Gun dogs are not pets
Discussion
Is this such a hard thing for people to grasp? The wife was walking our spaniel the other night when a neighbour wanted to give her (the dog) a treat. The wife said no but the neighbour did anyway. The wife said please don't do that again but the neighbour had a go, saying she was being silly and what harm could it do. She explained that the dog is not a pet but will be a worker and its not safe for her to be given treats as it encourages this behaviour and could hamper her training. Again the neighbour said she was being silly and launched into some kind of triade about us being bad doggy parents and not knowing how to look after a dog correctly.
So people, please understand that working dogs are not pets. They are treated a certain way for their own safety on shoots and when a command is issued there is NO option for them they have to obey. Furthermore its also annoying having dogs come up to you and stick their nose in your pocket as some daft f**king b
h has taken upon themselves to feed some one else dog!
Not a rant more of a moan.
So people, please understand that working dogs are not pets. They are treated a certain way for their own safety on shoots and when a command is issued there is NO option for them they have to obey. Furthermore its also annoying having dogs come up to you and stick their nose in your pocket as some daft f**king b
h has taken upon themselves to feed some one else dog!Not a rant more of a moan.
im sure people will be along shortly to disagree, but i couldnt agree more. does my f*cking head in, people moaning all the time that im cruel, im too hard on them blah blah, f*ck off. the worst is family members moaning that my dogs don't have any toys in their kennel or asking to look after them for the day, not f*cking likely.
We have a lab as well that is our pet. We let people give him treats when he was out on walks now he goes up to everyone expecting treats. Not on really but I blame myself for that behaviour but the gun dog is different. Its not just traingn but about her safety. last thing you want when your about to shoot something is a dog running across the line annoying guns for treats. Not only will it get you kicked of the shoot but the dog could be accidentaly shot. I am sure no one wants that regardless what they think about the way workers are treated.
For the record the dog is treated well, gets plenty of love and praise, well feed and she is enjoying being a puppy still but every game we play has an element of training involved. We don't beat her or punish her as she is still a puppy but she has no toys, we have lots of dog toys that we sometimes let her play with but their ours not hers and she only gets attention when we want to give her it not when she wants it. Its hard to resist those sad spaniel eyes (love the spaniel mad eye though
) but its for her own good.
For the record the dog is treated well, gets plenty of love and praise, well feed and she is enjoying being a puppy still but every game we play has an element of training involved. We don't beat her or punish her as she is still a puppy but she has no toys, we have lots of dog toys that we sometimes let her play with but their ours not hers and she only gets attention when we want to give her it not when she wants it. Its hard to resist those sad spaniel eyes (love the spaniel mad eye though
) but its for her own good.Edited by Sexual Chocolate on Friday 5th July 10:56
I get it with village idiots feeding my horses. I don't go and throw chocolate to your kids if they're playing in the garden, so why is it okay to feed my horses? The last time, my youngster got jealous when the older one was being given treats and started pawing the gate in frustration. Horses legs and metal gates don't go together - £700 bill and a shredded leg. It could have been waaaay worse... Idiots.
I don't know much about gun dogs ,only working sheep dogs.
I worked for this Butcher/farmer guy and fed his dogs, well not what I call feeding, he told me only to give them a lamb breast rack, which is just the bones off the breast of lamb no meat and one only per day.
I didn't think this was enough so I upped it to a whole meat on breast of lamb, after a week he complained that the dogs where too fat and unfit for the job so I had to reduce back to the ribs.
Point.
I worked for this Butcher/farmer guy and fed his dogs, well not what I call feeding, he told me only to give them a lamb breast rack, which is just the bones off the breast of lamb no meat and one only per day.
I didn't think this was enough so I upped it to a whole meat on breast of lamb, after a week he complained that the dogs where too fat and unfit for the job so I had to reduce back to the ribs.
Point.
Fully understand your reasons but i imagine its more getting reward for free thats the problem here.. unless youre worried about treats for recalling getting them to spit the dummy out . Personally my dogs get treats and i dont think it causes an issue. However many professional old school trainers frown on them saying just praise is better. Will or does your dog live outside?
C3BER said:
Treats, bribes, training aids call them whatever you like but should be used at the right time. Food treats are one to be used with caution but at the right time and for the right dog they are ideal. Food treats for no reason is a big no no.
