Ill just call you monk ok
I agree with what your saying mostly, But I see things that dont seem right. I dont see one or two dogs being effected as the whole lot that were in the first instance, A hunt test.
But I wanted to hear from Lab owners and trainers to see if something might be up with the Lab in general. Just in fun mostly not to solve the world problems.
The way I see it is all dogs at one time or another were working dogs, and bred accordingly. Bird dogs, protective dogs, hounds, herding, every dog had a job and selective breeding happened to get the best dog for the job. Back then dogs that didnt cut the mustard were, frankly killed. This kept the dogs from breeding.
Many many years later we are the beneficiaries of that breeding in the dogs we use for our sports, and the dog also became more companion than way back then. Also in place of killing the dog we have them fixed.
Now you have these high powered Labs that are perfect field trial version of duck hunters. And with a little extra time a person buying pups from that champ can make a great real hunter. But then people that owned these dogs dont just duck hunt, they wanted an upland dog too. So training was pressed into the dog with upland hunting added. I even see ads for Lab puppies now that say they are from pointing lab stock so this has been going on for some time.
Like I said these dogs would be great for the hunter. But what about the person that buys a pup (just to compete) that has the breeding background of champs but doesnt even know that the back ground of the pups also includes upland. or even doesnt care and buys the pup anyway. Unless its a selling point
the seller isnt even going to bring it up, other than to say the parents are great hunting dogs.
My dogs are cute but not that cute and when they work a field training they have the full attention of the Labs showing or training the duck hunting thing. I was wondering why?
K.T. my girl brit was on point and a Lab came smashing into her from a hunt test that was going on a couple hundred yards away. K.T. didnt stop hunting and played with the dog, she charged the bird and tried to keep hunting. Shes only 8 months old when that happened. Why is my dog at her age even, so intent on the birds that she didnt want to play even if the other dog was right in her face? Shouldnt the Lab working in the hunt test be so involved that he doesnt distract either?
Thats where I came up with the upland thing. It wasnt my dog they wanted it was the birds planted upland style I think. Those dogs (the Labs) even if they never were brought into a field of planted birds wanted to do that. I see the training going on and the Labs are put on ducks only, dead or other wise. And of course the canvas dummies.
Im beyond the crap that happened at Prado Im more interested in why a certain breed of dog cant be controlled when put in a situation that doesnt effect even 8-9 month old pups doing their thing, Whistles, sight, doesnt matter the only time my dogs want to go check the Labs out is when they are taking a break from the training they are doing. My dogs are not super dogs, they are run of the mill Brits.
These Labs are breaking in the middle of their training/ testing.
Allot of them and older dogs too. Enough where Im being asked to hide my dogs when the Labs test. It sounds crazy but I actually agree that my dogs training are a major distraction for them. They are not just coming over to harass me. Theres a real problem.
I dont think its just because of my dogs, I think its what they are doing and, that is hunting upland style.
My idea is the breeding practice may have gone wrong or the trainers are isolating the dogs during training too much. Im not sure, I thought Eugene would jump in here and we could sort this out some. And it would be fun too. Any way Monk you had the gonads to jump in first so Ill ask you, do you think that might be going on?
It seems to me that your concern should be the professionalism of the trainers and handlers that youve run in to. In my mind dogs are like people, there are endless competitors but few champions. You cant make a silk purse out of a sows ear but you can damn well make a nice purse. I think people need to have more realistic expectations in competitions and remember that they should be in it for fun first and foremost.You cant guarantee wins by the amount you spend on dogs and trainers.The situations youve run into reminds me of all the instances of parents at childrens sporting events. When people get so emotionally involved it can come out in the worst ways
desperate people do desperate things Monk they see a real problem they cant handle right off the bat. I dont think they know why, they just try and fix the problem thats at hand. In the long run they will have to deal with what ever it is in a real way. If it was just one or two dogs that were effected they would never come over to ask the non sence they did. They would just chalk it up to the one or two Labs need more training.
Mike