Thread: What breed should I do the deer dog blueprint with?

Don't rush into buying a dog, 12 or 15 years is a long time stuck with a lemon. You need to look at how much hunting you're going to do etc also. Breeds like the Vizsla or GSP are proven hunting dogs but they're also a lot of work, guys rush out and buy them and 90% of the ones I've seen in the flesh have been a "waste" as no real work was put into them, a lot of them are downright obnoxious too when you go to visit someone and there's this "million mile an hour dog" that won't sit still for three seconds, I know of one dog from a very good mate that comes from one of the top kennels in NZ and the bloody thing is gunshy and mad as a snake. I agree with the heading dog bit, they're a dog that exudes intelligence and are not high maintenance, they learn very easily and more importantly they retain that information without huge amounts of effort having to be put into them.
I got my Bo as "free to a good home" as a pup through a fellow forum member, he was from hunting lines though, Catahoula/Heading X and he's been such a pleasure to have around and train, he just turned 1 last month and has a few deer to his name now, we've done quite a bit of training and practise but you can tell the dogs that are smart from the dumb ones and he's pretty sharp and a good mix with the strong prey drive and nose of the Catahoula and the intelligence and calm and collected (and quiet!) outlook of the heading dog