So you think you know dogs?

[Featherfinder]

I heard one this evening from a customer that owns a Portuguese pointer - yes, it is a pointing breed specific to that country. They look a bit like a cross between a pointer and a Vizsla. I trained this dog (as with all dogs here) to be steady with the understanding that bumped birds are a no-no, regardless of the circumstances/excuses. If my dogs want their birds, they must do it correctly.
I found this particular dog to be a challenge to train because of his superior intelligence. Training him was more like a chess game. You had to be 3-4 steps ahead of him or he'd make you look silly.
So, the chap called today to share something he found quite entertaining. While grouse hunting recently, his dog bumped a bird but the owner broke my cardinal rule and shot it!?! In his words, the dog subsequently went over to a near-by tree and sat down. ?!?
The owner sent his dog for the retrieve but the dog completely avoided this dead bird. This is a dog that typically retrieves to hand! So, perplexed, this chap picked up his own bird.
A short while afterwards, his dog nailed another grouse but did not bump this bird. The owner walked up, flushed and dropped this second bird. He sent his dog for a flawless retrieve to hand.
….there you go. You could say, "This dog is training his owner."
Got any good ones to add to this?

[Trekmoor]

I've got one but it's not as good as your story.
I was training a pointer (English) for a friend and she wanted her to retrieve as well as hunt and point...in Britain pointers are seldom worked as retrievers. The training in all aspects of her work was going well and she liked to retrieve …..usually.

I took her hunting one October day but did not take a gun or even a dummy or "bumper." She'd had a good hunt and one point and I wanted to give her a retrieve so I bundled my gloves together and used them , she refused to pick them up but I insisted that she did . She picked them up ,ran away from me for about 20 yards, dug a hole in the leaf litter under some bushes then dropped the gloves into the hole and left them there before returning to me.

I don't like to give in when a dog says," No !" as this young bitch had clearly done so I tried the retrieve again after fetching the gloves myself out of the hole. She went out, picked up the gloves then ran about 10 -20 yards and walked out into midstream in the river where she seemed to quite deliberately drop my gloves. I never did get them back and I had to accept that the bitch had outwitted me for, to me, she had seemed to think the problem out and come up with a solution that suited her.

I'm still not sure I didn't give her too much credit for using her brainpower but she certainly seemed to have reasoned that I could not get my gloves back from mid-river.

Bill T.

[Featherfinder]

That's hilarious Bill! Sometimes, you have to wonder, right?
So, I had a 8itch "Penny" that was about 5 years old when I brought home a new pup - a Brittany. Sadly, the pup acquired an illness so I cordoned him off in the corner of our basement with puppy fencing panels while my wife and I were at work. Penny had the run of the basement and was no problem.
One day after work, I did sauntered down to see my dogs. Low-and-behold, the pup had chewed up 1 of my black dress shoes!! I was not happy! I waited for my wife to get home from work and perplexed I asked, "Did you leave my shoes near that pup somewhere or something?"
Of course, she could hardly muster an answer, "What are you talking about?"
Anyway, the next day upon my return, the pup had 1 of my Italian loafers?!?!? At this point, I simply could NOT understand how this could happen? I glanced clear across the room towards the shoe rack. My glance traversed where Penny was resting....and when it did, she turned her head and lowered her ears.
I sternly asked Penny, "What did you do....what did you do?"
I believe it would be safe to say that Penny did not appreciate our new pup. *It never happened again.

[Sharon]

Really enjoyed those stories. I have no great stories like those, but dogs continue to amaze me. I swear they speak English. Soon as my husband says, "Do you want to go.......?" my JRT heads for his crate , or as soon as I put lipstick on he heads for his crate. Amazing.

[Featherfinder]

That is really funny Sharon! It's hard to believe what a tremendous grasp of their small world dogs have, isn't it?

[weimdogman]

Years ago I got a pup at the beginning of hunting season. I did almost no work with the dog beyond the minimum required to get him in and out of the kennel. Short walks off leash with my other dog to go eliminate. Well at the first of the year I slipped a choke collar on and was going to start general obediance. I couldnt ever get any pressure on him as he obeyed commands,sit,down,up, and heel instantly! He knew by watching the older dog. So after 3 sessions I thought well I will let loose of the leash and do the exercizes today.
Surprise, he was stone deaf. Picked up the leash said sit and his butt hit the floor before the t came out of my mouth.
He knew what the leash meant. Same dog also was a escape artist. No dog crate confined him. At a hard 90ibs he was stronger then the stuff the crates were made of.

[Trekmoor]

About 40 years back I went to see a lab pup with a view to buying her for field trial work. Her breeder was totally honest about why she was the only unsold pup in the litter. She'd already been seen and rejected by a few keen trailers. She was rejected because they felt she was an escapologist ….she'd have escaped from their kennels or runs.

She was about 10 -11 weeks old and I wanted to know the circumstances of the "escapes." Her breeder gave me a demo ! The pup was in her run which was made of wire mesh and was only about 3 feet high. Her breeder asked me to watch from a window as she put down the cats food on the kitchen floor and then called the cat.

The puppy responded before the cat did even though she could not see the food dish from the run out in the garden . She at once climbed up and over the wire fence then galloped towards the kitchen door which was one of those doors a bit like a horses stable where the bottom half can be kept closed while the top half is wide open. I think the open section was about 3 feet above ground level.

The bottom half of the door was solid wood and the pup could not climb over it …..but she had a plan !
She scramble climbed onto a big dustbins lid near to the door and then launched herself at the doors top. She hooked her paws over the top pulled herself up then tumbled onto the kitchen floor ….just in time to get to the cats dinner before it did !

