May 18, 2011
We found what looks to be a purebred black lab roaming in the ditch in the country. Would it be a good hunting dog?
Full Question:
We recently found a puppy in the ditch wandering around a mile away from our home in the country. We carefully called him to approach us and he seemed adorable so we took him around to several houses in the area to see if anyone lost him. No one knew anything about him. We proceeded over the next several days to see if anyone lost him. Meanwhile I took him to the vet and got worm medicine - they tested his poop and he had worms. They thought he was about 8-12 weeks. He still has his baby teeth and was 14 pounds.We have been seriously considering buying a pure bread black lab for a pet and for a hunting dog. The vet and some other friends who know a great deal about dogs think he's pretty close to being a pure bread. But we knew if he was, the owners would be looking for him. He seems very good-natured, he doesn't jump up, whine too much or bite. He follows our kids, ages 6 & 9, everywhere and seems to have fallen in love with us as much as we have with him. Our main question is whether or not he'll be a good hunter if he doesn't have the pure bread blood in him for smelling and if he will be safe for us to keep. We don't want a dog that will turn on us from bad temperament. I have been reading as much as possible about training dogs and what to do and not to do. I just want to be sure this is a wise choice to keep him. Can you help?
Thanks,
Bonnie
Ed's Answer:
It sounds like you lucked out. If this dog was skittish or shy you would have a potential future problem. But it seems he is well adjusted with good nerves. If he has good play drive and will chase sticks and balls he should be a good hunting dog.
There are a million pure bred dogs out there that can not do the job they were initially intended to do. A perfect example is ALL OF THE AMERICAN BLOODLINE German Shepherd Dogs. None of them can be police service dogs - not one!! So many times being pure bread has nothing to do with a dogs working ability.
My advice is to get a couple of tapes and learn to train and work with your dogs. I would recommend:
I have produced a video titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. I give this video to all of my puppy customers and never get questions on how to raise a pup. Read the description of the tape on my web site. It has 2 hours of solid information.
If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes.
There are a million pure bred dogs out there that can not do the job they were initially intended to do. A perfect example is ALL OF THE AMERICAN BLOODLINE German Shepherd Dogs. None of them can be police service dogs - not one!! So many times being pure bread has nothing to do with a dogs working ability.
My advice is to get a couple of tapes and learn to train and work with your dogs. I would recommend:
I have produced a video titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. I give this video to all of my puppy customers and never get questions on how to raise a pup. Read the description of the tape on my web site. It has 2 hours of solid information.
If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes.
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