Santlache

Dave C Thanks for your comments, they are out of the white bitch and tri-coloured dog in my avitar. Dave1979 They are genuine Jack Russell Terriers, Parson Russell Terriers are bred for the Show Ring. Cheers

Educate them, Steve, it's the only way. Thanks as well, Dave. If anyone wants to see some fine working Jack Russell Terriers, the JRTCGB are having their National Show this coming Sunday at Market Bosworth Rugby Club. Cheers

Sound advice from Dave. Start him Bushing now and let him go at his own pace, this is a good time of year with lots of baby rabbits hiding in the edges of the maturing crops he can hoover up. As Dave says if he's with other terriers he will learn much quicker. He may not be up for it yet or not show any interest, some dogs don't but only you can judge if they are worth persisting with. My best worker didn't enter her first earth until she was 2 years old and up to then she rarely showed any interest in going to ground. You try stopping her now Cheers

They have the best because they go to Working Terrier Shows, see who is winning or who has the best dogs. They then find out where they live then break into their kennel and steal the dogs. I know many a Terrierman who has had their dogs stolen by 'Travellers' never to be seen again.

Evening all I've been away from the site for a couple of months, but in that time my bitch has had a nice healthy litter of four very smart Jack Russell Terrier Pups which were 7 weeks old today. Three dogs and a bitch and their tails have been legally docked and dew claws removed. Two dogs and the bitch have tri-coloured heads with all white bodies, and one of the dogs is all white. I'm going to keep one and run him on, the others are already sold I'm afraid. The boy I'm keeping is on the left in the picture of three of them. Cheers

Well said that man. The last Red I saw in England was in 1967 when I was a boy in Sussex, and they were very rare even then which is why I remember it so clearly. Since then they have been almost completely driven out of England by the Grey and only survive in small pockets in the North. One of my Terriers got one a couple of years ago in the park, and this little old lady came up to me and said she was going to complain about me as she used to feed it. I asked her if would she rather see and feed the native Reds, "Of course" was her reply, "But you never see them anymore". So my reply to her was that all the while the alien Greys are here you will never see the Reds again. Then after a bit more chat and some thought on her behalf, she said, "I never thought of it like that, you are right and I won't feed them anymore" Kill them by any means available Cheers

Just a reminder on the above. Also, a correction, Judging will start at 12 noon and not 11am. Hope to see as many of you there as possible, it's a lovely venue, hot food available and entry to the show ground is FREE Cheers

Jonnybgood Well said, Sir, and thank you for your support for the Working Terrier and Terrierman. I think it fair to say that the greater majority of people who do Terrier work also shoot, as having a SGC is part and parcel of the sport. However, I know for a fact that the Terrier World felt rather let down by the lack of support we received from the shooting community when it came to a ban on Hunting with Dogs, and many felt the support was nowhere near as vocal it should have been. Terrier work has been proved to be the most efficient and effective way of dealing with foxes. I understand it is not some folks cup of tea, but facts are facts . When it boils down ALL country sports folk should stick together as one, and certainly not be elitist like many in the shooting world are. An attack on one should be treated as an attack on all, and the response from all sides should be united in support. I enjoy shooting, but I don't particularly enjoy organised shoots where hundreds of birds are dispatched in a morning, I much prefer the ambience and sport of a rough shoot, and what I bag that is edible goes in my pot. That is my opinion only, yet I would work just as hard to support shooting, as I have done in the past lobbying MP's and Parliament for Terrierwork during the build up to the Hunting Ban. Cheers

JRTCGB Southern Region Working Terrier and Lurcher Show - Sunday 5th April 2009 Judging starts at 11am prompt The Polo Lawns, Cowdrey Castle, Midhurst, West Sussex. By kind permission of Lord Cowdrey. Ring One - Jack Russell Terriers Ring Two - Coloured Terriers (Lakeland, Fell, Patterdale & Borders) Ring Three - Lurchers (Under 23" and Overs) Terrier Qualifiers for Champion and Reserve Working Terrier. National Working Terrier Federation Champion of Champions Pride of the Peaks Working Terrier Championship Earth Dog Running Dog Terrier Championship LurcherWorld Working Terrier Champion of Champions Lurcher Qualifiers for Champion and Reserve Working Lurcher. Pride of the Peaks Working Lurcher Championship Earth Dog Running Dog Lurcher Championship LurcherWorld Working Lurcher Champion of Champions Countrymans Weekely Terrier and Lurcher National Championships applied for. Be there folks, it's a good day out with some cracking working dogs on display. Entry to Show ground is FREE. Top International Judges Cheers

