Braque du Bourbonnais?

[mattwill00]

Anyone have any familiarity with the breed? I met a guy outside of a gas station up in Wyoming that was letting one out and thought it looked like a pretty cool dog. He told me about the breed a bit and the breeder he used etc. I looked them up and they look great for me. Smaller, even tempered, trainable, good in the house. These are all pretty important to me as we do a lot more with our dogs than just hunt. Smaller is great for the truck and the raft, even tempered is great for being around other animals (have chickens, will introduce as a puppy) and for camping/backpacking/rafting. We do some rabbit hunting locally, pheasant in eastern co/nebraska, and some dusky hunting when not hunting archery.

Haven’t heard much about the breed. This will be my first true pointer from a breeder and I’m hoping we do it right the first time around. We currently have an older beagle/pointer mix that does it all for us. Hoping to get him a friend for awhile. Also will use a kennel for training, so if anyone has any recommendations on facilities in Colorado Im all ears.

 

[huntineveryday]

We have a neighbor with one, but it's never seen a bird outside of town. Inside dog, aside from walks. Smaller and less energy than a shorthair, with a similar coat and build. Hadn't heard of the breed until I saw his, and I haven't seen another.

 

[Superdoo]

I haven’t seen one worth a damn. The ones I’ve seen that have any positive testing behind them required an extremely patient and incredibly knowledgeable trainer with plenty of time on their hands.
There’s too many solid breeds that are readily available to deal with a “what if” factor that high.

Plus in the words of Harry Dunne, “the French are assholes.”

 

[mattwill00]

Hahah interesting. I knew they had some French blood in them. What kind of other smaller hunting breeds should I look in to? I know I said I wanted the braque originally but the more I think of it the more I question the coat. We live at 10,000 ft and I’m unsure how either the braque or a gsp would do at these temps. Any other options or opinions?

 

[huntineveryday]

Just a thought, but have you considered a viszla? Similar coat and size, good in the house, but I think there are enough active breeders in NAVHDA that you'd be able to find a well bred litter easier than with a braque.

I watched 3 viszlas run in thier NA test last weekend, it was a breeder/trainer from the Denver area and 2 of her clients with thier dogs. I have no ties to them, but I'd have some feedback on what I saw from her dogs.

 

[huntineveryday]

Just saw your last comment. Wirehaired pointing griffons would be a breed known to turn it off and do well inside, but have a coat that that should handle cold well. I have German wirehaired pointers, my first doesn't have much of an off switch and my pup's still too young to tell, but my breeder has 5 in her home. Both of those breeds should have decent availability of good litters.

 

[Superdoo]

Hahah interesting. I knew they had some French blood in them. What kind of other smaller hunting breeds should I look in to? I know I said I wanted the braque originally but the more I think of it the more I question the coat. We live at 10,000 ft and I’m unsure how either the braque or a gsp would do at these temps. Any other options or opinions?

A GSP would be fine in those temps. Plenty of them running around late season in ND when the temps are in the singles to below zero.
There's also a lot of "smaller" breeds that could do the job. You'd have to hijack your own thread and tell us your primary use for animal along with any specifics on size and weight. I'd also ask what your home life looks like as far as room for the dog to run and how you plan to exercise the dog.
That would provide enough info to start narrowing your search.

 

[mattwill00]

Eh yeah I’ll hijack it. Have a half acre up in the mountains of Colorado. Summertime we’re rafting, backpacking, fishing, scouting. Every weekend practically. Winter is ice fishing and backcountry skiing. Unfortunately we’re kind of far from good pheasant, but dusky grouse and some duck hunting keeps us busy around here till the cold sets in. Then I’ll do a couple trips out to nd, eastern co, wy, sd. Usually around a trip or two a year for the longer drives.

I enjoy smaller dogs. Easier in the truck, on the raft, in the tent. Our beagle mix is great is that regard. He’s great with birds too, flushed up 3 duskys yesterday in fact. We looked into the braques after reading about the mild temper and trainability. Hit me with some other options I’m all ears. No kids either - yet.

 

[TNsavageman]

We’ve got a Boykin that my family and I love. She’s the perfect dog for us. She’s small enough to take in the family car, sleeps on the bed at night, and plays fetch with the kids. She has a great hunting motor and she turns it off when we get home. She’s happiest when she’s hunting but loves to lay on the couch as well. I couldn’t be happier with our choice. I wanted something that I could take for ducks a dozen trips a year, retrieve for me in the dove field, hunt upland on local preserves and be my wife’s snuggle buddy. We are tickled.

 

[Mojave]

We did the rare breed thing, a Italian Spinone. She was difficult.

I also knew some guys that did rare breed stuff when I was living in Germany.

My take:

1. The odds of getting a bad one are very high. Because the pool of dogs is small, and a lot of these people breed everything. Ours had behavior issues related to children. She would bite and she was rough.

2. They often have health problems because of the small breed pool.

3. People lose their minds on prices. Because they are rare, they are considered to be valuable. I didn't feel as though it was worth the $2000 I had in her.

This was about 10 years ago, and I ended up giving her to my parents. She was with them about a month and was too much for them to handle, she ended up at my cousin's place. He got her working pretty good on upland and as a decent retriever until she got hit by a truck.

 

[Monty3006]

I have a vizsla and he is pretty close to what you have said you’re after. In saying that though I believe that it’s probably a case that there are many breeds that if you research you’ll find a breeder that gives you a better chance of a dog with the size and traits you want.

 

[huntineveryday]

If smaller size is in the list, Small Muensterlanders might be worth a look. Every one I've met was a bubbly personable dog. Smaller frame, longer coat, and thier owners said they were great inside. I've never been around a Boykin, but as mentioned above, that could fit as well.

 

[Superdoo]

Small Muenster and French Brittany stick out as small versatile dogs. Both of my Pudelpointers are 50 pounders, if small means smaller than a big lab…
American Brittany would fit the bill too.

 

[tim tarras]

I would consider the Springer Spaniel or the Water Spaniel too.

 

[molliesmaster]

Just get a lab. I read your plans/lifestyle and a lab would be fine for all of the above. Find a good breeding kennel and look at their smaller sires/dams for a puppy. You, your family, and the dog will all be happy.

This is coming from a guy who trains retrievers and pointers part-time. I currently own a german shorthair, german wirehair, and a Chesapeake bay retriever.

 

[Mojave]

Some really good kennels on Springer Spaniels.

If we lived in Europe I would say that you could safely get a good small musterlander, but I can't imagine that the breeder pool is very big.

 

[mattwill00]

Does anyone have any recommendations on a brittney kennel out west? Thanks for all the recommendations too btw. I think a Brittany checks a lot of boxes for us.

 

[Superdoo]

French or American???

 

[loganwayne]

Does anyone have any recommendations on a brittney kennel out west? Thanks for all the recommendations too btw. I think a Brittany checks a lot of boxes for us.

Hannahatchee kennels. Not in the west but probably one of the top 3 French Brittany breeders in the US. Has very consistent strong hunting, friendly dogs. And they are all over the US including several in Alaska.

I don't have a dog from him but my next will be.

 

[Mosby]

Hahah interesting. I knew they had some French blood in them. What kind of other smaller hunting breeds should I look in to? I know I said I wanted the braque originally but the more I think of it the more I question the coat. We live at 10,000 ft and I’m unsure how either the braque or a gsp would do at these temps. Any other options or opinions?

I think a Brittany would be a good option. Friend has one in Pueblo. Really good Brittany kennel outside of Denver. Godfathers gun dogs.