Any good breeders still bread Danes for hunting?

[ouesi]

I know I already responded with my opinions but let me add one more. If I was a Dane breeder, which of course I am not, and someone came to me asking for a puppy to raise for boar hunting, I would not let them get a puppy from me. A wild boar is a very dangerous animal and I would not allow a puppy to any owner who would put it in harm's way. Again, I am not a breeder and don't ever want to be one. I'll leave the breeding to the pros.

I think you will find a lot of different takes on what it means to endanger a dog. I don't think I would mind a dog hunting if he were well trained, wearing protective gear, and the hunters were responsible.

My crew doesn't hunt, but they lead a very active life and do get banged up a good bit because of it. It seems someone is always sporting some boo-boo or another. (Though yeah, obviously not quite like boar hunting.)
Some show breeders (other breeds especially) don't let their dogs do much of anything for fear of messing up their perfect coat or having a limp on show day.

And then there are also plenty of pet owners put their dogs in harm's way daily because the dog is simply not trained. Untrained dogs run off and get lost, get hit by cars, annoy their owners and get dumped at shelters, or even bite people and are ordered euthanized.

It's all relative...

[Lizzie]

My crew doesn't hunt, but they lead a very active life and do get banged up a good bit because of it. It seems someone is always sporting some boo-boo or another. (Though yeah, obviously not quite like boar hunting.)
Some show breeders (other breeds especially) don't let their dogs do much of anything for fear of messing up their perfect coat or having a limp on show day.



It's all relative...

OMG... you should my dogs on any given day! someone's always got a boo-boo! my husband had a kit for stitching up the Setter's when he went off hunting for a week. and, yes, it included novacaine... luckily he never had to use it! Louis always has some long scratch somewhere on his lankiness!

[mydanekimba]

I think you will find a lot of different takes on what it means to endanger a dog. I don't think I would mind a dog hunting if he were well trained, wearing protective gear, and the hunters were responsible.

My crew doesn't hunt, but they lead a very active life and do get banged up a good bit because of it. It seems someone is always sporting some boo-boo or another. (Though yeah, obviously not quite like boar hunting.)
Some show breeders (other breeds especially) don't let their dogs do much of anything for fear of messing up their perfect coat or having a limp on show day.

And then there are also plenty of pet owners put their dogs in harm's way daily because the dog is simply not trained. Untrained dogs run off and get lost, get hit by cars, annoy their owners and get dumped at shelters, or even bite people and are ordered euthanized.

It's all relative...

A boar's tusks will do a lot more damage than a "boo-boo."

On the subject of working dog ancestry, Mastiffs were used by the Romans to fight lions. Should that be brought back too?

I agree that some owners are irresponsible with their dogs. The neighbors next to my parent's house have a yard infested with yappy Poodles that fit between the bars of their fence. I sometimes see them walking the street when I'm over there visiting. Its a quiet street but there are coyotes where they live.

[Dirthawking]

Directed at mydanekimba.

You seem to have a very skewed perception of hunting by the read of your posts. By any chance are you anti hunting?

[NavyWife]

There is a whole lot of that going on in India. I don't know of any in the US but there is plenty in the East. There is an "association" that still actively hunts wild boar with their Danes, morbid curiosity got ahold of me so I went and checked it out. I wanted to puke. Hunting dogs in the US are typically trained to retrieve animals,flush them, etc but normally not taught to physically kill them, these dogs were trained to intentionally and specifically kill the animals they hunt and it made me sick to my stomache.

ETA- also wanted to mention that I don't think they took the rest of the boar home but I can't say that with any certainty

[mydanekimba]

Directed at mydanekimba.

You seem to have a very skewed perception of hunting by the read of your posts. By any chance are you anti hunting?

No, I am not. I am quite the sportsman but fishing is more to my liking. I used to fish professional mako shark tournaments. Sometimes the OLN channel airs them. I haven't fished them in a couple of years but I was a judge in last year's and will probably get called again this year. I am not anti-sportsman. I just don't like the idea of a Dane fighting to the death with another animal. If the dog is used for tracking or cornering the boar, I don't have any problem with that.

[chp]

I just don't like the idea of a Dane fighting to the death with another animal.

That's just another form of dog fighting - not hunting.

[ouesi]

A boar's tusks will do a lot more damage than a "boo-boo."

You haven't seen what my dogs get for boo boo's
But no, seriously of course its very different, which is why I said in that post "obviously not quite like boar hunting".

On the subject of working dog ancestry, Mastiffs were used by the Romans to fight lions. Should that be brought back too?

I have no problem at all with a dog doing what he has been trained to do. As long as the hunting is done responsibly and proper safety precautions are taken.
Letting a dog fight a boar to the death is not responsible hunting IMO. Nor is turning a mastiff loose on a cougar. That's not how the hunting was done then, nor do responsible hunters hunt like that now.

I grew up with a Rhodesian Ridgeback, the "african lion dog", one of their jobs was - you guessed it - to hunt lions. They are large but very agile dogs who are also smart enough to get out of the way of the claws while still holding the lion at bay.

I am not a hunter, nor do I enjoy seeing animals being shot or killed, but I am a dog lover, and watching a dog's joy in doing a job he has been bred and trained to do well, is a thing of beauty.

