Breeder gripe/worry

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mountaindogs
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Breeder gripe/worry

Post by mountaindogs » Wed Mar 27, 2013 6:42 pm

No I am not doggin' other breeders. I am the breeder. I was just contacted by an puppy buyer with a progress report. They were not griping and were happy with the dog, but mentioned she was "afraid of gunfire." I feel both sad and angry at this. She was SO SO birdy, pointing naturally for short periods of time, and I had her on cap guns at 7 weeks old while she ran around in the field. She was not afraid of noise or guns at all at the time, but something has happened. Why am I feeling so terrible about this? None of the other puppies thus far have had this problem, and she was NOT soft. If anything she was one of my wildest ones.

I have several from this litter making great natural grouse hunters, several NAVHDA prizes and several hunt test titled.... lots of success but this is the first bad news....

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AZ Brittany Guy
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eRe: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by AZ Brittany Guy » Wed Mar 27, 2013 6:54 pm

I feel your frustration. You can sell a high potential pup that you have done everything you can possibly do with it and an inexperienced new owner can mess the dog up in a 1/2 hour.

The bird dog club I am a member of just had a clay shooting event on Sunday and 3 members brought their pups. :roll: If they wern't gun shy when they came, there is a good chance they are now.

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Echo Hill Kennel
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Re: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by Echo Hill Kennel » Wed Mar 27, 2013 6:58 pm

Puppies are not born gun shy this is the fault of the owner. Something went wrong after the pup left your care. It's amazing some of the things inexperience gun dog owners will do. I know they mean well but that is not always how it turns out.

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tfbirddog2
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Re: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by tfbirddog2 » Wed Mar 27, 2013 7:04 pm

Id say it sounds like a confidence issue, like pup is being left alone and not socialized!

JKP
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Re: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by JKP » Wed Mar 27, 2013 7:25 pm

Years ago, I sold a pup to MN. Got calls about how happy the owners were. Suddenly at 9 months a call that the dog was gun shy. Called a good friend in the area..asked if he could go over and assess the situation...ready of course to take the pup back if it was really gun shy. Within 45 minutes, after my friend got there the dog was beating feet in the field and had been fired over as it chased a bird to a tree line. 1/2 hour later, killed a bird over the dog and watched the pup pick it up and parade around.

Like Ron White says..."you can't fix stupid!!".

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Wenaha
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Re: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by Wenaha » Wed Mar 27, 2013 7:37 pm

Ignorance is curable, stupidity is not. If you properly instructed the new owner, you did what you could. Impatience has ruined a lot of promising young dogs.

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AZ Brittany Guy
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Re: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by AZ Brittany Guy » Wed Mar 27, 2013 7:59 pm

Wenaha wrote:Ignorance is curable, stupidity is not. If you properly instructed the new owner, you did what you could. Impatience has ruined a lot of promising young dogs.
Good point but how far should you take it? Some new owners are insulted if you try to give them advise and others think they are "old hands" at this and don't like advise. I send them home with the Huntsmith "puppy primer" article and can only hope that they read it. I always tell them to call with any questions.

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mountaindogs
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Re: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by mountaindogs » Wed Mar 27, 2013 8:49 pm

AZ Brittany Guy wrote:
Wenaha wrote:Ignorance is curable, stupidity is not. If you properly instructed the new owner, you did what you could. Impatience has ruined a lot of promising young dogs.
Good point but how far should you take it? Some new owners are insulted if you try to give them advise and others think they are "old hands" at this and don't like advise. I send them home with the Huntsmith "puppy primer" article and can only hope that they read it. I always tell them to call with any questions.
I give suggestions, send home ideas and reccomendations. I also offer to get all puppies started to "huntable JH or NAVHDA NA" level for free. Meaning close to steady to flush, shot over, and handling in the field, listening and staying with the hunter. Tracking, started swimming, etc... I also look up local nearby clubs and trainers to help them if they are further away. I also have a running blog, talking about the puppies I still work with and train, so they can follow what I am doing with my own. But all of this is offered. Very few people actually take advantage of it which is fine because sometimes trainin and going at it yourself is fun. Was for me! Well, the blog was popular. I had two come back for starter training and one for finishing work. Both of those were AWESOME and I regret selling one :wink: like her so much! :wink: Several were practically speakeing way too far away to send the dogs back. any way just stinks :cry: I will offer to try to fix it, but I am worried that it has been too long since they never called me when it first showed up. We will see.

LabGuy
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Re: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by LabGuy » Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:20 pm

When I went to pick up my pup, there was another guy there picking up his dog with his family. The dog was going to be purely a house dog since there were no hunters in the family. :o Why put that amount of money down on a hunting dog then? IMO, a dog with a good pedigree that will never be hunted is almost worse than a guy who is a hunter and ruins a dog by stupidity.

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DougB
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Re: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by DougB » Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:02 am

LabGuy wrote:When I went to pick up my pup, there was another guy there picking up his dog with his family. The dog was going to be purely a house dog since there were no hunters in the family. :o Why put that amount of money down on a hunting dog then? IMO, a dog with a good pedigree that will never be hunted is almost worse than a guy who is a hunter and ruins a dog by stupidity.
You buy a dog for your own use, not for others. Traits that make a good hunter (biddability, health, intelligence) also make for good pets. And for most hunters, the dog is a pet for most of the year anyway. Lots of people don't hunt but want a good dog. What I don't understand is the person who will spend $1000 on a cross bred ankle biter and carry it in a purse, wearing a cute jacket and hat(the dog, not the owner).

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asc
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Re: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by asc » Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:10 pm

LabGuy wrote:When I went to pick up my pup, there was another guy there picking up his dog with his family. The dog was going to be purely a house dog since there were no hunters in the family. :o Why put that amount of money down on a hunting dog then? IMO, a dog with a good pedigree that will never be hunted is almost worse than a guy who is a hunter and ruins a dog by stupidity.
Because there are other traits from that breeding that they like? :?

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RoostersMom
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Re: Breeder gripe/worry

Post by RoostersMom » Sun Mar 31, 2013 12:45 pm

Be pickier when you choose the owners - that's the only real thing you can have control over - who gets one of your pups. You can "require" them to do certain things with the dog (JH or NAVHDA or otherwise) in your contract. Doesn't mean they'll do it, just means that you're weeding out some folks.

You will loose a few, I'm sure, but the pickier you are about who gets your pups, the more likely they are to end up in a good situation. I'm sure most breeders don't do as much as you did to start these guys out. My breeder does a yearly get together with pups she's sold and she also is available from day one on training your pup - offers us opportunity to bring dog back for gun breaking and other issues as well. Sent me home with a lot of stuff as well and an agreement that I would try the hunt tests and see if they were something he and I liked. We did! Now it's on to some other games!

Don't feel like it's your fault - just be pickier with the home next time - find out exactly how they plan to introduce gunfire and birds before they get your puppy.

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