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Guest oldskool

i dont mean to change the track,, carry on as your are.. i found an old mag i bought from australia called Bacon Busters.. and here is an article on the bull arab.. along with some pics. i saw a few whilst there and i am a big fan of them. one guy a had a quick chat with said he wouldnt use anything else.. it would be nice to see a few over here!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HISTORY

like the kelpie, kangeroo dog and the blue cattle dog the bull arab is one of australias own breeds. the history of the bull arab goes back approx 25 years when a dog enthusiast named mick hodges started experimenting with different breeds and their crosses for catching cleanskin bulls in north queensland. hodges chose breeds based on their hunting abilitys to produce the ultimate bull catching dog. his early crosses of greyhound and bull terrier met with mixed success, for a while the resultant offspring had plenty of heart and could leg it fairly well neither of those breeds are renowned for their sense of smell. how often do you see these breeds working in bomb detection or sniffing baggage at international airports?

Hodges obviously knew what he wanted in his line of dogs and carefully selected the breeds he believed would suit his purpose. he went looking for something with a nose and he decided on the english pointer... some say it was the german short haired pointer while others claim both varieties were used. the coluration on some of todays breeds suggest that the latter maybe closer to the mark.

Why the name bull arab is anyones guess but a couple of theories exist. one story comes from a property in queensland where the dogs were housed in an area between arab horses and the propertys breeding bulls. the dogs on the place becoming know as bull arabs. another is that hodges kennel name was "bullarab" and the dogs were named after this...

the breed is not recognised as a pure bred but they breed to a fixed type in terms of appearance and temperament and possess a strong working instinct. it is worth remembering that most if not all of the recognised breeds we have today originated from a deliberate mixing of 2 or more breeds and that the bull arab is no exception. this no-nonsense hunting dog is best left in it pure state and as an all-round pig dog is hard to beat..

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Gday Fellas

Ive had ridgebacks for 26 years and yes I have heard all the opinions on the abilities or lack of from pig hunters. I have had ones that would find and lug I have ones that would find and bail and Ive had ones that would find and point. After 26yrs and 21 dogs you could say the only commonality between them all is they ( apart from one that could not find his tail if it wasnt stuck on ) could find game In some of the areas that I have hunted this is no mean feet.

As far as foxes go it is a very sad ridgeback that can not run down a fox and deal with it.

A very close friend of mine has a angora goat stud and the foxes are kept well in control by her 3 ridgeback bitches.

Although ridgebacks are not sighthounds one thing they have in common with sighthounds is that they are slow maturing the young male that I am hunting at the momment is 14mths old and is just starting to take things seriously although he has been taken out since 6 mnths old.

unfortunatly the show dog world got hold of them very early in their development which has stopped the tweeking by adding new blood that any new breed needs.

The ridgeback was never ment to be a long distance hunter and when on foot works out to about 2-300yds a head or works in large circles comming back to checkin before heading of in the other direction. Being a warm nosed dog they concentrate on fresh scent, which means the game is usually not to for away.

this is where I find they work in well with the staghounds the stags having very little nose keep a very close eye on the ridgeback when the scent is fresh and the pace is picked up.

hope this helps .

stevemac

ps I have always thought that I could use a ridgeback x greyhound, A little more speed and a lttle more prey drive in some of them would have been good.

 

 

do you find them lacking in prey-drive? how are they to train? lol sorry for all the questions, but im just interested! you guys have probably got different dogs to what there is over here. there is a guy on here with a ridgeback, leeroy i think his name is. he says his dog couldnt keep up with a fox. :hmm: probably just different stock.

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if ya go to to boardogs oldskool there is a few pic's of older bull arabs, the breed has been tidied up in looks. they seem to be adding different breeds in some lines, pity as it ruins the hard work done ova the years.

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G'Day LL

Yes and no when it comes to prey drive It really depends on the individual Adding a splash of Greyhound or bully grey would give a more consistant dog without lossing the ridgeback qualites. As far speed goes we hunt much faster game than fox and this game does sretch a ridgeback the ridgeback has to use its brains to put its self in a position to catch. depending on the country the ridgeback can out run fox.

Ridgebacks in Australia have a lot of americian blood these days which has given us a legger lighter framed dog From what I have read and seen of English Ridgebacks the heavyer more mastiff type is prefered.

Hope thios helps mate.

stevemac

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Awesome dogs, Ive wanted to see some decent kangaroo dog pics for years. They look belters.

 

Earlier in this thread there was a brief discussion of alano's - Ive posted a few pics of one of mine in the bull breed section if anyone is interested at all. Not promoting them or anything - just a few pics of my pets playing (alano playing with boerboel). He's son of the famous Curro (Current world champ)

 

jon

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bull arabs are pigdogs, not roo dogs :11:

 

 

Ignore me, im being a berk... I know bull arabs, though I skim read the article and miss read them as Kangeroo dogs. Im not entirely sure if they are extinct or not, they are supposedly like a large muscly greyhound - not dissimilar to a bull arab. If anyone knows of any about Id love to see a pic of them.

 

kindest regards,

jon

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Im not entirely sure if they are extinct or not, they are supposedly like a large muscly greyhound - not dissimilar to a bull arab. kindest regards,

jon

 

Bull Arabs are nothing like a large muscley greyhound mate....you must be getting mixed up with another breed.

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Im not entirely sure if they are extinct or not, they are supposedly like a large muscly greyhound - not dissimilar to a bull arab. kindest regards,

jon

 

Bull Arabs are nothing like a large muscley greyhound mate....you must be getting mixed up with another breed.

 

No, I know bull arabs / pig dogs etc - I havent seen a kangeroo dog, but my understanding of them is that they are sighthound based, like a chunkier bullygreyhound. I was saying that I expected them to be similar to bull arabs - dane/bullmastiff bulldog/staghound type of dogs - I will be more specific in future.

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