Gun Dog Forum

hello everyone i have a 9 month old gordon and 3 horses i am verry reluctant to let her around them. i am afraid of her getting hurt. she is not aware of them as much as the herding dogs are. can any one give any suggestions?
please and thank you!

my experience is that dogs tend to be alot more aware of them, than we like to believe. The horses will teach the dogs as much as they need to know. Every dog Ive ever owned been kicked at least once. they learn pretty quick which end is the business end and which horses they need to tip toe around.

Jim

Walks on a cc?

Thank you! one of my geldings is testy and is sly about little aminals he has picked up several cats and tries it with dogs as well. sorry whats cc?

Not all horses can be trusted around dogs. Only takes a second for disaster to happen. Horses that have been worked with stock dogs seem to learn bad habits for bird dogs.

I start out just introducing them thru a fence daily, if the dog is calm then i find most horses I've dealt with have little issue with the dogs and visa versa.

That said i would take what Tnred says as good advice ! His experience far far exceeds mine ....

I probably wouldn't have a horse here that I had to worry about when it comes to dogs. I can't make mine run over a dog. Believe me I've tried.

CC is a 'check cord' - long rope (generally 15' to 30') w. snap used for training/roading dogs

Introduce them through a fence at first, then up close and personal with both the dog and the horse on leads. Most likely you will find that the bird dog isn't very interested after the the initial sniffs. But the dog needs to be taught to have respect for the horse, so correct any barking, attempts at nipping etc.

If these are the same horses you intend to use at trials, you need to make sure they are tolerant of dogs. The trial environment presents many opportunities for trouble if your horses don't tolerate dogs, and aa good part of those involve other peoples' dogs. So if you haven't already, start getting the horses dog broke. They need to learn to allow dogs around their legs, to run under them, to allow you to have the dog on lead ( that would be a cc or check cord) from horseback, and any other sort of contact you can think of. Your horses should be able to behave around dogs as they stand tied as well as under saddle.

It doesn't take long to get everyone on the same page, and it's pretty much common sense. Kind of like sacking them out. Just make sure everyone is under control at first and ramp it up step by step.

I think the difference between a horse that you can ride at trials and a good dog horse is the horse you can ride simply tolerates dogs and the good dog horse is helping you handle them. Trials aren't for every horse.

Saddle wrote:I probably wouldn't have a horse here that I had to worry about when it comes to dogs. I can't make mine run over a dog. Believe me I've tried.

I literally laughed out loud.