Re: This gundog lark... In this respect Julie, you are not being a wuss at all . My own view is that its far too easy to damage the trachea with too much pressure applied, especially as young dogs, but thats just my own view , you must always do whats best for your dog, what you feel comfortable with doing
Re: This gundog lark... Opinions seem divided on whether or not a dog's throat or larynx can be damaged by pulling into a collar or by rough handling with a collar. I am sure there is a point at which damage occurs but no-one really knows how much force can be applied without harm so it seems best to err on the side of caution. My main objection to allowing dogs to pull into a collar is that he is learning to pull into the collar! Something I recommend you avoid, pulling being one of the most common problems, particularly in pet dogs. Steadiness is best taught hands free with the dog sitting opposite to you - like so
Re: This gundog lark... I agree you have to be careful and as I don't know the age of your dog I can only give advice from my experience. I would never do anything I thought would cause harm or distress to my dogs or any other. As I am new to the forum I am only just getting to know you all and your dogs and although I've looked at some past introductions to try and get to know a bit more obviously there are a lot and I haven't got through them all. I apologise if my advice was not appropriate. I also said in my original post I didn't know if it was the right way as Pippa's has pointed out it wasn't but I had nobody to tell me how.
Re: This gundog lark... Jen - your posts have been really helpful! No need to apologise at all - it's lovely and helpful to share experiences, even if there are different ways of doing things.
Re: This gundog lark... Thank you Julie but I feel I do need to apologise. I will be more careful what I post or how I word it in future. I was just repeating what an experienced vet had told me when I asked the question could I do harm. Perhaps I was stupid/naive but I thought a vet might be a good person to ask as they know the physiology of a dog, muscles, bones etc. It's a learning curve this forum stuff Jen
Re: This gundog lark... Please dont feel bad Jen , my reply, as I said, was just my own personal point of view but its not set in stone so dont apologise
Re: This gundog lark... Hi Jen, you are not being stupid or naive, and your opinion is just as valid as anyone else's. My point was simply that we don't actually know how much force is required to damage a dog's throat, and indeed, your vet may well be right. But to my knowledge, there are no studies that have been done on this subject. So, erring on the side of caution, may be a good thing. Fortunately, modern training methods are now trending towards a 'hands off' approach, and one of the great things about this is that it avoids the risk of harm. It is probably fair to say, however, that this 'hands off' approach has not yet permeated very deeply into the gundog training community Please feel free to express your opinions though, we can all learn from one another. Pippa
Re: This gundog lark... Jen, I just want to say that I really enjoy reading your posts. You describe your experiences and give your thoughts in a clear, friendly and helpful way. We are all going to have different views at times - that's one of the good things about forums
