RETRIEVING AUSTRALIA FORUM

HI ALL
hopefully i opening a topic that will throw some varied points of views

do you think your kennel managment ie: how your dog/s are treated at home ,whether they are free roaming in the back yard, have free range of the house when they come inside ,do they come inside? ,are they kept in pens ?etc

i have my views and would be interested in hearing others

bill

sorry forgot to add the question
does your kennel managment influence how your dog trials is what i was asking

Hi Bill,

My personal opinion is that how your dog is housed has no bearing on its relative obedience or success in training (provided that its basic physiological and psychological needs are met). My dog sleeps outside in summer and inside (mostly on my bed) in winter. His performance in training and trials (obedience and retrieving) is impacted more by the quality and frequency of our training routine than whether he's on the bed or out in the yard.

What do you think?

Cheers
Kirsty

Hi Kirsty

I don't think it matters if they sleep inside or out. Although I think leadership skills are required to get the most out of your dog. Mostly it depends on how, and the frequency that you train.

Lisa-Maree

Hi Lisa-Maree,

Sorry, I was asking Bill what his answer was to his own question. I agree with you!

hi kirsty
my thoughts are that it comes down to leadership ,as long as the dog understands its place whether its kenneled in a pen or inside shouldnt make any difference ,but if the dog doesnt understand its place and doesnt respect you as the leader of the pack does it impact on how the dog will work for you .

an example being if a dog wont come to you in the back yard when called ,or invades your space with out invitation will that dog train and work for YOU or will it do its own thing .
in my experience and from what i have seen the dog works for itself and will do its own thing even if told otherwise by the handler
bill

Hi again Bill.
I know this is not a recent post of yours but I've only just joined the list & felt I'd like to add my own 2 bobs worth to this one.
I doubt we've got many Britt owners on the list (as they are not usually the dog one would get for 'retrieving' work) so i thought I'd add a Britt owners perspective on this one.
As stated, I am an owner/handler of Britts & as such I believe that 'home management (Ie housing environment, etc) has a very important bearing on how my dogs perform. To me it's an extention of their training.
These dogs aren't great retrievers (although some have a great drive to retrieve - mainly from 1 particular bloodline), but there's the draw - get a Britt with the desire to retrieve (& some others do have little to no desire when it comes to retrieving as we think of it in the context of this list - Lab/Golden/Chessy type retriving work - waterfowling/trialing etc.) & then making even an average retriever of him is a big achivement with this breed that takes quite a lot of thought & work, but it's very rewarding when it is achieved. We've only ever had 2 dogs win at all age NSRT level & never had a RT Ch within the breed - it just ain't their strength.
Britts are very sensitive/intelligent dogs that very quickly learn to 'play you' if they think they can get away with being spoilt & take over the house (& they will). They are not a dog that will allow a great deal of physical chastisement, so it's important to always be 1 step ahead of them by pre-empting their thoughts & cutting off avenues of transgression - even in the yard.
The saying "it's better to avoid a problem then to have to correct it" could very easilly have been coinded by a Britt owner.
'Housing management' has a big impact on their psyche. It let's them know that they are NOT at the top of the pecking order & can't do whatever the hell they want any time they want to.
Don't get me wrong - there's no substitute for correct/consistent training but it can all be bought undone very easilly if the dog thinks he can better you when he's at home. Let em get away with running the house/home & they'll definitely try to run things when you take em out hunting/training. It's just their nature. Great dogs but don't let em get the drop on you or you'll forever be chasing em trying to play 'catch up'.

Bill Allen