Many people believe that hunting dogs should never be contained indoors or allowed to be around children. They think that because the dog has “tasted blood” on the hunt, it cannot be trusted not to hurt children. This line of thinking is simply not true. Hunting dogs make wonderful family pets because of their natural tendency to want praise and acceptance from their masters. They are also quite intelligent and follow commands easily. Most hunting dogs, especially retrievers, have “soft mouths”, which means that they don’t bite down hard. This is definitely an advantage for young children who love to play with dogs.
America’s favorite dog is the Golden Retriever. Their unique traits make them wildly popular – they’re natural swimmers, are calm and gentle, are very intelligent, and are generally content. Plus, they’re just beautiful to look at. They’re also large enough that children can play and roughhouse with them and they never seem to run out of energy or patience for this. These things also make them ideal service dogs. And yet, most people that own one don’t realize that all of these things were bred into them so that they would be great bird dogs. They’re so common that most people don’t even think of them as being hunting dogs.
Training your hunting dog to take to children is pretty simple. It’s important to remember that a hunting dog sees you (as the adult and trainer) as the top dog and therefore considers children who they are living with as part of the ‘litter’. As your children grow up, the hunting dog will follow your example. He will watch and see how you treat him as well as his ‘litter-mates’ and he’ll determine what the ‘pecking order’ is in the home.
Not only are most hunting dogs very docile, but they are usually very sturdy dogs. Because of this, they are more likely to stand up to the less than gentle playing that children are so prone to. Always monitor what is going on so that your children don’t hurt the dog, especially when he’s a puppy since they do not always understand their own boundaries. Knowing what your children and dog are doing when playing will help make your hunting breed a beloved family pet and keep both children and dog safe.
Training a hunting dog to be a pet isn’t much different than training any other dog. Setting up boundaries of what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior including table food, begging and other behaviors that should be discouraged from the time they are puppies. Even though your children may be amused when the puppy is begging for food or trying to get food off the table, you won’t be so amused when you have a full grown dog sitting begging during a large holiday meal with friend and family. Educating your children is as important as training your dog – perhaps even more so. While your dog is a member of your family, he is none the less a dog and shouldn’t be treated like another child. Dogs have to be trained to do things in a totally different manner than children and you should teach your child how you are training your dog. This will allow for consistency which is so important in training your dog.
Years from now when your child is an adult they will be able to tell you more about your dog than you can possibly remember, even if the dog passed many years before. This is because of the lifelong impression that a dog can leave on a child. Kids will remember long into adult-hood the little quirks and habits of their first dog and any dog they may have as a pet. Remember, your hunting dog may work side by side with you in the field, but make no mistake about it, he’s a lifelong friend, companion and will help you family create lasting memories.
To help you train your hunting dog you should make sure you have the proper supplies. If you are in need of a dog tracker unit, then the Tracker Maxima is a great choice. If you are looking for a dog training collar that has the ability to expand to a two dog model, then the Innotek IUT-302 is the unit for you.
Posted under Dog Breeds, Dogs General, Family
This post was written by admin on July 1, 2009
