Hunting dogs

The Griffons and Drahthaars will be difficult to beat if you are looking for a versatile dog.
 

I found that Golden Retrieves are very easy to train and are a great all around dog.  I hope Maggie has her first litter in May. 
 

OK... No dog in this fight  all are winners...  From the top, Labs are awesome... They will win in the water every day, but I will take a pointing breed for the uplands every time.  Beagles are great, but they are too f'n persistent, and it is only a matter of time before you leave your coat on the ground because they chased a fork'n fox into the next state...  Golden's are awesome until you walk through a patch of burdock, then you end up with a naked, shaved king sized chihuahua when you get home...  On a serious side, Golden's can be tough... you need to do a ton of research before you go that route.  Aside from hip dysplasia,  the hunting instincts have been bred out of so many of them that you don't know what the litter is going to offer.  I grew up with Weimers and Vizlas.  As rock solid as they were on upland critters, they were always a bit lacking (much the same as shorthairs) when it came to various obstacles.  I have been running Griffons since about the age of 20 (fell in love with them after several articles in Gun Dog Magazine written by guys like Dave Duffy and****Wolters).  
 
If I had to choose another breed, it would either be the Munsterlander or the Pudelpointer.  Both are exceptional breeds that will perform everything you could ask.  That said, they might not run a rabbit in a circle... they just point them for you to kick the brushpile and shoot it by yourself LOL.
 
Good Luck

Thanks for the responses everybody... One of my buddies has a lab and it's great in the water, but on land it just goes crazy, running off and flushing birds 200yds away... Although I am guessing that this is probably just from lack of training... I am really leaning towards a beagle... Looking up information about them online I found a color pattern called a bluetick beagle, and I really like them haha, Big Tuna, is there any chance that Bella is a bluetick or that you may be breeding her with a blue tick?

Not a mix, a normal beagle, just the color pattern of the coat

My lab Hank hunted close, but did not point.  We hunted pheasants on game lands a few times a year, and once in awhile he would cut a trail and follow it to flush.  Usually when he flushed a pheasant, it was dumb luck.  Great waterfowl dog though.  I've read articles in magazines and I've seen labs on TV hunting upland birds.  With the proper training, or even sometimes by chance, you can find a lab that will make a great upland dog.
 
Hunted over a friend's beagle a few times that sounds a lot like Big Tuna's dogs - she ran pheasants and rabbits equally well. 
 
Have no idea what the pointing breeds or the breeds that Griffon mentioned are like in regards to temperament, but another consideration is what kind of dog you want when it's not hunting season.  Will it be a family pet?  Kenneled outside?  Labs and pointers still need lots of work and exercise in the off season.  Make sure you have the time to do it yourself, or the money to have a trainer do it for you. 
 
One last thing no matter what you settle on, make sure you take measures to prevent ticks/Lyme Disease.  Had to put Hank down in June because of kidney failure from Lyme Disease he got 3 years ago.  He was only 7.   Just can't bring myself to hunt ducks or pheasants without him this season . . . yet.  Maybe in the late season.

rsquared,  good stuff and great points... My griffon's (along with all the ones I have encountered) and the other dogs I mentioned are very solid when it comes to temperament.  All of my experiences are that they are great family dogs (extremely loyal and typically think they are lap dogs), yet territorial enough that pushy solicitors don't want to hang around long.  Griffons look a bit intimidating with their build and stature sometimes, but they get along well with other dogs in the field and when introduced to friends, they accept them as family.  I have hunted with pointing labs alongside my dogs in a live situation (a couple that had some serious hardware), and although they were solid and stayed close, they always ended up backing my dog on over 20 points and never once locked up one of their own in one session at Primland.  Those dogs happened to be owned by the guide and needless to say, he was not happy and I really did feel bad because there was nothing wrong with his pups (those labs were great).  That was an extremely limited sample, but needless to say I had been brainwashed 
 
Steelhead,  as for the bluetick beagle.  A friend of mine in Syracuse, NY has owned them in the past and may still run them.  They were always fantastic dogs.  I am sure he would not mind hearing from you regarding where he bought his pups (I know they came from solid lines).  His name is Mark Contos and he works at the Bass Pro Shops in Auburn, NY.  You should be able to get hold of him there (tell him that Mike Phelps told you to contact him).  

