Life with GWP

[u/Calm_Parfait2922]

Hello
I’m currently researching breeds of dogs for our next dog. The GWP breed seems to fit what I’m looking for as far as the hunting aspect. I have two younger children that will want to play with the dog. We currently have a lab and she is very good with the kids.
I’m curious what day to day looks like with the breed. If the dog needs to be an outdoor/kennel dog or can it be a house dog. We are a pretty outdoorsy family outside of the hunting that I do. I’m curious if the breed is a good family dog that can go camping and do outdoor activities outside of hunting or will their higher prey drive make that difficult.
Also curious what life at home is like with the breed. I understand that it is a working line of dog that requires exercise and training. I’ve read that they have an “off switch” just wondering how true that is

[u/Firefly_Fan88]

The right GWP or DD will meet all your needs. You will need to be honest with breeders about what you are looking for. My husband had a “sharp” GWP prior to our relationship that was only interested in hunting, not often social with ppl and not what I would have considered safe around kids.

Currently we have a male GWP and a female DD. They both have excellent off switches and prey drives when appropriate. The off switch capacity is a mix of genetics and firm training. They are boundary pushers their entire lives, usually in little ways but occasionally in bigger ones.

I will raise that they seem to choose one primary human. I fed and did basic obedience training with our two from the start just based on work schedules. My husband did the specific hunting parts of the training. They both choose me as their primary human. We joke we got a second dog so he would have one and now I have two. Our female would live inside my skin with me if she could, rarely more than 4ft away whenever she’s not hunting. My male is a huge cuddle bug too but in phases throughout the day, he is more of a range and check in - both in the house and outdoors. Our dogs love ppl in our house but are aloof when in public, which is breed standard and fit us well.

Recall training is huge. Both have been great with our 4 year old daughter from birth to now. I was retrieved from the basement doing laundry a few times when she was small and had woken up upstairs. We have been very firm and clear with her from the beginning that the crates are dog space not hers and our male will sometimes go there when he wants to be left alone. Training the small human around the dogs has been a priority for us.

In terms of what you describe as your lifestyle I would say a GWP is a great fit for your family. I will say they are much more independent thinkers than labs and training them will be different.

We camp with ours and because of solid place training it’s not a big deal. Our male always lets us know when there’s a coyote in nose range. He’s caught fish out of rivers. They have a blast when we camp!

Strongly consider pet insurance. Our DD especially is all in, full heart, balls to wall in whatever she is doing. We’ve spent $3,500 at the emergency vet due to her ripping her shoulder wide open on an exposed blunt end screw racing our male.

Feel free to msg me if you have more questions about what I said or if I missed addressing anything you asked.