"Meat dogs"?

[aunt betty]

I'll post in here. I ain't skeered.

Not sure I'd call my dog a meat-dog but that's kind of what I'd hope other people would call him.
He goes and gets ducks that I shoot.
I would call him "a pet that hunts".
A bit ashamed of that but I bet MANY of us are in the same boat where our prized retriever has to stay at home with the wife and kids sometimes. That means we have a complete different set of standards than the field-trial hunt-test crowd. It also means we don't agree on a lot of "things dog".
It's part of hunting and training dogs. Some of us have families errrr packs.

On the "MEAT-DOG" thing...
The other day I was driving my truck and went through the U of Ill. campus. (Little Asia)
There was a group of 5 young girls and a guy walking down the street. I was stopped at a light. The girls all moaned "ooooooo". It took a minute to realize they were hungry Koreans. Everyone at the light was laughing at once because we ALL realized it. My BIG LAB had his head out the back window looking all tasty and cute.

[Matt Duncan]

[quote="aunt betty"]I'll post in here. I ain't skeered.

Not sure I'd call my dog a meat-dog but that's kind of what I'd hope other people would call him.
He goes and gets ducks that I shoot.
I would call him "a pet that hunts".
A bit ashamed of that but I bet MANY of us are in the same boat where our prized retriever has to stay at home with the wife and kids sometimes. That means we have a complete different set of standards than the field-trial hunt-test crowd. It also means we don't agree on a lot of "things dog".
It's part of hunting and training dogs. Some of us have families errrr packs.


A "pet that hunts" is nothing to be ashamed of. I'd say the majority of gun dogs and several field trial and hunt test dogs are treated like family members. There are a lot of really nice dogs out there that can't handle being kennelled and just used to work. Lots of retrievers are such people pleasers by nature that they can only thrive in an environment where they have the bonding and commroderie. I don't think my female even knows she's a dog anymore. She sleeps at the foot of the bed, lays on the couch and has grown up with my kids. I think she thinks shes one of them at times. Even though she is a pet I can drag her out of bed and she is second to none in the blind and can turn around and smash a finished test. I have dogs because I enjoy them first and formost. If I just wanted to get birds picked up I would just buy a canoe and have a much larger bank account lol. Nothing wrong at all with the family pet also being a fine tuned retriever.

[aunt betty]

I'll post in here. I ain't skeered.

Not sure I'd call my dog a meat-dog but that's kind of what I'd hope other people would call him.
He goes and gets ducks that I shoot.
I would call him "a pet that hunts".
A bit ashamed of that but I bet MANY of us are in the same boat where our prized retriever has to stay at home with the wife and kids sometimes. That means we have a complete different set of standards than the field-trial hunt-test crowd. It also means we don't agree on a lot of "things dog".
It's part of hunting and training dogs. Some of us have families errrr packs.


A "pet that hunts" is nothing to be ashamed of. I'd say the majority of gun dogs and several field trial and hunt test dogs are treated like family members. There are a lot of really nice dogs out there that can't handle being kennelled and just used to work. Lots of retrievers are such people pleasers by nature that they can only thrive in an environment where they have the bonding and commroderie. I don't think my female even knows she's a dog anymore. She sleeps at the foot of the bed, lays on the couch and has grown up with my kids. I think she thinks shes one of them at times. Even though she is a pet I can drag her out of bed and she is second to none in the blind and can turn around and smash a finished test. I have dogs because I enjoy them first and formost. If I just wanted to get birds picked up I would just buy a canoe and have a much larger bank account lol. Nothing wrong at all with the family pet also being a fine tuned retriever.

The people who gave me the idea that a pet that hunts is something to be ashamed of were guys who charge people a lot of money to take them hunting. My dog don't fit in there because he begs for food and a lot of things a kennel-kept dog simply won't do. (They said)
Scratching on the door wanting in was HIGHLY FROWNED ON at the duck club where people payed to stay and hunt. They didn't want a house-pet mooching while they ate etc. Gave me a chip on my shoulder.

Thanks for trying to smooth it out.

[MuddyWaterWarlock]

It has always appeared to me that the difference in a meat dog vs. hunt dog is the company of the people in the conversation. In actuality, both dogs are doing relatively the same functions. I want a dog to sit, retrieve on command, respond to my commands, bring back the bird, and sit again. Nothing more than that. That is basically the same in either field. I enjoy having a dog around for a companion. The more you involve yourself with your dog, the better that dog is going to be in all aspects of doghood.

