Gun Dog Forum

Would you place a fully trained young hunting dog into a non hunting home?

depends...
If the dog has a physical issue preventing it from hunting...no problem. You might want to place the dog into a non-hunting home to keep the dog near where you live or with a relative, if you've developed a bond with the dog.

Otherwise, I'd give a good effort into finding a hunting home

Only if I had no other choice.

I'm curious why a non hunting home would want a fully trained Hunting Dog. Unless there getting the Dog for Free/Cheap wouldn't they be over paying considering the cost of a fully trained Dog compared to a house Pet ?

When heck freezes over. That would be doing the dog a huge dis-service.

No I would not.
Db

What Sharon said. Not unless I had no other choice in the matter. I don't care if they're runners, bikers, etc. I would try to place the dog in a hunting home. Other exercise just isn't the same and it would be a shame for that dog not to get to live a full, hunting lifestyle.

Maybe an older dog with a limited future as a bird dog. Not many hunters would want a new (to them) 8 or 9 year old dog, but it would make a good pet, walking or running companion for many years with luck.

Things happen, and if you can't keep your older bird dog... However, as the original post said "young"....no.

No !

This is a good question. With the shelters and rescues full of unwanted bird dogs maybe any good home would be better than the alternatives.

I think a dog is such an adaptable animal that good owners that don't hunt would not be a disservice to the dog. But there are so many people that would want a well trained hunting dog to hunt with, why would it go anywhere else.

Let me pose this question to you:
Would you rather have it go to a hunting home and it only gets out to hunt a couple times a year?
OR
A non hunting home who includes the dog in all activities and stimulates the dog in other ways?

gsp-fan wrote:Let me pose this question to you:
Would you rather have it go to a hunting home and it only gets out to hunt a couple times a year?
OR
A non hunting home who includes the dog in all activities and stimulates the dog in other ways?

^^^ This.

If the dog was out and about constantly that would be awesome. Much better than selling it to a "hunting" home who only gets it out during the short period of hunting season then the rest of the year forgets about it.

The answer depends on what the owner will do with the dog when it is not hunting. If the dog is accepted as part of the family and is included in family activities, no problem.
If the dog is used strictly for hunting but is pretty much ignored, then it is better off with a non-hunting family that includes it as a full-fledged member.
But a trained hunting dog should have no problem finding an acceptable hunting home, given the number of hunting-related bulletin boards on the internet in which to advertise the dog.
Even a 8-9yr. old, if it is in good health, and has a few seasons left in him/her may be desirable to newcomers to hunting.
Great care must be given when re-homing a dog. There are unscrupulous people out there who will use a re-home as bait in dog-fighting training, flip the dog for money or
sell the dog to medical labs for experimentation. Sometimes, the breeder will take back the dog, no matter the age, or assist in re-homing. Someone in a hurray to re-home a dog, should NOT drop the dog off at a KILL shelter. Kill shelters will put down an owner-surrendered dog before they put down a stray, because legally they are obligated to hold strays longer(giving time to find the owner). If in a hurray, it is better to contact a breed rescue if there are no takers after having explored other means.

Guess I'm not understanding...but under what circumstances would a fully trained dog NEED to go to a non-hunting home? Is there no hunter that wants this dog?? If its old and retired, guess its a solution..

A hunting dog IS going to hunt...whether that's digging out chipmunks on the back patio, chasing bunnies through the flower garden or depositing a woodchuck on the back porch, folks that aren't tuned into it may have some issues. Unless owners realize that, sounds like a recipe for problems.

I think you will find that most of us non hunting homes that own hunting dogs be it Sporting breed or a Hound have had many fuzzy things dropped at our feet and to not run screaming. We know what these dogs are bred to do and even though we do not hunt do not discourage there hunting activities.
Us non hunting people really are not bad people and do not try to make our dogs foo foo dogs. We love to watch them run, point and do what they do we just do not hunt. Also we do not have major issues with people that use their dogs to hunt.

duckn66 wrote:

gsp-fan wrote:Let me pose this question to you:
Would you rather have it go to a hunting home and it only gets out to hunt a couple times a year?
OR
A non hunting home who includes the dog in all activities and stimulates the dog in other ways?

^^^ This.

If the dog was out and about constantly that would be awesome. Much better than selling it to a "hunting" home who only gets it out during the short period of hunting season then the rest of the year forgets about it.

I can't imagine someone not wanting a trained hunting dog, but maybe you've had a really good companion home seek out this dog first, and that's why you're asking?

Out of a litter of 7 puppies, I sent one of mine off to a pet/show home. They hunt very seldomly, and at 9 months she hasn't been out yet that I know of. It was a little hard to do, thinking about the pups potential and what they are bred to do, but my friend had wanted a puppy out of my female a year or two before we bred. To tell you the truth, I didn't know how to get out of it. I knew this was a dog crazy family. They have 4 other shorthairs and have bred a litter before, so I knew that they knew what GSPs were about. I knew the pup would have an indoor lifetime home and any vet care she needed. They live in the country and have about 3 acres fenced in with invisible fence, so I knew she would have a big yard to run in. The new owner sent me a video link a week or so after they picked the pup up. Little Gracie pup was in the tub with the owner's grandaughter. The pup was happily bouncing around the tub, full of soap bubbles, with the little girl dumping cupfuls of water over her...squealing in delight. It was hard not to smile after seeing the video and made me feel much better about my decision. I think this is an interesting topic and I wonder if there isn't some anthropomorphism involved in thinking that a dog bred to hunt can't be happy in a nonhunting home. I know that was the case for me and still is.

Why would a non hunting home not want a trained hunting dog. The dog heels, comes, knows how to stop on command. What's not to like about that? I would have no qualms about rehoming a trained hunting dog to an active family that would spend time with the dog. How much of the year is actually spent hunting anyway?

Not just bred to hunt. Not a puppy placed into home brought up in this situation. Fully trained and good at hunting. Has been hunted quite often, loves it, and is pretty much made to hunt. Some managable bad habits, like most dogs.

mountaindogs wrote:Not just bred to hunt. Not a puppy placed into home brought up in this situation. Fully trained and good at hunting. Has been hunted quite often, loves it, and is pretty much made to hunt. Some managable bad habits, like most dogs.

For an older finished dog, they can go for little enough $$-wise that, compared to a Labradoodle or other breeds that a family may be familiar with, they're not that pricey. So I can see why it wouldn't make that much difference to the potential new owners. Similar to people wanting to buy too much car or truck, I would want to make very sure they understood what an athletic dog can be like, but I'd probably want to make sure of that for a border collie, too. Other things being equal, the hunting home makes more sense. Regardless I would want a binding give-back in any placement, where if the dog doesn't work out they have to come back to you with the dog rather than placing it elsewhere or putting it down. Not that this is a big likelihood, but to be safe.

Fun dog wrote:Why would a non hunting home not want a trained hunting dog. The dog heels, comes, knows how to stop on command. What's not to like about that? I would have no qualms about rehoming a trained hunting dog to an active family that would spend time with the dog. How much of the year is actually spent hunting anyway?

Good point Fun dog, was thinking the same thing. I don't think the dog would mind as long as he gets regular exercise and attention, something that many dogs don't seem to get even when owned by families that do hunt.