Chudleys ranges of Working Dog mixes have exactly the same in them, protein, fat, etc as Eukanuba, and is less than a third of the price. And they have a Royal Appointment to Her Majesty Chudleys is a brand name for Dodson and Horrell. Cheers

17th February 2009 Six dogs were stolen during an aggravated burglary in the Gravesend area of Kent. During this robbery one puppy was killed and the owner run down. The stolen dogs are described as follows, an English Spaniel female liver and white 3 yrs old (mostly white with liver on head and base of tail small liver patch on back), an English Spaniel male liver and white 18mths old (large liver patches all over), a Jack Russell male nearly all white with small black patches near head, a Lakeland Terrier female 2 1/2 years old black and tan (black saddle, tan head and under body). If seen or any information please contact D.C. Neil Radcliffe, Gravesend Police, Kent Tel: 07772 221216 Or contact the National Working Terrier Federation webmaster in confidence. http://www.terrierwork.com Cheers

Thank you for your kind comments. Terrier Work is an old and established Country Sport, unlike the morons who dig to badgers and then set their dogs on them. They are not and will never will be part of the terrier world, they are criminals who do it for the pleasure of seeing their dogs slowly rip apart an animal. They care not for the quarry and certainly not for their dogs In countries such as Sweden they have official working trials for their terriers, and you cant work your dog until it has gained a working certificate. Part of the assessment is with a mock earth with a fox or badger (legal in Sweden) caged located within it, and they then set the dog down to locate it. If the dog when he finds the animal tries to lunge in and attack, it will immediately fail and not get a certificate. They are not bred to attack and that is not their job, their job is to stand back and harass the fox. Yes, the dogs will take a smack every now and again from Charlie, as I say it's part and parcel of the job they do, but anything excessive as far as I'm concerned is totally unacceptable and if a dog is too hard it shouldn't be worked to fox. This is also on the National Working Terrier Federation Code of Conduct. Cheers

Thanks, LB, I can always rely on you, I'll try contacting them next week. The Countrymans Weekly Championships are already oversubscribed Cheers

Evening all I am organising a Working Terrier and Lurcher Show down at Cowdrey Castle in Midhurst, West Sussex on 5th April. Lots of nice Trophies, and I mean nice, plus a bonanza raffle and three show rings, burger van etc etc at a lovely venue by kind permission of Lord Cowdrey. I have a ring for Coloured Terriers and a ring for Jack Russell Terriers, with some top class international judges, and qualification to the Winner and Reserve at the National Working Terrier Federation Champion of Champions at Ragley Hall, and the Countryman's Weekly Working Terrier Championship at Weston Park has also be applied for. However............. I don't have any qualifiers for the Lurchers sorted, can anyone here recommend a National Show to me I could perhaps organise for our winner and reserve Lurcher to qualify ? Many thanks in anticipation of your help Cheers

