Gun Dog owners in the city - what are you doing?

780sjc · #1 04-06-2020, 04:53 PM

What are you guys doing to keep your dogs properly exercised now that dog parks are on leash only (at least in Edmonton they are)? I have a 1.5 year old lab that desperately needs his off leash time each day. Neighborhood walks on leash only do so much for him. Problem is I have to drive 45 minutes to find an area to run him where you are not breaking bylaws.

Ideas?

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EZM · #2 04-06-2020, 05:01 PM

Officially, you are doing exactly as what is required by you as a responsible pet owner.

I have, admittedly, snuck my dogs into the ball diamond and kept slinging balls until they were exhausted keeping my eye on other people and people walking dogs in the area so that I could call them over and leash them to avoid any issues.

loopy50 · #3 04-06-2020, 05:45 PM

i have been inline skating with my Large munsterlander for 3 years. about 2 more weeks of warm weather and i can harness her up and have her drag me all over the city. until then ... work their brains. hide stuff in the house and have them find it. break open that gun dog training book thats been gathering dust and drill them. feed less. not burning the calories. any more ideas would be appreciated.

wwbirds · #4 04-06-2020, 08:41 PM

Even before self isolation I have used winter to concentrate on the dogs mental challenges. Some have been mentioned already but I use "go find" or "bird" and hide a training dummy (with wing or scent) as a fun exercise.

First of new year is always time to refresh and fine tune the obedience.
Later in the spring before I can actually start field work I use a city size lot in country to reinforce remote sits and get the baseball diamond exercises going to sharpen up the handling. In my side yard I find 5 "over" lefts and 5 "over" rights and 10 "backs" lots of running. I further reinforce the whistle sit by giving them a whistle sit on the way back to me (about 30 to 50 feet from me) with a dummy. then blow the come in whistle to get them to continue to me.
Get them on the force bench and practice hold and release or actually reinforce the force fetch. Usually all kinds of little things that need tuning up more than they need a long run.
I recently put my 2.5 year old female back on a check cord to do some escape avoidance training on the heel command as well as come because she was a little slow (sloppy) to respond. Best way to not develop bad habits is to correct it before it becomes a problem. she knew heel and come commands but started to think it was OK to "just sniff this interesting grass" first before responding. If you never let them think obedience is an option they never learn they have a choice.

ghostguy6 · #5 04-06-2020, 10:55 PM

I'm in the same boat as the OP. My beagle is going stir crazy despite 2 or 3 on lease walks a day. Hes a social butterfly and the isolation is making him depressed. I think I'm going to have to make a trip out west to take him rabbit hunting so at least he can have a day of fun. Unfortunately I don't know of any crown land close by that hasn't been closed where I can take the dog off leash.

DiabeticKripple · #6 04-06-2020, 11:14 PM

Doggie daycare for my pup.

$25 for the day. Drop him off around 8, pick him up at 5 and he goes straight to sleep in the truck.

32-40win · #7 04-07-2020, 11:27 AM

Can you not find a side road or powerline/pipeline RoW outside of city limits to run a dog on? I shouldn't think you'd have to go too far to find one. Or has the county outside of Edm got some form of restriction?

nimrod · #8 04-09-2020, 07:05 AM

We are lucky to live in the country , for our 4 time daily 1 mile walk, dogs love it, wind is a bit much some days.

Ol’tailywhite · #9 04-10-2020, 02:48 PM

I have found that if you go find a farmers field or even some treed areas. Be nice and straight up about what you wanna do. I ask if it would be okay if I train my bird dog on their property. I have never had anyone turn me down yet. I take a dozen pheasant wings, hide them as best as I can then release my GSP. Works like a charm

EZM · #10 04-11-2020, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ol’tailywhite

I have found that if you go find a farmers field or even some treed areas. Be nice and straight up about what you wanna do. I ask if it would be okay if I train my bird dog on their property. I have never had anyone turn me down yet. I take a dozen pheasant wings, hide them as best as I can then release my GSP. Works like a charm

And you know, this is may be a nice way to eventually get to know the landowner. Bring him a bottle of his favorite next time you visit. Who knows maybe he will let you hunt his property after you get to know him.