Every bird dog I’ve owned has been the best dog I’ll ever own, until I got my next one. In that regard, I’m a pretty standard dog owner. Our biases toward our current dogs rival maybe only our political identities, or in some cases, our allegiance to professional sports teams.
It feels impossible that you can ever have a better bird dog when you already have the best bird dog alive. You can, though, and you should strive for a level up on your next dog. This can be easy to do, but you have to understand how to look past your blind spots. This all starts with an open mind during the puppy finding process.
Cookie-Cutter Pups
Here’s how it goes for most folks: they find a breeder and they buy a pup. They love the dog so much that they don’t consider any other options than to go back to the same breeder for round two. There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes breeders don’t have litters available when you’re looking, sometimes they go out of business, and sometimes they just don’t offer up the same kinds of dogs.
An open mind during the due diligence phase of puppy planning is an asset. Unless you’re into really niche breeds, you should have plenty of options. Consider what traits you want in your ideal dog, not just what your last or current dog offers. Drive, biddability, size, health, and all of the things that coalesce into 12 years of a rooster flushing best friend are available somewhere.
The wish-list part of the process is easy, and often leads people right back to their last breeder. But don’t put down that deposit quite yet, because it’s time for an honest assessment.
Truth Serum Time
When I picked up my current pup, who is four now, I thought I had the whole thing dialed. She’s the right size, has drive for days, is about as sweet of a house dog as they come, and on down the line. I’m not saying she’s perfect, but I could tell you a lot of amazing things about her before I got to the nitty gritty.
She’s also the biggest coward I’ve ever owned. I don’t really mind that, because once I figured out how to train her to gain confidence, it was pretty easy. But, she’s also a barker.
Vocalizations are tough to train out of a dog, and every time she cuts loose because someone walks down the street in front of our house, I think about what it would be like if she were the kind of dog who would not bark at every perceived threat.
I casually mentioned this trait to the pro trainer who found the litter for me, and he said that barking is a thing with her bloodlines. I didn’t know that, and didn’t think to ask.
It seems like just about every sporting dog has some kind of personality quirk that isn’t great, at least if you’re honest and dig deep enough. Think about this if you’re in the market for a new dog.
A lot of the problems you might come up with can be traced back to inadequate training, poor socialization, or something that falls on our shoulders. But some of them are just inherent in certain bloodlines. The more you’re honest about what you don’t like about your current dog, the better off you’ll be when looking for your next one, even if it isn’t easy.
Realistic Expectations
The thing about this whole process is that we expect a carbon copy and strive for it, but that doesn’t exist. Dogs are individuals, and that means you won’t get a repeat performance even if you go to the same breeder. Hell, I have twin daughters, and they are different in so many ways it’s bananas. If a litter of two humans results in vastly different personalities, then it’s not too surprising that the same thing applies to dogs.
If you acknowledge that you won’t get the same dog again, it actually makes it easier to expect more out of your next one. Strive for that, and rest easy in the comfort that no matter what route you take for your next hunting dog, the odds are crazy high that it’ll somehow become the best dog ever.
So will the one after that, and the one after that, and…
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