They perceive the world entirely differently than we do. When I am walking my dog, I just see whatever critter is out at that moment, she is smelling everything that has transpired since her last walk from the mice, t0 squirrels, to deer, to dogs, to people, to cars, etc.
They don't have much fear and they have a higher tolerance for discomfort such that you have to be aware of the fact that they will put up with more than they should.
Lenny is the first dog I’ve had who loves to learn new tricks and learns them after about 5 minutes. Newest is double high 5. Took a still shot.
Yep. It is fun watching them work their nose on scent. Some breeds are controlled by their nose more than others. If our dog (part beagle) gets on a scent (he especially likes deer and rabbit scent) all other senses get put on back burner, i.e., hearing, sight. He hears and sees but does not care when his nose is engaged. It took me about 3 months to determine that the major way of getting him off a scent was a "treat", which can be nothing more than 1 small piece of dog food. He appreciates praise, but loves "treats". So I trained him to the term "treat" if I really want him to come immediately (especially if I hear coyotes in the area). Have fun. Every dog is different in what motivates them. It is cool discovering that with a pup. I enjoy it, anyway.
My Dad had a purebred bird dog (pointer) we used for quail. Tip of her tail would be bloody after a hunt, going through briars and stickerbushes. One hunt, she did not come back when he whistled. We searched for 20 minutes. Found her, holding her point. Shaking like a leaf she had been holding point for so long on a covey. Amazing dog.
Working dogs are great, my uncle had beagles that would climb fences just to run a rabbit. I've always had labs.
Wife and I always have had good tempered, socially-balanced mixed dogs from a shelter or a give-away. I was the "beagle" when we went rabbit hunting. My Dad's short haired bird dog is the only true working dog I have lived with. It was amazing watching her work. Funny story ... Dad had her bred with another purebred. She had 1 pup. Our solid black with white feet family dog mutt (part lab and who knows what else) tagged her one time latter. She had 12 pups. Dad was so pizzed. But he had no problem placing all 12.
It’s like living with half cartoon character and half Rambo. 77 yrs old and leaving squirrels on the doorstep for us. Absolute killing machine since he was lost in the woods as a puppy.
If you get a blue tick be prepared for a stunningly powerful bark the entire neighborhood can hear. What Smokey sounds like on TV doesn't do it justice to what it sounds like in person. Those things can talk. Excellent dogs, but not always the best situation for tighter, more condensed living situations should the dog be kept outside for prolonged periods of time.
My dog works. Someone has to let us know there's a package when the delivery driver knocks lightly. Also, who picks up their own chip when it falls in the floor?
I’ve never had a dog, even a puppy, who goes this crazy for their food. I’ve pretty much got her to the point where she sits and takes treats nicely even though she’s still really excited. But breakfast and dinner is a whole other deal. It’s like I can barely get the bowl down before she’s done eating. So obviously, we are working on that too, but with our older dog, my wife had to hand feed her piece by piece as a puppy to get her to eat a whole bowl.
She tried to go after Big Sis's food one day. We let Big Sis handle that one. She learned that lesson quickly. If the cat was 5 years younger she'd learn a lesson there too, but he's 17 and can't do it anymore.
9lb (and growing) mini schnauzer. She can put down a half cup in less than a minute. I’ve never seen anything like it.
We keep them separate while they eat for now. There haven’t been any fights over food, but they have these lick pads and big doesn’t like it when little finishes hers first and comes sniffing around.