The difference is very slight but I call that breaking into a bank and not breaking out of a prison..... I was laughing and I was full of admiration for this clever , determined pup so I bought her there and then.
It was a decision I never regretted. She was one of the best gundogs I ever owned and she won trials and she qualified for the retriever championships before she was even 18 months old.

Bill T.

[Featherfinder]

Smart dog!!! Excellent choice Bill!

[DonF]

I've got one but it's not as good as your story.
I was training a pointer (English) for a friend and she wanted her to retrieve as well as hunt and point...in Britain pointers are seldom worked as retrievers. The training in all aspects of her work was going well and she liked to retrieve …..usually.

I took her hunting one October day but did not take a gun or even a dummy or "bumper." She'd had a good hunt and one point and I wanted to give her a retrieve so I bundled my gloves together and used them , she refused to pick them up but I insisted that she did . She picked them up ,ran away from me for about 20 yards, dug a hole in the leaf litter under some bushes then dropped the gloves into the hole and left them there before returning to me.

I don't like to give in when a dog says," No !" as this young bitch had clearly done so I tried the retrieve again after fetching the gloves myself out of the hole. She went out, picked up the gloves then ran about 10 -20 yards and walked out into midstream in the river where she seemed to quite deliberately drop my gloves. I never did get them back and I had to accept that the bitch had outwitted me for, to me, she had seemed to think the problem out and come up with a solution that suited her.

I'm still not sure I didn't give her too much credit for using her brainpower but she certainly seemed to have reasoned that I could not get my gloves back from mid-river.

Bill T.

This reminds me of Duke. A friend picked him up as a free dog needing a home, beautiful pure shorthair, he was about 10 mos when he was found and afraid of his own shadow. Had spent his whole life in a kennel with another very dominate pup from the same litter. Duke hated riding in vehicles but when Glen got him home they couldn't get him out so his daughter got in with him till he finally came out. Wanted to see where he was so we took him out on the grasslands and put a couple pigeons down for him. Darn near had to walk him to the bird, Doo was a mess! But we had a bird we'd killed for another dog so decided to see what he'd do with a dead bird. No least or check cord, didn't think we'd need one, Doo didn't go anywhere. I held the dead bird under his nose and he sniffed it but not really excited about it. So I tossed it about ten feet and Doo went right after it. Picked it up and ran like h*ll away from us with it. We followed and he got to a sage brush and started digging like mad. We got there and no bird! He'd buried it beautifully!

But happy ending to this. Glenn's wife didn't want him around till after her old dog was gone so I took him home for a year. At first he was afraid to go into tall grass but got over it. Then started on birds slowly and he picked it up right now. This dog was pointing birds and standing to flush about on his own. Met Glenn at a perserve with him about a year later and I had Doo out and he had his Setter. His setter was on a bird and Doo backed from way off. Glenn shot the bird and his setter went out and ran overthe top of the bird and kept going. Doo all this time stood watching. Glenn looked over at me and shoot his head so I sent Doo. He was off right now, went straight to the bird, snapped it off the ground and delivered it to Glenn. I was about reay to cry watching him do all that. Turned him loose and sat on the ground watching him!

This isn't Doo but does look like his twin Brother! Doo was an older pup that went to a free home. Guy he came from said he didn't get rid of him and his litter mate that day he was going to put them both down. That guy sure screwed up! I really miss Doo!

[wetside]

Great stories!

[fishvik]

I had a Weim/Chessie cross, Fawn, that was an avid waterfowl dog. We were hunting the upper end of an island in the Snake River. There was another hunter down at the downstream end of the island about 300 yds downstream. The shooting had slowed by about 8 am and I fell asleep in the blind. When I woke up, No Fawn. So rather than start blowing my whistle I started looking for her. When I got to the other guys blind there was Fawn. The guy said is this your dog. I said yeah. He said she's a great dog she retrieved one duck I shot out of the river and found a cripple I lost in the brush. I guess I just didn't provide enough action for her.

[Sharon]

My Dad and I raised/trained beagles, for sale ,for many years. It was my job to go out to the barn and feed the beagles in the morning - I was about 12 at the time.
A bitch had just had a brand new litter that week. Litters weren't raised in the house during those years. When I went out I found all the pups dead and covered in dead rabbits.
My father had forgotten to turn on the heat lamp that night. The rabbit had chewed a hole under the barn door, gone to my hutch of rabbits , got inside and carried them to cover her babies.
I learned a lot about motherly love that day.
Only time I ever saw my Dad cry.

[polmaise]

My Dad and I raised/trained beagles, for sale ,for many years. It was my job to go out to the barn and feed the beagles in the morning - I was about 12 at the time.
A bitch had just had a brand new litter that week. Litters weren't raised in the house during those years. When I went out I found all the pups dead and covered in dead rabbits.
My father had forgotten to turn on the heat lamp that night. The rabbit had chewed a hole under the barn door, gone to my hutch of rabbits , got inside and carried them to cover her babies.
I learned a lot about motherly love that day.
Only time I ever saw my Dad cry.

Fathers don't cry . well they do ..

[Garrison]

Great stories!

Not hunting related, but still loved watching it. My folks had a retriever who was able to keep her alpha status until her last days. Never a tangle with another dog, just the judicious use of a look, snarl or show of teeth. She made sure that everybody on four legs followed the house rules. She would go in and back any dog out of the kitchen where they were not allowed and took great exception to another dog placing a front paw on any furniture. Young or old for some reason she was never challenged.

When she got on in years and one of my young pups would take her chew toy, she would lumber over to the door, give it a scratch and wait for someone to open it. As soon as it was open the young idiots would drop everything and rush to be let out. She would turn around collect her toys and bring them back to her bed and lay down. She made a habit of putting the kids outside.

[Sharon]

That's hilarious.