Have your dogs jobs?

TollerSunny · 02-04-2008, 06:41 AM

Hello everyone,

I see many pictures of your dogs, nearly all pictures are at home, in the garden, at the beach... and whenceever. But I miss the working dogs!
Do you don't show working dogs, or your dogs don't work?

With work I mean, dogs what make sport or work on a flock of sheep... or ilk things.

Henry work every week in different areas:
- Wednesday we train Agility (<- this the german word, I don't know if its the same in english?! He jump at hurdles, run by tunnel, run at a base ...)
- Friday he retrieve
- Saturday we train obedience and Agility
- Sunday we train tricks

All this things we train with other dogs. The other owner go to tournaments and inquiries with her dogs. I don't go to this because I have a lot exam nerves. Henry would cope this, and have fun at this assuredly... I would die when I go to tournaments and inquiries *horror*

Sure, Henry and I are workaholic and we make it exclusive to have fun!

Lucky Dog · 02-04-2008, 08:45 AM

Though we really don't work work ( for $) we have fun keeping the town beach/golf course clean of geese, with permission of course. She can't "go to work" until I tellher too. She will swing right or left depending on the whistle or hand movement. then she stops when I say "all done, good job". She comes back and sits next to me. We also move the neighbors goats a couple of times a week from one field to the next.

We go to rally class once a week, but before that we did cgc and tdi classes. Once a week we go to the local hospital/nursing home/school for visits. But her best and most important job - being my friend.

turdburglar · 02-04-2008, 09:40 AM

Sir Henry Von Hibbel. I love this name. My coonhound is training to tree coons. Most of the job comes pretty natural to him though. I don't actually hunt coons, but I think it's great exercise for both of us.

If you don't like going to tournaments, then that's ok. You don't have to be nervous though. You are just there to have fun. If you make a mistake, then it's not a problem. Some people take these too seriously, and it sucks the fun right out of them. Go and have a good time with your dog.

P.S. Does anyone know where to find literature for agility dog training?

Equestiana · 02-04-2008, 01:22 PM

My dogs dont work work but we do train. 2 of the 3 dogs are in agility training (dont have pictures, we're not competing yet), one regularly goes sheep herding (have a few pics) and all are in obedience courses. We do trick training as well.

All my dogs are aussie shepherds. We got one of the dogs as a 4 year old. She grew up on a farm as a breeding dog, she was taught to NOT herd their goats and horses. We tried teaching her to herd but 4 years of being told not to herd was to confusing and unfair for her. She's in agility and LOVES it!

Our youngest aussie is.. not a working aussie. lol. She's a house dog, she doesn't seem to enjoy learning, didn't enjoy agility and didn't like sheep. We've done obedience with her as well as some tricks but she prefers to just be a stay at home couch potatoe.

Our middle aged aussie is the working aussie. She LOVES to heard, loves obedience, loves agility, loved anything that she has to learn. She's got a working brain that needs to be kept busy. She gets bored and destructive easily

TollerSunny · 02-04-2008, 01:45 PM

@Lucky Dog
you keeping the geese from the golf course? A lucky idea!

consequential that her best and important job is being your friend. Nothing job should get this position!

I amazing decide the work in hospitals, nursing homes and schools. But it is no job for henry (I think we work enough also), but the dogs which work at this places, have my respect!

@turdburglar
Your dog hunt coons from the trees? But you don't hunt coons... what you do with the coons?
I think I don't understand the critical point LOL

Everyone told me that I don't must be nervous on tournaments, and I know it. I must not win, I will have fun. But I think I can't have fun with my exam nerves.
I try for a tournament last summer, I think I don't try ist again. It was horrible... I go to the "start" but after 5min I go without do anything. I think we have fun on our place, our friends and all the thinks, thats the best for us

@Equestiana
Have you your own heard?
A aussie which is a couch potatoe... are you shure she is a aussie? LOL The exception proves the rule.

turdburglar · 02-04-2008, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TollerSunny

Your dog hunt coons from the trees? But you don't hunt coons... what you do with the coons?
I think I don't understand the critical point LOL

Well, his job is to make the coon go in the tree and stay there, so he sits at the bottom of the tree and makes a lot of noise until I go to the tree. Usually, the hunter will take the coon, but I don't want the coon, so I make him chase a ball instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TollerSunny

Everyone told me that I don't must be nervous on tournaments, and I know it. I must not win, I will have fun. But I think I can't have fun with my exam nerves.
I try for a tournament last summer, I think I don't try ist again. It was horrible... I go to the "start" but after 5minutes I go without do anything. I think we have fun on our place, our friends and all the thinks, thats the best for us

As long as you have fun, that's all that matters. You don't need tournaments and certifications to prove you love your dog.

