Originally Posted by HunterDave

My 2 cents FWIW:

I had a Britt for 12 years and he was great as a bird dog but if he bumped a deer while we were out hunting he'd be chasing it. I never could break him of that "chase" instinct of his. I'd hear him barking half a klick away and have to wait for him 5 or 10 minutes to return to me. He didn't like yotes either and he'd put the run on them as well but he'd stop once they turned tail. IMO He was well trained for what he was supposed to do and that is hunt birds but not suitable for accompanying me as a companion on a big game hunt.

In theory, having a dog companion in the mountains would be nice but it'd be too hard to regulate. Some breeds would be better suited for it while others have too many undesirable traits for that situation. "Well trained" is relative to what people perceive it to mean and I could foresee problems arising from it. Perhaps only allowing certain breeds (ie Burmese Mountain Dogs) would be a solution but even then there'd be some very unhappy hunters if their dog wasn't one of the select breeds of dogs.

I'd be careful what was wished for. One persons standards of a well trained dog might be allot higher than the standards for other people and you might end up with dogs running around out there that you'd rather not see.