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The Checklist for Picking a Puppy

The perfect formula for finding the right hunting dog breed for you.

The Checklist for Picking a Puppy

Be honest with yourself on what you want out of a puppy and what species and places you plan to hunt before making a decision on a hunting dog breed. (Photo By: Venee Gardner)

The very first puppy I had was a springer that nobody wanted. The pup was the runt, the last remaining dog in a litter bred by a friend of my Uncle George. The sire and dam were proven hunters, and George thought the pup and I had enough promise between us to be worth a try, but a good number of folks had looked at the litter and determined that one little runt was inadequate. I took the pup home and named him “My Own Alex.”

I worked with Alex for months, made some mistakes, and learned a bunch about flushing dogs in the process. He would go on to become an Amateur Field Trial Champion and an exceptional hunting companion, but by all accounts, the success we realized was largely by chance. Alex and I made the most of decent breeding, hard work, and clear, consistent boundaries, but nothing in his pedigree or his appearance would have indicated he’d reach the levels that he did, or that he’d prove a good match for me. Picking a puppy is, after all, a bit of a dice roll, and sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Regardless, there are some guidelines to follow during the puppy selection process that can help ensure a good match, and a few basic exercises that will steer a buyer to a healthy, sound pup that will have the raw material to do what they want it to. In this installment, we will examine a checklist of considerations that should play into the process of picking a flushing dog pup.

english springer spaniel at dog park
The more you know about the popular flushing dog breeds will help you make the right choice when settling on a dog breed. (Photo By: rebeccaashworthearle/Shutterstock.com)

Hunting Dog Breeds

Typically, folks enter the puppy selection process with a sense of what breed they want to bring home. I would encourage people to recognize this, and to take a moment of open-minded reconsideration. Though individual dogs within a flushing breed can prove to be the exception to the rule, most breeds have consistent attributes. For the sake of conversation, I will give my take on the three primary flushing breeds that I see as having widespread utility in the field, specifically Labrador retrievers, English springer spaniels, and English cocker spaniels.

As far as Labrador retrievers go, there are many breedings and bloodlines, resulting in many sizes and temperaments of dogs. I like Labs, and I have seen some good ones. If I were someone who wanted to hunt waterfowl as well as pheasants, or if I liked the idea of putting in long miles in rough country,


I’d very likely have one. A good biddable Lab is a delight, but it is important to remember that they are big, long-legged, and long-tailed when compared to the flushing spaniels. These attributes can prove challenging in the house. They are also a bit slower in the field, which means on the positive they can go all day, but on the negative they are less dynamic to watch.

chocolate lab puppy in grass
The ever-popular Labrador retriever is the preferred choice of many upland hunters for their all-day stamina and mild temperament in the home. (Photo By: Bianca Grueneberg/Shutterstock.com)

English springer spaniels were my dog of choice for years, and they are still the standard flusher to my way of thinking. A good one should range and quarter a bit farther than the average cocker but with more speed and pattern than a Lab. They should remain sticky, and hunt with their heads down. To my mind, springers are the perfect pheasant dog. For all their attributes, however, springers can be the wrong dog for some. They tend to be a bit “obsessive” about game or retrieving, and they can lack the ability to “turn it off” in the house. They are also a bit more socially standoff-ish than a cocker or a Lab might be. Finally, with the current trends in breeding for longer-legged dogs that will perform well in trials, many springers are too fast for the average hunter to keep up with, and therefore less useful or pleasant to hunt behind in the bird fields.

english springer spaniel puppy with quail
The English springer spaniel is a hard-working flushing breed that may need a little extra obedience. (Photo By: Venee Gardner)

English cocker spaniels are a compact, athletic option ideal for the grouse or woodcock hunter. They stick close to the gun, they are quite portable, and they are some of the sweetest house dogs around. The breed is still relatively less-known in the States, and therefore the great bloodlines from the UK are still evident in most litters. Of the three breeds mentioned, cockers will be the breed with the least stamina for the all-day hunt (short legs), but they will generally be the lowest impact dogs in the house/family. They are incredible little dogs.

english cocker spaniel puppy
The English cocker spaniel is a smaller-bodied, close-working flusher and can be a great family pet as well. (Photo By: Angela Holmyard/Shutterstock.com)

Self-Reflection

Before you settle on a breed, and certainly before you begin looking at breeders, pedigrees, or actual pups, you need to do a bit of self-reflection. Take the above generalizations about breeds as a baseline and ask yourself the following questions. It is necessary that you hold yourself accountable to honest answers.


What purpose do you want the dog to fulfill? How much actual training and hunting will you and the dog do? 

The answer to this question will help you assess the temperament and genetic ability that the sire/dam and pedigree exhibits. If you want to hunt blue grouse at elevation in the Rockies, a cocker may not be for you. If your dog will spend the bulk of his life riding around in the cab of your work truck, a hard-going pup from field trial lines may not be the right match.

What size and speed of dog is optimal for your lifestyle? 

Though variation occurs within each breed, there are basic assumptions to make. A 30 lb. cocker is different than a 40 lb. springer who is different than a 50 lb. Lab. Think about height, tail length, and how the more active representatives of each breed might impact your home life. This will help you zero in on breed and physical attributes of sires/dams.

What breed has the most aesthetic appeal for you? 

We all have preferences…but in the end, the dog that works best for your intended purpose will be the best looking to you! Do you hope to have a dog that integrates seamlessly into the household, or a dog that is hard-charging about game and can’t easily shut the prey-drive off?

Those of us who identify as serious hunters all want a dog with a lot of horsepower, but very few of us realize the need for a hard-charging dog. When looking at pedigrees, size, and temperament of breedings, be honest about your expectations for the next 10 or so seasons.

All of these questions will help you through the actual selection process and will help you refine your criteria as you move into selecting or identifying breeders, assessing breedings and sires/dams, and actually picking a pup.

Proper Analysis of a Breeding

As you begin to identify breeders and start looking into breedings/litters, remember that a reputable breeder will provide you with all the pertinent information you ask for. They will provide pedigrees and will let you get to know the dam and the sire if he is on-premises. The breeder should be forthcoming with all info, as they should and likely will be quite proud of any breeding they have undertaken. If you feel there are reservations about information sharing from the breeder, that is a red flag.  

[two pup photo - Decide early whether you want a male or a female. We all have preferences, and all dogs can be fixed to eliminate some issues (i.e. heats, male dominance, marking, etc.).  (Photo By:

If you plan to hunt the dog, you need to ensure that the pup comes from a proven field trial, hunt test, or hunting background. The pedigree should be littered with titles like FC (Field Champion), AFC (Amateur Field Champion), HT (Jr., Sr., Master Hunt test titles), etc. No reputable breeder of hunting dogs should want to dilute their bloodlines with unproven genetics, and titles are the “proof.” Titles on both sides will ensure genetic potential, providing you with a good place to start.

Get to know the sire and dam, or at least talk to folks that have hunted with or been around them. There is an old saying that the apple never falls far from the tree, and that is very true with dogs. If the sire/dam appeal to you, you like their pace and temperament, or if you like the way they hunt, that should help you decide on getting a pup from that breeding. I even think that genetic traits that show up in physical appearance will indicate similar parallels in behavior. What I mean is, if you love the style and temperament of a specific dam, choose the pup that most closely resembles her physically.

Once you have worked through this process checklist, and you find yourself looking over a litter with a choice to make, follow your gut. It’s quite possible that you’ll wind up with the dog of a lifetime, and even more possible that you’ll wind up with a dog you love and enjoy.

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