Is it cruel to have working dogs?

[williesandwonkas]

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.

Agreed, Bertrand. And a dog that has never lived as a pet would need very specific rehoming conditions.

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?

I do live a life like that.

Will you be expecting to be PTS when you retire?

Animals are not people.

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

Not sure if you are referring to me here but the dog in question wasn't at the end of it's working life, it was at the very start. If you saw what fatal damage it did to a fully grown, aggressive ram under the supervision of two extremely experienced stockmen/ sheepdog owners you would never let it near a child or another dog and certainly not livestock. That's 1 dog out if maybe 15 in a 20 year period.

Sometimes the kind thing to do isn't the nice thing to do.

Not sure if you are referring to me

Nope.

Iv not read the full thread.

My only experience is the dairy farm my dad worked at but those dogs were absolutely loved and very happy!

Once the older one Jess "retired" she just lounged about the farm but helped out when she fancied and basically had the run of anywhere she wanted (mostly), you would quite often find her looking after the very young calfs or telling the younger dog to work harder or saying to her well in my day we didn't do it like that I can tell you that

I was quite disappointed when I was older and discovered that most pet dogs weren't like working dogs and seemed quite boring because up until then I'd only really experienced working dogs.

Farm dogs don't need to be walked. On my friends farm the dogs were left to live out their lives with the other dogs, they just didn't work during the day but could still tag along when they felt like it. Not that bad really.

And I just know someone is going to take umbrage with the dogs being chained. In a farming community, you just can't have collies on the loose. The chain allows them to wander in and out of their little shed. They're usually too knackered after a days work anyway.

More important than that is that they can't wander and attack sheep etc.
You couldn't keep a working dog indoors. It just wouldn't know what its job was. As it is, they have and need only one master. They don't even like me. They'll settle when my Dad is there telling them 'to heel' etc., but if he wasn't there, they couldn't be let out.

Will you be expecting to be PTS when you retire?

Big difference in that bertrand will be able to occupy herself, stimulate her brain and keep herself active without going batshit crazy and possibly trying to heard some children across a road. Working dogs have no concept of retiring. They slow down, their bodies tire and their senses get less effective, but their instincts are still strong and they don’t understand why they can’t go and do what they’ve always done. It isn’t always a happy retirement for working dogs.

assistance cats
🤣
Oh do come on!
I love cats, and while I agree with the fact that they can lower your blood pressure purely by being gorgeous how on earth can a cat be an ‘assistant ‘ in any way?
Cats really do not fucking care
They are untrainable because they do not fucking care
What’s in it for them?
The love of a cat feels very special because
They do not fucking care
I am a huge cat lover but I know that should I die and be undiscovered my cat would eat me.
Why?
Because they do not fucking care

“Will you be expecting to be PTS when you retire?”

No. But I will understand why I can’t do the things I used to love doing, and will be able to find other things to compensate. I will not spend all my time worried and confused about why I am not doing what I used to do with the people I loved. Ans if I am physically slower and in pain I can understand why.. and not just suffer in the now. And I have the understanding of life and death to know that death is coming and be frightened by the concept. Because I am a human, not a dog.

I'm a vegetarian from the animal rights side. I think working the type of dogs that are bred for it and doing it well is the right thing to do. It's cruel to keep a working dog without stimulation and space.

Can someone explain why working dogs don't generally live inside with their owners They're partial to delicacies like lamb afterbirth so generally stink. They're loved like any other dog though. Even more so since we're grateful for the job they do.

Animals are not people.

And? Just because you are finished using them for what you need doesn't mean they should be killed.
That's what happens to race horses and greyhounds, both working animals but people go wild when they hear that.
I have absolutely no problem with working animals though. I don't think it's cruel if the animals are treated well.

Greebor, cats care about eating, though, which is why farm cats’ job is using their natural hunting instincts to live off mice and rats in barns/outhouses.

No. But I will understand why I can’t do the things I used to love doing, and will be able to find other things to compensate. I will not spend all my time worried and confused about why I am not doing what I used to do with the people I loved. Ans if I am physically slower and in pain I can understand why.. and not just suffer in the now. And I have the understanding of life and death to know that death is coming and be frightened by the concept. Because I am a human, not a dog
Well the retired farm dogs I've seen weren't confused or in pain, and if it did get to the point they were I'll or in pain then they were PTS. Why put a healthy animal down just because they are old?

trying to heard some children across a road.

Where will they come across all these children to heard on a farm?

Cats Protection and Battersea both actively seek out homes for working cats on farms, smallholdings, stables etc. Some are ex-farm cats, others are ferals and strays who aren't interested in hanging out with humans and often show hunting behaviour. They need food and shelter (e.g. a barn) and that's all, they're not meant to be pets.

Our working dogs in their latter years have trained in the new pups.

And?

I’ll leave wider discussion of animal welfare and ‘rights’ alone. This isn’t the thread for it. It’s enough to say that people who treat animals as if they were non-speaking humans create a fuck-ton of misery for animals, however good their intentions.

That's just amazing, I had no idea of the canine retirement schemes on the farms 😊
sounds pretty scary about the dog that attacked the ram and had to be put down 😮

The only dog we ever had put down was our pet dog (the black labrador gundog) as he had cancer.

*she, not he

“Why put a healthy animal down just because they are old?“

Because their life is not as good as it was, and they don’t understand why not.

Where will they come across all these children to heard on a farm?

Are farmers all infertile?