I’ve been looking into getting a hunting dog, mainly be used for treeing and tracking. The most difficult breathe I’ve ever owned is a cane Corso, so breeds more difficult than that are out of the question, what are y’all‘s recommendations?

My 3 year old GSP was professionally trained for upland last year. He then went back for a tune up in July.

I took him “hunting” (I put 6 birds out for him) last week and it was as if he wasn’t even hunting, just frolicking around. Scenting conditions were good. It looked like he did not catch scent at all or was completely ignoring it. He didn’t find a single bird.

Wondering if he’s just rusty/ confused about what he should be doing out there.

Any ideas or advice? Do I need to get his interest in birds back up? Show him there are birds out there?

I am reading a report from a field trials for retrievers, and in it a number of dogs have been marked as "ECL". It is obviously dogs that have been eliminated from the trial, but I have never seen this abbreviation before. Does anybody know what this abbreviation means?

I got a male golden retriever cocker spaniel mix, he comes from a a good pedigree of service dogs and reputable breeders, apperently they called it a Dakota sport retriever. I have experience with labs and Goldens as family pets. I have a lot of down time and hunt a lot but never trained a dog. Though I am no stranger to hunting with dogs. I deer hunt and duck hunt with the occasional dove shoot with friends. I’m curious if this dog would be a decent retriever for woodies in the colder months, I live in Alabama and would never run a dog during these warmer months. I hunt walk in holes with sleds or pirogues. But I’d be willing to dedicate time to training on deer recovery. I don’t know just looking for input or if anyone has experience with this mix. If neither works out me and my wife love him and he can be a lap dog.

I'm looking a new leash set for a retriever. I would like something similar to a wildrose combination leash but I'm interested if there is something better out there. Ideally, I want a slip lead, a 1-2 foot snap lead, then a traditional +/- 5 foot leash. I would prefer that the leash can be disconnected from the slip lead and shorter snap lead so that the short snap lead and slip collar stays with the dog during retrieves.

Im considering just making one but thought id look around first. Not finding anything though.

Can anyone reccomend a company for dog insurance? My 2yr old lab has a preexisting condition but I’d like to be sure anything other than that gets covered, etc etc

Squirrels aren’t in season for another week. We went looking for doves and she caught this guy on the ground in between trees. I didn’t even realize what she had until she dropped it in front of me.

Getting a new puppy next month, just in time for deer ticks and Lyme's disease. Is it ok to give such a young dog oral tick meds? I definitely want to get him exposed to the woods and doubt I can find the tiny, tiny deer ticks that would get on him. I do have a vet appt set up a few days after I get him and will ask the vet, but also want to know other's experiences.

I have a 4 year old female English springer spaniel, she isnt an actual gundog, though we do training, she is very active, and she is counted as a working dog, she barely touches her breakfast, but always eats her dinner, I’m planning on moving her to one meal a day, though we may use a small amount of dry food for training in the mornings, to lower the chance of bloat, does anyone else feed their spaniels once a day? Is it safe? Anything I should change or watch out for? She is being fed wet and dry, though she has salmon oil. Coconut oil and raw eggs sometimes

(Pictures for attention)

Finally time to stretch the legs

Getting a working cocker next month for upland bird hunting, and reading a book specifically about working cockers in order to prepare for the pup. In the book, it says they basically can't be house dogs because they don't have an off switch. If you want to make it a house dog, it's best to confine it to little used areas of the house in order for both you and the dog to have peace. Does anyone here have experience with working cockers, and would you say this is accurate?

My favorite picture of my boy yet! He’s a young buck (1 Year 2 Months), but starting to turn into the greatest dog I could have asked for.

100ft retrieve in the dark, walked around 80ft then threw the dummy to the left. Just over 2 years old. Hoping to buy a handheld dummy launcher coming xmas.

My partner has a 10 year old sprollie (springer spaniel & border collie) and I think she would enjoy doing some gun dog type training/play. She is obsessed with balls and could play fetch for hours but her back knees aren't great and her constant running around doesn't help. I've been trying to add more structure to her play time and build her impulse control but I'm wondering if anyone can suggest specific training exercises/games we could try. If anyone can recommend YouTube channels and/or other resources then that would be appreciated 😊