steelhead1994
Well, I want one lol. Hopefully a half decent all around hunter, pheasant, grouse maybe rabbit. Not sure what breed yet, possibly German shorthair, maybe even a beagle (because they are awesome). Just looking for opinions on what breeds to look at, be even cooler if someone on here bred them. I am by no means rich so I'm most likely not going to be able to afford a dog bred specifically for hunting, but I'm willing to put in the time for training and everything. Feel free to post anything about any breed though..... Thanks

I promised myself I was going to stay away from this one, but I have no will power.
All dogs, of any breed, will hunt.  It is in their DNA in order to obtain food.  This is much the same as all of us can throw a ball.  That practice was used to throw objects such as rock and sticks, later spears, at food sources and enemies.  Can all of us throw a baseball like a major league starting pitcher?  No.  Can all of use throw like a D-1 college starting pitcher?  No.  How about like a Little League pitcher?  Probably.
 
Can all dogs hunt the variety of game you post you think you want to hunt?  Yes.  Can all dogs do it well?  No.  Can all dogs do it "decently?"  No.  Asking a dog to hunt running pheasants in the type of cover they prefer, spooky grouse in the type of cover they prefer, and run rabbits in the type of cover they prefer is like asking what one fishing rod would be best for bluegills, musky, and great white sharks.
 
The few breeds that can hunt those game species most effectively, albeit, not as effectively as specialists for specific game species are the German dogs such as Griffons, Draathars, and to a much, much, much lesser degree Shorthairs.  Check out the NAVHD (North American Versitile Hunting Dog) website for some info on dogs that can do it all.
 
The problem here is that while they can passibly do it all, they, and no disprespect to those that have them, don't hunt any of them to a point of excellence.  It is kind of like the sportsman club I is used to belong to.  They had an annual 150 clay bird shoot -- 50 trap, 50 skeet, and 50 sporting clays.  It was really fun because the trap guys can't shoot skeet worth a hoot, but are okay at sporting clays; the skeet guys can't shoot trap very well, but are more than respectable at sporting clays; and the sporting clays guys don't excell at trap or skeet.  What group was going to win was always up in the air becuase none were in their comfort zone of something they were really good at.
 
In 15 years of refereeing bird dog events (shoot to retrieve, not field trial, so no style points -- just find birds, kill them, and retiereve them), no versitile dog ever won or really placed well.  Why?  The specialist bird dogs that wouldn't know a rabbit from a Volkswagen were focused on the task at hand soley.  Same deal with why NFL players didn't have to pass up a career in tennis.
 
If you are intent on a versitile dog, however, they don't fit your espoused budget constraints.  A Draathar puppy  from a decent bloodline is probably somewhere in the few thousand dollar range.  Keep in mind that is for a puppy only.  If you have someone else train it, figure $500 -- $600 per month for a minimum of six months.  If you are going to train it yourself, consider the cost of training birds.  Quail are about $5 apiece these days.  My puppies see a minimum of 500 quail before I fire a single shot over them.  Don't tell PETA, but I recycle my birds using a tether and hose technique, but it still amounts to about 10 dozen or more birds to get through that stage of training -- every year for their first three years.  Of  course, once you start to shoot the birds over the dog, recycling ends and each bird that hits the ground or flies away unscathed is a Subway foot-long.  And do yourself a favor and don't use pigeons.  I get more requests on how to "fix" a dog that was trained on pigeons that now points any type of bird that I don't even want to think about it.
 
Of course you can just let a bird dog be a bird dog without much training, but you are back to Little League talent again.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  I just personally hunt to see the dog work and then, secondarily kill the birds.  A nature walk with a dog is not on my menu of things to do.
 
All that being written, get a beagle.  It will not "hunt" pheasants, but it will smell them and flush one if it comes across one.  It will not "hunt" grouse.  But it will hunt rabbits (if you get a good one).  As Meatloaf once said, "two out of three ain't bad."  They require very little training other than "here."  They are had for a few hundred dollars.  And they make wonderful pets when not in the field.
 
Best of luck and please post a photo of oyu and oyur new hunting buddy.

Good luck!
 
Post photos.

DarDys, excellent stuff.  Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
 
Do you use one of the training methods that's out there "for sale" or have you done this enough that you've now got your own preferred method? 

Just one thing in all this dog information being put out.  In order to train this high powered hunter you have to be just a little Smarter than the DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope this is helpful.

