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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Is it cruel to have working dogs?

171 replies

williesandwonkas · 21/04/2019 23:01

I have name changed as I know how people get about animals and I have also seen a thread about dog walking which has provoked this question.

We own a massive sheep farm and have 7 dogs that work alongside us. These are pure working dogs. We do not consider them pets but, they are obviously treated very very well (best vet/best food). From the second we get up in the morning they are expected to work. Like any asset and the way of the farming life stipulates that if they don't and don't provide a benefit they need to be replaced.

I wonder how people perceive working animals compared to pet dogs? Our only friends are farming friends and seeing other people with pet dogs raises questions as to what people think about our situation.

OP posts:

k1233 · 21/04/2019 23:33

I hate seeing working breeds go bonkers in suburban yards. They're bred to run and work, not live on an, at most, 1/4 acre block. No amount of walks will replace a full day running and working.

Working dogs are treated differently to their pampered cousins. But if they get the attention they need, why is that bad? Particularly as they get the mental and physical stimulation they need. Much better to work and live outside, than be loved to death, be left alone 8hrs a day with no mental stimulation and lucky to get an hour walk.

Sunlov · 21/04/2019 23:34

We've always had working dogs but they lived on the farm ie my grandmother's house (outside).

At home we had a black labrador as a gun dog who was apparently brilliant.
I then got a cocker spaniel for my birthday with the aim by my Dad of him being a gun dog. Dog ran home to me the first time the gun went off haha.

None of our dogs have ever lived inside.

Scrowy · 21/04/2019 23:36

This is a wonderful thread full farmer's musings and pictures of their farm dogs if anyone had any doubts

thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/the-farm-dog.170/

It's very long

Sunlov · 21/04/2019 23:36

My DM has lapdogs now though who sleep inside (my parents are separated).

scaryteacher · 21/04/2019 23:36

Sorry, meant to add, it's great to see working dogs in action. As long as they get a comfortable retirement when they are too old to work, and not just put down (and the OP says that doesn't happen) then it's fine.

A working dog would include assistance dogs as well I suppose; drug and explosive sniffer dogs too.

goodwinter · 21/04/2019 23:37

Can someone explain why working dogs don't generally live inside with their owners?

PickAChew · 21/04/2019 23:37

Surely dogs became domesticated by working for people? For animals that haven't had those working instincts bred out of them it must be cruel not to give them the mental stimulation they thrive on.

BertrandRussell · 21/04/2019 23:39

I also don’t see a problem with a dog being PTS at the end of it’s working life, but I might be expressing a minority view here.....

MitziK · 21/04/2019 23:40

Some cats 'work' all the time outside, some 'work' by being decorative and some 'work' by occasionally attempting to offset their expenses with the odd mangled mouse. If they're happy, they're happy. Usually this involves some combination of sunshine, a comfortable surface to sleep on and something to kill, whether it's a nest of baby mice, a bunch of toys or an entire barn's worth of rodents.

I've seen too many working breeds of dogs, especially Collies, driven absolutely batshit crazy by being expected to live the life of a Pekinese, owned by people in their eighties and never walking further than from the back door to the end of the garden or the front door to the car where they will be shut in it until the GP appointment is over before coming back again. If they are mentally and physically stimulated, they are perfectly happy as pets, hence things such as agility and flyball. The current trend for Huskies is awful in my opinion, because they have such a need to be active (and they aren't great in warm weather), but the people who get them aren't necessarily the ones who will make the effort to replicate what they need to thrive.

It's not cruel to have working dogs. It's not cruel to have 'working' - or should I say 'slightly more functional than the average' - cats.

Sunlov · 21/04/2019 23:41

@Scrowy I'm chuckling to myself at this

'This is pup, he was meant to be sold as a puppy so we never named him and hes now 11'

We had Mamma puss and Baba puss. We had great imaginations.

Sunlov · 21/04/2019 23:42

Can someone explain why working dogs don't generally live inside with their owners?

Because they are working dogs, not pets?

ILoveMaxiBondi · 21/04/2019 23:44

I also don’t see a problem with a dog being PTS at the end of it’s working life, but I might be expressing a minority view here.

I don’t either. Dogs have no concept of death. It’s not a cruel thing or a punishment like it would be for a human who is conscious of what is happening.

Scrowy · 21/04/2019 23:45

Can someone explain why working dogs don't generally live inside with their owners

They stink - worse than your average dog.
They are essentially your employee. If you lived with your boss you would probably be a bit over familiar after a while and think the normal work rules didn't apply to you because you are mates with the boss and/ or their partner and kids. Same applies to working dogs
They really, really stink, plus are really dirty.
Collies wreck stuff for fun.
They really smell.

Hearhere · 21/04/2019 23:45

I agree your dogs have obviously definitely got the best of all world's
🐶🐾🐩🐕

Greeborising · 21/04/2019 23:45

Show me a ‘working cat’ and I’ll show you a cat that has found some humans to do it’s bidding.

Butchyrestingface · 21/04/2019 23:46

Are you talking about border collies, OP? What’s the expression -

no sheep, no collie?

Putting a dog to sleep at the end of its working life rather than at least attempt to rehome it, as per PP, is horrible though.

Hearhere · 21/04/2019 23:47

I wonder if psychologically it's healthier all round for The dog and the owner if the dog is your 'employee'?

Hearhere · 21/04/2019 23:49

I reckon there must be some assistance cats, after all they do ultimately know what side their bread is buttered on surely?

KissingInTheRain · 21/04/2019 23:50

TBH I don’t see anything cruel about any animal being humanely put down at any stage of its life. It’s much more important to give animals a decent life than to keep them alive for the sake of it.

BertrandRussell · 21/04/2019 23:50

“Putting a dog to sleep at the end of its working life rather than at least attempt to rehome it, as per PP, is horrible though.”

Why? Imagine a life of purpose, doing a job, running miles- then a couple of walks a day and hours of boredom. Why would you want a life like that?

Sunlov · 21/04/2019 23:51

To my Dad, I think he's the gaffer and the dogs are the labourers.
Honestly, he cares more about the dogs than he does about me!
The dogs wouldn't come inside anyway as they're outdoor doggies. They get so excited when they hear the jeep coming up the road. Bounce around like lunatics until he lets them off the chain (yes) and they bounce up and down like over-excited toddlers beside him while they go down the fields.

bumblebee1987 · 21/04/2019 23:52

Absolutely not! I meet a lot of working dogs through my job, and it always strikes me how happy and lucky they are. I say this as someone who has two pet dogs who are treated like children I am genuinely in awe of working dogs and what they can do, and I think it is amazing for them to be able to fulfill their purpose and do what they were designed to do. My only criteria are that they are well cared for, well respected, and not just thrown on the scrap heap when they are no longer useful, I believe they are entitled to a comfortable retirement (and I don't mean that they should suddenly be brought inside and treated like pets if that's not what they are used to, as this would probably be confusing for them!). I genuinely believe it's a nice, exciting life for them!

BertrandRussell · 21/04/2019 23:52

“I reckon there must be some assistance cats”

Well, for people who have trouble finding the warmest, sunniest spot to sleep an assistance cat would be perfect.......

LilQueenie · 21/04/2019 23:53

working dogs are trained for the job and if they don't make the grade based on the individual dog then they go to homes as pets. At least when it comes to guide/police/working dogs that I've seen.

Drogosnextwife · 21/04/2019 23:54

I also don’t see a problem with a dog being PTS at the end of it’s working life, but I might be expressing a minority view here.....

Will you be expecting to be PTS when you retire?

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