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Originally Posted by sheephunter
LOL....I'm not sure there's a dog "bred" for packing in the North American mountains. All dogs can be taught to pack and all dogs can be taught not to chase animals and all dogs can be taught a multitude of things. My dog wasn't "bred" to retrieve but he does...should he not be allowed to go duck hunting with me? My dog was not "bred" to flush upland birds but he does. If you are willing to spend some time with a dog they can be taught to do a lot of things they weren't "bred" for.
And BTW, it's Bernese not Bermese...they don't come from Burma. Just cause Bernese Mountain dogs have mountain in their name really doesn't mean they were "bred" for packing in the mountains. They were "bred" as herding dogs. Some of the best pack dogs are malamutes but again, that's not what they were "bred" for. I think you might be selling your little Britt short. You might be surprised what he can do with some proper training. I've sen some pretty awesome labs and golden retrievers as pack dogs!
Other provinces, states and territories have no trouble defining and enforcing the rules...why should Alberta be so much different? Write the rules in the Wildlife Act and have COs enforce them...pretty much the same as every other regulation in the Act that's subject to abuse.
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I'm not saying that dogs can't be trained, I'm saying that there are traits in some breeds that you just can't train out of them. They've been bred for centuries to be a certain way and it's pretty hard to train all of the instincts out of them. Just when you think that you have they'll prove you wrong.
My Britt is dead, however that breed has an extremely high amount of energy and is nothing like a lab or a retriever....not even close. I suppose that if I had put him on Ritalin before going to the mountains he'd forget about hunting but other than that he would not have been suitable for that type of task. BerNese Mountain dogs on the other hand are big and strong with a mellow temperament.
I've hunted with dogs in Ontario but that's different from bringing a pack dog along for a hunt. If the regs allow for hunting with dogs then the type of dog that you take in the bush is not an issue, you want a high energy chase dog. Pack dog, not so much.
I'm not opposed to your proposal, in fact I like it, but I think that it might be a pandora's box if you open it up. Everyone has their own standards when it comes to their dogs and not everyone's dog will be as well behaved as yours. If you are about to shoot your trophy sheep and someone's pack dog "in training" starts barking at it and you don't get the shot you'll be a little ticked.
I'm just saying.....
