The Dog Pic Thread

[coskigirl]

Ginsburg was allowed in to visit my mom in residential rehab today. She did so good and the therapists said she should be a therapy dog.

 

[JeffB]

Pretty funny, but in reality, not something you want to do with a hunting dog/retriever. You want to build confidence, and trust with your dog. If I send Tara to retrieve a bird and it gets away because it is wounded, it kills her, she gets flustered, and panics even, hurts her confidence. And there have been times I cast her in the direction where I think the bird is, and I'm wrong, and this is not good because she is trusting me to send her to where the bird is, and it is not there, not good in building trust.

A big part of training (which never ends), is doing simple retrieves to build confidences and trust with your dog. When I send her on a blind retrieve, she runs a straight line where I'm sending her, and when she finds the bird, that is a huge confidence/trust builder. If that confidence and trust is blown too many times, the dog will not listen to you any more. A hunting dog that lacks trust and confidence will not run a strait line, you send them, they go about 10 yards strait then start going where they want to go.

The only thing I would add is maybe specific to my older golden, who hunts occasionally, but it’s continental pheasant; they generally land close to his paws. He knows the difference between all the tennis balls. I will hold him at heel in the house and cover his eyes, have one of the kids let him smell the tennis ball, and then run all over the house, multiple floors, and hide it somewhere. He listens and then he follows the scent. And he always finds it. Won’t stop until he does. The hiding places have to be fair, of course. But he does find it. Every time. He seems to like the game. The younger one is not driven that way. He will “hunt” squirrels and birds in the yard, but also is perfectly content to watch his big brother running around while he sits on the couch watching TV.

 

[Tex]

The only thing I would add is maybe specific to my older golden, who hunts occasionally, but it’s continental pheasant; they generally land close to his paws. He knows the difference between all the tennis balls. I will hold him at heel in the house and cover his eyes, have one of the kids let him smell the tennis ball, and then run all over the house, multiple floors, and hide it somewhere. He listens and then he follows the scent. And he always finds it. Won’t stop until he does. The hiding places have to be fair, of course. But he does find it. Every time. He seems to like the game. The younger one is not driven that way. He will “hunt” squirrels and birds in the yard, but also is perfectly content to watch his big brother running around while he sits on the couch watching TV.

Games like that are great, especially if you can work the kids into it. That is a great game to teach your dog to use his nose. I'm trying to get Tara to use her nose more, her problem is she is such a ball of fire she does not slow down enough to use her nose, she is more visual. She is getting better as she get older, this off season we will work on that a lot. I'll take a dead frozen bird, hide it in a field, send her, whistle stop her in the general area, and tell her "Hunt it up", that means she is free to go whereever she wants to find it, forces her to use her nose. When she slows down and puts that nose on the ground, that is what I want to see.

 

[wiread]

all my prior dogs did more of an obedience type tracking for a sport we did. It was footstep to footstep as much OB as it was using the nose and they were all pretty good. My current dog I haven't don't squat with really, but man does he have a nose. I've tossed things in water, snow, thick brush, 20+ MPH winds, down in a valley swirling all over, you name i've tossed a toy or stick there and You can see the instant he hits the scent cone and works his way back.

I love watching dogs work using their natural ability. I've never taught him or set up training scenarios to learn wind and currents etc, I just watch him figure them out on his own and he works it pretty quickly.

 

[Mel]

My golden hunts cheese. From the far end of the basement where he is sleeping in the couch, he can hear the difference between unwrapping plastic wrap from a brick of cheese and taking carrots out of a similar sounding bag.

 

[MattSmith]

Meet Suki - She came "home" from the Eagle County Shelter a few weeks ago. No idea what breed she is. She's 35 lbs at 9 months old. Was advertised as a "lab mix" which tends to be the generic label shelters use when they don't know what else to call them. She's not especially "labby" or very well behaved. She demonstrates traits of a herding breed as she nips at legs and feet of other dogs. We're working on training. Any tips on training your pup to ski with you are greatly appreciated. She's pretty good going up. We're using the leapfrog method to descend. We're working on the basics of stay and recall. She's very loved.

