Post by oksaradt on Jul 2, 2009 22:09:34 GMT -5
Big game? nope.
The closest I've come to big game is when a 1200 lb Brama bull decided to leave me alone as he chased vet students up gates and walls after they tried to corral him with shock sticks. Payback was certainly worth the entertainment value though. I guess I scared him off with my three gallons of Pepto Bismal with hose and funnel.
I did spend two days with a duck hunting guide in Louisiana who also did SAR at the time. He was very good with an e-collar and showed me how he trained his labs. His timing was excellant. He also agreed that he'd produced similar dogs without e-collars before they existed. He considers e-collars as a luxury and got proficient at them so he could train the hunters that pay him big money to guide them.
The question was how to stop a dog from chasing prey. If the dog is meant to be a field dog, it shouldn't be allowed to run off-lead in the first place as the owner would be putting it into conflict. Just like I don't expect my dogs to turn off their nose for what they hunt, I wouldn't expect a field dog to shut down when the owner decides he/she wants a pet that day instead of a hunting dog.
If the dog is to be a companion that doesn't hunt, then the question becomes a basic obedience problem. The owner has to make up their mind what they want out of the dog and stick with it. The owner/handler would be best served enrolling in some obedience to learn how to communicate with their dog.
This is no different from the SAR area search dogs that decide they want to hunt with their dogs as well then can't understand why the dog is distracted during SAR training when rabbits run. My advice to them is get one dog to hunt prey and one dog to hunt people and never mix them up. Considering most hunters pay thousands of dollars for all the accessories, one more dog shouldn't be a big deal.
I understand the use of a pack of hunting dogs to make it safer to hunt big game. I understand evening the odds. I would find it sad indeed to watch a group of hunters running their dogs in a hunt with all their transmitters at the ready instead of being involved in the hunt itself. It would seem to me to be more moving videogame than hunt. I'm pretty sure the fox hunts of old times never had transmitters when the hounds were put on the hunt. The transmitter is required for big game? I'd prefer to have a dog that is trained to respond properly before the hunt such that I could trust it to do its job without my interference, so I could do my job of making the kill. While I've seen some of the hunters on here brag about their dogs tearing apart prey......how did the troll put it? You can't eat ripped up prey (or in his case a tooth). If I can't control my dog to come back with my voice or the suggestion of a whistle, but have to depend on a shock, then I can't feel that I've trained my dog at all. Course, while I can yell fairly loud, my voice probably won't carry the long distance the really expensive transmitters can carry. Sooooo, I'd have to hope my dog knew the shock meant it had to get its butt back to me instead of getting corrected for whatever stimulus was present at the time. I think I'd be happier just putting an FRS radio on my dog and whispering "here" and giving him that treat he gets with every recall. Course, I couldn't crank up the volume to really get his attention and knock him off his butt.....hmmm, could be an invention there. I know my wife wants me to invent a way for her to transmit her screams at the umpires and referees at sporting events as I remind her that no matter how loud she yells at the TV, they aren't going to hear her. I'm sure there is major profit potential with all the pro sports franchises if they could charge you to transmit your displeasure while you sit in your recliner.
The difference between a decent dog and a great dog are the expectations we place on both the dog and ourselves. Dogs can do more than most of us give them credit for and very few dogs become great dogs unless the owner/trainer/handler puts the effort in the training routinely and with forethought.
Jim
The closest I've come to big game is when a 1200 lb Brama bull decided to leave me alone as he chased vet students up gates and walls after they tried to corral him with shock sticks. Payback was certainly worth the entertainment value though. I guess I scared him off with my three gallons of Pepto Bismal with hose and funnel.
I did spend two days with a duck hunting guide in Louisiana who also did SAR at the time. He was very good with an e-collar and showed me how he trained his labs. His timing was excellant. He also agreed that he'd produced similar dogs without e-collars before they existed. He considers e-collars as a luxury and got proficient at them so he could train the hunters that pay him big money to guide them.
The question was how to stop a dog from chasing prey. If the dog is meant to be a field dog, it shouldn't be allowed to run off-lead in the first place as the owner would be putting it into conflict. Just like I don't expect my dogs to turn off their nose for what they hunt, I wouldn't expect a field dog to shut down when the owner decides he/she wants a pet that day instead of a hunting dog.
If the dog is to be a companion that doesn't hunt, then the question becomes a basic obedience problem. The owner has to make up their mind what they want out of the dog and stick with it. The owner/handler would be best served enrolling in some obedience to learn how to communicate with their dog.
This is no different from the SAR area search dogs that decide they want to hunt with their dogs as well then can't understand why the dog is distracted during SAR training when rabbits run. My advice to them is get one dog to hunt prey and one dog to hunt people and never mix them up. Considering most hunters pay thousands of dollars for all the accessories, one more dog shouldn't be a big deal.
I understand the use of a pack of hunting dogs to make it safer to hunt big game. I understand evening the odds. I would find it sad indeed to watch a group of hunters running their dogs in a hunt with all their transmitters at the ready instead of being involved in the hunt itself. It would seem to me to be more moving videogame than hunt. I'm pretty sure the fox hunts of old times never had transmitters when the hounds were put on the hunt. The transmitter is required for big game? I'd prefer to have a dog that is trained to respond properly before the hunt such that I could trust it to do its job without my interference, so I could do my job of making the kill. While I've seen some of the hunters on here brag about their dogs tearing apart prey......how did the troll put it? You can't eat ripped up prey (or in his case a tooth). If I can't control my dog to come back with my voice or the suggestion of a whistle, but have to depend on a shock, then I can't feel that I've trained my dog at all. Course, while I can yell fairly loud, my voice probably won't carry the long distance the really expensive transmitters can carry. Sooooo, I'd have to hope my dog knew the shock meant it had to get its butt back to me instead of getting corrected for whatever stimulus was present at the time. I think I'd be happier just putting an FRS radio on my dog and whispering "here" and giving him that treat he gets with every recall. Course, I couldn't crank up the volume to really get his attention and knock him off his butt.....hmmm, could be an invention there. I know my wife wants me to invent a way for her to transmit her screams at the umpires and referees at sporting events as I remind her that no matter how loud she yells at the TV, they aren't going to hear her. I'm sure there is major profit potential with all the pro sports franchises if they could charge you to transmit your displeasure while you sit in your recliner.
The difference between a decent dog and a great dog are the expectations we place on both the dog and ourselves. Dogs can do more than most of us give them credit for and very few dogs become great dogs unless the owner/trainer/handler puts the effort in the training routinely and with forethought.
Jim