Dog shoots Iowa man during hunt

BBC ^ | Tuesday, 30 October 2007 | n/a

[Safetgiver]

My Uncle’s father...Wouldn’t he be your grandfather?

[gc4nra]

“The accident happened after James Harris, 37, put his gun on the ground to retrieve a fallen pheasant.”

Shouldn’t the dog be retrieving the bird?
That’s the way we do it; I shoot, Ranger retrieves.

[MediaMole]

If he had to retrieve the bird, why did he take the dogs?

It was a Sadie Hawkins hunt. The dogs did the shooting and the people retrieved the birds.

[AnAmericanMother]

A Labrador Retriever, specifically of English or conformation bloodlines, would be by far the best of those dogs for a small child. Labs are cast iron dogs -- very stoic and impervious to pain -- extremely friendly, and very tolerant of rug rats and crumb crunchers.

The pointers generally are just too much dog and, as I said, wound a little tight. They are bred primarily to hunt and to hunt hard. Spaniels can be iffy with children -- don't get me wrong, I love them (Boykins are my favorite), but they are sensitive and might object with a snap or a bite to being mauled or hauled around by a child.

There are two different types of Labs -- the 'field' or hunting type Lab, and the 'English' or conformation type Lab. The field Labs are wound almost as tight as pointers, and tend to be too much of a handful for an ordinary owner who isn't working them in the hunting field. That horrible book about Marley the worst dog in the world is an example of what can happen when stay-at-home suburbanites wind up with a field type Lab.

Unless you are planning to hunt your dog, what you want is an English Lab, a Lab that is bred to go into the show ring. They are shorter, heavier, and more placid than the field Labs. They will still be a little wiggy and excitable as puppies (I would worry about any Lab pup without a lot of energy) but they calm down faster as they mature.

I have two field-type Labs with some conformation blood for leavening -- the one who is only half field would be a nice dog for anyone, but the Wild Weasel (who is less than one quarter conformation) would be way too much dog if she weren't running two miles a day plus heavy retriever training work. Of course, she's only a year old, and by the time she's three she'll be a model citizen like her older sister.

I would NOT buy from a backyard breeder, from a pet store, or from a puppy mill. Those dogs almost always have breeding, health, and temperament issues. Don't support them. And with a child in the mix, I would not pick a dog from the pound. Go to a reputable breeder of English type Labradors, discuss your exact needs, review some pedigrees and listen to the breeder's recommendations on the right breeding and the right pup out of the litter for you. It will cost you some money up front, but the initial cost is insignificant over the life of the dog. Your vet bills in the first year will be more than the purchase price of all but the most expensive pups.

. . . just my two cents!

[Thebaddog]

No problem. Some days I speak for all dogs when there's a present on the carpet. Other days I speak for the big dogs when there's a mail man who needs a grrr. and othe days I stay with my homies, the bad dogs.

It's all K9 AOK with me.

[cyberaxe]

.....I agree about how to purchase a good lab.....

.....but would add.....

.....have the breeder guarantee the hips or.....

.....have YOUR VET xray.....

[AnAmericanMother]

Most breeders will guarantee hips and eyes, but since the problems don't show up until years later (when you've fallen in love with the dog), that's not a whole lot of use. Most breeders also now have the OFA or Penn-Hip certifications. I have bought pups with parents with OFA Good or Excellent and had no problems. But it's merely a predictor and you can still get a dysplastic dog from two Excellent parents. It does play the odds as best you can.

Really can't tell anything much from an X-ray until the dog is two years old, so X-raying a pup doesn't tell you anything. You have to go on the certs. I have seen an occasional breeder noting "preliminary X-rays normal for age", but there's no agreement regarding what that means. And I have seen dogs with hips that look doubtful on an X-ray, but who never go lame.

Another point: my vet, who runs her dogs in Agility and has been in practice 30 years or so, has a theory that the hip dysplasia is only partly inherited. She thinks that you can have an inherited tendency to dysplasia that doesn't show up until you overfeed the pup. That causes the bones to grow too fast and then the dysplasia develops. (Needless to say, my girls were on the SKINNY side as puppies!)

[calex59]

My Uncle’s father...Wouldn’t he be your grandfather?

If you direct your comment to the person who made that statement you would probably get a respectful and correct answer. Since I did not make that statement and was resonding to the person who did, I will not bother to answer your question. Thanks for understanding and thanks for promising to read any comments carefully in the future before responding to them.

[Safetgiver]

Pardon me, oh greatest one.

[seoul62]

Thank you very much for the information. I always wanted a Chocolate Labrador Retriever for the family but was cautious since my daughter was born, as to what dog to obtain. Do you know any names of legitimate, highly-recommended breeders of Labrador Retrievers?/Just Asking - seoul62.......

[calex59]

Pardon me, oh greatest one.

All is forgiven now that you have my name right, but I usually just go by "the greatest", you can leave off the "oh". Actually my reply to you earlier was a joke, I am glad to see you have a sense of humor. You do don't you? I mean really?

[Safetgiver]

A good sense of humor.

[anymouse]

“Damn clumsy dog,” he mutt-errored as he spot-tied an ol’ Yeller bandanna around his sore puppy of a wound.

[Bender2]

This just in... Kent Brockman reporting--

"Peabody's Improbable History" was... canceled today.

The beloved host, Mr. Peabody, was arrested... for staging boy fights in his backyard.

A Rocky & Bullwinkle spokesman said... "Moose and Squirrel are devastated!"

Film... at 11!

[TrueKnightGalahad]

“Man’s best friend” - HAH!

[AnAmericanMother]

I know several English Lab breeders that I trust. They're all here in the Atlanta GA metro, though, and I don't know where you live.

I don't move in the conformation world, so I don't know folks all over the country. But the lady who bred my older Lab is a serious competitor who takes her dogs to specialties (that's a show for a specific breed) all over the country. She will know somebody who's on the up and up.

My older girl is a Chocolate Lab.

She is very diminutive - just 43 pounds and only 20 inches at the shoulder. She was sort of a one-off breeding for this lady - she had the opportunity to breed one of her sires to a daughter of the only chocolate Lab ever to win the National Field Champion title. My dog was probably the "fieldiest" of the pups -- she has gone on to do quite well in Obedience, Agility, and Hunting Retriever.

Here's a direct one-on-one comparison between the "field type" and the "English type". This is my Chocolate's sire - a sweet boy who probably goes 80-85 pounds:

And this is my little black Lab Ruby a/k/a the Wild Weasel, who is completely field in appearance (and temperament for that matter).

[USMCVet]

Good one!

[seoul62]

Thank you again, your information was most informative./Just Asking - seoul62........

[AnAmericanMother]

Can you give me a hint about where you live?

If you're still in Seoul, I probably can't help! But there are some good general rules about picking a breeder that will help you wherever you are.

[skr]

A good outcome based on facts and not the guns-kill-people rhetoric.