Why always the left?

[Huntinlass]

Can I ask you guys, when training a dog, do you teach it to walk on your left or your right hand side?

 

 

I have always taught a dog to walk on the left when on a lead- I don't have any real reason for it, just naturally do it that way. When they are trained to walk at heal off the lead the dog will still walk on my left hand side.

 

Now a couple of years ago we had a litter of ESS, we sold most of the litter and kept one bitch back to train and use for working. Now when i was younger I use to do all the basic training. I thought to myself I shall train this bitch to walk on my right hand side as I will have to many on my left hand side when walking the dogs all together.

 

After some training with the pup we decide to sell her as part trained. We had a few enquiries but the first people that came out was a bloke and a women. Now it was the women that was interested. She was the one going to use it.

 

She done all the normal things when viewing a pup. Check the eyes, hips, teeth etc. Viewed the mother, checked the paperwork, pedigree. She then wanted to take the pup out and see what it was like- which was fine- now naturally the pup went to the right hand side as i trained it to. The women did not like this. She see what the pup was like out in the field then we returned home.

 

They went to the car to talk about it. They then come back in and talked some more about the pup, every now and then saying -its just the fact the pup walks on the right hand side, although its not a problem-

 

Anyway in the end they put a deposit down for her and wanted to collect her at another time, which was not a problem for us. The next morning she rang up and said she no longer wanted the pup and to re-advertise it. Now we come to the conclusion the only reason she did not want that pup as it was trained to walk on the right hand side.

 

I no the obvious point of holding a gun on your right- but still many people don't shoot while working there dogs, or many people are left handed!! Yet still have the dog on the left.

 

What are your reasons for training a dog to the left handside rather than the right.

Edited March 11, 2009 by Huntinlass

[gdunc]

I train my dogs to walk on the left as I carry my gun with my right arm, as do most.

 

Simple as that!

[lewis]

As Dunc said above,

 

To stop the gun hitting the dog's head

-If you were left handed it would be the opposite side.

[Boomstick]

As Dunc said above,

 

To stop the gun hitting the dog's head

-If you were left handed it would be the opposite side.

 

 

readvertise as 'left handed dog'

[SteveT]

Yep, Training a dog to walk on the left is merely due the fact the dog doesn't get in the way when shooting and is easier to handle if holding the gun in the right arm.

 

Would make an ideal left handed shooters companion though, maybe worth advertising as trained for a lefty!

[cracker]

Yes, the gun is central to which side the dog sits and heels on, it's always counter to the side of the shooter--lefty, dog heels on right, and more commonly, vice versa. Almost always that is. In the US, gundogs, particularly retrievers, are taught two-sided heeling as this has advantages both in the hide and afield. Very advantageous for field trial retrievers, but that's an explanation that would require an OED for articulating.

 

MG

[gdunc]

In the US, gundogs, particularly retrievers, are taught two-sided heeling as this has advantages both in the hide and afield.

 

My spaniels tend to go to the side of the hide they can see out of best

[cracker]

That's assuming it's your hide and you don't share it with anyone else or anyone else and *their* dogs.

 

My spaniels go from whichever side I line them up on, whether in a hide, on a platform, or just hieing on. And they return with the retrieve

 

to whichever side I direct them. Which again is a benefit if they're picking more than one bird at a time, which is often the case.

 

You might guess from the dog's posture that the next bird here

 

 

is to be picked from the dog's--and my--right

 

and here

 

 

to be picked from the dog's--and my--left.

 

And if I'm sending them on a blind retrieve as the next bird to be picked, I may want

 

 

a front delivery from them before realigning them to one side or other for running the blind.

 

MG

[kennyboy30]

i shoot lefthanded so my dogs go on my right hand side for safety reasons :o Edited March 11, 2009 by kennyboy30

[Huntinlass]

I knew most of you would comment on the gun aspect of it-with good reason to.

See I never worried about the gun when I was younger as it was just to work on the beating line, so thought it was common sense to have dogs either side of you. Now all mine dogs get thought to heal tight to my left leg, just behind for the same reason you have al stated now I carry a gun and work a dog at the same time.

[casts_by_fly]

Roxy naturally heels to the left, just because that's what made sense and that's what all of the books I used to train her with did. However, the command 'behind' will make her walk directly behind me and I can then heel her to my right with a heel command if I want. She doesn't mind either way. Only time she has a preference is when Rachel and I are both walking with her. Then she likes to heel to both of us (i.e. between us).

 

Thanks,

Rick

[Browning]

I agree, all my dogs heel on my left, as I carry my shotgun over my right arm.

 

However, I think the recognised 'safe' way, for dogs not used in the hunting field, is to heel the dog on your right,

then when you are walking on the right hand side of the road (facing oncoming traffic) the dog is not heeling in the road.