FT vs. Hunting

paraphrased from an editorial in Field Trial Magazine...


The argument against hunting trial dogs usually revolves around the fact that when the attention turns to shooting, and the birds start falling out of the sky, dogs can, and often do, become un-broke quite fast. This phenomenon has happened to many field trial dogs that have never had a bird shot over them, and this includes dogs that were campaigned in the woods on wild birds. Some people claim to have outgrown the desire to kill birds and are practicing the bird dog equivalent of catch and release. Others argue that they don't want their dogs to think about the fact that there may be a dead bird to find.

So, once again we see the differences between the trial dog and the hunting dog.. "Broke" is a relative term, and can mean many different things to many different people. The dog isn't born broke, and doesn't stay broke without the constant attention of the handler... There are just too many distractions out there..

Food for thought...