Anyone else have a dog that’s rubbish at doing what they were bred for?

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

I have a Border Terrier, and she is utterly rubbish at Terrier-ing :o I took her to some woods today that we’d never been to before and there were Squirrels everywhere you looked, there were loads and my daft dog only spotted ONE, during our whole 90 minute walk, and she trotted towards it with a definite air of half arsed curiosity before deciding that the smells were far more interesting than the small, furry, bushy tailed thing that was bounding around :o

She doesn’t bother with the Wood Pigeons that seem to have taken up permanent residence on our lawn either. Yet when we adopted her, the rescue told us she was Definitely Not cat/small furry friendly But she’s Squirrel friendly it seems? At least we’ll be okay should we ever decide to get one as a pet :o

Anyone else have a dog that’s rubbish at doing what they were bred to do?

Another golden retriever who can't retrieve! We now only throw sticks for her on walks after getting fed up of having to go get the tennis ball ourselves. So now we throw a stick, she runs after it, picks it up (can't catch at all) and promptly lays down to eat it. She shits a lot of wood. Idiot dog.

Parents have a husky who will press herself up as close as possible to any radiator / fire when it’s on. Will also find the sunniest place in the garden / house to lay. It’s like her fur is broken 🙈

I have a german Shepherd who would invite anyone in for a cup of tea and a kiss

Technically not the original purpose of the breed but the most common one now!

I have a basset hound - a scent hound that is bred to hunt. Allegedly they are notorious for not being off lead as they lock on to a scent and diligently track for hours and are so stubborn they can't be stopped. I hear countless tales of people who had one once and it just used to take off and not been seen again for hours.

Thankfully ours does nothing like this and I can happily walk her for miles in open spaces and she never really leaves my side. She's never been interested in chasing anything or hunting. I think she just can't be arsed to be honest! Chasing anything would take up far too much energy that she doesn't want to bother expending..

Haha, I actually laughed out loud that this was about a border terrier! My first (male) BT is a complete wimp. Doesn't chase anything other than to say hi (actually played with a spider once then let it go on its merry way), seems oblivious to deer/squirrels etc when we're out and seems wouldn't think to go to any effort to escape. Unfortunately this gave us the false sense that all BTs would be similar to got him a pal (girl) and let's just say she bring hers and his terrier quota to the mix! And she's teaching him all her terrier habits that he hasn't thought of 🤦‍♀️

I have a labrador 'retriever'. He watches tennis balls, sticks, anything thrown his way, go straight past him. We go to the park and throw things to each other whilst he lies on the grass and sunbathes.

Our Labrador must be one of the laziest creatures on the planet. She has zero interest in going out for walks, and when we do go out and I take her off-lead she usually just turns round and starts heading for home! She is scared of most other dogs, especially greyhounds; terrified of pigeons; and doesn’t like any type of weather, especially when it’s windy. She’d stay in bed or cuddling up to us all day every day if she could. Lazy mare!

I have a lab who I think goes against the stereotype. Never eats shit, never rolls in anything dead, steps round puddles and watches pheasants with mild curiousity. Still at least he doesn’t chase them.

I have a fox terrier who's totally useless. Point him straight at a squirrel + he'll see it but then run completely the wrong way. He doesn't notice cats until they are 2ft away. He'll chase a rat until it stops moving. Then he just ignores it.

He only runs clockwise. We met a collie once who only ran anti-clockwise + they spent the whole time running into each other!

I should add that he must be the only dog who hides under the table when you say "walkies"

Luckingfovely nearly fell off my chair laughing!

My whippet is a very energetic young chap that loves to run so I thought I’d give lure coursing a go. I had a picture in my mind of him galloping after the lure and that’s exactly what my two friends’ whippets did despite them never having lure coursed before. My daft dog did run in the general direction of the lure for about 20 metres then came straight back to me. I did at least get some lovely photos of him in full flight from the photographer there ...

After a near miss with a free flying parrot when PestDog was tucked under my arm (note to parrots: close passes of wriggling terriers are not recommended) I'm starting to feel mildly jealous of you all

He hasn't caught anything yet but a blackbird came perilously close the other day.

MrsMuddlepluck i think we have the same fox terrier! He can be sat beside a squirrel and not see it, if I shout squirrel he is off in a different direction. Caught a mouse once, held it in his mouth then let it go and it scampered off. Although he can sniff out a fox though and doesn't get lost chasing those....so I suppose he is good at what he is bred for! Although fairly sure if he met a fox he would run in the other direction.

I have a Brittany. Gun dog, supposed to be specifically good at bird hunting.

A bird came down our chimney once. He picked it up, ran round aimlessly in circles, dropped it and then ran round in a panic while t flapped about the living room.

I have a lab csmes from a ground keeper so bred to wOrk

He hates anything resembling gun shotsNot a roller or shit eater

St Bernard. Can't stand snow, won't go out in it unless absolutely necessary. Rescue breed my arse.

My staffy is like a great big baby, gets beaten up by the cat and comes whimpering up to you trying to get on your lap. Have to kick him out the house for a walk and he’s the laziest, most gentle creature I’ve ever known. So much for being a vicious fighting dog

I have a Border Collie. She wants nothing to do with sheep, doesn't "do" fetch, doesn't see the point of agility, won't go out in the rain, snow, cold, too warm... I think I was lied to when we got her.

We had retrievers, spaniels etc growing up and the only animal who played fetch was the cat!

I had a lurcher with no prey drive whatsoever, scared of cats, squirrels and foxes. Also most pukey dog in existence, with bad separation anxiety. Loved him to bits.

We have two greyhounds . Sighthounds , bred to chase anything small that runs . One , is absolutely typical .

The other lost in an encounter with a hedgehog . And cried whilst asking to be rescued having been backed into a hedge by the barky spiny monster that was all of four inches high . And then had to lay down for the next 23 hours to get over it ..

Our lurcher doesn't chase anything except from a football. He tries to be friends with the cat, unfortunately the cat is not so enthusiastic about the relationship

A springer spaniel that is scared of feathers!!

Two poodles; if you look at the history of the breed they are water retrievers. Both hate water and have never even brought a ball back.

If you throw a ball they both rush to where it lands, look at it and walk away. Thankfully the pug will then retrieve it.