Working in heat

[gunnergundog]

Have been on grouse with my dogs for nearly a month now. Acclimatisation/Conditioning/Fitness is everything.....maturity and experience though in a dog helps no end as they learn through experience when not to waste energy.

A day on partridge in Lincs sugar beet last week was however much harder graft for all of us and not something I would want to repeat in the then prevailing temperatures in a hurry, even to help out a friend.

 

[Clodagh]

Have been on grouse with my dogs for nearly a month now. Acclimatisation/Conditioning/Fitness is everything.....maturity and experience though in a dog helps no end as they learn through experience when not to waste energy.

A day on partridge in Lincs sugar beet last week was however much harder graft for all of us and not something I would want to repeat in the then prevailing temperatures in a hurry, even to help out a friend.

Do you mean it was hotter/more humid?
I found on Saturday at home it was (or felt) much warmer than up on the moor the day before.

 

[gunnergundog]

The two situations were like comparing chalk and cheese.

The one was a large prestigious commercial estate at a higher altitude (cooler) with all the backup you could dream of and in the company of 'HPR royalty' (handlers and dogs!) with dogs running hard; the other was a 'training' day for dogs that had been previously shot over but which were very inexperienced. It was NOT a day for paying guns and I was there to provide a couple of dogs that could/would deal with anything that arose. It was the sitting around and waiting in the heat that was the killer. The temperature was much higher - 30 degrees plus versus 24 degrees? The hospitality however that evening was EXCELLENT!

 

[Moobli]

The 2023 World Sheepdog Trial is underway in Dromore and the weather is much more autumnal which I’m sure dogs, handlers and sheep will appreciate.

 

[BallyJ]

We were up shooting grouse a couple of weeks ago in coats on the moors, but when we came back down to go to the pub had to strip off PDQ! The temp difference was unbelievable, the lab had a great time though!

 

[Clodagh]

I’m out again tomorrow and it still looks pretty warm here but better on the moor. I’m more confident of management this time though.

 

[Clodagh]

Yesterday was just the most incredible day. I know there are people who feel making your dogs work for you is somehow not loving them properly but honestly yesterday we had one of those perfect days where it all comes together.
Today they won’t let me out if their sight in case I sneak off without them so I think they quite like it.
Highlight… Scout hunting way up on the moor and silhouetted as he climbed a granite outcrop then hunted down through the gorse to find his bird. He is a great galumphing nadgerhead most of the time at home but at work he is just amazing.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Yesterday was just the most incredible day. I know there are people who feel making your dogs work for you is somehow not loving them properly but honestly yesterday we had one of those perfect days where it all comes together.
Today they won’t let me out if their sight in case I sneak off without them so I think they quite like it.
Highlight… Scout hunting way up on the moor and silhouetted as he climbed a granite outcrop then hunted down through the gorse to find his bird. He is a great galumphing nadgerhead most of the time at home but at work he is just amazing.

There's something amazing about being in total harmony with a dog who wants to work with you. It's hard to describe.

 

[maisie06]

There's something amazing about being in total harmony with a dog who wants to work with you. It's hard to describe.

Indeed - had that this morning, took my boy dogging in to help a friend out and the spanner was fantastic, loving every minute, I swear he smiles when he;s done a good job!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Yesterday was just the most incredible day. I know there are people who feel making your dogs work for you is somehow not loving them properly but honestly yesterday we had one of those perfect days where it all comes together.

If this was me, it was not about not loving your dogs if you work them.

It was that you were expected, as a paid employee, to turn up and work your dogs during the middle of the day during an unseasonal heatwave. You were rightly worried about your dogs beforehand. But if you didn't turn up, you were worried about your job.

It was, apparently, not possible for the organisers to postpone the day to a later date with more suitable weather for both dogs and humans.

I'm glad that your day went well in the end, but as a pet dog owner I would never have had to put myself or my dog in that situation. As I posted, we were walking ours first thing before it got hot, which we had a free choice to be able to do.

 

[Clodagh]

If this was me, it was not about not loving your dogs if you work them.

It was that you were expected, as a paid employee, to turn up and work your dogs during the middle of the day during an unseasonal heatwave. You were rightly worried about your dogs beforehand. But if you didn't turn up, you were worried about your job.

It was, apparently, not possible for the organisers to postpone the day to a later date with more suitable weather for both dogs and humans.

I'm glad that your day went well in the end, but as a pet dog owner I would never have had to put myself or my dog in that situation. As I posted, we were walking ours first thing before it got hot, which we had a free choice to be able to do.

Not just you, a lot of people feel dogs shouldn’t work.

 

[TheresaW]

There are 2 of us, and 4 dogs. Dogs live a life of luxury. They should be out working and helping with the bills

 

[CorvusCorax]

Not just you, a lot of people feel dogs shouldn’t work.

If people didn't work and train gundogs and breed for those traits, there'd be none of those cute detection dogs that help make find hauls of drugs, cash etc, if they didn't do the bite sports there'd be no 'furry land sharks' out there catching baddies. Sport and service breeding, one can rarely exist without the other and working dogs and breeding from those dogs help preserve the traits which make them what they are. Otherwise all dog breeds might as well be beige and homogenous.

 

[druid]

Yep, my best FT dog has a litter that were purpose bred as ivory detection dogs in South Africa. They used him becuase his drive/nose were proven and he's fully health tested.

 

[Morwenna]

Yesterday was just the most incredible day. I know there are people who feel making your dogs work for you is somehow not loving them properly but honestly yesterday we had one of those perfect days where it all comes together.
Today they won’t let me out if their sight in case I sneak off without them so I think they quite like it.
Highlight… Scout hunting way up on the moor and silhouetted as he climbed a granite outcrop then hunted down through the gorse to find his bird. He is a great galumphing nadgerhead most of the time at home but at work he is just amazing.

I love watching dogs work - especially doing what they were bred to do. I feel bad sometimes that I bought a working line Lab but don’t have the skill or knowledge to work her (mind you, given the issues we are having with training I’m not sure that would ever happen anyway).