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Doggone good dog thread

mike hunt

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He looks like a Lab doesn’t he? This jack ass won’t even retrieve a frisbee, there’s no retriever in his dna
 

Bigcountry40

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Well, sorta. Most of the BLANK-doodles, BLANK-apoos, silvers, etc are all relatively “new” breeds... They didn’t come on the scene and gain popularity until the last 10-20 years. Matter of fact, the “inventor” of the Labradoodle has gone on record to say he regrets the whole thing. There are some versatile bird dog breeds nowadays but most serious hunting dog breeds haven’t changed much for over a 100 years.
I would put my aussie doodles intelligents up against any lab, if the one wasnt gun shy, she would be a perfect retriever. Like others have said there are stupid dogs or stupid owner in all breeds but so far with our 2 been very impressed.
 

jagermeister

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I would put my aussie doodles intelligents up against any lab, if the one wasnt gun shy, she would be a perfect retriever. Like others have said there are stupid dogs or stupid owner in all breeds but so far with our 2 been very impressed.
I would put an Aussie’s intelligence up against Elon Musk. You could cross an Aussie with a nematode and it’d have more brain power than most dogs. But intelligence doesn’t necessarily make a good hunting dog. Prey drive is a big factor, among others. I totally agree with what you’re saying though... There are plenty of crossed dogs out there that are good dogs, just like there are plenty of purebreds that are total shitbags.
 
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Bigcountry40

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I would put an Aussie’s intelligence up against Elon Musk. You could cross an Aussie with a nematode and it’d have more brain power than most dogs. But intelligence doesn’t necessarily make a good hunting dog. Prey drive is a big factor, among others. I totally agree with what you’re saying though... There are plenty of crossed dogs out there that are good dogs, just like there are plenty of purebreds that are total shitbags.
You and Jesse may punch me in the face for this, is retrieving waterfowl really prey drive, or is it teaching a dog a really complicated game of fetch/commands? I mean you are teaching a dog to stay in place and retrieve a dead or wounded animal on command after shooting a gun next to its ear and giving the dog different directions, a dog has to be pretty smart to do all those things. I onced seen a jack russel retrieve pheasants on a hunting show, the guide said the jack just started mimicking the other dogs, there the jack was on tv retrieving pheasants and bring em back to the hunters.
 

jagermeister

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You and Jesse may punch me in the face for this, is retrieving waterfowl really prey drive, or is it teaching a dog a really complicated game of fetch/commands? I mean you are teaching a dog to stay in place and retrieve a dead or wounded animal on command after shooting a gun next to its ear and giving the dog different directions, a dog has to be pretty smart to do all those things. I onced seen a jack russel retrieve pheasants on a hunting show, the guide said the jack just started mimicking the other dogs, there the jack was on tv retrieving pheasants and bring em back to the hunters.
Your basic run of the mill retrievers with basic training will “just retrieve” ducks, yes. But give them a cripple that’s diving, or a bird that sailed out of sight, or 100 yards of skim ice to break through on the way to the bird... that basic fetch command isn’t going to amount to much. And when I mention prey drive, I’m referring to more than just retrieving. There are so many traits that make a great hunting dog that you can’t hardly put them down in text. You have to see the dog do certain little things to really wrap your head around it. They are special animals. And they are certainly not all created equal. To your point, yes, you can teach a dog to do just about anything. But it’s the things you can’t teach them that really make them special and set them apart from other dogs.
 

bowhunter1023

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I'll echo what JB said. I've seen dogs (mostly labs) do things both in practice, and in the "game", that defy training. When Remi was still doing his thing, he'd do things that were in his DNA, not as a result of our training. He had an instinct to find birds that was only instinct and drive, and nothing I could take credit for as a trainer.
 
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