I agree, the lab gets treats as praise just didn't do it for him but the spaniel gets praise and it works for her. Our trainer is rather old school but he is excellent and is training us and the dog 
very well and he recommends praise and lots of it. Its working well so I don't think there is any need to change this. They do get toys to play with shambolic its just not on the floor or in easy reach for them. They play when we say its OK for them to play. Just enforcing on them that we are the boss and not them. Oh, and lovely dogs BTW.
boy, the lab is a pet and has lived indoors for ever but we will be letting them live outside when we get a dog run/kennel built soon. The puppy will probably be moved out of the house when she is a bit older. Edited by Sexual Chocolate on Monday 8th July 10:45
Are you sure your lab is going to appreciate being chucked outside if he has been an indoor pet all his life?
I don't have issue with dogs being kennelled as long as they get the stimulation (many kennelled dogs don't and are locked up for hours a day bored out their minds
) they deserve but I do find it odd that we think a pet dog will suddenly be ok to be housed outside of the family home. I don't know your dog, obviously, so hopefully I'm wrong and he'll enjoy/prefer being outside.
I don't have issue with dogs being kennelled as long as they get the stimulation (many kennelled dogs don't and are locked up for hours a day bored out their minds
) they deserve but I do find it odd that we think a pet dog will suddenly be ok to be housed outside of the family home. I don't know your dog, obviously, so hopefully I'm wrong and he'll enjoy/prefer being outside.I think the dogs are clever enough to learn when they are in different situations. For example At home, on walks, runs or training mine is only given treats (food or a ball) for doing something.
So she wont pester people for food or demand to be played with and is a nice calm dog at home.
Despite my best efforts, even having a big falling out with her about it on one occasion my Mum is a nightmare with the dog. Trying to give her meat and play with her all the time. So at my parents house the first thing the dog does is go and find a ball and bring it to my mum, she will be sniffing pockets and jumping up to investigate hands or kitchen sides, she just knows whatever she does there is rewarded.
I guess as long as people at the shoot continue to treat your dog as a gun dog then it will know there is nothing to be gained from bothering people there.
Think a gun dog can be a pet too. My old neighbour used his black lab on shoots and it was fine and did as it was instructed. At home it lived in the house and played with the 3 kids and any visitors.
Bottom line though people should respect the owners wishes. If you say dont touch, feed the dog for whatever reason then people should respect that.
So she wont pester people for food or demand to be played with and is a nice calm dog at home.
Despite my best efforts, even having a big falling out with her about it on one occasion my Mum is a nightmare with the dog. Trying to give her meat and play with her all the time. So at my parents house the first thing the dog does is go and find a ball and bring it to my mum, she will be sniffing pockets and jumping up to investigate hands or kitchen sides, she just knows whatever she does there is rewarded.
I guess as long as people at the shoot continue to treat your dog as a gun dog then it will know there is nothing to be gained from bothering people there.
Think a gun dog can be a pet too. My old neighbour used his black lab on shoots and it was fine and did as it was instructed. At home it lived in the house and played with the 3 kids and any visitors.
Bottom line though people should respect the owners wishes. If you say dont touch, feed the dog for whatever reason then people should respect that.
bexVN said:
Are you sure your lab is going to appreciate being chucked outside if he has been an indoor pet all his life?
I don't have issue with dogs being kennelled as long as they get the stimulation (many kennelled dogs don't and are locked up for hours a day bored out their minds) they deserve but I do find it odd that we think a pet dog will suddenly be ok to be housed outside of the family home. I don't know your dog, obviously, so hopefully I'm wrong and he'll enjoy/prefer being outside.
I have thought about this but in general he prefers being outside rather than cooped up in the house. Even though the door is open so he can come and go as he pleases he will happily spend all day lying under the tree. Hopefully he will take to it but if not then no problem he'll come back inside. How the puppy will react to being outside while her brother is inside is different matter. If it doesn't work it doesn't work out and we can bring them back inside. A little bit at a time and hopefully all will work out.I don't have issue with dogs being kennelled as long as they get the stimulation (many kennelled dogs don't and are locked up for hours a day bored out their minds
) they deserve but I do find it odd that we think a pet dog will suddenly be ok to be housed outside of the family home. I don't know your dog, obviously, so hopefully I'm wrong and he'll enjoy/prefer being outside.carreauchompeur said:
I think the "gun dog" factor is irrelevant, I would be massively annoyed with some daft randomer giving my dog a treat when I'd specifically told them not to!
This! WTF does that dozy tt think she is doing feeding your dog when you said not to.My retriever as i was growing up would have taken it and brought it to me before eating it, my Jack Russel would have eaten it (and then f
ked off to rape a rabbit) but i would still be mightily annoyed if anyone treated my dog when i said not to.Ditto with the Horses, my mother has just had to put up an extra gate to stop people getting to hers.
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