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Subject: ANOTHER - "What goes through the mind"

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Doc_E
N.E. WA state

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01/11/2006 7:59 AM	Alert
I have always wondered what goes through the mind of a dog when a gun goes BOOM and a bird falls from the sky. Dog's don't have a clue what a gun is. In time, they do come to realize that it makes a loud noise and sometimes birds fall out of the sky when the gun goes BOOM, but they don't understand mechanical things, they don't understand the explosion of gunpowder they don't understand that projectiles come out of the barrel that hit the birds and makes them fall. They do understand that the gun is a vital part of hunting, but I'm sure they don't know why. I'm sure they wonder why sometimes the gun goes BOOM and birds don't fall out of the sky. I wonder what dogs think guns do -- or do the dogs even care

Doc E and Cujo Casey boy.

bubulkaj Moderator
Blue Springs, Missouri

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01/11/2006 8:46 AM	Alert
Doc, One thing I do know for sure is that they do realize that if I set the gun out the night before that we are going to go hunting in the morning. Both my Gordon and my Lab go nuts as soon as I bring the guns out and they are up and bouncing around trying to get out the door as soon as I get out of bed in the morning. I also know that if you want to get a dog excited just shoot a gun in the air. There have been days hunting wild quail in Missouri (birds are few and far between now a days) that the dogs start getting extremely bored. I dont blame them, we have hunted for hours with out seeing a bird and they lose some of that enthusiasm that they started out with. This may sound silly but I have used the technique of shooting up in the air at nothing to get the dogs motivated again. It has worked great for me. Both the dogs get a little more spunk and stay motivated to finish out the day. (It also works good as a tool to get a wayward running dog back in to your general area when all else fails. Not that any of my dogs would do that of course, but I have hunted with some that did! ) Joe

2Blackdogs!
Kansas City Area - GO CHIEFS !!!

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01/11/2006 9:06 AM	Alert
I wonder what dogs think guns do -- or do the dogs even care They sure do relate the guns to the hunt! As soon as I open that safe and get one out he is glued to me literally standing on my foot to be sure he is going! If I set it down on the floor he may even lay accross it. As the pile of equipment grows by the front door he will station himself there. Now if he knew the difference between a shotgun and rifle it would save him alot of frustration during deer season! Even the smell of this stuff gets a rise. I used to shoot a lot of clays and would save those AA Hulls and sell them on ebay. I had 1000 hulls 10 bags of 100 all ready to go stashed in a box. Bone head found them in the upstairs room and brought each bag down and obviuosly swung them around ripping the bags and shells flying everywhere. When I got home from work they were scattered all over the house in the living room dining room kitchen and hallways up on furniture and bookshelves and countertops-just everywhere. He was sitting in the middle of the mess in the living room just wagging his tail. Why I did not take a picture i will never know-it would have been priceless. He was so happy i just could not even get mad. What goes thru their mind? Maybe more then we give them credit for!

KwickLabs
Roscoe, IL

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01/11/2006 10:51 AM	Alert
Since we are talking about the dog's brain, It might be a good idea to get cerebral about what happens. You have to admit not all dogs react to a gun in a positive manner. Tucked away in that grey matter are memories of "things" that happend when a gun went off. Adrenalin is a rush which deepens memory and the end result is that an active hunting dog has some seriously ingrained, fond memories. Just the sight of a gun is kind of Pavlovian, but when the gun is shot, it becomes a loud Pavlovian bell. The gunshot is a stimulus which produces cerebral responses. For example you are sitting here at the computer trying to figure out whether this post is "out in left field" (or not) and how to politely humor the poster, but while you are thinking....here's a shot in the dark, "When was the last time you doubled while pass shooting blue wing teal (or anything else)?." See? Just my comment (stimulus) brought up "fond memories" and got your "tail wagging", and you're not even a dog.

Jim Boyer www.kwicklabs.com Home of: MPR UH HRCH Kwick Taffey of Joemac's MH Kwick Kooly Dew It Allstar SH Kwick Daisy's Spirit Keeper SH Kwick Draw McGraw ("Dustbucket" II) ---------------------------------- "Excellence is Expected"

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