[Tomkat]

It has always appeared to me that the difference in a meat dog vs. hunt dog is the company of the people in the conversation. In actuality, both dogs are doing relatively the same functions. I want a dog to sit, retrieve on command, respond to my commands, bring back the bird, and sit again. Nothing more than that. That is basically the same in either field. I enjoy having a dog around for a companion. The more you involve yourself with your dog, the better that dog is going to be in all aspects of doghood.

Very diplomatic, and correct I suppose.

I will say that I dont ever take points off of my dogs performance when she cheats the bank or does a swim by. In certain company that would be looked down upon.

I am always happy to see her mark, swim, and retrieve. And agree that dogs are pack animals.

[QH's Paw]

Are we a real waterfowl forum now?

My dog would never win a ribbon but he gets my ducks without fail and that's the level of training I'm happy with. I think it's all a personal choice.


Sent from my phone.

Only reason he wouldnt get a ribbon is because you don't him to. If your dog can't pass a JH test, it can't hunt either. All it has to do is bring back a marked bird

Sent from my H866C using Tapatalk 2

Are you sure about that. As I remember, there are at least 2 requirements. One is they must hold until commanded to fetch or hunt, and two they must deliver to hand. Many dogs in the real hunting scenario are held to neither of those rules.

[QH's Paw]

Jarbo. A quarter of a mile retrieve? Really?

Sent from my phone.

Are you saying you've never seen this done? The limits of your dog are set by the same thing(s) that limit his habits and obedience and that is you or anyone you allow to handle your dog.

[one2many]

my highest trained dawgs are not meat dogs

[Tomkat]

Jarbo. A quarter of a mile retrieve? Really?

Sent from my phone.

Are you saying you've never seen this done? The limits of your dog are set by the same thing(s) that limit his habits and obedience and that is you or anyone you allow to handle your dog.

I would never bet against Taz and Jarbo.

I saw GKR's lab get a snow goose that was nearly that far in a field.

If Brandy marks a duck in the water and there is no ice, she will go a long, long ways to get a crip.

The 3 of us were on a pond hunt in late season and saw Brandy and Taz go on one hell of a retrieve for a crippled canada goose. It was a good sized pond and this goose had a lot of fight left in him.

I dont think a quarter of a mile land retrieve is out of the question. Water, maybe? Dont know.

[QH's Paw]

Jarbo. A quarter of a mile retrieve? Really?

Sent from my phone.

Are you saying you've never seen this done? The limits of your dog are set by the same thing(s) that limit his habits and obedience and that is you or anyone you allow to handle your dog.

I would never bet against Taz and Jarbo.

I saw GKR's lab get a snow goose that was nearly that far in a field.

If Brandy marks a duck in the water and there is no ice, she will go a long, long ways to get a crip.

The 3 of us were on a pond hunt in late season and saw Brandy and Taz go on one hell of a retrieve for a crippled canada goose. It was a good sized pond and this goose had a lot of fight left in him.

I dont think a quarter of a mile land retrieve is out of the question. Water, maybe? Dont know.

I guarantee my old dog Kodi has done 1/4 mile retrieves on land and water. One time I had a friend watching the bird in binos telling me where the bird was in relation to Kodi's position as I gave him hand and whistle signals. I couldn't tell which direction the dog was looking and my buddy had to tell me when Kodi would turn his head to me for direction. Kodi either caught the smell or saw the bird when he was still 100 yards from the bird and he never looked back after that. It was a crippled bill and he had to run it down when he got to it.
Now my younger dog, I probably wouldn't trust him past 200 yards, if that much. That's my fault for the lack of training compared to what Kodi got.

[Rick]

I generally don't have reliable means of measuring marks, but before moving to the marsh, my morning blind was on a remote rice farm and doubled as one of my deer "stands" there. And my north cut's levee was laser measured at just over 400 yards to its closest corner and just under 500 to its farthest. Over our years at that blind, there were rare occasions when my dogs were called upon to retrieve birds falling in the marsh beyond that protection levee with varying degrees of success, but on one miserable morning my tired tail slogged through a foot of water over plowed ground to lead a guest dog very nearly to that farthest corner three stinking times. Figuring the odds against three such falls were astronomical, I kept tabs and didn't see another bird go down in that corner for the rest of that season or the next and last before my marsh move, not that we didn't have some mighty strong sailors in other directions.

Anyway, we just train to a couple hundred or so yards, but that's been enough to keep us in good stead when something goes down much farther out.