Christmas approaches fast, and our Rescue already has dogs on the books looking for homes.  We thought we had the ideal homw for a young dog - they met him in kennels, took to each other at once, learned his history (neglect, rather than active curelty) he is very loving and has few hang-ups.  Went off with them, and guess what - came back this weekend (4 days!)  because........ he chased the pet rabbit!!!!  Why on earth would a seemingly sensible couple of professional, intelligent folk think that introdcuing a not quite 12 month old gundog to a rabbit hopping around the living room would result in anything other than the dog running after the rabbit?  The rabbit is unhurt, and the dog did not acutally catch it,  but what in heavens name made them think that this would be safe, before even they had a "handle" on the dog's behaviour patterns.  I despair of common sense sometimes! :(
bye
Gwen

Common sense isn't very common anymore Gwen!   There is a limit to what you can say to people without being insulting, but how could you have anticipated that??????? :(

I despair sometimes! It isn't as if this was an unpredictable consequence was it? Here's hoping for a happier re-homing as soon as possible.

Mind you, commonsense does seem to be in short supply at times because I've not forgotten the day my neighbour (a deputy head teacher so theoretically intelligent!) insisted on introducing a JRT to his chickens despite me having told him this was a Very Bad Idea. Suffice to say, it wasn't a civilised encounter. :rolleyes:

This month we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Panadol, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student - but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone. If you still remember him, mourn him. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Oh that's just sooooooo true JG and it shows our age that we remember how things used to be!  :rolleyes:

Thought of that the minute I saw the heading JG :rolleyes:
I think ANY dog needs careful introduction to small pets. My Cava is as laid back a Beardie as you could hope to meet but NO way is he allowed in the room where my rats' cages are on his own, he's MUCH too interested!!!

I think common sense is turning into an oxymoron ;-)

>oxymoron

New word added to my vocabulary :D   Common sense to many people is serendipitous ;)

We already had a rabbit when we bought our gundog.  The rabbit had the run of the garden but also had safe havens.  She, the rabbit, would lie out where she had full view of the garden and the point of entry for the pup and would take cover if she felt she had to.  Mostly she would run around the garden at night and I would ensure that the pup did not have access to her at that time. Worked really well but I was prepared and also prepared to have to enlarge the rabbit pen and secure her more often as the pup grew up.  Sadly the rabbit died before that time came (nothing connected to the dog)

OMG
i have 2 house rabbits, and they are let out when Beano and Gemma are SHUT AWAY  I would never ever have them out together.
I was holding lexy one day and Gemma tried to grab her foot that was haninging down. Last time I hold rabbits with dogs in the room!!!!!
Even thought the dogs and rabbits put their noses up to each orther through the bars of the rabbit crate!!!!
I have found alot of very intelligant people have absolutly NO common sense  :( :(
Lea :)

in answer to your thread question, I am afraid t dsappeared a few years ago!

:-(  There is always yet another question to be added to the list for prospective owners, everytime you think you've got them all, ;-)another silly person does or says the most stupid thing and adds yet another.:rolleyes:

Unbelievable - but even if the dog had chased the rabbit there are ways round this arent there - like the rabbit gets to run around when the dog is out on a walk, a secure run - it doesnt sound like they wanted a dog very much to me....

thats nothing- i know a woman who came to work and said her hub was picking up rescue dobe whilst she was at work. She was so looking forward to having the poor dobe at last.  he rang to say it had stayed 45 mins then he had taken it back- it had gone for the house rabbit which is in a cage in the kitchen! she just said 'oh well'. i dispair

Glad to find it seems to be a universal feeling among dog folk, but how on earth many quesitons do we need to add to our interviews etc to cover every eventuality?  This couple are a senior Trading Standards Officer and a Teacher (retired now).  I think there is ev ery chance he may have settled with the Rabbit eventually, after they got to know him, am jsut glad the encounter was not tragice (for the Bunny!)

bye
Gwen

I do think it's easier for "dog people" to be ahead of the game so far as inevitable consequences are concerned but equally I wonder just how many millions of questions need to be asked before every eventuality is concerned! And sometimes I genuinely wonder if people really, truly, realise what having a dog involves, let alone consider what normal doggy behaviour is. I'm also afraid to say that some of the daftest people I've known have been very intelligent. Unfortunately, their academic brilliance seems to have taken over the part of their brain where commonsense and practicality ought to live.

I recall having an agonised conversation about housetraining with someone who fits that bill a few months back. Only having gone out and bought a pup that was a collie x goodness knows what else that had been farm born and reared, she couldn't work out why this 9 week old pup had pooped all over their nicely sanded and waxed floorboards. Apparently, her husband was already threatening to rehome the poor pup if it behaved so wickedly again since it had plenty of access to the garden but had clearly not bothered to learn how to work the cat flap to get out there. :rolleyes:

Many years ago when I was Health Visiting I visited a mum who was a psychologist. She was very keen to use home-cooked foods for weaning but was agonising about how one would sterilise the saucepan...:rolleyes: Actually a lot of the much maligned teenage mums had stacks more common sense....

> but was agonising about how one would sterilise the saucepan

LOL :D :D :D My daughter is doing psychology at uni ..................... :D

Daisy

My eldest daughter is very bright and the most academic of my 3 but she will not cook.  I've tried encouraging her but the nearest to cooking she ever did at home was heating up a pizza.  Even then she wanted me to do it but I refused and told her to follow the instructions and left the kitchen.  A few minutes later I returned to see her bending over the controls intensely.  Frustrated, she finally asked where gas mark 7 was.  I told her she would find that on a gas cooker but she wouldn't find it on our electric one :rolleyes:

She now shares a home with her boyfriend who does all the cooking for both of them which is just as well I think.