As a person who keeps and breeds Working Terriers, and the current regional chair of a National Terrier Club, I believe I am fully qualified to talk about this subject, especially seeing as I last dug one of my Terrier's not three weeks ago. During the Burns Inquiry, commissioned by the Government on Hunting with Dogs, they came to the conclusion that Terrier work was the most humane and efficient method of killing a Fox over all other methods. Yet despite all the evidence, the Government still banned Hunting with Dogs. You may still enter your terriers to an earth, but only for the protection of game birds and not livestock Scottish Parliament (Rural Affairs Committee Official Report 78): “The use of terriers in pest control work is necessary as there appear to be few practical alternatives†and “the use of terriers underground to dispatch orphaned cubs which appears to the Committee to be the only practical alternative, and more humane than leaving them to starve.†Lord Burns (Head of the Government Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs - commenting on licensing): "We consider that it might be productive, in the absence of a ban (on hunting with dogs), to explore the possibility of introducing some form of licensing system, possibly on the lines of those which exist to regulate hunting in some other countries". And "In the case of terrier work, another requirement might be membership of the National Working Terrier Federation and adherence to its code of conduct". The job of a terrier, fixed with a location collar, is to enter the earth and locate the fox below ground. Once found the dog's job is to bay at the Fox and harass it, causing the fox to bolt the earth where it is netted and immediately shot. The dog should not attack and fight with the fox, it should stand back and bark, constantly. If the Fox doesn't bolt, due to it being cornered in a dead end tube of the earth or chamber, the Terrierman will then dig to to his dog using the location collar signal. Once he has broken through to the tube he then pulls out his dog, and at the same time he uses his spade to block the tube, the fox is then dispatched by shooting asap. Some working terriers you see are smashed up around face, and any dog that does this job will inevitably take a few hits eventually from Charlie and have the odd scar, it is part and parcel of their job. However, if a dog goes in every time with the intention of fighting the fox or mixes with it too much, then this dog shouldn't be used for such work as it is too hard. It is certainly not doing it's job properly and for what it was bred for, therefore it is cruel to continue using a dog like this, both for the dog and for the fox. The National Working Terrier Federation website will tell you everything you wanted to know about Terrierwork and the use of terriers below ground. http://www.terrierwork.com/index.htm This is not just some hobby, or badger digging escapade, this is a serious job where your dog enters an earth and puts it's life on the line everytime. The UK has produced some of the finest working dogs and Terriermen who are respected throughout the world. Indeed, much of the working stock overseas come from UK bred terriers, as our breeding and the type of work our dogs do is considered the best in the world. Cheers

One of mine does the same. Last year she took a nasty injury from some barbed wire which ripped the top of her leg right open, luckily it hadn't done any muscle damage but took quite a while to heal. When I say to her now "How's your poorly leg" she rolls over on her back and lifts it up. Cheers

I don't disagree, you would be breaking the Law and deserve everything they could throw at you. Only a complete idiot and numbskull would willingly allow a Terrier to enter a badger sett and let it face an animal two and a half times it's own body weight. However, these things do happen accidently with Terriers due to their breeding. There was a case not so long ago where just such a thing happened down in the SW I believe it was. Some old ladies terrier had entered a sett while out on a walk and the Fire Brigade, MAF and Police all got involved trying to get the terrier out, even sending down tubes with cameras on trying to locate it. The dog was down for over 24 hours and they couldn't get it out, then a hunt terrierman was called and they rescued it after sending down another dog with a location collar on and they dug it out immediately. Cheers

If a Terrier enters a Badger Set under such circumstances, a rescue may not be initiated until MAF have been contacted and a representative comes along to weigh up the situation and the Set. Until then you may not enter another Terrier to locate the animal and MAF will usually wait for 24-48 hours before allowing another Terrier to be entered to 'Rescue' the other dog. If a Terrier is entered in a rescue attempt before MAF give permission, you are breaking the law and can be charged with interfering with a set. No such regulations exist for rescues in fox earths.

Sir I was not out hunting with my dogs, therefore what happened does not come under the Hunting Act and was classed as a 'Rescue'. Had my bitch been wearing a location collar the intent to hunt would have been there, it wasn't, therefore what we did was perfectly acceptable and within the law. Thank you.

Thank you for stepping in and doing the right thing. Further my last, I have spoken to the Chairman of the National Working Terrier Federation and explained to him what we did. He said our actions were perfectly acceptable and were well within the law and that we acted responsibly. Cheers

Entering two terriers is illegal, but not in the case of a rescue, which this was. The fact that she stayed down on her own accord is neither here nor there as we were not to know she hadn't been killed, got stuck or the earth had caved in on her and she couldn't get out. The earth was long established and quite extensive, therefore we did the most humane thing in our actions and acted responsibly. .

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The legal controls on terrier work are re-inforced by the National Working Terrier Federation Rules and Codes of Conduct, which were recognised and approved by the Government departments as part of the Hunting Act.

Thanks NTTF It was a textbook job, but what was also so pleasing was I spoke to another friend who works his dogs in the Midlands while I was waiting for her to come out, and he had also got a team together to come down to help. Thanks, LB, she's the best worker I've ever had and she has never, ever let me down. Her only problem, if you could call it that, is that she is full on and wants to work ALL the time. But she's fine with other dogs which made things a lot easier when putting another dog down to locate her. Cheers

Because we are not cruel, have respect for our quarry and a strict code of conduct to follow. We didn't know if the Vixen had other cubs in another part of the earth, which would have been left as orphans and die of starvation. Cheers