Originally Posted By: castnblast
The golden I had was a good upland bird dog but sucked at waterfowl. I think the goldens don't hold up as well to the cold & wet conditions that duck hunting produces (especially when it gets well below freezing) and I had some real nightmares with seeds , burrs and cheatgrass (have you ever seen a shaved golden?) This produced several trips to the vet as well.

Bolth the labs I've had have hunted bolth upland and waterfowl well and definately seem more durable than Golden retrievers. MY $ .02

CNB



The best cold water bird dog there is would have be The Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

Bad part about em is they're stubborn and blockheaded.
They're also tough as nails and strong. If you want one, get a 8 foot chainlink fence with electrified barbed wire along the top, set in a concrete sill at least three feet deep. Then get good homeowner's insurance for when it escapes and demolishes your neighborhood.