the "smart". They are great at what they do but not bred for intelligence.
 

Lowg08

Ten Pointer
And your reaching with the "smart". They are great at what they do but not bred for intelligence.
I’ll put it this way then drop it. I I have raised and sold and trained dogs from Northern California to Maine to Florida. From squirrels to bears to everything in between. When I sold out I sold out directly to outfitters. I have handled every breed and cross that we can think of. I even had one down into the 32nds. I have been quit for ten years and still
My phone rings looking for dogs. They can be trained and a responsible breeder will put them in your home. I know many more instances than probably most people. A jagd would be just fine.
 

poppy

Ten Pointer
Contributor
I was going to weigh in on the "get a Jagd terrier" but all I'll say is in your living and working situation, don't do it.
 
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