Who says Brittany Spaniels aren't water dogs?

[Elric]

Popped over to the Scuppernong, and there is a patch that the WI DNR >BUTCHERED< about ten years ago, used to be about a square mile of popple and tags... The popples, redbush, and tags are returning... Anyways... inside the area, there are some drainage ditches with some recovering copses. Put up one bird and we put it down, it turned out to be just on the other side of a belt of brush. Right next to a section of a wide ditch...

Fired up the feather seeking guided Brittany attack Spaniel and launched her... Poor fix, brush was about 8 to 10 feet tall, so no good fix. Belle got to get some swimmin in, definately deep enough so she was free floating. We churned about on the edge of the ditch, things looked dim, but eventually Belle found the woodcock right at the water's edge.

 

[fiver]

nothing like a willing partner to find those birds that you wouldn't be able to otherwise.
even my worthless wouldn't hunt dog's have been able to find birds I couldn't which gave them some small redeeming quality.
it sucked to have to have one of the non hunting kids tag along 50 yds behind me walking the dog until I needed her but that's how we worked it.

 

[freebullet]

Had a border collie mixed with???(mastiff or something brindle & huge). He turned out to be a pheasant & quail flushing retrieving machine. All my cousins made fun of him at first but, he proved them all wrong. He found birds for dozens of people so long as I was with him. Nothing beats your good bird dog. Haven't went pheasant hunting in the 5 years since mine passed.

New one in the works soon with a laughable tiny black lab..

 

[fiver]

Five was a lab and at her heaviest she made @45 lbs.
I'd have put her up against any dog in the field their choice of birds/rabbits/fish or deer.
hand signals took almost a week.
hold and whoa took about 3 tries.
breaking to fetch was her looking at me like she wanted me to go get it, the release was me pointing my chin at the bird and saying go on, or I shot it you go get it.
and yes she would go get the fish I shot down in the canyon.

 

[Tom]

I once shot a pheasant that dropped into the river. My Irish setter got to the edge of the ice and hesitated until the ice broke, dumping him in the water. He got the pheasant, but couldn't get a grip on the ice to get back out. I ended up on my belly, helping Obie out of the water. He didn't turn loose of the bird until we were off the ice.