Dogs in the Snow!

[felonytexas]

We were out at the local 7th day advantist school, which is closed. Or has so few students I never see any. Their fields are HUGE, and good for running the hell out of Bodie.

A friend of ours brought her dogs with, Bodie likes her, and pretends her puppy Bruce Wayne doesn't exist.

The Dogs are as follows...

Bodie: blue merle aussie

Sissy: in

Comments

[rozae]

Lots of great, fun pics!

Someone needs to take that prong collar off stat, though. I've seen too many dogs at dog parks get hurt when trying to play with a dog wearing a prong. :[

[felonytexas]

as stated earlier, the dog wearing them in the snow pictures is not my dog. Bruce belongs to someone else and it isn't my place (nor is it professional) of me to offer my opinion/advice unsolicited.

And Bodie wears one whenever we are out in public, for the safety of others. He's too dangerous to not have the e-break on. Further more he doesn't play with other dogs, so there is no risk to him.

And Sully doesn't play with other dogs at the park either. He's too busy trying to convince any one and every one with in eye shot to throw a ball for him.

And neither picture was taken at a dog park. Just so happens I have five dogs, my room mate has one, and my friend has two. Not a dog park, just a place where the dogs were gathered. And while there are risks to the prong being left on during play, Bruce isn't my dog, it's not my call.

[rozae]

Actually, it IS your business and place. Prong collars worn during play present a very real risk and that should be addressed.

This isn't advise--go ahead and let your pal choke his dog half to death; I'm not asking you to advise this person on training--this is a request to be considerate of other dogs' safety. When someone else or their dog affects you or your dog's safety, you have every right to speak up. You might even say you have an obligation.

But hey, whatever. S'up to you.

[felonytexas]

Actually, because there was no obvious present danger to Bruce, no, I don't have an obligation to say anything. Further more had I thought Bruce was in any danger, I would have intervened. But as made obvious by the photos neither he nor the other dog wrestling with him were hurt. And as in the latter photos taken a few weeks before the snow hit, you can see Bruce doesn't always have it on. It was that situation, and because no one was in immediate danger it isn't my place to be meddlesome. And certainly won't do any good to anger/alienate those around me by being so

[rozae]

You seem to be entirely missing the point. I'm not talking about risk to the dog wearing the prong collar. I am talking about the risk to other dogs playing with the dog in the prong. I've seen prong collars get flipped during play and other dogs--not the ones wearing the prong--become impaled on them. This is why more and more dog parks are banning collars with protruding parts.

Vets bills are expensive and pain hurts. No point taking any unnecessary risks. Pop the prong collar off, hang it from your jacket or shove it into a pocket. No harm done, no inconvenience. It's not like a prong is necessary during off-leash work. In fact, it's entirely useless.

Perhaps now you can see why I was concerned for the OTHER dogs.

[felonytexas]

Oh I've seen improperly fitted prong collars flip, certainly. This prong isn't fit poorly, in fact it's fit exactly as it should be. Making it next to impossible for it to be flipped and pose a risk to another dog. Certainly not in the time span it would take for dogs to be recalled or broken up from their wrestling. Bruce's prong is fitted properly. I made certain of it myself. Most people who use prongs do so wrong, they don't fit them correctly and of course at that point they are pointless and can pose a hazard to another dog. But long before a proper fitted prong can be flipped by another dog through simple wrestling, things can be dealt with

[recreatexme]

I'm having trouble understand WHY you think it's "not professional" to keep dogs safe by asking someone to remove a device. Especially if these people are apparently your friends/roommates instead of strangers off the street. And even so, i would expect anyone to give that kind of advice at even the slightest possible sign of danger - such as a prong and chokes being worn during activity. It is always your business to protect the dogs, regardless of who owns them.

[felonytexas]

Bruce isn't my dog. and it isn't my place to judge what his owner does with him, unless I am ASKED. Which is the first rule of polite business. And the choke on Sully, he doesn't "play" with other dogs. Why worry about something that isn't an issue? Sully does not play with other dogs. All he does is run in circles and try to convince humans to throw a ball for him. If no one is throwing a ball he's off doing his own thing, or trying to sucker a different human (or stealing a ball from another dog playing fetch - he simply beats them to it) into throwing the ball for him. That's his only motivation. He doesn't play with other dogs. He plays in the yard with my pack but at home in the confines of our own work space he doesn't wear anything but his flatbed which has his tags (that have gone missing thanks to a bad clip job on my part

[recreatexme]

I have NEVER met an experienced trainer who would think twice about speaking to someone quietly about a potentially dangerous situation in their presence. Period. I wouldn't hold them in very high regard if they didn't, frankly. Whether the dogs really do play or not, neither a choke or prong collar belong on them while out running and doing other activities. It is really not that hard to just take it off of them while playing.

And how is the prong for bodie a safety measure if there is no leash attached? I have to wonder why he is off leash in public if he really does pose that much of a threat anyway.

[felonytexas]

And I have never in my entire career and life with dogs had a single issue leaving a prong or chain on a dog in an environment that I feel is relatively controlled. These two packs of dogs know one another well, I know the dogs well enough to feel confident no one is going to cause a scene with any one else. And as I saw no immediate threat to any one, I felt there was no necessity to worry about the prong. If Bruce's owner and Myles's owner weren't worried about it, not my place to tell them how to raise their children/dogs. And if I was going to start speaking up every time I saw a "potentially" dangerous situation...I'd do nothing but nag other people because frankly there are thousands upon thousands of dangerous situations presented to dogs every day. Hell when I run my pack with the endurance horses that could be considered terribly dangerous because someone could easily get stepped on. (And you're more than welcome not to think highly of me, I'm sure the feeling will be mutual

[recreatexme]

Okay then.

[crysania4]

I just want to add this: He might not play with other dogs but that may not stop other dogs from trying to play with him, including jumping on him and grabbing onto his collar. My dog doesn't always want to play with other dogs but plenty of times she's had them pounce on her. This really isn't a matter of "professionalism" or not. I get that you think no one is in danger but the fact is that it does present a danger, even a remote one. I'm not a professional trainer but I still would ask someone to remove a prong just to protect other dogs.

It's obviously up to you and your stance is pretty clear, but I wanted to give you something else to think about.

[rozae]

Oh, my apologies for making assumptions based on what you say! You may carry on making your own assumptions. Have a lovely day, dear!

[felonytexas]

Also, again Bruce is not my dog. And there for it is not my place to decide whether or not he wears or doesn't wear his prong collar to a specific location. And the fact you think they are useless when not attached to a leash tells me you do not understand how or why they are used in the first place, or what application they can be used for. And prior to the snow day event who knows what Bruce was doing before his owner met me at my room mate at the fields to let them run. Could have very easily been doing obedience work, I didn't ask. Isn't my concern unless I am directly asked about something.

[augustcoyote]

And the fact you think they are useless when not attached to a leash tells me you do not understand how or why they are used in the first place,

I'm pretty sure that in order to correct a dog via prong collar, you actually have to be touching the prong collar (by leash, hand, whatever). How do you correct your dog with it when he's offleash and not within reach of you?

[recreatexme]

Obviously the dog knows he could be hurt at any moment with the prong and magically behaves off leash even though he is human aggressive.