Gun's dog continually running in during drive

[semi-auto]

I pick up on a small shoot with my lab. On the last shoot day, a cocker, owned by one of the guns continually ran in and picked up birds across the shooting line whilst the drive was ion progress, accompanied by loud shouts to 'come here' from the owner. The dog would drop a bird and then go back to it, ignoring the shouts. I muttered to myself that the dog should be put on the lead, but it was not my place to remonstrate with the gun, and wondered how this should be dealt with diplomatically. Once back on the wagon, I did pointedly comment that the dog seemed very keen to retrieve. 

[marsh man]

Dogs running about while the drive is in progress is not the done thing and can cause distractions from other guns who like to pick there birds up if they have got a steady dog that is pegged until the drive is over , a word from the keeper or shoot captain wouldn't come amiss as it is a bit annoying when a gun bring there dog and whatever they shoot is picked up by someone else's , that and other issues a dog running about can create need to be stopped to make everyone have a better day.

P S .. We have got one dog like that, but the trouble is that is the estates owners dog and it is a bit awkward telling him to keep it on a lead .  MM

[Poor Shot]

IMO if the guns are paying guns and this isn't a beat one/ shoot one or informal syndicate where your up to shoot the next drive or week then you keep schtum. You could start chatting on the gun bus and if the person is receptive to it then offer some training tips to overcome the dogs running in. You could have a private word with the beat captain or keeper and advise that it's probably a little unsafe and disruptive to other guns to have this unruly dog cutting about the place while the drive is in progress but its probably not your place to do so directly, as you have highlighted in your post. 

If I were a paying gun on a shoot and one of the pickers up had the hump because I was allowing my dog to pick up birds I (or my mates) had shot then I'd be having a word with the keeper about it.

Ultimately, even on a volunteer basis, you are there as shoot staff to serve the paying customers. I wouldn't be happy with a checkout assistant who gave me passive aggressive grief because I started to pack my own shopping in the same way I wouldn't be happy with shoot staff being upset that their dog didn't get as many retrieves as it otherwise would have because I'd brought my own dog to stand on peg. 

I do a lot more beating than I do shooting so I don't want the above to sound as If I'm some privileged snob speaking down to the serf with the gun dogs but we do need to remember what we are there for and what we get out of it in return. I would just make an effort to ensure I positioned myself well away from that particular gun on the next drive.

[JKD]

Perhaps someone not as subdued as yourself, has already pointed this out to the appropriate person ? Perhaps a text message to the keeper/shoot captain might be prudent, and may help nip this problem in the bud 😉

[ditchman]

this will ruin a day...it is destracting for other guns and is very bad practice............it is ssolely the responsability for the shoot captain to sort out..........

[London Best]

As said by our friend Poor shot, it is not your day, you are shoot staff there to serve the guests, paying or otherwise. It is not your place to comment on guest’s dogs behaviour. 
My suggestion would be: if you wish to continue to pick up on that particular estate…..keep your mouth shut. 

[ditchman]

26 minutes ago, London Best said:

As said by our friend Poor shot, it is not your day, you are shoot staff there to serve the guests, paying or otherwise. It is not your place to comment on guest’s dogs behaviour. 
My suggestion would be: if you wish to continue to pick up on that particular estate…..keep your mouth shut. 

yes and no........................if it was a bought day by a group of friends who know each other..............let them get on with it...i knew a woman who's husband shot and she stood with him with her dogs...the first bird that was shot one of her dogs would run it down and eat it and would be fine for the rest of the day...

if it was a sold day of mixed guns i WOULD DEFINATLY NOT ALLOW IT

[TIGHTCHOKE]

1 hour ago, ditchman said:

this will ruin a day...it is destracting for other guns and is very bad practice............it is ssolely the responsability for the shoot captain to sort out..........

I agree, if he is aware of the problem.

If he isn't, then he needs telling.

[London Best]

36 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

I agree, if he is aware of the problem.

If he isn't, then he needs telling.

BUT, it is not the place of a picker-up to tell him!

If he upsets a guest of the boss, he’s finished. 
If he upsets a paying guest, who may not take another day because of the incident, he’s also finished.

Edited Wednesday at 14:21 by London Best

[TIGHTCHOKE]

And that is then the Shoot Captains decision to make as to whether he tells the Dog's owner.

[marsh man]

I can see where L B is coming from , I pick up on our shoot and the above situation wouldn't over bother me , if it upset either the paying guns or the guests then I am sure it would be mentioned to the right person .

There are times where we let our dogs pick a bird even though the gun who shot it have his own dog pegged , we will not pick up any dead bird that are lying around or beyond the guns as the dead birds are not going anywhere , we are standing well back and watching any wing tip or leg down birds to see where they roughly go down and so on , if a wounded bird come down on the open ground and start legging it to the cover of the woods behind us then I would let my dog off it's lead to try and get the bird before it reached the cover , the gun wouldn't mind as he / she have only got enough time to pick up birds within eye sight before they have to move on to the next drive , at the end of the day you are not there to upset anyone and not everything go on throughout the day in tex book fashion , normally just a light hearted word is all that is required and the problem is solved , all the person need to do is to slip the lead on during the drive and then when the drive is over he can let it run round to it's heart content , as long as we try and get the maximum number of birds in the game larder after each drive then we have done our job, we have the same teams come on ours year after year and are all on first name terms so we must be doing something right  MM  

[TIGHTCHOKE]

 I was basing on the fact that I would be a gun in the line, not a picker up or beater.

[semi-auto]

Yes, there is absolutely no problem with a gun's dog working at the end of a drive. They pay for a day and therefore have every right for their dog to pick the birds shot.  However, the issue was that the dog is running back and forth, up and down the line during the drive. I do realise that it is not the place for a picker up to say anything.

[marsh man]

10 minutes ago, semi-auto said:

Yes, there is absolutely no problem with a gun's dog working at the end of a drive. They pay for a day and therefore have every right for their dog to pick the birds shot.  However, the issue was that the dog is running back and forth, up and down the line during the drive. I do realise that it is not the place for a picker up to say anything.

If it was the same team of guns then they would know what the dog was like and if it didn't bother them to much then from the keepers point of view as long as it didn't affect the drive then he wouldn't be over concerned , if it ran into the flushing point before the beaters got to it themselves then he would have to tell the owner to keep his dog under control , in most cases it can easily be sorted out , if it got a safety concern like jumping up to the guns while the gun is waiting on his peg or even fighting with other dogs  then that is an entirely different matter , safety always come first .   MM