Does anyone else have a dog with no concern for their own personal safety?

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

Took Jas to the park. He ran about doing normal, doggy things and then randomly tried to scale a wall. He managed to cock it up, and crash in to the top of the wall with his chest and face plant on top of it. He now has grazes all over his chest, chin, and back legs. He keeps showing me his sore leg as if to say 'WTF?! Did you do this?!' This sort of thing is a fairly regular occurence, btw. He is permanently covered in scabs where he has dived through hedges or barbed wire, and on one memorable occassion he sliced most of his pad off on broken glass but still kept running. Is it a spaniel thing?

[ISplashPuddles]

yep. I have a spaniel. thick as shit, but i love him

[gymmummy64]

There's a lot of leaping before looking over here too. We were on the Cornish coast recently (cliffy) and Gymdog was not let off the lead once. Far too risky.

Going after foxes is a worry. Fox runs seem to be in thick spiky brambley areas and Gymdog is bigger than a fox... Plus what on earth would happen if he managed to corner one? Doesn't bear thinking about but certainly doesn't deter him. I'm forever picking spines out of him.

Fast flowing rivers are another worry.. It's a minefield out there!

[ISplashPuddles]

DH had a right moan at me for 'being stupid' and not letting our spaniels off on a coastal walk. he just didnt get that i wasnt stupid but spaniel bollocks is and he would be off. - especially if he saw the sea!

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

God, yes. No way could I let my spaniel off near a cliff. He'd chase a bird, or a leaf... He chased a cat up a tree yesterday, but can't work out 'up'. To him, the cat just disappeared. He ran around and around the tree, sniffing, then crying. The cat watched him from its branch with scorn.

I am always pulling thorns out of random spaniel parts here, too.

[ISplashPuddles]

mine REALLY wants to play with my cat, just like biting and stuff, but doesnt like the end with teeth. He is obsessed with the cats arse. He will chase cats ( not mine tho because he is a psycho) but only if my other dog chases them also.

like wise with horses, on his own he doesnt give a hoot ( in fact he pays so little attention he actually run INTO a horse because he wasnt looking) but with my other dog they both want to eat horses!

[gymmummy64]

Chatting to English Heritage guy at Tintagel Castle (v v v cliffy) he said that a number of dogs were lost every year because owners didn't keep them on leads

My youngest daughter used to walk off the edges of play equipment when she was small, just assuming I would be there to catch her. Gymdog isn't a lot different really

[ISplashPuddles]

really gummy? thats horrible!

People just dont think do they? my DH doesnt.

[aliciaflorrick]

My spaniel once chased a squirrel over 6 feet up a tree and got stuck. We had to call the fire brigade to get her down.

Current dog is incredibly stupid, he can't be let off the lead at all because he runs around like a nut case and chases anything that moves, including the last time he escaped a very fast moving lorry.

[TwelveLeggedWalk]

Giant pup ran off the edge of a really rather tall seawall not long ago. We peered over the edge fully expecting dead or at least rather shaken dog. Nope, he retrieved the ball which had rolled off, brought it up the steps, demanded we throw it again!

[digerd]

Only one of my little dogs couldn't resist attacking an aggressive hedgehog which frequented our garden. She got the worst of it always - spines sticking in her lips and bleeding < plus its flees jumping all over her head>

The hedgehog was stupid too, as I put my oven gloves on and picked it up with it kicking, hissing and growling and squirming aggressively and put it over the wire fence onto the dyke.

It immediately turned round and barged back into the garden! < frustrated face>

[digerd]

I also had a young male dog who picked up a toad into his mouth.

He spat it out and then vomitted lots of horrible white GLUE type stuff, which stuck to the rag and couldn't be rinsed out. I was very worried, but thought that'll teach him not to do it again. He did do it again!!

[littlewhitebag]

My pup is stupid too. Will crash through anything on her quest to chase a squirrel (or fox or deer). She is only 10 months and she a already a well known face at the vets as we get yet another set of injuries cleaned and looked at.

Strangely though she is very wary round deep water after the time she accidentally plunged into a deepish pool. There are endless hours of fun to be had throwing sticks into deepish (but safe) pools and watching her dance round the edge trying to figure out how to get them without going in.

[digerd]

oops
'vomited'

[mcmooncup]

I'm a new dog owner and astounded by the total mentalness of him.

I do, however, want to live his life. It's epic.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

Oh, yes. You can't knock their enthusiasm. It is hard not to smile at a bonkers spaniel trying to drag an entire tree out of a pond so you can throw it for him.

[FloatyBeatie]

While chasing a feral cat my dog ran off a high wall that held in an embankment. He and the cat both flew an incredible distance and landed in a road. Lent a new truth to the expression "raining cats and dogs."

[FloatyBeatie]

He was young then, though. He is quite sensible on cliff edges now -- though I wouldn't trust to his common sense in those situations as much as I trust to a lead.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

I see people wandering around our town with elderly staffs/labs/greys off lead, and the dogs just amble along next to their owner sniffing things. MY dog would cause a multiple pile up and kill himself inside two minutes. It's a lead all the way for us.

[gymmummy64]

Now Gymdog is offlead, squirrels are going to be interesting. I think the biggest danger will be not the dismemberment of squirrels, but Gymdog running into a tree..

Talking of squirrels, when are they out and about again? We're in London (v squirrely) and I've not seen a single one yet this year

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

We've seen squirrels here in the midlands since Christmas. I imagine they were flooded out

[SpicyPear]

I hqve one of these. His motto seems to "live fast, die young, leave a furry looking corpse". No more terriers for me (until the next one...)

[cathpip]

I have a spaniel who also answers to twat, his new fave game is to jump barbed wire fences, a lot. I spent last night cleaning and dabbing disinfectant on his under carriage willy and balls. As I said he answers to twat......

[needastrongone]

You need to ask me this?

Spaniel (of course)

Fallen into deep lake twice from steep banking, currently looking like he will lose an eye or at least eventually go blind due to snaffling around in the undergrowth and getting a thorn stuck in his eyeball.

Age - ancient at 5 months. That's a whole lifetime of stress left for me then

Althugh, friends Vizsla has a huge cut next to her eye chasing a rabbit through bracken while we were out just now!