And guess what? Most of those "jobs" involve a good dose of danger - whether it be a Neufie jumping out of a helicopter to save a hypothermic fisheman, to a border collie herding a wayward ram on the highlands, to a K9 chasing down a potentially armed criminal.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't care if dogs get hurt! I do, very much! But I guess I see it from a different angle. I think sometimes we get so caught up in the "petness", the domesticity of our pets, that we forget that they are also dogs who need to feel fulfilled as canines. And for most dogs that fullfillment won't come from snoozing on a safe sofa. Its gonna involve some danger of some sort.

[mydanekimba]

You haven't seen what my dogs get for boo boo's
But no, seriously of course its very different, which is why I said in that post "obviously not quite like boar hunting".



I have no problem at all with a dog doing what he has been trained to do. As long as the hunting is done responsibly and proper safety precautions are taken.
Letting a dog fight a boar to the death is not responsible hunting IMO. Nor is turning a mastiff loose on a cougar. That's not how the hunting was done then, nor do responsible hunters hunt like that now.

I grew up with a Rhodesian Ridgeback, the "african lion dog", one of their jobs was - you guessed it - to hunt lions. They are large but very agile dogs who are also smart enough to get out of the way of the claws while still holding the lion at bay.

I am not a hunter, nor do I enjoy seeing animals being shot or killed, but I am a dog lover, and watching a dog's joy in doing a job he has been bred and trained to do well, is a thing of beauty.

And guess what? Most of those "jobs" involve a good dose of danger - whether it be a Neufie jumping out of a helicopter to save a hypothermic fisheman, to a border collie herding a wayward ram on the highlands, to a K9 chasing down a potentially armed criminal.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't care if dogs get hurt! I do, very much! But I guess I see it from a different angle. I think sometimes we get so caught up in the "petness", the domesticity of our pets, that we forget that they are also dogs who need to feel fulfilled as canines. And for most dogs that fullfillment won't come from snoozing on a safe sofa. Its gonna involve some danger of some sort.

I like you because you have an intelligent answer for most topics.

I get in over my head sometimes with my envolvement in these topics that are irrelevant anyways, at least for me. Kimba hunt a boar? Yeah, if a boar can be subdued with slobber!

[angeldane]

The neighbors next to my parent's house have a yard infested with yappy Poodles

poodle infestation

[Dirthawking]

poodle infestation

That is what happens when it rains cats and dogs. Just make sure you do not step in a poodle.

(Sorry, kiddie humor snuck out on me)

[chp]

Awesome post ouesi!

[angelartone]

I think alot of the statments and the answer to your question depends on the time and place. Back then, when danes started, they served a very specific job and did it well. Then it was needed. They were not trained to kill the boar. They were trained to corner and trap. The slaughter was up to the trainer/ humans. The idea back then was food. To train a dane to hunt boar now would be a lot less needed and more sport for sure. So i kinda feel time and place. Your question was reputable breeder breeding for hunting still. Answer i doubt it highly. Now it is more for show and maintaining breed integrity.

[BigLittleSmall]

A dog doesn't have to be aggressive to be protective.

Exactly.

My Smiley (only 60lbs) wouldn't hurt a flea that was biting her .. but when someone knocks on the door .. I'm pretty sure they think twice before trying to open the door (unless they know her), a lot of people won't even come up the stairs all the way, if they can see her through the glass door.

She's a doberman and when people see certain dogs .. there is something in their brain that says, "hey, wait .. this might not be such a good idea" and usually .. they don't proceed.

Seeing a dane (or hearing) barking behind a closed front door is probably enough to deter most intruders (unless, of course, that intruder is someone tha thas met your dog before and knows the animal isn't aggressive).

As for a hunting dog...I see no problems with owning a hunting dog either (many do! - labs, anyone?). In fact...Scarlett would make a GREAT hunting dog, but unfortunately for her, she lives in the city and I only allow her to play out fantasies of catching cats and squirrels in her head.

Bain has become quite the master hunter lately. He's tracked, dug up, and caught 4 moles in the last week. Heck, last night he caught & killed a frog and decided that throwing it in the air (cartwheeling) for 15 minutes was awesome business (eww).

[Meatos]

Exactly.

My Smiley (only 60lbs) wouldn't hurt a flea that was biting her .. but when someone knocks on the door .. I'm pretty sure they think twice before trying to open the door (unless they know her), a lot of people won't even come up the stairs all the way, if they can see her through the glass door.

She's a doberman and when people see certain dogs .. there is something in their brain that says, "hey, wait .. this might not be such a good idea" and usually .. they don't proceed.

Seeing a dane (or hearing) barking behind a closed front door is probably enough to deter most intruders (unless, of course, that intruder is someone tha thas met your dog before and knows the animal isn't aggressive).



Bain has become quite the master hunter lately. He's tracked, dug up, and caught 4 moles in the last week. Heck, last night he caught & killed a frog and decided that throwing it in the air (cartwheeling) for 15 minutes was awesome business (eww).

LOL! I am imagining that poor frog cartwheeling through the air and Bain thinking "DUDE. This is the greatest toy EVER!"