Not wanting a dog

Mrs_pbradley936

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I wouldn't let any dog out in an unfenced garden, regardless of the breed.

No but if you have a large rural garden that cannot be made dog proof the next best thing is a kennel with a large run attached to it.

When I lived in a farmhouse the German Shepherd was free and even had a key attached to his collar. Everyone knew that "Des has a key". I used to ride horses back then and he never wanted to come out and if you insisted he would always go back home after about 10 minutes.

missbiggles1

I can see the point of limited "crate" use but it just annoys me that people aren't more honest and call a cage a cage.

seven-day-weekend

I will just re-enter this conversation to say no, we have given up the dogsitting, both the agency and our regular clients wanted us to continue.

One of the reasons we gave it up was I began to find it too stressful, especially if the animal was old or ill, I was worried they would die whilst in my care. One old dog, that I had known for years, did, and it was very upsetting. I posted about it on here and people were far from sympathetic. I will also add that I looked after the animals as their owners wished, even if that would not be the way I would chose.

I have been grossly misunderstood on here because I do not believe in treating dogs, or any animal, like children, so now I have spoken in my own defence I will say no more, unless I have to defend myself again. I hope this doesn't happen.

elsien

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I can see the point of limited "crate" use but it just annoys me that people aren't more honest and call a cage a cage.

Happy to say Gitdog is caged. Except he isn't really, because when I think of a cage I'm thinking wild animal type completely solid things. Whereas with the crates Gitdog could bust out fairly easily if he put his mind to it - my understanding is that if dogs are freaking out they should be able to get out without completely damaging themselves. Hence crate rather than cage.

Feral_Moon

Mrs_pbradley936 wrote: »

I suppose so - but some breeds have to be confined or else they are off hunting/exploring.

For instance if you have a typical German Shepherd or a Rottweiler you seldom need a fenced garden because they rarely go far from the back door. They just want to be near home. If you let them off the lead they will stay with you, if you sit down they will stop beside you.

If you had a Weimaraner or a Beagle and just let them out in an unfenced garden they could take off after a scent and be gone for hours. They might also get run over or cause an accident. If you let a typical Weimaraner off the lead it will bolt for a couple of hundred yards before coming back to you unless you have spent weeks training it not to. An Afghan Hound might never come back to you!

Your first paragraph sums up my experience of owning GSD and Rotties, precisely. I've owned two of each breed (amongst others) and they've always behaved exactly as you've described. I've never had completely secure gardens or fields. Where there's a will, there's a way but none of mine ever ran off despite spending most of their lives off lead, even across open fields when they've spotted prey to chase. They'll go so far then realise I'm too far away for comfort so turn about and gallop back towards me lol

There's a reason I've never owned gun dog breeds or terriers :rotfl:

Even the sight hounds I've owned have never strayed far, and have needed even less exercise! My greyhound was happy with a couple of half hour walks a day, then vegged out on the sofa most of the time. But, my current (2yo) GSD needs at least two 2-3mile walks a day which incorporate lots of ball slinging and chasing his friends around the field, plus half hour tracking training.

Peter333

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I will just re-enter this conversation to say no, we have given up the dogsitting, both the agency and our regular clients wanted us to continue.

One of the reasons we gave it up was I began to find it too stressful, especially if the animal was old or ill, I was worried they would die whilst in my care. One old dog, that I had known for years, did, and it was very upsetting. I posted about it on here and people were far from sympathetic. I will also add that I looked after the animals as their owners wished, even if that would not be the way I would chose.

I have been grossly misunderstood on here because I do not believe in treating dogs, or any animal, like children, so now I have spoken in my own defence I will say no more, unless I have to defend myself again. I hope this doesn't happen.

But no-one on here is saying they DO treat their animals like children!

How is making a fuss of them, including them in things, taking them on holiday, chatting to them, petting them, letting them sleep on the bed etc, treating them like children?

People treat their dogs this way because they love them and care about them. They are part of the family.

The only one who appears to be misunderstanding is you SDW.

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Oh at last, somebody with some common sense to know that many dog breeds simply cannot be kept as handbag accessories and toys to dress up :rotfl:

I suspect some of the people posting here own chihuahuas and pugs and other equally repugnant excuses for a dog

Thanks for showing your true colours. :T

Feral_Moon

Person_one wrote: »

Well that tells me all I need to know about you.

How and why?

I don't like toy dogs, is that a crime? But, they've been overbred to the point they have extensive health issues.

I know some GSDs have a bad name too thanks to Crufts and breeders producing deformed dogs. I abhor that too.

mellymoo74

A crate is a a dogs safe place
Froo looooved hers and as it had to be taken down as it was huge makes her own under stuff.
We bred dachshunds growing up and they had both a run and crates.
My male JRT doesn't and has never had a crate because he doesn't like them

Feral_Moon

Peter333 wrote: »

Thanks for showing your true colours. :T

In what way? Because I defended someone who actually understands dogs in the same way I do?

Huskyrunner

missbiggles1 wrote: »

It might seem obvious that he has huskies but I still don't understand what sort of work his actually do.

View the images on these links Siberian Huskies working, ie exactly the same as what we do with our guys.

https://sleddogassociationofscotland.wordpress.com/gallery/

http://www.huskyracing.org.uk/video-gallery/