Big dog disgraces himself

[Cinnamontoast]

Big dog, Brig, has never had any kind of gundog training, despite being from working stock. He will retrieve occasionally, only dummies, balls are ignored. Today, however, he outdid himself, the little swine, and caught two pigeons in the blasted park! I was trailing round after him as he galloped round-he's 13, when do they slow down?! He retrieved and heeled me right across the park back to the OH, but would not give it up. After the second one, I stuck him back on the lead before he decimated the local population or some poor child saw him!

 

[numptynoelle]

Oh that face! "But it's miiiiiiiine....." :tongue3:

 

[Clodagh]

They must have been poorly? I am not dissing his speed and ability but with the dressed seed and slug pellets knocking around at the moment the labs have bought me a few dopey ones over the last few days. I have to say the labs efforts were a bit more...whole!!

 

[druid]

Not exactly soft mouthed!

 

[Dowjones]

I love the expression on his face! Total innocence!
One of our red setters ran off at age 13 and refused to come home until he caught a levret, the brat! It was a alive and unhurt and Boss seemed pleased that he had delivered it.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

We think he has doggy dementia He searches constantly for food. He forgets he's been fed and will get up and visit the kitchen several times. He's become a pain when we're cooking, wants to be underfoot. He's well fed! He caught a pigeon last week too. I think they're youngsters, clueless.

He's normally very soft mouthed, gives up toys easily, isn't destructive.

 

[Clodagh]

He looks fantastic for his age.

 

[ponyparty]

Mine caught a pigeon while he was out running with me... Right in front of a playground full of horrified children and their even more horrified parents. I had to wrestle it off him (no mean feat) and let it go... But he'd ripped some feathers out and it couldn't fly; I couldn't catch the dog (who had gone completely deaf to all commands). The ensuing scene was like a Benny Hill version of a nature documentary; prey, chased by predator, chased by shrieking human, round and round a tree.

I felt really cruel not letting the dog finish the job, because the poor bird couldn't fly and was effectively left as fox fodder for the night ahead. Hate leaving animals to suffer, but I just couldn't deal with the chavvy parents having a go at me for scarring little Precious for life by letting my dog butcher a bird in front of them!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

He looks fantastic for his age.

Thanks. He's very well looked after! He's definitely losing the plot, wandering round downstairs this morning whining because he couldn't find us-we were still in bed.

He falls over a lot, just goes down on his front if he tries to turn too quickly. He can't jump up into the car anymore (4x4) but other than that, he still races off in the woods and bombs round the park.

 

[Clodagh]

We used to do holiday lets here and my lurcher used to catch and kill rabbits, then bury them in the troughs of plants out the front of the cottages. She buried them very badly so at least half of Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail would be dangling over the edge. not good PR!
It is sad to see them decline, CT, my old girl gets confused now but I think mainly because she is stone deaf.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Brig is deaf as a doorpost, bless him. He has to see us to understand where we are. The OH got up eventually to show him he wasn't alone, despite the two others being with him!

How old is yours, Clodagh?

 

[TheOldTrout]

Ours (when he was younger) got a rabbit (I think it was dying of myxamatosis, which is why he could catch it) and a moorhen. I remember trying to hide him and his prey behind a parked car so a neighbour's toddler couldn't see the corpse dangling from his mouth! There was a distinct gender divide in pupils' attitudes when I brought him back past the local secondary school - the boys all said 'corr, that dog's got a rabbit' in really impressed tones and the girls squealed 'Eeeh, that dog's got a rabbit! You cruel doggy'.

 

[ElectricChampagne]

the face on him, what you mean I wasn't meant to, I'm bred to do this.. So what I am coming late to my calling. I caught it, its mine.

My little doggy is a toy breed, but insists on catching the mice at the yard. They squeak you see, just like his minature toy ball, which is his favourite.

Most of them squeak and get dropped and manage to run off to fend for another day. Thankfully.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

He redeemed himself slightly today by doing his 'I'm so sweet' thing, sitting on another spanner owner's foot and cuddling in, no pigeons, thankfully! The other owner wanted to know why we were training the other two so hard. It's just habit now.

 

[Clodagh]

Brig is deaf as a doorpost, bless him. He has to see us to understand where we are. The OH got up eventually to show him he wasn't alone, despite the two others being with him!

How old is yours, Clodagh?

At least 16, she came from the pound so we don't really know. She is a saluki/whippet/who knows what long dog.

 

[Roxylola]

My spanner found a dead squirrel at about 12 months old. I toyed with the idea of gundog training for her so I had taught her to retrieve to hand. She had never picked up anything I had needed to bother teaching a Leave for. No way was I having a dead squirrel in my hand! Then the other two wanted to have a go and decided that tug of war was the way to go!

 

[Snuffles]

Clumber regularly catches magpies, and eats them makes me feel sick.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

At least 16, she came from the pound so we don't really know. She is a saluki/whippet/who knows what long dog.

That's an amazing age!

My spanner found a dead squirrel at about 12 months old. I toyed with the idea of gundog training for her so I had taught her to retrieve to hand. She had never picked up anything I had needed to bother teaching a Leave for. No way was I having a dead squirrel in my hand! Then the other two wanted to have a go and decided that tug of war was the way to go!

You would hate our training, then! We do cold game, there's always a pheasant or two in the freezer.

Clumber regularly catches magpies, and eats them makes me feel sick.

Taking the raw feeding too far! :tongue3:

 

[Leo Walker]

He looks so happy! The reason I dont work mine is because when I got him I stupidly assumed they killed the rabbits and brought them back to hand dead which is fine. Turns out they are supposed to bring them back live so you can finish them off and there is no way, no matter what the rights and wrongs are, that I can do that!

 

[Clodagh]

He looks so happy! The reason I dont work mine is because when I got him I stupidly assumed they killed the rabbits and brought them back to hand dead which is fine. Turns out they are supposed to bring them back live so you can finish them off and there is no way, no matter what the rights and wrongs are, that I can do that!

They can learn to kill. Sash used to bring them back live to hand when I first got her but we had a pack of terriers then who used to mug her, so she adapted to killing and burying.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

He looks so happy! The reason I dont work mine is because when I got him I stupidly assumed they killed the rabbits and brought them back to hand dead which is fine. Turns out they are supposed to bring them back live so you can finish them off and there is no way, no matter what the rights and wrongs are, that I can do that!

Bear's very good at that, brought me a baby instead of his ball, it was half dead from sheer fright, he refused to eat it, so I despatched it, turned round, Brig promptly ate it! It was teeny, I was traumatised!

 

[Luci07]

My (staffords) are currently losing the plot with all the pheasants around. It seems to ensure they forget every bit of training they have. I was not overly worried (we are out very early and I assumed the dogs were too slow)

Eldest one came back with a mouthful of tail feathers this morning. Leads it is now through the big field...at least till the pheasants have dispersed.