Hunting with a Mixed Breed

I recently aquired a female German shepard/ Chessapeke bay retriever ( we think.) She is still very young, about four months, but I've began to train her for water fowl. I have a one and a half year old female black lab who has done pretty well so far this year ( this being her first year hunting with me). I've tried to train the puppy along side my lab ( who seems to have infinite patients with the pup) but the puppy seems more interested in tring to heard my lab around the field. I've begun to wonder if I'm waisting my time with her and if we both wouldn't be better off if she was placed in permannent "house pet" status. Is she too young to try to train? My lab was retieving pigions at this age? Or is she of a mix that just shouldn't be hunted? Thanks for your input. J. C. Jones

---

Jason, There is no reason why a talented mixed breed dog can not hunt. The key word here is talented. The Dog would have to have the desire to hunt. Training a young retriever with an older dog is not a good idea, most of the time. I think you should put your older dog away and see if you pup has desire by herself. If not, I'm sure she'll be a good pet.

Jan Burkholder
Stonewall Kennels

<< Back to Q&A