Barbed wire

[greenshank1]

I hate barbed wire.
Corbie got hung up on a barbed wire fence this morning and is just back from the vets having torn the inside of her thigh on her back right leg .
We were out having a great wander , flushed a couple of cock pheasants and a couple of snipe and had a great walk along the shore but as we returned to the road I called her to heel sent her over a broken section of old fence and then she crossed the track and then jumped the fence on the otherside but hit the top wire , spun and got hung up then slid off . It looked terrible and for a second I thought I was going to have to unhook her.
I think there were pheasants in the birch just over the fence which had attracted her and I was distracted crossing the old fence.
I always lift her over barb even although she is a good jumper over normal stock fences it was like she almost changed her mind half way over.

Thankfully it just ripped her skin and there is no muscle damage but I now have a very groggy lab which has to be rested for 10 days .

[Judy]

Nothing worse than barbed wire! I've seen so many cut dogs from that bloody stuff, should be banned. I think there are rules about how close you can put it to public footpaths which seems sensible, as long as people follow them.

[mustogirl]

i sympathise! One of my springers got ripped on her chest this season. turned out a very expensive days picking up! Thankfully it was an easy one to stitch and the vets were happy with how she healed but she was out of action for 2 weeks from picking up. the look on her face when i went out with out her was a picture!

[Alice]

I hate the stuff, can't see any reason for not banning it.

Even worse when barbed wire fencing is allowed to fall into disrepair, the posts rot and fall over and the barbed wire and gets in among the undergrowth. My cocker ran full pelt into a strand which hit her at neck-level and flipped her over when out dogging in last season, thankfully it was slack and so she only got superficial injuries, but that could've been seriously nasty. I was expecting a big vet bill when I saw her do it, not nice. One of the many reasons I've stopped beating on some of the shoots I used to go on is the amount of barbed wire, scrap metal and general shite lying around on the ground dogs were expected to cover. Its not on.

Hope Corbie makes a good recovery.

[greenshank1]

I hate the stuff, can't see any reason for not banning it.

Even worse when barbed wire fencing is allowed to fall into disrepair, the posts rot and fall over and the barbed wire and gets in among the undergrowth. My cocker ran full pelt into a strand which hit her at neck-level and flipped her over when out dogging in last season, thankfully it was slack and so she only got superficial injuries, but that could've been seriously nasty. I was expecting a big vet bill when I saw her do it, not nice. One of the many reasons I've stopped beating on some of the shoots I used to go on is the amount of barbed wire, scrap metal and general shite lying around on the ground dogs were expected to cover. Its not on.

Hope Corbie makes a good recovery.

Thanks Alice , it's 148 quid at the vets so glad we have her insured and she hates wearing the cone of shame .

[Naj]

Sorry to hear it. My dogs pick them up all the time - some are clumsier than others around wire. Most are small nicks & tears that usually heal themselves with a bit of TLC. I only involve the vets if they're big flaps, which has been pretty rare for me. I pick up more nicks & tears than the dogs do - on my clothing so hate the stuff but if you kept cattle you wouldn't be wanting to ban it!

Naj

[Nickheref]

I live in sheep country with seriously stock proof fences (often both sides of a hedge) so some years ago I stopped teaching my dogs to jump, Keith Erlandson did the same, it is ok when they are 3 or 4 but at 7 or 8 they cannot do it quite as well and invariably get cut. Once on a shoot one of my dogs got cut like this, the owner of the shoot also kept dogs, saw what happened and insisted on picking up the vets bill. An act of kindness I never forgot and it must be 25 plus years ago now! Sadly not all do the same!

[Naj]

If meeting barbed wire is an every day occurrence then you need to teach your dogs coping strategies, either to find gaps underneath or wait for you to help them through. My old GSP just jumped stuff for the hell of it & in her youth would comfortably clear a 6 strand barbed wire fence from a standing start, at speed she just flew over them, but as she got older she started picking up injuries so, like Nickeref, I stop my dogs from jumping these days.

Naj

[Andrew]

Nothing worse than barbed wire! I've seen so many cut dogs from that bloody stuff, should be banned. I think there are rules about how close you can put it to public footpaths which seems sensible, as long as people follow them.

It used to be in England BW could be adjacent to the awarded width of the right of way, but it had to be on the far side of the posts, not sure if other legislation affects the basic rule.

[Springfield Pointers]

We run dogs on farms that have tons of Barbed Wire fencing. The dogs learn very quickly how to get through them at speed. Not nice to get through if you're a biped. I have many many ripped troosers and hunting shirts....