# Goldens on upland game



## EvanG (Apr 26, 2008)

On another board someone was looking for suggestions of a pup for waterfowl & upland hunting. He stated his upland birds were mostly pheasant. It gave me pause because I've hunted over nearly all hunting breeds, and prefer to quarter & flush with a retriever, especially if there will only be one dog on the hunt. They do it very well, and are far better retrievers than pointers or so-called 'versatiles'.

My Golden loves pheasant, and is terrific on them, and is a wonderful waterfowl dog - especially on big water. But I prefer to hunt a Lab in most midwestern situations because of all the burrs & stickers the Goldens acqure en mass. Just curious what others have encountered?

EvanG


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

I've always preferred my Goldens when upland hunting, but then again, our upland, these days, is mostly chukkar and they are found in the sagebrush so not a lot of burrs. However, I will state that when we do encounter burrs and stickers, they come out easily (most of the time). I'm sure in the midwest, you would find different types of burrs and stickers.

It will be interesting to see the responses you get.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

We have a lot of cockleburrs here, but if you use just a little squeeze of Cowboy Magic detangle gel on the burr it slides right out. Not a problem!


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## Klamath Gold (Dec 26, 2008)

My best guess is that on a golden board you are gonna get golden results!

Ofcourse my heart is with the goldens and that is likely where I will stay. I hunt waterfowl and upland. I love it when others sneer at my old golden Daisy as we check in to the check stations. She is huge thanks to a screwed up thyroid but until a few years ago was unbeatable when hunting pheasants.

I did see a German Wirehair a few days ago that intrigued me. Fine looking animal and it is involved in some sort of testing (hunting type) that I am unfamiliar with. I began speaking with the owner about training and found out the dog was having some water entry issues. Evan, I sent another your way for a swimby DVD. After speaking at length with the owner, I believe the wirehair has the foundation to jump right in.... so to speak.

If I were to look at another dog breed... perhaps the wirehair or the german shorthair. I train a few labs from time to time but overall am not a big fan.

Randy


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

**Disclaimer** I'm not the expert *** I think it depends on the quality and training of the dog, not the breed. Since mine won't be going into the confirmation ring, I just take scissors and cut the burrs out when we get home - Boomer had a "Frankenstein haircut" every fall.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

My ex only did upland game, hated ducks and duck hunting  He did a lot of pheasants, and took several trips to Iowa, etc. during the season to hunt. He always hunted over one of my dogs (the first professionally trained, the ones after trained by him in partnership with a friend of ours who wanted to go pro). He loved hunting over the Goldens. He did have the opportunity to hunt over other breeds as well, but preferred the Goldens.

Of course the burrs and stickers never bothered him-it was my job to get them out  We used Pam cooking spray and that seemed to work really well. I also would give his chosen hunting dog a severe cut down at the beginning of hunting season and by January, it would be pretty well grown out.


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> We have a lot of cockleburrs here, but if you use just a little squeeze of Cowboy Magic detangle gel on the burr it slides right out. Not a problem!


Cowboy Magic is a great product. I have used it in horses and my dogs. I put a little in Teddi's tail and butt feathers, when I give her a bath. For WEEKS I can just comb her out easily. It does not dry out the hair either. Show sheen is another equine product. It contains silicone, and things slide through the hair. It does tend to dry out the hair with use.


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## EvanG (Apr 26, 2008)

Klamath Gold said:


> I did see a German Wirehair a few days ago that intrigued me. Fine looking animal and it is involved in some sort of testing (hunting type) that I am unfamiliar with. I began speaking with the owner about training and found out the dog was having some water entry issues. Evan, I sent another your way for a swimby DVD. After speaking at length with the owner, I believe the wirehair has the foundation to jump right in.... so to speak.
> 
> Randy


Thanks all, and Randy I appreciate your recommendation. So far I've gotten lots of support for the Cowboy Magin idea. I'm surprised I hadn't heard about it sooner with all the Golden folks I deal with.

EvanG


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

I hunt pheasant and grouse with my big show male (seen after a hunt in my avatar, and cean and purty in my sig pic). He does not have an American style show coat, but still does carry plenty enough furnishings. In addition to burdock we also have these tiny triangular green burrs. I have taken to pre-treating his neck, bum and tail feathers BEFORE we go hunting with either the Cowboy Magic, or just a plain old hair straightening serum from the hair care aisle--cheaper! Really makes removal at the end of the hunt much easier and seems to cut down on the knotting in of the burrs. If he has gotten wet during the hunt I do wait until he is dry to begin brushing them out--they just tangle in more while wet. My girl has such a close tight resilient coat that they are really not a problem at all--so if it is a concern maybe look for a breeding where the parents both have that coat quality.

I prefer upland hunting over my Goldens to my friends' labs. They find birds the labs miss, and do not range as big--so they keep the flushed birds in gun range!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

*I'm not a hunt person, but just responding as a midwestern golden owner who spends a lot of time in fields and woods wit her guy... 



Maxs Mom said:


> Cowboy Magic is a great product. I have used it in horses and my dogs. I put a little in Teddi's tail and butt feathers, when I give her a bath. For WEEKS I can just comb her out easily. It does not dry out the hair either. Show sheen is another equine product. It contains silicone, and things slide through the hair. It does tend to dry out the hair with use.


I use the cowboy magic spray and the gel too. Baby oil is another option and is the one I prefer with my horse (it's cheap and we go through a lot in fall). 

We have burdock, mini burrs, stickyweed, prickleburrs... and every other kind of plant that depends on its seeds sticking to animal coats in order to spread. 

Silky coats and super thick almost triple layered coats with a lot of feathering are horrible for the woods. 

My current guy's coat is awesome. It stays straight and untangled and the burrs come right out. I'll spray with cowboy magic so I don't frazz anything, but they come out easily. And we don't get those horrible "burr bunches" that take forever to pick apart. He's the first golden I've owned with that perfect type of coat. There have to be more out there like that, right?


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Also, just throwing this in, when in the woods if your dog gets into pitch, peanut butter or just plain butter takes it right out.


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## so cal shaggy (Jul 24, 2011)

Here in So Cal I see few goldens used for upland game or waterfowl, I see a lot of labs though. I have not taken my golden out on a hunt yet but when I do field training I get a lot of looks especially since my golden is from a hunting line and has a shorter coat than most of the goldens we see around in So Cal have very long coats.


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