Just musing

[Flowerofthefen]

When we had family dogs when I was young they were bought as pups, fed a bit of cheap biscuit filled out with bread and gravy. We walked them and played rough with them pretty much from the start. 1 was a pedigree lab, others were mongrels. All lived until grand old ages and barely ever saw a vet. It got me thinking yesterday when I was worried about walking our pup too far!! Things certainly have changed!!

 

[dogatemysalad]

Same here. Most of of dogs have been RSPCA mongrels whose diet was basic dog food, supplemented with scraps. Living in a household full of children, they enjoyed lots of activity and family days out. They were go anywhere, do anything dogs. The collieXlab loved slides, water surfing and playing with the kids in the river.
Current oldest is a Border Terrier who will be 15 years old this spring. He's only seen a vet once to have some teeth out. The only difference now, is that instead of two long walks, he gets three short ones and has a coat for very cold days.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Same here. Most of of dogs have been RSPCA mongrels whose diet was basic dog food, supplemented with scraps. Living in a household full of children, they enjoyed lots of activity and family days out. They were go anywhere, do anything dogs. The collieXlab loved slides, water surfing and playing with the kids in the river.
Current oldest is a Border Terrier who will be 15 years old this spring. He's only seen a vet once to have some teeth out. The only difference now, is that instead of two long walks, he gets three short ones and has a coat for very cold days.

Sometimes makes me wonder if we are a little too precious. Your dogs sound as though they had a wonderful life. Ours rarely saw a lead either but that's back when everywhere was a lit quieter!

 

[stormox]

I have several old dog books - one from the fifties on dogs and the law says on a public road 'a dog has the right to pass and repass but not to loiter'... ie same rights as a human whether on its own on on lead.
Too much traffic about to allow that these days

 

[CorvusCorax]

I've had German Shepherds all my life and my mother since she was 15/16. We always kept them on leads in public/where there were other people about because that's the responsible things to do and were conservative with exercise when they were young, we as a family have been doing health x-rays since the early 70s and I still do, but of course allowed to run when no one else was around. Food generally had higher meat content and my mother was allowed cut her own tripe at the abbatoir, which was put through a mincer at home.
Ours have all lived into double figures, oldest so far was 14 (she came everywhere, she loved the park and jumped up on the roundabout to be pushed) but I know of close relatives to my current eldest living to 15/16.
Yes, there were more stray dogs of mixed heritage back in the day where I lived, but they shat everywhere, bred with each other (unwanted puppies were often put in the bucket back then) terrified the local children and got hit by cars.

 

[Dexter]

I let mine have as much off lead exercise as they want as a rule. Puppies get watched and stopped when I see they are tired, pups tend to keep going without realising I find. Mine are rarely on a lead because I go places where they don't need to be, with the added benefit of there being hardly anyone about. I think the only thing that's changed for me, is the avoiding of parks and other hot spots. My dogs are fine, but other peoples can be "challenging" and I cant be bothered with it.

I remember lots of people who turfed their dog out on a morning and it came home at tea time having roamed the streets all day. I couldn't imagine doing that now!

Food wise that has definitely changed. Mine get a mix of raw and grain free dry food. When I was a child, nearly 50yrs ago dogs got dry mixer biscuits, scraps and tins of pedigree chum. One of our dogs had horrible allergies, itchy paws, horrible coat etc and looking back, the cheap food was almost certainly the cause. Training was much more along the lines of making them do things, whereas now I train my dogs to want to do things. Much easier and much nicer all round!

 

[Keith_Beef]

"My" dog, who stayed with me grandmother when we moved out, was never allowed off the lead unless in an enclosure.

When I think back, we did a really bad job of training him. When out, he would sit on command and wait to cross the road.

He would come and sit by the table while we were eating, and he might get a scrap of meat or a bit of potato and gravy afterwards, but he had to wait until out meal was over and he didn't yap or put a paw on anybody's leg to beg... so I suppose he did get a bit of training on how to be polite.

He was fed once a day, in the evening after we'd eaten, and he would sit while his food was put into his bowl and wait after his bowl was put down until we said "go on, you can eat". But that was about it.

His food was something like Pedigree Chum out of a can, and some Spillers Shapes biscuits (he loved crunchy things) until my grandmother started getting liver and lights (lungs) from the butcher for him.

He lived to be about 16 or 17 before repeated kidney infections led my grandmother to have him put to sleep. But right up to that time, he was fine coming for a walk with me the three and a half miles out to what was then the Rivelin Post Office and General Store at the corner of Rivelin Valley Road and Manchester Road where I'd buy half a dozen eggs to share, raw, with him before walking the three and a half miles back.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I remember my first dog when I was 12/13. Collie x spaniel. From day one he ran alongside my bike, off lead, to the stables which were literally just down the road at the time. He hung about, probably eating god knows what, whilst I mucked out, the cycled home again. When he got a bit older he would come out riding with me. All I said was left and he would stay on my left on the path. He sat and waited to cross the road. We went for miles!! Food wise he had biscuits, bread, gravy and any left overs once a day. He was pts aged 18 when he just went down hill practically over night. He was a great dog/ friend!

 

[dogatemysalad]

Fern007. That reminds me of my dogs who have always run alongside my bike and the horses when hacking. However, the collies and collie X's have one shared characteristic which makes me cycle very carefully on narrow canal tow paths. They've been known to weave in front of my bike and come to an abrupt halt, which is precarious next to the water. They are fascinated by wheels. They're much more useful running alongside horses. They give courage to young horses getting used to solo hacking.

 

[P3LH]

I do think we over complicate things now. Even in my thirties when I think back to our childhood dogs and how they were kept, fed, reared - it’s a world away.