Interesting incident this morning I thought I'd share... The pups and i were finishing a lovely walk up the hills with some ball retreiving in the park, some of their dog mates were there, and a couple of dogs and folk we didnt know, and the dogs were all racing about playing with balls. I left the group for a wee bit and went off with one of the folk I know quite well to show her how far we had got with Brods and his ball retrieving, he was getting to do some mad wild chases with me booting the ball for him and him just belting off after it for fun, then he was doing Waits while I threw the ball and only allowed to race after it on command. His big tail was going like billy oh the whole time and he was obviously having great fun, big dog smile on.... Suddenly one of the dogs saw a squirrel in the far distance and off they all shot. I was lucky that Brods was next to me, so I instantly called at him to Look At Me, he did, and i threw his ball in the opposite direction, and was hugely relieved (and a wee bit surprised ) when he ignored the dogs racing off after squirrels, prefering to stay with me and get his ball. those of you familiar with Brodick and his hunting will appreciate the triumph i felt. Then this guy I dont know said why did you do that, why didnt you let him go with the dogs? I explained why Brods doesnt get to chase, and that I was doing a fair bit of work with him to get him under control around wildlife. So, for the next five minutes I got a major lecture that I was being a wee bit unkind to my dog, chasing wildlife was natural, and all this stuff like making him wait before he got to get his ball, and the whistle recall thing, was all just controlling, and I should just let him be a dog...there are probably quite a few things I could have done better as a novice owner with Brods the Hunter, but controlling him too much is not one of them, quite the opposite in fact, and I know my dogs have tonnes of fun on their walks and are happy dogs - they just dont get to chase wildlife! The thing was, a few folk agreed and said yeh just let him chase stuff, he's not doing any harm...I had to come home and re read Pippas 'Losing Control of your labrador' article to remind myself why I'm doing this... anyone else had any feedback like this, I know Julie has had the over control thing recently too with Charlie...
Re: being unkind to your dog?! Chasing wildlife is a problem and unless you are hunting that particular type of animal or working your dog on the animal it's undue stress to the animal being chased. Much better to have a dog under control and hunting wildlife when you want it too. My exception to this would be if my dog does begin to chase a hare or if I'm not on too of my dog when a rabbit bolts then I allow the chase to continue as I know my stop whistle and recall whistle will be utterly ignored. One hares are very rare round me and secondly my dogs can't catch rabbits on open ground so generally the animal isn't at risk of being killed. Blowing the whistle would only cause me longer term problems.
Re: being unkind to your dog?! Personally I think you done the right thing. I work hard on Harley not chasing birds, squirrels etc as it stresses the animal she chases, plus she could end up anywhere as she wouldn't stop til she caught it. I really believe there is a time and place, I.e. On shoots. If you let them chase everything, where would it stop? Cats into the street and risk getting run over? I think having control when your dog is off lead is important
Re: being unkind to your dog?! What stupid comments to make Debsie , you did absolutely right to call Brods away from the others, that shows the control that the others are obviously lacking . I am struggling with calling away from squirrels with Millie , a terrier being harder to train than a Labrador and especially given that she was about 6 years old when we got her, but I flippin well will crack it if it kills me , well done you
Re: being unkind to your dog?! I've had a fair bit of this. Eg: One thing I am super careful about is whining (you may remember I had a bad whining event when Charlie went to see Riley, and I was working on it with the trainer). A few times when I've upheld my "no reward for whining" rules, I've been told I must "allow him to be a dog". Most of my friends and family think "all that gundog nonsense" just spoils the mad out of control fun on the beach. Then if he runs to another dog, they say "recall him, for goodness sake". : And so on... I think that lots of people think that you can switch on and off behaviour, and do not get the need for consistency. I also read this, just this morning, an article about dogs chasing wildlife - and how damaging it is to (for example) a bird trying to survive the winter, trying to conserve its energy, to have a warm, well fed, dog chase it for fun. I was reading generally about dogs chasing because I noticed how Charlie was pulling towards the ducks and swans when we last walked on the Common and I thought I had better have a plan to reproof the no chasing of birds when we eventually get off lead. I have to say, the people you were walking with should meet a Wimbledon Common ranger - then they would be told in no uncertain terms an alternative take on the merits of allowing a dog to chase wildlife!
