hawking dog

[midge]

I have two dogs that I bred myself they are a cross between an Italian spinone and a chocolate lab. Both are very good pointers and have plenty of go about them. Anyone got views on crossbreeds in the field or should I have stayed with a registered dog?

[Minca]

Anyone else with more experience want to take this one?
I, personally, have only seen one successful crossbreed used for hawking rabbits, and that was a beagle/jack russel. I have my own little mongrels I plan on trying out this year. I'll have to be honest, when I saw Cato last year using his doberman to flush rabbits it really openned my eyes and made me think ' a dog is a dog, right?', it's all about the training. my humble opinion would be that your dog would do great for upland game and longwinging. Most people use smaller dogs that can get into the bush for rabbits.
what do you plan on hunting?

[longbow]

Exact traits can be planned better in pure bred dogs with much more consistency. But even then you will have dogs that do not perform with any merit while it's litter mate may take top dog. A mixed breed dog will almost always have a great feature that will shine but is it a feature you need ? My pure bred dachund is a bunny finding and chasing machine because thats what her family was bred for. But she barks insanely at anything that moves and chases things to death that I would rather keep such as my chickens. Mixed breeds are potluck at best.

[jobbyjob]

wow. I have to go with minka. It is up to the training of the animal not the breed. Certian breeds have certian advantages but in the end I'm for nurture over nature. Exactly as I feel about hunting birds...some have better utilities than others but if they dont do what you want what good are they?

[wilded]

I have to respectfully disagree. The best bloodlines need only obedience training. They will know how to hunt from instinct. None of my best birddogs needed hunting or retriever training.

[Minca]

Wilded is definately right about that.
I took my dogs for a hike yesturday and Annie, the Boston Terrier mix, bolted for a bunny. I was happy to see that she recognized them and would run them around, but she wouldn't give up! I wouldn't want a hawk put off by a dog that won't let up. Fortunately, I had left her leash on and was able to step on it to stop her. A good flushing dog will flush then stop, and let the hawk have it, or in a gun dogs case fall back so you can safely shoot the game. A dog with bad field manners or obedience can ruin a hawk for ever being willing to hunt over dogs, again. I once saw a jack russel literally bump a harris right off the rabbit he had caught, and the hawk wouldn't fly at rabbits again for the rest of the day.