Bird Dog vs Wife

[Capt. Matt C 0]

Okay guys here’s the situation. I am the proud owner of a nearly 2 year old German Shorthair. I held her when she was a week and a half old and visited her weekly until I could take her home at 6 weeks. When I picked her up that day she ran to me out her little paws on my shins and never looked back. Since then I trained her myself, countless hours, and she’s finally coming of age in the hunting fields. Now, I just recently got married and my wife does not like my dog. My pup gets jealous when I sit with my wife on the couch. She wines and tries to jump up so I pay more attention to her. This ticks my wife off and she wants me to ship the dog back up north to a friend (which is not going to happen and she knows it). I think it's a funny situation wife vs bird dog. When my wife corrects her she looks at me like, "is this chick serious" then my wife says, "dont look at him!". I get a kick out of this. Any of you have a similar experience? I figure a fellow bird hunter or two could help.

 

- Matt

[Zarabanda Fly 0]

Tough decision!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You either eat hot meals or go bird hunting!!!!!!!!!!! :dunno:

 

One thing's for sure, your bed will keep warm anyway!!!!!!!! :hyst:

 

:yahoo:

[madkasel 0]

Funny situation!

 

Maybe you have to train the dog to respect and put up with the wife, just like you train the dog for hunting and whatever else.

[Peterjay 0]

Sorry Captain, but you brought this on yourself. If you'd taught the dog to cook, you could have avoided marriage altogether.

[zip 0]

Keep the dog-Thats the good thing about dogs-if they run away or something like that,they dont take half your stuff!

[Bud Guidry 0]

that is your dog, that dog will love you unconditionally forever. explain this to your new wife, tell her how you nurtured and cared for it's upbringing and tell her it's a sign of how you may one day care for your children and you could also explain to her that one day that same dog will protect her and the children you may both have together. use the mushy stuff man, she might fall for it, can you make yourself cry? if not find a bottle of visine and give your eyeballs a few squirts before you confront her with your " hurt feelins"

 

Bud

[Capt. Matt C 0]

Bud, that’s funny man. The situation may not be as bad as I made out. My dog loves my wife and my wife would never go through with me giving her away. This post was more of a light hearted one on the "I’m just kidding" side of the spectrum.

 

Peter, now you tell me!!! :wallbash: :j_k:

 

Thanks for the replies fellas.

[Peterjay 0]

All kidding aside Matt, your wife ranks below your dog in the pack as far as the dog is concerned. If your pup is a dominant female, she'll be a lot tougher for your wife to handle than a more submissive dog would be. A quick test: have your wife stand over the dog and stare down into the dog's eyes. If the dog quickly breaks eye contact, the dog is submissive. If the dog stares back, she's probably dominant. (A word of caution - never try this on a strange dog - it's a challenge, and an aggressive dog may respond with an attack) Also, many dominant dogs dislike being touched on top of their heads or being rolled onto their backs. Either way, your dog needs some training and your wife will have to participate if it's to work. Your dog isn't exhibiting jealousy so much as she's trying to hold onto her position in the pack. I've never worked with German shorthairs, but a neighbor of mine had one that was one of the best-trained dogs I've ever seen, so there's probably hope.

[Capt. Matt C 0]

PeterJay, Yea there great dogs. I began training mine at 6 weeks old and it was amazing how fast she learned. I couldn’t agree more with your post and that is exactly the plan of action I've taken since we moved in together. The dog is very well trained, I’m patting myself on the back a little, and I explained the dominance thing to my wife a while ago. The dog listens pretty well to her and submits when challenged either by my wife’s posture or eye contact. It’s funny because the dog looks at me in those situations like, "Are you going to stop this or sit there drinking your beer?" It really isn’t that bad of a situation. Originally the problem lied in that the dog is hyper after a day in her kennel, in addition she becomes bored easily, a sign of an intelligent dog. To cure the boredom we give her chew toys and this also settled her down quite a bit. Addie, the dog, learns fast as she always has. She began her life hunting in P.A all the time and having a place to run every day. Now in FL we both, my dog and I, sit around waiting for quail season and I tie trout flies until we can move back north. I made her an outside kennel dog but now our lease is up and we cannot have kennels in most of the nicer areas. So, I made her a house dog again, I virtually retrained her to live inside and am still working on it. I am excited about the progress. Some great advise in your post and, once again, I agree 100%. Thanks a lot.

 

P.S Richard A. Wolters, Gun Dog is an incredible training book. I started her at 6 weeks old and she came a long very well.

[Undertow 0]

I use to have a cat that didnt get along with an old girlfriend. I would lay on my bed and the cat would jump up and go to lay on me. The girl who wanted to do the same would push her off. The cat would just keep coming back. Finally the cat would get pissed and start hissing. The hair would stand up on her back. Then I had to step in before there was a fight. I also had a dog that use to jump in between me and a different girl when we sat on the couch. The dog would growl at her. I guess its true animals can sense evil.

Undertow

[Trout Bum 68 0]

Well old buddy, you know my opinion on this one. But, If you decide against it, send Addie up here to me, there's lots of ringneck and grouse to keep us busy. By the way, how's the four day weekend going?

[Peterjay 0]

I guess its true animals can sense evil.

Undertow

Undertow, I'm afraid I have to take issue with that. I've got a couple of ex-wives who would make Adolf Hitler look like Mother Teresa, and animals seemed to like both of them. They best thing I can say about those two is that their mothers were even worse.

[maddog48 0]

I have an ex-wife that gave me the ultimatum .. the Lab or her. Notice .. I said ex-wife. :j_k: My ex would have made Atila the Hun look like Mother Theresa. Shorthairs are great dogs. I've seen quite a few of them at field trials with other breeds and around kids and big crowds. They are very intelligent and loyal. My dad went duck hunting when I was a kid. He told me about a duck he shot and his partner sent his Golden after the duck. One dog went out .. two came back. Apparently someone had beaten the second dog .. a shorthair .. and we took it in. It was the most gentle dog I think I had ever been around. He .. Fritz was what we named him .. fit right in and spent quite a few years with us.

 

 

Mike

[Peterjay 0]

Great story Mike. Be careful though - you could wind up like me, with six dogs, five of them rescues. I'm not even sure who owns who around here any more.

[Joe Hard 0]

My freind found an abanden kitten, its now mature, but every chance the cat gets it somehow opens his girlfreinds dresser and clawss all off her stuff out onto the floor.