Jump to content

Lurchers and Whippets


brooktrout
 Share

Recommended Posts

Does anyone on this board lamp rabbits using longdogs?. Is it worth investing in that type of sport at the moment while these new hunting laws are being considered? I,ve never used the method myself, but judging by the huge interest and following for the sport shown at all the game fairs leaves no doubt about its popularity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 68
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Rabbiting with a lurcher is great fun.

I've never had my own lurcher but known people with some exceptional dogs.

My uncle used to go out with a chap who had a lot of rabbiting pre Mixxy.

Being a bit of a numbers person, he kept a record of the rabbits caught. It was a Golden Retriever X Greyhound I think. His name was Rusty and caught over 26,000 rabbits, besides dozens of foxes, before he died.

One friend collected a lurcher one night and was impatient to try it out. I took him to a local farm. It caught 3 hares on it's own, the first night. There were more hares than rabbits to be seen in those days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brooktrout - go for it. I've got a lurcher myself who isn't bad on the lamp. Lamping has to be one of the most exciting forms of dog work. Best carried out on a wild, windy, moonless night, just you and the dog. To get clued up on the subject I suggest reading books by Brian Plummer, Jackie Drakeford, or Frank Sheardown.

And don't let the threat of a hunting ban put you off. As far as I am aware, the proposed ban will not affect rabbiting (I just know somebody will put me right on this) and if it does, longdogs make brilliant pets.

My personal opinion, for what it's worth, is that the collie/greyhound first cross takes a lot of beating. Very bright, and therefore easy to train, and hard enough to take the knocks.

I'm no expert, but the one piece of advice I will give to anyone who is training a pup is - work on the retrieve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the articles that I've read and from conversations followed on the lurchers forum at http://www.workingterrier.co.uk , it appears to me that the prefered longdog is a cross of two to three breeds. Why is this, do they stand up to the job better, handle better, or do the pure breds just not performs up to your expectations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NTTF

 

A pure bred greyhound is a fantastic dog for the track and coursing hares where then run lasts 1-2 minutes, anything after that and they are run out hence the cross.

The cross onto the greyhound to breed lurchers was "introduced" to build stamina into the breed and also to "introduce" other traits such as make greyhound smaller and give more power to the jaw's.

I will be picking up a beddlington x greyhound (first cross) onto a saulki X greyhound (first cross) in the next couple of weeks (i'm sure i've mentioned it once or twice but i'm like a dog with two D*ck$ )

 

all the best yis yp :ph34r:

 

P.S brooktrout this is a rhetorical question "but how do you stop a dog chaseing (cats , rabbits , hare , fox , deer) officer? Its doing whats natural.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NTTF out crosses are used on greyhounds and whippets to produce lurchers because of the hybred vigour. IE a bedlington terrier crossed with a whippet should in theory give you a small quick lurcher with the coat & gameness of a bedlington and the speed of a whippet thats the theory. Some people breed lurcher to lurcher i.e. yps whippet/bedlington x saluki/greyhound pup that he is buying. The crosses with greyhounds are there to give the dog stamina as well as speed the best night i personaly have had with a dog is 27 rabbits and 1 hare. That was with a line bred whippet / bullterrier x whippet /greyhound.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This all sounds very interesting, and like it is a lot of fun. I have managed to go out with a friends greyhound cross on two occasions , yes he is from the U.K., where we accidentally bumped up a couple of cotton tails. I can honestly say that, that dog stretched full out and turning with the rabbit where his shoulders could not have been anymore than a couple of inches off the ground was one of the prettiest sights I have witnessed . How ever I do believe that coursing rabbits over here is illegal. This is something that I think I am going to have to check into on Monday when the Ministry of Natural Resources opens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NTTF i know this sounds like a cilche but seeing a lurcher coursing is like poetry in motion the grace as he opens up, the agility when he turns, how the dog works the rabbit/hare. The whippet x i had would get between a rabbit and a hedge to keep the rabbit from disappearing into the hedge.Yet on a hare he would try to push it into the hedge. that type of thinking from a dog is what its all about, when a dog is able to think for himself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"live fast die young.... make a good looking corpse " Me thinks i'm going to use that for my legend.

As i've said dogs like to chase stuff.

I can't believe the stuff thats band over here but legal over there and t'other way around.

Are you fella's able to put a silencer on a gun ?

 

all the best yis yp :ph34r:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No I havent got the dog yet, but definitely intend to start looking around shortly. Its anidea thats been bugging me for a while now, but choosing the right one is obviously not a thing to rush into. Some ads that Ive seen offer to show you the dog actually at its work, and that seems to me the logical approach. What do you think?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brook

 

imo selling a good working dog is like dumping a lady who's beautiful , intelligent , witty , a wiz round the house and in the sack , lets you have your own way at all times does'nt complain when come home drunk and start to pee on the christmas tree. (i could go on ...) But if you don't get it.... IT DON'T HAPPEN MATE.

 

 

all the best yis yp :ph34r:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am surprised at some of the breeds that are mentioned as working dogs. The Saluki is almost never heard of over here and the only referance you will have to a Bedlington is lap dog that looks like a lamb. You hear of the odd Saluki being lure coursed over here, but I have never heard of a Bedlington in the terrier trials or being worked for anything. Another one is the working English Cocker Spaniel. I became aware of this breed about 15 years ago quite by accident. One day while Paul and I were exercising the hounds( I was working with the Hamilton Hunt) we met up with one of the land owners. She too was from England and had some cocker style dogs with her. I made the mistake of refering to them as American Cockers :*) , Just about lost an ear on that one :< :< I was quickly put right as to their origin and recieved an invite to go watch them work. Boy was I surprised they worked wounderfully. That was the last I heard of them until this past year there seems to be a movement in the States towards running them in the hunt tests and field. From the field reports that I have read, I am still impressed by these little pocket rockets.

I was flipping through one of the dog books last night and was amazed at the number of old breeds from England, Germany, and France that I know so very little about. A few of the ones that I found rather fascinating were the Hanover Hound (Hannoverischer Schweisshund),German Spaniel (Wachtelhund), Basset Griffon Vendeen, the English Springer Spaniel and the Welsh Springer Spaniel.

I have a Springer and he is a grand little dog, and very pleasant to look at with his boxy little head and square body. He has some English referance in his background, but he does not look at all like the English or Welsh breeds. Maybe this is due to regional genetics and from being so far removed from the old blood lines. What is the differance between the English and the Welsh Springers?

As you have probably guessed by now "working dogs" are one of my passions, and it always interests me to watch breeds do what they have been bred to do. Even if they do look like a lamb. :unsure: :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...