 

[Tex]

I love watching dogs work using their natural ability. I've never taught him or set up training scenarios to learn wind and currents etc, I just watch him figure them out on his own and he works it pretty quickly.

One thing I do not like about Retriever Hunting Tests is that it is all based on controlling your dog all the way to the bird. There is nothing in the test where they let the dog roam and use their nose to find the bird. That is a big flaw with their tests IMO, one reason I never got into retriever hunting tests. I aim for a balanced team approach, send your dog into the general area, and let her "hunt it up".

One of my favorite pics from last month...

 

[Jenny]

The only thing I would add is maybe specific to my older golden, who hunts occasionally, but it’s continental pheasant; they generally land close to his paws. He knows the difference between all the tennis balls. I will hold him at heel in the house and cover his eyes, have one of the kids let him smell the tennis ball, and then run all over the house, multiple floors, and hide it somewhere. He listens and then he follows the scent. And he always finds it. Won’t stop until he does. The hiding places have to be fair, of course. But he does find it. Every time. He seems to like the game. The younger one is not driven that way. He will “hunt” squirrels and birds in the yard, but also is perfectly content to watch his big brother running around while he sits on the couch watching TV.

If you hid that stuffed squirrel would he play?

 

[Dave Petersen]

Two at the end of March.

 

[JeffB]

If you hid that stuffed squirrel would he play?

It’s so old it doesn’t have a smell. It’s the visual for him. If I say “squirrel” he will go on point at the taxidermy one or go to the nearest window to leave nose prints and drool.

 

[JeffB]

Hot dog fell under the stove. The human boy did not win ….

 

[ARL67]

Me and my Remy on a hike yesterday -> he is now 17 months young and 62 lbs. I was surprised he had the courage to cross that little bridge as there were large'ish gaps between the boards.

 

[pete]

Pretty funny, but in reality, not something you want to do with a hunting dog/retriever. You want to build confidence, and trust with your dog. If I send Tara to retrieve a bird and it gets away because it is wounded, it kills her, she gets flustered, and panics even, hurts her confidence. And there have been times I cast her in the direction where I think the bird is, and I'm wrong, and this is not good because she is trusting me to send her to where the bird is, and it is not there, not good in building trust.

A big part of training (which never ends), is doing simple retrieves to build confidences and trust with your dog. When I send her on a blind retrieve, she runs a straight line where I'm sending her, and when she finds the bird, that is a huge confidence/trust builder. If that confidence and trust is blown too many times, the dog will not listen to you any more. A hunting dog that lacks trust and confidence will not run a strait line, you send them, they go about 10 yards strait then start going where they want to go.

Understood as a good working dog often need discipline but mine are pets. Zerkes likes to chase a few items, he figured out the snowball trick pretty quick seeking my (or the gloves) scent.

I enjoyed that my kids husky quickly figured out how to find a snowball in the snow by scent. Only he liked to also eat them and beg for another.

My neighbor has a pretty well trained Chesapeake Bay retriever, super bright and sweet. Neighbor likes to get him to search out the ball at times by tossing it into brush, corners, etc. But he really works him twice a day retrieving. Fun to watch as my WFH space faces the street.

 

[coskigirl]

We’re up in Eagle-Vail for the weekend. We both adore our escapes here and are so grateful to family that allows us to stay. We went for a Nordic ski after work which felt so good and Ginsburg wore herself out.

 

[Rod MacDonald]

Mine was in the huff while I was away in Kitzbühel skiing.

 

[pete]

Me and my Remy on a hike yesterday -> he is now 17 months young and 62 lbs. I was surprised he had the courage to cross that little bridge as there were large'ish gaps between the boards.

at 17mo, is Remy gonna get bigger? lovely pooch (great background with creek)

oh, Waterloo .. big Rush fan being near their hometown?

 

[Coach13]

Happy Valentine’s Day fellow pooches

 

[Tricia]

 

[Andy Mink]

View attachment 159503

Top right for me.

 

[Tricia]

Ginsburg was allowed in to visit my mom in residential rehab today. She did so good and the therapists said she should be a therapy dog.

View attachment 159002

After her own health issues, Gins is empathetic to others discomfort.