Equestiana · 02-04-2008, 01:59 PM

Tollersunny, No I dont have my own herd. Luckily where I live there are a few places where you can basically "rent" a herd (if you know what your doing) or work with a trainer on the sheep.
Our youngest aussie thinks shes a cat or something. She's stubborn, hard headed, and laaazy! We're sure shes an aussie, the mom lives with us too! hehe. I honestly dont know where she got her personality from, we met both parents (own the mom) and they are both typical working aussies.. Who knows!

TollerSunny · 02-06-2008, 01:25 AM

Thanks for the explication turdburglar, I understand now what you mean

You work with coons, and I had never see a coon in reality!

@Equestiana
I don't know that it give the facility to rent a herd. Its surely a amazing alternative for dog owners work with her dogs without buy a herd... particularly it make fewer work to rent then buy

Shalva · 02-06-2008, 09:04 AM

we work

Meghan

Shalva

Connor

Shalva · 02-06-2008, 09:07 AM

Connor

Meghan again

Kaelyn

Cuinn

Shalva · 02-06-2008, 09:11 AM

Meghan

We held off on agility a while but are getting back into that.....

Cuinn doesn't do much at this point because of his epilepsy....

Kaelyn is finished and we are working on obedience with her as well as Shalva.....

Meir and Emmett are getting ready to go in the breed ring and work on their obedience.... I will be signing Meir up for agility once my free time opens up again.... we also had them working and retrieving birds the other day... so they will start work on hunt and field as soon as the weather breaks.

So yeah my dogs work

digits mama · 02-06-2008, 10:08 AM

Dozers job is to make sure everyone is working around the property. Also he loves to check the buttcracks of unsuspecting fuelmen and mechanics around

Puddles I am working with her to eradicate vermin, cats and stray dogs at the jobsites. I have a heavy equipment operation and I live in the middle of where Hurricane Katrina came ashore. There is so many abandoned and feral animals around still and they multiply in abandoned buildings and Katrina debris that still lays everywhere in the hardest hit areas. Its really hard to tear down a building thinking that there possibly may be a litter of kittens inside. I usually walk the areas to make sure but they tend to hide in the deepest crevices. She has already got 6 cats and 2 litters of kittens out so far. She found a huge nest of least terns in a old school and had to shut down the job for 3 weeks until they were ready to fly away. They are protected in our area.

Iris just lays around being cute right now. But she loves having her nose to the ground and I can tell she is going to be a great sniffer once she grows a little more.

Even Lilly the kitty catchs mice and rats and leaves the carcasses in the yard for Puddles to find..Blah..I say it is because she is helping me with Pudds training

Other than that..We are in obedience training. After I feel the girls have all that down I would love to introduce them to earthdog.

Lorina · 02-06-2008, 10:12 AM

Beav is my personal trainer.

He gets me outside and moving everyday -- rain, snow, sleet or sun.

wabanafcr · 02-06-2008, 10:15 AM

Jobs like this?

wabanafcr · 02-06-2008, 10:18 AM

Or like this:

Yes, my dogs have jobs. We train in conformation, field, obedience and agility. I have done some tracking but my dogs discovered that they could usually find gamebirds in the tracking area so that overruled trying to find a leather glove and we gave up on tracking!

Shalva · 02-06-2008, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wabanafcr

Jobs like this?

Go Daddy...... thats my daddy

Aussiefan · 02-06-2008, 04:51 PM

Back when Arrow was learning weaves, the "weave-o-matic" method...

Arrow and i at a fun match demo for agility class a few yrs ago...

Love's_Sophie · 02-07-2008, 01:21 AM

I have TONS of fun with my 'pampered housepet'...haha...

I was teaching her agility until I found out she had hip displaysia; so now I am going to focus on Rally Obedience...which combines the two, so it won't be so 'high stress' on her joints; she had one surgery and that has been a miracle for her, but I still will not take the chance of doing such a high activity level sport as agility with her...my next dog I will though.

Sophie also does lots of tricks...

In all, obedience and tricks combined, she knows approximately 50 commands, and is still learning new ones!

Sophie also loves to do Therapy work...not sure if you count that as a 'working' dog thing, but it sure makes a difference in lots of people's lives!