Dog or no dog

[welsh1]

Love having my dog out with me shooting,he is also a pet,but works hard and finds all those awkward birds that land in the brambles.

 

Plus he listens to me rambling on and never criticises me(ok he gives me a look of distain when i miss an easy pigeon )

and like tonight saved me walking hundreds of yards picking up shot rabbits.

[TaxiDriver]

Shooting without a dog is like sex without a woman.

More Satisfying ??

[bobt]

you can pretend to be in charge?

[unapalomablanca]

I have 3 spaniels and a jack russell,

 

how can anyone call themselfs a shooter without a dog?

So after decoying, cocking, loading and shooting many pigeons from the sky without a dog and enjoying it what should i be renamed? Theres always one on the forum!!!

[Blunderbuss]

how can anyone call themselfs a shooter without a dog?

 

As explained in an earlier post, circumstances mean I can't currently house a dog, though I'd dearly love to. It's because I won't have a a dog until I know I can devote the time and effort it deserves, that I am resisting the temptation for now. Lots of other people are are in the same position. Yes I call myself a shooter, are you suggesting I'm not?

Edited May 24, 2012 by Blunderbuss

[JJsDad]

If you aint got a dog, you`ve only got half the kit !

[Ireland's Finest!]

A question I have for people with say 3+ dogs, how do you find time for them all, do you walk them all at the same time?

[vole]

On the whole , I do not go anywhere without my dog .Apart from the hospitals where I work of course .I definitely shoot less because of her as she is unruly but some of the bunnies she has bolted that I bowled over with the shotgun make those times with Ted memorable . We are inseperable . I wish she would sit quiet when the decoys are out but being a Jack Russel she is just after mice all the time .

[bobt]

A question I have for people with say 3+ dogs, how do you find time for them all, do you walk them all at the same time?

 

yes,

 

in fact last year when friends were here, I walked our 4 and their 3 together, none on a lead all to heel, until told to get on.

 

If you are shooting is decoyed pigeons I suppose you never lose a runner?

I know I would see less game and certainly I would not pick everything shot without dogs,

[Kes]

I have 2 dogs - non working that is - I'll have a working dog one day - picking up involves bending down !

[al4x]

I've got the one wouldn't be without her, whether its finding runners , beating or finding foxes that have run she loves all sorts. Though the foxing she is almost too keen judging by one she found the other night that had run, despite being dead she was giving this very large dog fox a good workout

You do miss a lot not having one but hey some people just aren't keen on dogs, usually tend to be rather odd people generally

[bobt]

I always say, Im wary of people who dont like dogs,

but more wary of people dogs dont like.

[cocker3]

A question I have for people with say 3+ dogs, how do you find time for them all, do you walk them all at the same time?

hi buddy yeh i have 5, 4 cockers and a lab granted the labs 13 and does,nt work any more but he still tags along with the pack and i walk them all together most of the time they are all in the truck if i go shooting many noses make light work i use them for pigeons foxes roe stalking and generaly where ever i go the dog are with me

[-Mongrel-]

I always say, Im wary of people who dont like dogs,

but more wary of people dogs dont like.

 

Aint't that the truth!

 

So far my dogs have proved me wrong twice. Both times the fella I thought was ok, turned out to be a grade A a-hole, both times the dogs REALLY didn't like them. I now pay more atention when the dogs aren't happy with someone.

[bedwards1966]

I always say, Im wary of people who dont like dogs,

but more wary of people dogs dont like.

 

Too true, if a dog doesn't trust someone there is a reason for it. Not necessarily that the person is dishonest or similar, but there is always a reason behind it, and usually that person should be watched carefully!

 

As to the answer for this thread, yes I have a dog, who often comes shooting with me, but not as a gun-dog - she's a sheepdog. I currently aren't shooting enough to be worth the hassle of training her for that line of work.

[Actionpigeons]

Obviously shooting and dog ownership are closely linked, but i wondered how many shooters dont have a dog or dogs. Although i like some dogs i am not a dog owner, never have been and dont ever want to be. I reckon 75% of people on here have dogs! :unsure:

I have been around working dogs all my life and I am 62 now. I could not imagen going shooting without one. I have a cpl of labs and a Springer. The labs I use for Pigeon shooting and picking up, the Springer if for beating and working with Hawks. You really don’t know what you are missing not having your own dog to work on the field with you

[DaveM]

I guess it all depends on the type of shooting you're doing. If your Wildfowling and don't have a dog you'd better get yourself a 'wetsuit'

[bobt]

Aint't that the truth!

