Should Your Next Hunting Dog Be a Mutt?

But mutts fill shelters around the country, and litters of accidental mixed breeds happen all the time. While the old saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” doesn’t exactly hold true, if you’re training a hunting partner, it’ll be easier to start with a younger dog. So, for the sake of simplicity in this article, we’ll be talking about getting mutt puppies. (But if you have room in your home and your heart, adult and senior dogs need homes, too!)

There are mongrels aplenty, and there might just be one out there for you that’ll fetch a duck or tree a squirrel. But there are a few things to consider first.

Mutts are so much more than a knock-off brand discount option. Yes, they’re going to be cheaper than a purebred pup (unless you’re buying a “designer dog,” more on that later). But it’s important to remember that even if you get a dog for cheap-to-nothing up front, you’re still going to have to pay for food, vet visits, and other doggie necessities in the long run.

Shelters have adoption fees, and if someone is selling a mixed-breed litter, those pups are going to have a price tag with a few less zeros at the end than a purebred. If you get a pup from a person, make sure it’s received proper vaccines, and don’t be afraid to ask the owners questions. Same goes for shelters, typically they won’t let dogs leave without vaccinations, a neuter/spay procedure, and microchipping, but it’s important to ask regardless.

It might be easier and faster to find a mutt pup, but you don’t need to bring home the first dog that gives you the puppy dog eyes. You’re likely not going to get the assurance of generations of bloodlines proving that the dog has the genes to do what you want it to do, like you would with purebreds. Many shelters have foster programs. Think about fostering a dog first to see if it has the natural tendencies you’re looking for and to get a better idea of its temperament.

If you’re considering getting a mutt, first think about the kind of hunting you want to do. A dog doesn’t necessarily need polished bloodlines to flush a grouse or tree a raccoon. But if you have specific tasks you’d like this dog to fulfill, you should look for one with some degree of a breed that lends itself to those tasks. Typically, shelters have a vague (sometimes incorrect) idea of what breed(s) the dog is, and if you’re picking up a pup from a litter, you should at least be able to see where 50% of their genetic makeup comes from. Essentially, the less genetically predisposed your dog is to do a task, the more time you’ll have to spend training for it.

If you want a dog to hold a perfect tripod point on upland birds, a mutt might not be for you. This is a refined skill that has been bred into dogs for hundreds of years. (It also requires a serious amount of training time from you.) Even if you get a dog with some pointing genes, you’re taking a bit of a gamble to find out just how prominent those are.

Flushing, on the other hand, is a pretty instinctual response for most breeds. Most dogs with a decent nose and a bit of brain can follow a scent and kick up a bird. So be honest with yourself about how you want to hunt with this dog and what its role will be as your furry sidekick for the next decade or so.

A great quality of mixed breeds is that they tend to be sturdier than purebred dogs. Veterinarians widely accept that mutts suffer fewer diseases and health conditions than purebreds because they have a larger, more diverse gene pool.

Of course, the best dog breeders out there monitor common health conditions within a breed and do their best to avoid passing on those conditions—that’s one of the many reasons why, if you want a purebred pup, finding the right breeder is so important.

This isn’t as much of a concern with mixed-breeds. Mostly because they typically aren’t intentionally bred. But sometimes they are.

My bird dog is a Lab and German wirehaired pointer cross. He’s the first bird dog I’ve ever trained, so while I wanted a mutt, I also wanted him to have the genetics to help me out. The guy we bought him off sent us videos of both parents making double-blind retrieves, hip cert papers, bloodlineages of both parents, etc., far more information than you’d ever get from picking up a dog from the pound.

The breeding was actually intentional; he had labs and wirehairs and wanted to see what mixed puppies would turn out like. I was curious too. While this was a happy incident of timing, it’s certainly not the norm. But some designer mutts are highly sought after and are becoming more and more common.

Doodles are a very popular mixed breed right now because they are marketed as “hypoallergenic.” But don’t let the price tag fool you, anything with “doodle” at the end is still a mutt. However, standard poodles can make great gun dogs.

Mix that big poodle with a field bred golden or Lab and you might just have the perfect hunting mutt on your hands, just ask MeatEater contributor and dog trainer Chris Yielding who hunts with a goldendoodle.

“He is one of the easiest dogs I have trained,” Yielding said. “He picks up on things so fast!” In addition to having extreme drive where the last retrieve is always as intense as the first, Yielding said his dog also has a great on/off switch. “He can go from swimming in freezing cold water after crippled greenheads to laying on the floor cuddling with my kids.”

I think the most endearing thing about mutts is their unique personalities. If someone has a golden retriever or a jack russell, I have a pretty good idea of that dog’s mannerisms before I even meet it. Not to say that all purebred dogs are carbon copies of each other (they are obviously not), but when you throw a little something different in that genetic pool, you end up with well, something a little different.

The same goes for looks. If you want a dog that looks like it belongs on the cover of Gun Dog Magazine (i.e., black Lab, German Shorthair, Irish Setter, etc.) and really care about aesthetics, a mixed-breed is likely not the dog for you. But if you want a dog that doesn’t look like every other hunting dog on your social media feed, a mutt might be a decent choice.

So, whether you go to the pound, find a mixed-breed litter in your local listings, or stumble on a funny-looking puppy behind a dumpster that steals your heart, keep in mind there’s a chance that mutt’ll hunt.

So, should your next hunting dog be a mutt? That’s up to you to decide. I’ll be in the blind with my mongrel in the meantime.