How Far Are You Willing to Go?

Actually, we are seeing many more coonhounds up here in New England.  They come up in the rescue vans because, in addition to culling and rehoming, some of the SOB's involved in your sport just dump the dogs that won't hunt by the side of the road.  The ones that aren't mangled by cars, or outright killed, sometimes end up being rescued, thankfully.  But, there are still too many that aren't.  And, yes, I am now having to deal with lots of dogs that really aren't cut out to be your average pet.  In one case, though, one of my students got a redbone, and she realllllly listened about recall training, and the rest.  This dog now happily plays with other dogs on the beaches of New England, and in play groups - and, he has a recall!!!!  He is a great pet, but she worked hard on training him.  Most people just end up with a demanding whiny dog that ignores them and follows its nose LOL.  I tell that girl all the time what a great job she's done with her boy.  It's great, 'cuz she just loves him to death.

It makes me raging mad when people think animals are disposable[:@][:@][:@]

There is a spayed 2 year old female golden/lab on freecycle this morning.  Housetrained UTD on vaccines, doesn't chew, etc....but has too much energy.  They got her a year ago from a shelter and have 2 small kids with a third on the way.....I emailed him to please return her to the shelter rather than GIVE her away to any tom, dick or henry......

I pretty quickly got turned off the coonhound hunting community (at least the online version thereof) when I stumbled across a thread basically acusing people who have coonhounds as pets of ruining the breed, ruining the dogs, and being complete nutjobs (and probably liberals oh no!). The thing is, I would probably not ever buy a coonhound from a breeder just to be a pet--that's silly, that's not what they're bred for. But when all the shelters south of the Mason-Dixon line and west of the Ohio River are full of them, I'll keep adopting them, because I do love the breed. But those coonhound folks also seemed to be completely anti-rescue, which I don't understand. I mean, what are we supposed to do with all the coonies the hunters don't want? How can you say you love the breed when you'd be in favor of killing rather than just neutering and removing from the breeding lines any dog not up to snuff?
 
As a vegetarian, rescue volunteer, animal rights proponent and a Buddhist, I got the distinct impression that I would not be welcome amongst those folks!

A friend of mine has a grandfather who used to take dogs hunting up north (Algonquin Park in Canada) and if they weren't great hunting dogs he'd leave them up there in the park when he went home.
 
Needless to say I was steaming mad when I heard that and it's probably good that I haven't met the man.

ORIGINAL: snownose
It makes me raging mad when people think animals are disposable[:@][:@][:@]

 
People own dogs for different reasons.  Not everyone has a dog for a pet.  For example, some people own dogs to do a specific job and some people own dogs for hunting. 
 
When I used to own pit bulls, I hung out in a couple of forums that were specific to that breed.  I learned a lot there and one of the things I learned is that not everyone owns APBTs as pets.  There were a a couple of guys there that raised APBT's for hog hunting.  If the dog wouldn't hunt, they shot the dog.  Their contention was that by the time they determined the dog wouldn't hunt, he was past the point of making a good pet.
 
To some people, a dog is a tool.  You have to take care of your tools but if that tool doesn't perform its intended purpose, they get rid of the tool.  Are they wrong?  Not in my eyes.  There are fates worse than death.

I use drag lines for my own peace of mind.

Glenda do your dogs run free or not? When you talk about going out in the fields walking them with the deer and turkeys are they on drag lines or completely off lead?

To some people, a dog is a tool. You have to take care of your tools but if that tool doesn't perform its intended purpose, they get rid of the tool. Are they wrong? Not in my eyes. There are fates worse than death.

My opinion is if you bring puppies into this world by your own breeding than you must be prepared to be responsible for YOUR breeding for the life of those dogs,if you cant do that,then dont breed!If you buy a dog and it doesnt turn out to be  the killer you had hoped for then that's your stupid mistake,the dog shouldnt be punished for not having that killer instinct that people have tried so hard to breed out of pits for so long [8|]

My view on this isnt really subjective as i really hate hunting,or any "sport" where another creature is run down and killed by a dog [&:]

PS "you" and "your" above is meant generally and is not directed at you Billy.

That's a two part answer I guess, Edie.  They are on drag lines (which are literally dragging) until we get totally out of the yard and back into the fields and totally away from the road.  Once we are away from any traffic I take the lines off, but even when they are on, I'm not holding them.  Sometimes if we are exploring a new trail that we aren't sure where it ends, as on Sunday when we were on a little lane running through the tall pines and could see "light at the end of the tunnel" I called them back and reconnected the lines since we didn't know if the 'light' was someones yard and I didn't want them even the 40 or 50 feet ahead that they typically are when we could be approaching a yard where someone might have a shotgun.  As it turned out, the lane DID end in someone's yard and the fellow was out working in the "back 40" and admitted he would have been very startled to see 3 large dogs coming out of the trees.
 
