To much to young

[Clodagh]

Getting back to the original point, as has been said, how can a six month old spanner be trained enough to work in a beating line? Unless the owner has aspirations to be one of those 'unleash it at the start and gather it up at the end' types.
My labs come out their first shooting season, so Ffee comes out onto small days at home for one or two drives and sits well away from the guns. Pen picked up a few dead, on the grass, easy hen pheasants her first year, she was just one. One a day maybe, it all had to be a perfect situation. Ffee won't be doing that unless I can be sure she is going to give it to me and not loop the loop!

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Didn't realize there were more comments on the post, just played catch up!

how can a six month old spanner be trained enough to work in a beating line?

I was quite surprised myself how well behaved the lovely young spaniel was. He sat completely mute during drives, watching birds fall around him but didn't deliver to hand and didn't understand what it was about, if you know what I mean. He was huge for his age, twice the size of my cocker already (hes big for a cocker at 17kg) You could of easily thought he was 3 or 4, not 6 months old.
I just couldn't stop thinking of the puppies joints, he was working so hard covering lots of land all day non stop. He didn't even get a rest at elevenses like ours do.

I've never had to have a dog on meds or hydro in later life, I think that's the difference. The first day my 14 year old dog struggled to get up, we called the vet.

We have always said the same, but it depends on luck as well I think and we don't get much. Our first collie suddenly got ill from cancer at 9 and was pts. Our current lab is only 6. She has had the best life, but has hip dysplasia and is already on metacam occasionally. She loves being on the yard, loves coming with me when I ride and wants to pick up all day if she had her way.. but we have to think of whats best for her so have already reduced it at such a young age. I can't imagine how she'll be at 10.. its so sad. She won't make old bones, but we've done everything when she was growing up to give her a good long life.

And then we have a picker up on our shoot who work his dogs 5 days a week, they start between 8 months and a year. They're kenneled but he doesn't believe in beds, they have a hard life but even the older ones over 8 never look stiff or lame. Although he has a bitch currently whos 12, shes stiff so he said he'll have her pts next year because she can't keep up anymore and is to slow. His dogs just 'do a job' in his eyes it seems..nothing against his opinion but his view on dogs is just completely different to ours. Ours are members of the family.

 

[palo1]

It varies so much what is appropriate doesn't it? I have a retired hound who at 13 is just starting to slow down and stiffen up a little. She had a hard and somewhat basic youth (kennelled and then failed to be any use following a scent) but has had an easy life for the last 10 years with us. She is fab for her years but I guess that is in part down to a very much working pedigree and care as an adult. My pup has been carefully managed though our domestic setting means that he has done far more climbing of steps than I would choose as our house has a steep bank with small steep steps up to the yard and pup has had to negotiate this since he got too big and/or wriggly for me to carry him. I try to stop him jumping and manage his exercise but I just have to hope that he hasn't over done some forms of exercise. We have become so aware of various 'best practices' that there is a possibility that we over manage our animals and therefore don't see what their absolute strengths and weaknesses are and so can't apply the very best knowledge to breeding. I do agree though that young animals need plenty of time and a degree of care in their work - having had rescue greyhounds it is obvious that some of them have been cruelly overtrained/over worked - finding themselves with chronic injuries by the age of 2 or so. People's attitudes to pets and working dogs are very different too as not every owner of a 'working' dog has an interest in them having a potentially long and purposeless retirement. Thankfully I am a pet owner and like my dogs to have a longer, possibly quieter life!

 

[CorvusCorax]

Touch wood, we've always selected dogs from several generations of low scoring stock and have never had a problem with HD or ED. If you're a big enough geek you can tell which dogs are causing problems in the lines. It can affect different dogs differently, not that I condone it nor is it allowed any more, but I knew a dog with the highest possible BVA score who moved like a dream and was a show champion, and another with 'severe' HD who competed at a very high level.
My working dogs are pets, I don't think those two things are mutually exclusive.

 

[{97702}]

having had rescue greyhounds it is obvious that some of them have been cruelly overtrained/over worked - finding themselves with chronic injuries by the age of 2 or so.

I was particularly struck by the trainer of one of my greyhounds - he was re-homed to me at 3 with a particular injury, and blow me if the trainer didn’t then re-home two other greyhounds at even younger ages in the next few months with identical injuries!

If the greyhound racing authorities had anything about them at all then that individual should be banned from training

 

[palo1]

I was particularly struck by the trainer of one of my greyhounds - he was re-homed to me at 3 with a particular injury, and blow me if the trainer didn’t then re-home two other greyhounds at even younger ages in the next few months with identical injuries!

If the greyhound racing authorities had anything about them at all then that individual should be banned from training

Yes, absolutely. Some trainers are great, others seem to not even notice that they are working with sentient, flesh and blood beings who experience pain, anxiety and possibly deserve some thought. Thankfully most rescued greyhounds are not put under much physical stress when they find a lovely pet home so they can enjoy life even with early injuries. My last grey was 13 or 14 when I said goodbye love him; he had had injured feet and legs by the time he was 2 but enjoyed so much and so many good times with me. One the happiest experiences of my life was to watch that dog's first free run on a beach not long after I had him. I laughed so much at his delight that I strained my tummy muscles!!

 

[Blazingsaddles]

I was particularly struck by the trainer of one of my greyhounds - he was re-homed to me at 3 with a particular injury, and blow me if the trainer didn’t then re-home two other greyhounds at even younger ages in the next few months with identical injuries!

If the greyhound racing authorities had anything about them at all then that individual should be banned from training

That’s the result of breeding animals to competitively race, sadly. Too much, too young

 

[{97702}]

That’s so lovely Palo, I can just imagine it ? Nothing exudes happiness like a greyhound having a hoon around ??

 

[palo1]

Yes, still makes me weepy to think of him and the joy he had in so many things but that first day on the beach was incredibly special. Rather than sit here filling up though I can also say that my deliberately bred, super pampered pup also gets so excited about things that he forgets how to run straight and leaps about with his front legs at all sorts of crazy angles and that is enough to make a cat laugh!! We are incredibly blessed to be able to share so much with a dog!!