Hi, Barb and List,
This is a very interesting discussion. We have two here who will
retrieve (and go after rabbits, chipmunks and anything that moves). For
one it seems to be strongly innate; I doubt if I could change her strong
instinct. The other may have gotten his desire to retrieve
environmentally.....he otherwise also acts like a sporting kinda guy. He
grew up with another breed.
However, the rest of my group will NOT chase balls. And, Cathy, my
Telvara is the ultimate princess. "CHASE, something"? It would get her
pretty paws dirty. <G> I do think, however, that she would like
anything that *I* did with her. (So, if I chased the ball, she would
come with me. Nice of her. LOL)
As I have been interviewing puppy buyers recently I've been asked if
Cavaliers are "sporty" and have answered it with "some of them". I
think, perhaps that some of this has been bred out in favor of the
companianship side of their temperament. I think that there are still
some Cavaliers who would certainly hunt and chase, some who make
excellent obedience dogs and as Betsey and Josie have recently shown us,
top agility dogs.
One thing that is really interesting to me is that the girl who is the
rabbit chasing, go-for-the game sort of gal is pregnant with her second
litter. If I put in a puppy toy she will "kill" it........until her own
pups come and then she backs off and lets them play.
Some years back our ice maker broke and when one went to fill a glass
with ice (it is outside the fridge door) the ice would spill on the
floor. The dogs quickly learned ice hockey which is a favorite game
here now even though the fridge has been fixed for eons....the older
ones teach the younger ones this game. Some of them love it and learn
it; some simply think the others are expending WAY too much energy. <G>
What I wonder, as I come from breeding a pony who is supposed to be very
versatile, is if we should be looking for these retriever types in
considering temperament as well as the fact that they are companian
dogs?
Suze
Barbara Cooke wrote:
>
> I took a ball outside with the dogs today. I
> tossed it and three of them, all but my old guy,
> ran to look at it, sniffed, and walked away. I
> tossed it five more times. They quit running to
> look at it. No retrievers here except me.
> --
> Barb Cooke
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Galveston Island, Texas
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--
Suze at Llawen Cavaliers
"...I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man
to depend simply upon himself." -Isna Ia-wica
"Thought comes before speech" Luther Standing Bear
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