So the answer is, when we are out in the woods and the fields, they are totally free. When we are near the road or any other place that might be dangerous, they wear and drag their lines.

To some people, a dog is a tool. You have to take care of your tools but if that tool doesn't perform its intended purpose, they get rid of the tool. Are they wrong? Not in my eyes. There are fates worse than death.

By leaving them behind or stranded? I am also against culling, but I turned vegetarian because my heart is way too soft when it comes to animals, so maybe I don't speak without an agenda.

I can see using a dog for survival, but darn, this is the 21st century.........[8|]

I was going to say, four dogs in the woods on drag lines?  How do they go anywhere without being tangled into a knot.  My dog would be tangled with a drag line within 2 seconds of being anywhere near a stump, stick, tree or bush! []

Actually, it is normally just 3 at a time.  When we first started to use drag lines they DID keep them on all the time and rarely had an issue.  COTTON drag lines are miserable and will tangle on just about anything...the climbing ropes that we use now are just about bullet proof as far as tangling.  Actually we limit forays into the actual woods and stay on the paths and lanes for the most part.  In some areas the trees are so thick that you literally can't walk between them and I am not fond of getting hit in the face with branches or having to walk hunched over to avoid that.  But, there are some nice areas we we CAN walk in the woods without danger to my body parts and then we do.  However, I'm thinking that this is going to be the last weekend we can do our walks without donning blaze orange.....gotta just love deer season.

ORIGINAL: Edie
My opinion is if you bring puppies into this world by your own breeding than you must be prepared to be responsible for YOUR breeding for the life of those dogs,if you cant do that,then dont breed!

I agree with that, but probably only up to a point that is well short of what you intend.  These guys bred, raised, trained and then sold dogs for hog hunting.  This, as I recall, was how they made their living.  I am sure that they provided well for their dogs, although their idea of providing well was probably vastly different than ours.  The dogs, for example, were kept chained outside.  Although the dogs were provided with shelter, this is not the way I would keep a dog.  But, I think it is important to remember that the reason these guys kept dogs was for a different reason than we keep dogs.

My point is, if you provide well for a dog, then at say 2 years old, you determine that he won't suit your needs, so you shoot him, haven't you then been responsible to him for his life?

If you buy a dog and it doesnt turn out to be  the killer you had hoped for then that's your stupid mistake,the dog shouldnt be punished for not having that killer instinct that people have tried so hard to breed out of pits for so long [8|]

I am a hunter but I have never hunted hogs, mostly because I have never lived in an area where wild hogs were common.  I will be honest though and tell you that from what I have heard of hunting hogs with dogs, it is something I would consider if I ever have the opportunity. 

Suffice it to say, not everyone wants their PB to lack the "killer instinct."  Not everyone raises pit bulls or blue ticks or beagles as pets.  Many people own these dogs for the sole reason of having them perform a specific purpose, hunting.  In the case of the guys with the APBTs, there were two primary reasons why a dog would be culled - lacking the courage to drag down a hog and uncontrollable dog aggression.  Some dogs, I am told, prefer fighting amongst their hunting pack mates to chasing hogs.  A major league bummer, especially for the dog.

Some people object to killing cattle for food and some people object to killing dogs who won't do their job and who don't make good pets.  I don't have a problem with either.

My view on this isnt really subjective as i really hate hunting,or any "sport" where another creature is run down and killed by a dog [&:]

Thank you for being intellectually honest enough to say that.

PS "you" and "your" above is meant generally and is not directed at you Billy.

Not a problem either way.
 
ETA:  If I am going to use a really big word like "intellectually" I probably should spell it right.  []

ORIGINAL: snownose
By leaving them behind or stranded?

 
No, by shooting it.
 

I can see using a dog for survival, but darn, this is the 21st century.........[8|]

 
Your point escapes me.

My point is, if you provide well for a dog, then at say 2 years old, you determine that he won't suit your needs, so you shoot him, haven't you then been responsible to him for his life?

 
Did I read this correctly?
If you really feel this way then we are from 2 different planets. I might be over stepping my boundaries, so please excuse this question before hand, but how can you raise a dog, bond with it and then just shoot it?
Do you look the animal in the eyes when you do it?