4 ms·
Fascinating! Struck by the experiences they had over-socialising the dogs, ruining them for their intended job as they wanted to be with humans too much. It's h
by feintruled 3y ago
Fascinating! Struck by the experiences they had over-socialising the dogs, ruining them for their intended job as they wanted to be with humans too much. It's help me make sense of something that I had noticed before - a farmer I know has two dogs, a working dog and a pet. The pet is fawned over, the working dog is barely acknowledged in a way that seemed almost cruel to me. Just another reality of rural life. Perhaps the dog is no less happy for it.
- mikestew 3y agoPerhaps the dog is no less happy for it. I've been around dogs all my life, both farm and suburban. My wife and I volunteer at a dog shelter on a weekly basis, working with a variety of breeds. Over the decades I've concluded that most dogs need a job. It would be hard to convince me that a suburban Australian Shepherd (popular these days) that's lucky to get a walk once a day is any more happy than one that is generally ignored by humans but gets to herd sheep all day. I'd go so far as to even say that sticking a herding breed in a house for the majority of the day is more cruel than ignoring a farm dog that gets to do what she was bred for.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- TrainedMonkey 3y agoMost people need a purpose too... anecdata, but I don't know anyone who does not have a purpose/calling and is fulfilled and happy.