Must you live in the country to have a gundog? Discussions

Dogs do all sorts of things when they escape, kill cats, sheep, fight other dogs, bite other people, cause road accidents, steal food etc etc etc

The list is endless and the breed is immaterial.

Anything is possible, not all things are "probable"

Which is what I pointed out to x-clo-x earlier, when she said she had ruled out certain breeds due to living near sheep, any dog can worry sheep if given then oppertunity, even gun dogs!

A dog that is loose , no matter how well trained , can do things it wont do when its under supervision.

But I am not sure WHAT that has to do with the original thread?

Its a response to x-clo-x post 24, that happens in threads, someone moves in a different direction, and others follow!

Getting back on topic..
I have always had gundogs or collies and I live in a town. My collies never chased traffic( nor were they stressed by it) and my gundogs seem happy enough. We have the boring park 5 minutes away, we use it as a cut through to get to the woods and fields/meadows 10
Minutes away, which we can walk through to get to another area of woodland which is a 5 minute walk to an extensive park with ponds etc to swim in. Cosmo loves it all and likes to hunt the squirrels, mice and voles. We live half an hours drive from varied and extensive beaches and a 10
Minute drive from countryside.
My dogs are and always have been just as happy walking down city streets with air brakes and sirens in abundance as they are walking through the
country over stiles and around livestock. I think they benefit greatly from where we are as they are so adaptable,
so many country dogs aren't.

The point I was trying to make ;-)

That is a 'possibility' rather than a 'probability'. You have got to bear in mind that these dogs are bred to work independently and can cover a lot of ground, fast. Getting a solid recall in handler independent breeds is easier than it says on the tin (compared to breeds that are supposed to work in close proximity). Look at how many adult dogs from the HPR group are in breed rescues for sheep killing, cat killing, aggression, pure unreliability when outside, etc.

There have been quite a few GWP's come through rescue for worrying livestock, and for being unreliable off lead, plus being good escape artists.

Just as with any dog, a gundog is more than capable of knowing it is off lead, at distance and there is nothing you can do to stop it so sticks 2 fingers up and decides not to recall. But I understand what you mean Clo about Northern breeds compared to gundogs.

just checked back in here and wow has this turned into a HPR V's Mal recall issue or what lol

Aren't things getting a bit out of perspective here? I mean, does anyone DISAGREE with Clo on the fact that Mals are less reliable in recall than HPR's or not?

Training, training and more training should make for a Weim with a good recall no? They may be bred to work independently but not isolated surely.

EDIT; she also wants to use the breed for its purpose, hence a Weim, does anyone here think she would be better of with a Mal for the job or something?

A working gundog should be working with the handler, not ******ing off. What's the point of having a dog hunting for you if you can't actually shoot what they flush. In my experience, it is the dogs that have been allowed to self hunt, which are the problems. Going for a walk with a gundog, and allowing it to chase rabbits etc etc is going to do no good for its recall whatsoever.

My hpr's aren't perfect but I can work them on the grouse moor and they do a decent enough job for me.

Helen

thank you, i know any dog can get out and any dog can worry livestock my point was about the chance of a decnt recall.

thank you, i gathered that as a dog that has to follow instructions to do its job it would have a better recall, there for less chance of me having a dog that would chase and kill or worry livestock.

thank you, thats my point exactly, a working dog would be less likely to disappear, as they have to listen to you when working.

Mine is quite happy walking into town. There is an area outside the town hall that has lots of pigeons and we practice our stalking on them.
She does get off lead walks for a couple of hours in a forest everyday.

My GWP is one of the sheep rustlers that came through rescue. She does sod off sometimes but, usually comes back with a rabbit for the pot.

I can now call her off but, still stay away from sheep just to be on the safe side.