GWP or DD??

[goosedowner]

Thinking about getting a new dog in the next year and I want to make sure I make the right decision on which breed to get..After years of raising and hunting labs I bought a Braque but now after 4 years I realized how much I missed duck hunting so my next dog needs to be A duel purpose dog. I want a close working dog that can retrieve ducks in cold weather. Right now I'm considering a GWP or a DD. We live on a 72 acre farm so I have plenty of room for exerciseing and training.
Any thoughts on these dogs or maybe another breed would be appreciated.

[Misskiwi67]

Sounds like a great choice to me, but I’m slightly biased.

You can’t really go wrong with a DD, look for dogs with strong duck search and marking abilities.

Several good GWP kennels too, but beware many are producing g soft coats and primarily upland skill sets.

[flitecontrol]

I've had GWP and DD. Not a whole lot of difference IMO, with the DD possibly having a stronger prey drive, more independence, and less cooperation. As to close working, I had one DD that really ranged out, which was fine in open country, but I hardly ever saw him in the woodcock thickets. In two years, never killed a woodcock over him, but I spent a lot of time looking for him! But that dog was a great waterfowl retriever, and would out swim my son-in-law's Lab to get to a duck. My current DD is good at hunting woodcock, and loves to retrieve ducks. His predecessor, also a DD, didn't point and had a soft coat. But he did well retrieving ducks. Guy I sold him to was looking for a tracking dog, and he did well at that.

I'd look at the parents' test scores and those from previous litters (if any) when deciding on a pup. Find out what types of hunting the sire and dam are used for. Try to get a pup from dogs that hunt the same species you do.

[Drahthaar1108]

You have great advice already.
I am also partial to DD. some are close hunters, some range, some have great coats 10 /10 11/11 some have 7 /4 , look at their parents test & blood lines. Forrest

[JONOV]

Whichever direction you go in, get a dog from a breeder that hunts ducks.

Sounds simple, but some don't, or don't do it more than once or twice a season.

Make sure that whichever direction you go, you see the parents. AKC dogs seem to have a few more soft coated "10 Foot" coats. DD lines seem to throw a disproportionate amount of slicks. That's just my impression and by no means implies a statistical significance. NAVHDA breeders are probably a good way to look do...Schwarzwald or Thunderhills come to mind.

And ask around too...Its a rare dog that is man-sharp but a lot of dogs that might not be so good around other dogs, and no one knows it because the owner/handler is smart and proactive about it, and these dogs do well and I know some of them get bred.