Loaning out a dog

[weimdogman]

I have a good friend who farms. We have hunted his land for 40 years. He has never had a dog but has used his relatives , or 1 of mine , or my brothers on occasion. Today his brother was in town to pheasant hunt and they wanted me to go. I said I couldn't but sent the dog for them. I could have went but wanted the dog to work for him.He had previously asked about using my "neutered" dog as he knows I still do hunt tests with the other 2. He said I dont want to untrained them,or have to try to keep up.
Quick 5 minutes refresher on the ecollar and a couple quick do's and don'ts and they were off. Called me 3 hrs later and said dog was great we are coming back. I met them and asked his brother how it went? He replied got 3 birds,missed 6,buy another box of shells and go again tmrw. Dog was fantastic.

I gave that dog a refresher 2 weeks ago and was sure he would be fine. I take great joy in others hunting behind my dogs. No I wont send them with just anybody , but am happy the dogs get more bird time and the hunters enjoy something they dont have.

Years ago I had a bitch that was a legendary retriever, guys would come and get her to go find the birds their dogs couldn't. A current friend who is young enough that I didn't know him back then,had 2 good labs. He knocked down 2 roosters and his dogs couldn't find either. A cousin hunting with him said "Sheeba can find those birds" dog guy was curious so they went and got Sheeba. Took her out told her fetch. She ran down a fence line crossed a little draw and returned with a bird. Sent her the other direction same story. Guy says my dogs were all over those areas. That guy will tell you Sheeba is the best retriever he has ever seen.

[Garrison]

When I was out a dog, my buddy that I trained and hunted with regularly dropped off a dog that we had been working with that was given to him as a rescue. He started kind of staying with whoever hunted him last. Well, 8 years later this pain in the butt is still at my house and my buddy is up in Idaho. Still not quite sure how that transpired. :roll: I guess I need to plan a hunting trip to Idaho and return the favor!

That said, I don’t mind someone taking my dog on a hunt, but that group of someones is a pretty short list.

[DSemple]

I've always been happy to loan out my older dogs when I couldn't go. Glad for them and my buddies.



Don

[Sharon]

I could never borrow anybody's dog; if something bad happened I could never forgive myself.

[IDHunter]

You guys are a lot more generous and trusting than I am. If I'm putting thousands of dollars into a dog (which happens pretty quickly) I'm not sure I'd borrow that dog out to anyone. Maybe down the road I'll view this differently, but for now my dog only goes if I go. For what it's worth, no one that would ask to borrow him has been involved in his training at all, so they wouldn't know his commands or how to handle him, nor would he have any experience working with them and listening to them.

Maybe this is the wrong attitude to take, but I think if someone wants to hunt over dogs consistently, that person should put in the time and investment of getting and training their own dog. I'm dealing with this firsthand right now, with a couple guys who have told me how excited they are to hunt over my dog, but have a list of excuses (most of them aren't good ones) for why they can't get their own dog to contribute to the hunting. That just rubs me the wrong way.

[weimdogman]

I understand not wanting to loan out a dog. The guy who had the labs who couldn't find the downed birds,declined a offer of a free pup which I would help train. No he wanted another lab. I told him this guy has a fully trained 2 year old for 2500 you cant buy a pup and raise and train for 2 years for that. No kids want a pup. Now 2 years later he has a lab that as of now is birdshy.
No I wont loan him a dog.

One of the guys from my pf chapter has a lab with warblers, some days better then others. He has friends coming and asked about using a dog. I told him we go hunt together and I am sure you can handle the dog then yes. Retired army officer so I believe he knows the way things are supposed to work.

[bonasa]

I have loaned dogs out, when I do I don't give any specific instructions. The dogs are broke and run bigger anyway, the chances of the dog bumping a bird are very low. The chances of the dog developing some kind of "bad habit" in a day or two are slim to none. I say, loan the dog out and let him get some exercise, a snootful of bird scent and a mouthful of feathers.

[BigTub]

How does that old line/joke go?

You never lend out your dog, your gun, or your wife ... in that order!

[oregon woodsmoke]

Loan the dog out? No. But when my son first got his spaniels, he called me and said, "I never knew I had so many friends. Everyone wants to go out hunting with me and shoot over my dogs"

[art hubbard]

I agree with ID Hunter.....