Pass Along PDJ
December 2008

How to Spend Your Tax Refund
by Larry Brown

ven if the politicians in Washington find something else to do with our money besides cutting taxes, maybe the IRS--as well as the various state governments--will continue to send us our refunds.  That's almost certainly a better bet than the tax-cut stuff!

And since you probably don't have anything better to do with the tax refund money--like put gas in the truck or buy shoes for the kids--maybe you can spend it (or at least some of it) on your favorite hobby:  bird hunting.

On this score, if nowhere else in our current economy, we pointing dog folks have reason to rejoice.  That's because buying a pointing dog--pup, started, or fully broke--remains a real bargain.  That is, compared to buying a retriever, spaniel, or hound.

I'd never thought much about the comparative prices of dogs--probably because I'm strictly a pointing dog guy and always have been--until I attended a seminar for hunting dog writers put on by Purina last spring.  Professionals in the field, representing all categories of hunting dogs, were there to make presentations and give demonstrations.

I found it very educational.  Although I have some experience hunting upland birds with retrievers and spaniels, I've never had anything to do with hounds.  And the retrievers and spaniels with which I've hunted have been mostly the products of amateur rather than professional training.  (That's usually worked out okay, too, but not always.)

hat probably surprised me most, however, came when the retriever and spaniel people started talking about the going rates for their dogs.  Never mind the value of a hound that's really good at treeing coons!

I confirmed those prices recently with a few phone calls, and the comparison to what we pay for pointing dogs is a real eye-opener.  For example:  Lab pups from a very well-known kennel (but sold to hunters, not field trialers) run from $600-1200, depending on the pedigree.  In contrast, you want to buy a good shorthair pup?  The bottom end of the retriever price range will get you a pup from Charlie Rose, who trials his dogs but sells mostly to hunters.  Paul Phipps, a respected trainer here in Iowa, will sell you one for a bit less.

How about a started dog?  One-and-a-half-year-old Lab, with solid training, exposure to birds, force fetched:  $2500-4500.  You want one that will respond to hand signals and do blind retrieves, it will cost you more.  Phipps sells his "green broke" started pointing dogs (exposed to birds and the gun, evaluated on wild birds, not force-fetched) in the low to mid-teens.  Force fetch and more field work will add a few hundred dollars.

Spaniels won't save you anything over Labs.  A couple well-known kennels sell their pups for over $1,000.

The laws of the marketplace certainly pertain here.  If sellers charge too much, they won't have any buyers.  And the retriever and spaniel kennels to which I referred don't seem to have any problem selling their dogs.

The full article "How to Spend Your Tax Refund " by Larry Brown appears in the upcoming January/February 2009 issue of Pointing Dog Journal . If you are a subscriber, stay tuned! That issue will soon mail!

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