 

So far my dogs have proved me wrong twice. Both times the fella I thought was ok, turned out to be a grade A a-hole, both times the dogs REALLY didn't like them. I now pay more atention when the dogs aren't happy with someone.

 

 

yup, the only person my old spaniel took a dislike to (and bit) was a new gun on the shoot, after a few months it turned out he was shooting mid week on his own, and we wondered why the birds were missing.

[Thunderbird]

how can anyone call themselfs a shooter without a dog?

 

I can. I can spell too.

 

I always say, Im wary of people who dont like dogs,

 

Explain please. I'm not saying I don't like dogs (I mean, heaven forbid...), but, just...why?

 

Too true, if a dog doesn't trust someone there is a reason for it.

 

Of course it could never, ever, ever be the dog now, could it?

 

There has been an awful lot of bizarre opinions in this thread. People say antis are narrow-minded...jeez...unbelievable

[kent]

There are times in many peoples lives when Dogs are not practical, for some shooting its essential to have one in with you though if it be your dog or someone else in party. A bad dog is worse than no dog though. I couldnt and wouldnt be without one, though there have been times i couldnt keep one in the past so i restricted my shooting to that which was doable dogless

[Thunderbird]

A bad dog is worse than no dog though.

 

Absolutely 100% agreed. I've seen both and I grew up around many working dogs. IMO dogs perform best as workers and I personally have no time for 'pet' dogs but I respect the people who can put the time in that it takes to look after one, if that's the way they want to go.

 

Love me love my dog - irrespective of the dog's behaviour - ridiculous.

 

But "you can't be a shooter if you haven't got a dog" - equally mental.

[Paul T]

Had a dog since I was a nipper. We had 2 years without after we lost our old L/H German Shepherd, but I found I really didn't sleep very well. Now we've got the Viz and he's brilliant. Ok, he's not the best gun dog in the world, but he really is part of the family.

 

I'm intrigued - for those that reckon a shooter ain't a shooter without a dog or you only "have half the kit": what use is a dog if all you shoot is clays?

[kent]

I can see the point behind no dog no shoot. i chose to loose my shotguns when i had my first daughter on the way and my old dog died, i lasted about 9 yrs with only rifles as another dog was wrong due to my work and home commitments (one shouldnt ever have a dog unless you can look after it well and no exeptions). If i kept the shotguns i suppose i could have shot driven shoots etc were there were pickers up etc. But it aint my thing. I did last wildfowling season without a dog when my trained GWP died though i had to pass up many more shots than i could see as being reasonable as shooting that which cannot be picked is not on, there was a new addition though the Lab pup i had been looking for well previous to the final days of my last joined us in October 2011 so with luck, hard work and a following wind he will be ready for a gental start from september on the Wildfowl unfortunatly this still leaves me without a FOX / Deer dog though i plan to train him onto bringsel reporting on deer later on in his career (baying and dealing with foxes are unlikely to sit well with his nature) Or maybee i will just get another? dogs are a big comitment and are not a fashion exessory or status symbol, a working dog is not via breed but a product of much hard work and training

[rimfire4969]

In my early shooting days I never had a dog, I worked long hours and went out most nights. My shooting then was a friend and I pushing through a few hedges and maybe getting a couple of birds, decoying pigeon or squirrel bashing. Next came the wife and then kids again working more hours.

There are times when it is better not to have a dog.

 

Now my 3 kids are older and I have more time and I don't think I will be without a gundog as long as I can train and take care of them. I find it adds something to the day, if I am beating I take pride when they push a bird forward or retrieve a bird I have shot. It is company sat in a hide when the birds decide to go elsewhere. They are as loyal as a best friend and as understanding.

 

But each to their own, I think if you get a dog when you did not have one before, you spend hours training it and when it flushes it's first bird, you shoot it and then send the dog to fetch it when it comes back it is a magic moment not to be forgotten. In fact most of my greatest memories of times in the field have one of my dogs in it, it might be retreaving a great left and right or a tricky woodcock.

 

I for one love to have a shooting partner who is always trying to please.

[bobt]

Ok then, how many people who shoot live game, without a dog, will quiite happily stand and let someone else in the team do all the work without a twinge of guilt?

 

or the "oh Bill you dont have a dog, better stand this one rather than walk" ?

at the end of a drive last year one of the other guest guns, pointed vaugely into trees saying "I have a pheasant down in there", and wandered off,

 

we pay a beater more if they have a good dog, why dont guns pay more beaters money if you dont have one?