Let's See Your Dogs!!

Yeah man they are best of buddies the Boston is 8 Golden 6. I got my service dog when my Boston was 2 and they have been that way from day 1!

 

I went to college in South Ga, my advisor had two Tollers. He took a few of us out quail hunting with them. We all understood if we shot one of his dogs, we wouldn't be around for class on Monday. They were pretty damn impressive. Probably the only people that know about them in the South are quail hunters. Not sure why, just not very popular down here. Which is really a good thing. I went to a dog show last year, the labs are looking allot shorter and not very athletic. Popularity has ruined them a few other breeds.

 

Shorter labs are actually the breed standard they have been breed out to be taller and larger, just like German shepherds. Which also attributes to kinda neurotic personality traits that you see in labs now a days.
Boston terriers where originally 45-55lb range but the breed has been almost ruined due to people wanting smaller.
Golden's also. Mine looks like the milkbone golden but he is alittle on the large/big side for goldens(not fat). His gate is off, his eyes are spaced funky and he has a black spot on his tongue compared to the breed standard. Every one that sees him says he is the prettiest golden they have ever seen. Just not breed standard, he would not win dog shows but he has the perfect temperament to be a service dog and takes his job very serious when we are out and about.

Yeah Boykin spaniel's in SC are kinda the say way, nope body really knows much about them if your not in SC. They make awesome bird dogs.

 

True, the 100 pound plus lab is a result of the American Field. There is a push lately for smaller labs like Robert Milner Canoe Labs which were bred with English labs to be smaller. And normally run about 50 pounds. Although the AKC and UKC do not distinguish between English and American or Field labs. Last few years starting to see more and more labs in the 50 pound and even females in the 40 pound range which I think is a step in the right direction. Many of the dogs in SD pheasant hunting and friends dogs are Labs and most are older and on the larger size. Smaller ones are just starting to show up.

In 2001 when the Toller was accepted into the AKC (2003 for group) a lot of people were happy that after more than 200 years they finally were. And others were worried that the AKC would eventually ruin them as a hunting dog. As they did the Irish Setter. So far I am cautiously optimistic, maybe they have finally learned, and there is some evidence that they have. Not many Toller breeders around 30 years ago South of Canada and most everyone knew everyone else. Eric in Alabama is one and still runs the Toller Listserv. There are a lot more breeders now and the hope is that they will maintain the breed standard from the Specialty days, so far that is the case with the breeders that I know.

Boykin's are great dogs and great hunters! They are starting to expand in popularity also as is the French Britt. I like them all, watching a dog that was breed to hunt and get a taste of feathers do so is one of the greatest pleasures in life to me. With a young dog sometimes I swear you can actually see the light bulb come on.

 

Yeah my buddies dad used to breed Boykins. So my buddy naturally had one....gotta love the Jerry curl lol! His hair turned blonde on his head in the summer. Kinda cool.

 

Riley is around #110 and very athletic. Comes from a line of hunters but I don't hunt him. I would have to agree there's a definite difference between "working" and "show" dogs. Arguably, the show dogs are less adept at their original purpose too.

 

Depends really on what your doing...if duck hunting from a boat smaller dogs are easier to get back in the boat lol. Field flushing birds or retrieval would go to the faster dog regardless of size in my opinion...nothing wrong with the bigger labs, hell im dog sitting my sisters lab tonight. He is a year old a 85lbs black lab he is sweet as you expect from a lab but has the typical couple neurotic genes that come from most improper breeding programs today.

 

Yeah. Breeding. It's a huge problem in general. Especially when a breed becomes popular.

 

Ian that is because of all the exercise you give Riley, he has a job And coming from hunting lines makes a difference too as you noted. Yeah unfortunately for many breeds it isn't even open for debate, there are separate lines conformation and original purpose. For now at least the Toller is the same at both working and show. That is what many of us "old timers" want to maintain, no separate lines. A good breeder should not breed a dog that is good in show unless it passes hunt tests also. But I am afraid that over time that will not be the case.

 

You can say that again!

 

I agree! You said that right!!!

 

I worry about that too and not just for the Toller. Just look at the GSD for an example of how a great breed has been f'd up here in the US.

 

Thats the main reason we went with the shiloh shepherd. We love the GSD but wanted a more traditional looking shepherd (less prey drive, more family oriented, straighter back which is less prone to hip displasia). The breeders of our dogs really make it a point to weed out any bad bloodlines with halter monitoring and bloodwork.

We even had to go through background check/references. The breeders are really trying their hardest to keep the breed from being ruined since it was only started back in the 1970's

 

Early AM road trip. She already bit my bagel out of my hand. I swear if she wasn't such an old girl I would be pissed lol

 

Oscar Meyer and Charlie Brown doing what they do best.

 

Some things never change

 

Our freak husky mix. He is from the North West Territories (thats Canada). We dont know much about his past but he is a sweetheart and loves people and kids. Requires a lot of excercise and has a bit of prey drive. He is just a year old so hope that will change with time. My first dog so its a steep learning curve haha.

 

He's a handsome fellow!

 

Had a little visit yesterday from an 8 week old Drahthaar that a friend just got. She was very tired after a long drive and playing around with my dog's toys. Great blood lines, already showing her instinctive retrieval traits. Can't wait to see what a field champ this little girl becomes!

 

The Draht is one of the fastest growing breeds in the versatile hunting dog group and have always been kicking butt in NAVHDA, what a great looking pup! Some have been known to be "sharp" in the past and that personality trait is being bred out of most them by the better breeders now. As an all around dog that is a great hunter and companion around the house they would be on my short list, they can do it all. And extremely well!