Getting back on Bella dog,Steelhead1994. Yes she is a Bluetick,all black and heavy black and brown ticking all over her legs and a brown head.She's 80% black with heavy ticking and very little white. She was the last one left in the littler ,so I had no choice but I wanted a dog really bad,so she came home with me.Her litter mates are truly beatiful heavy Bluetick hounds.The guy I got her from killed 45 rabbits off the two females he kept,mind you they where only 8 months old and gunned them Jan. and Feb. last year. Her father is a Blueroc hound and is beautiful blue dog, mother is out of Big Medows hounds and  great blood,her Grandfather is a Big Fieldchamp in Tenn. Russle Creek Grim Reaper. Google him and read about him. I really didn't work with Bella like I should have and she got started real late (9 months) about late Jan.last year but I did gun her one sunny Feb day and she had 4 runs we killed 3 and let the last one live another day. I ran her everyday from March till mid april. Then cut her loose all summer evertime I saw and adult rabbit in the yard.She is a rabbit machine,when she gets lock in the rabbit better go to a hole or it will die.She seldom looses a rabbit and is very smart about running a rabbit. The things I like about her,no cold trailing,no trash(deer,fox ect.) no back tracking, a great track dog,She is great on snow, she has a coon dog mouth on her(great horn) you can her her when she runs an buck rabbit on a big chase.Her speed is 6-7 out of 10 not a smoker but she accounts for 90% plus on bringing a bunny back. Now enough bragging the bad thing(yes all dogs have fault) she lacks hunt(I mean shes not a brush buster) I can get her to go into thickets. I've watched her smell all around a thicket and past it over,I'll make her go in but very often no bunny,then I've seen her smell a thicket and go in and jump a bunny. I live in the country I turned her loose a couple of days ago and she jumped a bunny on the edge of my garden after a short 15 min. chase bugs was in my hand after the 410 barked once. I really don't hunt bunnies till after Christmas.I'm not posting to sell pups but get yourself a pup out of good bloodlines and watch the parents run,ask the breeder lots of questions,about the parents, running speed,do they cold trail,run trash,back track.My thinking is buy the best pup out of a bloodline that produces great dogs it doesn't Always Work but it sure helps. Good luck on your choice.You can't go wrong with a beagle I've had many, many good ones,4 or 5 GREAT ones,and a few so so but had fun with them all.

You don't have to get a registered dog to get a good hound, just find one with good hunting parents.  My dog(Molly) was free, but I knew her bloodlines, my old football coach had hunted over them for years, and he was a rabbit hunting aficionado.  She did great, training her was pretty simple, although I never ran her with a pack, I just ran her alone, something I wish I could go back and redo.  For the guy looking for a dog on a budget, get a beagle.  You get one with good bloodlines, you can do a lot with them.  I know guys who rely solely on instinct alone, and don't put much time in individually on their beagles, but if you do you can get them to listen and mind you in the field.  Get close to the dog, and build a relationship with it.  The best beagle I ever hunted around was an indoor dog, who had a relationship with its owner like you would never expect with a hound.  You won't have a pointer by any means, but it will bust up some of those ground running stocked pheasants, run rabbits(potentially very well), run squirrels up trees and keep them from looking at you, and probably help you bust grouse when working cover(even if it is just from almost stepping on them).  Like I said, get close to the dog, train the heck out of it(obedience and hunting), and you will get out of them what you put in.  Male beagles can be more bullheaded than females(quite opposite of humans), but they can both run rabbits, which is really what you want.
 
Good luck, and don't get impatient and pick up a dog with questionable bloodlines.
 
BTW.....Thanks for all the great info dardys, I figured when I saw this we would get to pick your mind some!

Dar, I for one am glad that you have no will power  
 
When you enter into the rare discussions on here about hunting dogs I try to soak it up.  I enjoy your perspective and thorough answers and advice.  Really like the advice to make sure you never have to fix anything in a dog.  Good stuff, thanks for sharing.   
 
 

If you want a good beagle, look for a pup from hunting stock. Usually, I have found, the "dogs with paper" dont cut it. If both parents are "meat" hunters, theres your pup. Easy to train but you MUST take them out. A couple of training runs wont cut it....WF..As Dars said, they smell grouse and pheasants so watch their tails and noses on the ground.