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Dogs in the field
Posted by Pole Cat on January 17, 2019 at 4:02 pmHow many of y’all keep a dog around? Yes I understand you cant on certain site or areas blah blah blah I just want to hear people that have tried or have dogs out there. I do alot of wetland surveys and farm splits solo (unfortunately) and wouldnt mind the company of a canine companion. Looking for general testamonials here. Also for those who have been doing this, what breeds do you find best? Pictures more than welcome
true-corner replied 5 years, 3 months ago 17 Members · 16 Replies- 16 Replies
- Posted by: Pole Cat
How many of y’all keep a dog around? Yes I understand you cant on certain site or areas blah blah blah I just want to hear people that have tried or have dogs out there. I do alot of wetland surveys and farm splits solo (unfortunately) and wouldnt mind the company of a canine companion. Looking for general testamonials here. Also for those who have been doing this, what breeds do you find best? Pictures more than welcome
The only animals I have are ones served up with mashed potatoes and gravy. About 2 months ago I rescued a young female beagle from getting run over but fortunately the owners tracked me down after the vet office posted about it on Facebook. I refuse to live my life around the needs of a dog. I don’t dislike them but they are needy and I just don’t want to deal with it.
For many years I had either 1 or 2 constant field & office canine companions, but they passed on, the last one over a year ago. I still have customers asking me “where are your dogs?”
I never did have anyone complain about them, in fact they worked quite well at starting conversations with adjoiners. However, there were a few people that wouldn’t come into the office if I didn’t meet them at the door. The dogs were cattle dogs (blue heeler/border collie mix and hanging tree), well trained but very protective and loud, not aggressive unless provoked.
I had two dogs in the field with me for years. You need to have well behaved dogs that will respond quickly to voice commands, and can act intelligently when confronted with wildlife. On the rare occasions that I was near busy roads they would wait in the truck or be tied up.
My two Tibetan Mastiff’s guard my property while I’m away working. Anyone thinking of robbing my place while I’m out would quickly move on to easier pickings. I had a Golden years ago, Maggie, that I just couldn’t bear to leave home along while I was away working all day so she went everywhere with me. We were a package deal and anyone I worked for had to accept that. One day we were out doing topo on a large area for a future housing development and she was laying at my feet at the gun and a dirt foreman approached me and said to me, “what the (expletive) is this dog doing on my site.” Looked over at him and told him she was free help, called my rodman on the radio a few hundred yards out and said, “Hey Jake, you just ran out of flagging and need a package delivered”, gave Maggie a roll of flagging and Jake called her and she raced out there and dropped it off and raced back. That dirt man just stood there with his mouth gaping open to his belly button and walked away without saying a word. I had her grandaughter, Bess, for 15 1/2 years. She passed just about a year ago. That’s her in my avatar picture getting ready to shred a mountain. The tears are starting well up just thinking about her.
WillyMans best friend…
Put your dog and your wife in your trunk, for a half an hour and see which one is most happy to see you, when you open it up.
I hope everyone has a great day; I know I will!About 25 years ago I took my pet racoon with me to go look at a corner. Actually calling her a pet is a bit of a stretch, they are kinda like cats. I had done the fieldwork on 30 acres but something didn’t look right on what I had written in the fieldbook about the back corner. I just needed to look at it to be sure.
We walked in, looked at the corner, and got about half way back out. Rachael got tired so she climbed up a tree and went to sleep. I waited around for a couple of hours calling her. Nothing worked. It was getting dark so I walked out to the truck and got a flashlight. As I walked back in, Rachael was just waking up and ready to come down.
I never did that again.
James
I’ve only had one dog that I ever took to the field. He was a setter named “Roper” with ADD…I had to stop him from tagging along because it always took a half hour to find him and get him back in the truck to leave.
Over the years I’ve toyed with the idea of finding a pup with a good nose, like a lab or a beagle, and toss them a goody every time I dig up a pin. It wouldn’t take too long for the pup to start sniffin’ out pins when you get the shovel out of the truck. I would probably name him “Schonstedt” ….
But every time we have had an opening in the pack of dogs we keep SWMBO gets to pick the next one…and we have always wound up with your typical schizophrenic aussies.
I have a hundred year old Great Pyrenees that generally rides in the back of my truck fall, winter, and spring. He is glad to go and if I leave him home, he gets bored and runs down the road. He is too old and frail to jump out but is a great guard dog. I was on a traverse way out in the woods once, about a half mile from the truck and I heard his bark and recognized it for a “somebody is at the truck and they don’t belong”. There was an irate neighbor that didn’t like the fact that surveying was happening near his place. He has been everywhere from the big cities to subdivisions to farms. Never had a single problem, though I do tend to generally avoid taking him into cities often. Just never trusted city folk.
This is my survey dog – Bunny
I take her out to certain out of town jobs that are still on the road system. I really enjoy the company; somehow I don??t feel as foolish talking to a dog instead of to myself.
My hound mix (no pics on this tablet) has been on several surveys. She ranges and returns pretty well. Only issue is shes a real people lover. So, too hard to get her back if she commits to someone that i didnt notice first. Also, shes fastrer than any dog ive known. So, shes only invited on rural surveys with no highway frontage.
Banjo the Spanish Water dog used to get out quite often. Now that he’s older, 13, his joints don’t work as well so I don’t take him any more.
I try to bring Pearl, my lab, if its a bigger property. this was on a 250-300 acre lot I was doing wetland surveys on.
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She is good company and will stick around. Just a whistle away!
My German Shepard, ZIP. Keeping a close eye on me and guarding the gun.
I’ve had dogs in the family most of my life, but avoid taking them to job sites. One of my former employers used to and it made things awkward more than once. It gets very ugly when the owner has working dogs and the visitor upsets the routine.
Every situation is different but my clients, their guests and neighbors are my first consideration .
Bragging about ‘Nash, my 5 year old Australian Shepherd. He usually goes everywhere with me. As an Aussie, he instinctively WANTS to follow instructions, so he – like all my previous Aussies – can be trained as good survey dogs. They catch on quickly to “stop n go”, and he does a great job of keeping the squirrels away. When I do topo at the CU campus, I clip on his leash to my belt and off we go. All the students love him. I can only bring his sister along when I go to the woods, they play with each other all day and are inseparable. Sometimes they run off together. They are much better now. He has a GPS so I can go get him on the very few really long runaways. When his sister is not along, he does not run off. Another funny thing – his sister Tabbe, does not tolerate me “cussing and swearing”. If you are like me, every once and awhile, out on the ranch, no one around, and things aren’t going the way you wanted, you start cussing and swearing out loud. Tabbe puts a stop to it, she jumps up on me and starts licking my face to tell me “hey! keep it fun! NO cussing!”. You have to have a lot more attention in an already focused job, and it can be taxing, but I always have my survey dog with me.
Best dog for surveying? Golden Retriever or Border Collie. Or get a little of both, mine is a mix. A dog on the jobsite is invaluable especially when you run into wildlife or livestock (they concentrate on the dog, not you). Yeah, I take a dog alot in the field but he is getting old. He can walk but can’t use his hind legs like he used to.
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