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Originally Posted by Daryl Corona
Not to be argumentative Todd but I've trained my last 4 retrievers (Labs) to be gun dogs. My male might not have the grace of a setter on point but he can, and often does, go from retrieving ducks in the morning then working upland birds in the afternoon and doing it with a purpose that produces birds in the bag. He's got great style and he is my meat dog.
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Its a valid point you make and don't believe you are being argumentative at all. Some breeds like lab and Brittanies are great crossover dogs. Believe you and I talked about this and pointing labs once before and how utilitarian they can be. Are labs the best on upland compared to setter or brittany, no; but because they like to please and have drive and maybe a nose they can be decent and some will even hold a point for a bit. Is setter good as water dog, no not when its cold water, but have knocked down a few ducks on some ponds and had a setter that was a dang good swimmer that would go get em with some coaxing. Are Brittanies good retrievers, can be and they can take cold water better than setter but not as good as a lab.
Labs are also good in colder upland game climates. Living in SE it is tough to have a lab to hunt quail or even for put out pheasants. That fat layer around them can really work on em in the heat and it puts too much strain on them in our climate. I will say this though what I like about Brittanies and labs is that they will tend to hunt close to you than some setters and most pointers.
Actually in Mills case if all he could have is one dog to potentially do it all in the SE, Brittany is definitely the best all round choice. If he takes to retrieving just get him a camo vest for flotation and little extra warmth and you'll be in goof shape. Duck hunt in the morning and quail hunt in the afternoon.