Re: being unkind to your dog?! [quote author=debsie link=topic=4711.msg58106#msg58106 date=1393759339] ... I should just let him be a dog... [/quote] In my (admittedly limited) experience these sort of comments are usually a form of sour grapes because they have no control over their own dogs whatsoever and so it is easier to say that they 'let them be dogs'. You hear similar comments from the parents of badly behaved children. :
Re: being unkind to your dog?! There's a lot of truth in this. You did really well Debsie and should feel rightly proud of yourself. What a shame the silly man spoiled your moment. But at least you will have another one. Chances are, he will never get to feel proud of his dog
Re: being unkind to your dog?! Debsie I agree with what everybody has said you deffinitely did the right thing and you are not being unkind to your dog. What a load of rubbish. People who don't train their dogs and have no control are being unkind. He's probably one of those dog owners that let their dogs loose to do what they want. The only physical and mental exercise the dog gets is to chase so who can blame it. Silly man.
Re: being unkind to your dog?! Would he have said the same if your dog was chasing sheep! In my opinion dogs shouldn't chase anything, except perhaps a ball
Re: being unkind to your dog?! If he thinks squirrel chasing is ok, I suggest you offer him the role of honorary squirrel and then see if he would like to change his mind after al. ;D ;D I don't think you are being unkind at all. You are definitely doing the right thing, and I'm sure Uncle Bob's assessment is the right one. Clare
Re: being unkind to your dog?! I'd have been super impressed and asked you how you'd done it! Silly man!!
Re: being unkind to your dog?! Just to add to what has already been said. Be confident you are doing the right thing. All you were having to deal with was the all knowing ignorant. Or is that being a bit harsh on the man? I'm really impressed with how well you have trained Brods!
Re: being unkind to your dog?! Squirrel chasing around here tends to involve a lovely red creature. Not good. Well done Debsie! I think we all have different priorities for our dogs and you need to stick to your guns. You are the one that knows your dog best.
Re: being unkind to your dog?! [quote author=UncleBob link=topic=4711.msg58129#msg58129 date=1393768633] [quote author=debsie link=topic=4711.msg58106#msg58106 date=1393759339] ... I should just let him be a dog... [/quote] In my (admittedly limited) experience these sort of comments are usually a form of sour grapes because they have no control over their own dogs whatsoever and so it is easier to say that they 'let them be dogs'. [/quote] I agree with UncleBob. The man was wrong. It's completely silly and unsafe to let your dog do what it wants, whenever it wants.
Re: being unkind to your dog?! [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=4711.msg58196#msg58196 date=1393787676] Squirrel chasing around here tends to involve a lovely red creature. Not good. [/quote] I've never even seen one! Apart from on the telly.
Re: being unkind to your dog?! Really Julie? We are a red squirrel hot spot. They are very pretty Much more likely to see a red than a grey. We have loads of signs around the woods areas for drivers to beware crossing red squirrels
Re: being unkind to your dog?! We have lots of red squirrels too, as well as deer, and wild boar. NO wildlife chasing allowed as far as I am concerned (although she did chase a pair of geese last week ), because I also believe it is terribly damaging to the wildlife concerned. You were absolutely right, Debsie.
Re: being unkind to your dog?! i am shocked julie, more grey up this end, we see them within every 10ft of our walks, running straight in front of from tree to tree, jasper as not shown any interest in them,.....i think he is just a one off no interest in any wild life the geese would win hands down
Re: being unkind to your dog?! Really? I thought all you had were red squirrels! I mean, Beatrix Potter and all....Around here that's all you see....Simba is VERY interested in them but has never had an opportunity to chase one....it's one of the things I do worry about when spring finally comes and I'm confident enough in his recall to let him go off-lead. Well, squirrels AND deer AND porcupine AND to a lesser extent moose AND as well to a lesser extent bear and/or cougar which could chase him right back to me
