Out Of Goose Control

[DTrain]

Too many things to answer but thanks you guys are making this thread very interesting and informative for me. This situation is not related to the recent problems I have been having with the dogs. Pete in particular when he is working sticks to his work.

This is simply a situation where a person has been offered what he thinks is the same service for much less money. You recall I mentioned that an article was written about the dogs and our work and that was a good thing. Any time I can promote the good things about BC's I will take it. The down side is that since the article a number of people have suddenly decided they can do this work because they have a dog that chases things. I have taken steps to inform this person so we shall see. I do not want the same press to report that a goose has been attacked and have anyone assume it was one of my dogs, my company or any other informed and responsible dog owner.

I have spoken at some length with the MNR. It is not illegal to chase geese with the intention of getting rid of them. It is however to touch a goose. The MNR has a concern for chase dogs and they greatly appreciate my work with dogs that are under control. They have the option of deciding if a dog and dog owner are chasing a goose with any intention. In other words an MNR officer seeing a situation like this can make the decision on the potential or eventual outcome if the dog and owner are deemed to not be under complete control.

Interesting remark about the reward for the dogs, I have often pondered this myself. My dog Pete will sometimes stop after the geese have flown and look at me like I am an idiot and then it seems to me that he decides, OK, that did not work, you screwed up, lets try it again. His reward seems to be that we keep doing it. Perhaps he thinks one of these days he will get to pen a goose.

Airbear, I would love to be in the airport situation and let Pete herd those geese around all day.

[Dixie_Girl]

IMHO, working IS the reward. Not the geese, not the sheep. Regardless of what the work is, if it's work, that's what the dogs want to do. That's what gives them their thrill, if you will. If the dog understands that his job is to send the geese to flight, and he does, he has done his job and that is his reward. If you ask them to just hold some sheep back while you fill feed buckets or what have you, that is his reward. If you ask them to go 300 yrds out and bring you 50 sheep, that is his reward. He did his job. Sheep or in this case, geese, are never a reward. It's the work. It's just not the same as saying, sit, then handing them a biscuit.

[trailrider]

Is there any way we could see that article you mentioned?? I`m interested and curious.

[JohnLloydJones]

Regardless of what the work is, if it's work, that's what the dogs want to do. That's what gives them their thrill, if you will.

Right and dogs have a very broad concept of "work", too. They seem to get their kicks out of doing things together with you; sheep, geese, frisbee, agility or whatever. You're the leader, so if you're happy, then they're happy; in the "we did it together" sort of way.

[Katelynn & Gang]

Aww, I hate this. My boyfriend's apartment complex recently got a "goose dog." I about died when I watched a over weight pitty mix walk out of the new maintenance men's place with too very fat Beagles tagging along. They sent out a letter to introduce the dog and everything. I got a good kick out of it.

 

Anyways, the letter was sent because I cannot have my dogs over for a few hours at my boyfriends. Maintenance is "dating" management and I am guessing they didn't want a suit on their hands for discrimination and harassment which is where the "goose dog" bit comes in.

 

Well I gave management a little update on just what a real goose dog would cost to buy and just what they actually do. I am guessing she had no idea that my dogs work both sheep and geese but she sure does now. Oh and I think there are more geese then ever on the property now.

 

Anyway, the boyfriend is out at the end of the month and I will be volunteering my dogs and services to the school across the street to keep the geese off their playing fields while keeping them in the apartment complex with their "highly trained" goose dog. haha

 

Katelynn

[DTrain]

Aww, I hate this. My boyfriend's apartment complex recently got a "goose dog." I about died when I watched a over weight pitty mix walk out of the new maintenance men's place with too very fat Beagles tagging along. They sent out a letter to introduce the dog and everything. I got a good kick out of it.

 

Anyways, the letter was sent because I cannot have my dogs over for a few hours at my boyfriends. Maintenance is "dating" management and I am guessing they didn't want a suit on their hands for discrimination and harassment which is where the "goose dog" bit comes in.

 

Well I gave management a little update on just what a real goose dog would cost to buy and just what they actually do. I am guessing she had no idea that my dogs work both sheep and geese but she sure does now. Oh and I think there are more geese then ever on the property now.

 

Anyway, the boyfriend is out at the end of the month and I will be volunteering my dogs and services to the school across the street to keep the geese off their playing fields while keeping them in the apartment complex with their "highly trained" goose dog. haha

 

Katelynn

 

Tell me more about this situation Kate if you can. How did they decide that their dog is a goose dog. How does it work. The more I dig into this the more I find strange things. I was told yesterday of a so-called well known border collie breeder in my area who sells goose dogs. I have never heard of the breeder and I cannot locate the breeder anywhere. There seems to be a bottom growing in the goose control industry of breeders or people who claim to be selling goose dogs. I am not making reference to your case but dogs are becoming popular in goose control and like every other industry there is a bottom, people making bigger and better claims to make a sale and take advantage. Normally in a situation like this I could not care less but because dogs are involved I have some concerns as you can imagine. I wonder where all of these goose dogs and goose control people are coming from. Very glad to see you are working the school property.

[Katelynn & Gang]

DTrain,

 

I don't think it has much to do with the dog actually being a goose dog at all.

 

We've had at least one of my dogs at his apartment for a few hours at a time and they've always been fast to post him a notice asap that we can't have the dogs. If I am correct, as my mother is always a landlord, not even the maintenance man can have a dog or dogs if none of the other tendents can but if they claim the dog is a goose dog which would then be "equipment" they can. Any other would be a form of discrimination. I don't think they were really expecting me to have any kind of knowledge in the field of goose dogging and where a bit shocked when I asked about the dog, where he was from, his breed and training. Of coarse, she had to resort to he was just a dog and she didn't know what he was. Hell, even the maintenance man doesn't, as he claimed him to be a Shepherd mix which the dog clearly isn't to anyone with half a brain in their dog breeds.

 

As for my dogs, I work them on sheep and have/do put pretty big bit of money into their training. The only dog I use is my older female who flanks and will drive for me, ext and will swim out when asked and come off when called. We are routinely moving the geese every year off the lake front across the street at my mothers house for her neighbors. So I don't do it as a business by any means but for friends (or in the case of the school, our community) I just do it as a free service.

 

There should be something you can do by contacting the DNR. Aren't most goose dog businesses trained and/or certified by them? If I ever got really got into it for like a business, I'd be going to them for some sort of classes as most "my dogs can chase it" kind of people won't be willing to take those classes and then when the DNA gets a call, they could recommend your services?

 

Katelynn

[BustopherJones]

He feels that my trained dogs are not needed...

Hopefully your client will come to the realization that "you get what you pay for". In any field, there are charlatans who offer economy services, but lack the qualifications and/or expertise to deliver quality; anyone who has ever chosen a home improvement contractor based soely on price can attest to the inadvisability of that strategy.

[borderholic05]

Remember he is the customer, if he had a better and cheaper way of doing it he would. Your the expert and his answer to his problem. I do the same exact service in Western,ny and if they cant pay you what your worth let them try to find sone other means to resolve their goose problem. Your persistence, patience and understanding of the goose situation along with your knowldge skills and abililites with your dogs are the only thing that will work. The problem is getting the customer to believe it, oh yeah just tell them to find another person who has insurance to cover liability... Not so easy to get and you need it to land the good paying big contracts.....