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oblivious

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Posts posted by oblivious

  1. Who's actually got a lurcher?

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    21 hours ago, Greb147 said:

    Entirely up to you mate but you might be able to have a little dabble with the odd rabbit before the season ends, a bit of ferreting perhaps. 

    There's two different schools of thought on this from what I can gather. 

    One being "wait until they are at least 12 months before introducing to quarry" and the other being "start them off early, holding rabbits in purse nets to get them keen". 

    A good lurcherman mate of mine reckons the second option is better so I'll be off out with him soon I think. 

    • Like 2

  7. Book recommendations

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    I saw a lot of game birds when I was in Thailand a few years back (I'm walking into a joke here aren't I? FFS ?)

    It's legal out there and the birds in the organised stadiums have to have their spurs wrapped with cloth to minimise injury. 

    Quite an interesting video on it here. 

     

  9. Anyone brave enough?

    in Ferrets & Ferreting

    Posted

    35 minutes ago, jigsaw said:

    My eldest lad had a hedgehog for 12 months,drove him mental,smelt like nothing else and came out at night and ran an exercise wheel for hours in the dark lol ....kept him awake a few times,he gave it to an animal center ,for their pets corner ....he was glad to see the back of it 

    I never knew those things smelled, bet loads of people have bought them and ended up regretting it lol. 

  11. Anyone brave enough?

    in Ferrets & Ferreting

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Neal said:

    A long time ago (2000 I think) when I got my first three ferrets, I hadn't built a court for them yet so housed them indoors temporarily. I kept them in a large dog crate and then let them out for a "run-around" whenever I was home. They'd return to the crate to use a corner pan which I put in there as their latrine. I'd sometimes find them curled up asleep under cushions on the sofa and other odd places. It's funny to look back on now but I wouldn't do it again...I was single at the time so nobody with more class than I to complain about the eau de ferret.

    If I didn't have the Mrs living with me I'd be doing the same without hesitation mate ?

    Her only gripe with ferrets is the smell like 

    • Haha 1

  12. Anyone brave enough?

    in Ferrets & Ferreting

    Posted

    Do any of you keep ferrets indoors? I'm thinking about getting a couple or Jills and weighing up the options for whether to keep them inside or outside. I know that the smell get be an issue but I've heard that it's more so with Hobs than Jills? 

    Our garden is communal and I'm not sure whether the neighbours would be alright with a hutch appearing in there lol. That said, they never use it anyways apart from occasionally in the summer to dry clothes.

  13. Book recommendations

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted · Edited by oblivious

    4 hours ago, SheepChaser said:

    In all honesty I’ve found most Lurcher training books a bit pointless.

    I would ask on here, and buy skycats book as a ref for any injury or health problems and a couple of darcy books so you can look at the photos and get inspired ? 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I should have phrased my post a bit better I think. I'm more looking for books that tell stories about people's experiences with Lurchers rather than training books.

    'Running Dog Maintenance' is definitely on my list for the injury care/prevention. I'll be getting 'Tales From the Field too' ?

    Cheers 

  14. Book recommendations

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    I've used the search function and got a few ideas already, but I thought I'd ask what books on Lurchers/Running Dogs you lot would recommend to someone just coming into the game? It looks like there hasn't been a thread on this for a fair while. My pup won't be ready to start working until next winter and I'm partial to a good fieldsports book so I'd like some recommendations of what to read around this subject in the meantime. 

    I've got Jackie Drakeford's 'Understanding the Working Lurcher' and 'The House Lurcher' and have gained lot's of useful knowledge from reading through those. Both of those books are quite practical in terms of what's covered. I'd like to read some of the 'tales from the field' type stuff now. 

    Cheers ?

  15. Raw Diet.

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    20 hours ago, Greb147 said:

    I've seen lads on here swear by putting pups on a BARF diet and I've also seen lads claim that you get just as good as results mixing kibble and raw. 

    Is it more difficult to give them a balanced diet going only raw if you don't know what you're doing, is the added kibble just back up incase they aren't getting all the vitamins and minerals? 

    There's a place local to me that does the raw feeds, out of the list what would you say is best for the dog and essential. 

     

    Screenshot_20211128-132324.png

    I got my first pup recently and went back and forth in my mind on whether to feed BARF or not, in the end I decided to just feed a decent kibble (Skinner's field and trial) with some cooked meat mixed in. He also has some Butcher's puppy wet food with the kibble because that's what he was on at the breeder's and coating the kibble in a third of a tin of that means he eats it all no problem ?

    My conclusion on raw feeding was that to do it cost effectively you have to do yourself, rather than use the pre packaged stuff. My pup was going to end up on 1kg a day or something silly which would be costing me £5 per day from one of the pre-made raw companies. Can't quite stretch the budget that far unfortunately!

    To my mind (and of course other people may differ) I decided that there was too much room for error trying to make sure I covered all his nutritional bases myself. They need 80% muscle meat, 10% bone and 10% offal to do it properly, by all accounts. I think that feeding decent kibble makes sure that he doesn't get deficiencies through my own accidental error. 

    He gets cooked Pheasant, Beef mince, Chicken or boiled egg mixed in too so that he (hopefully) gets some of the benefits of having those things in his diet. He seems to be doing well on this regime from what I can tell - putting on muscle, coat is soft and he's digesting it well enough. 

    If I had the money I probably would feed him 100% BARF on the ready made stuff, but for my situation now doing it this way works well for me and him ?

     

    • Like 3

  16. Training a Saluki x Greyhound pup

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Moocher71 said:

    When breaking to stock I keep pup on the lead and walk a field with sheep fence in-between us and the sheep and keep him on lead and if he pulls towards sheep I pull him back with a sharp "no " and after few times they normally stop pulling and then walk him through field with sheep in saying same command if he pulls towards them and this as always worked for me, 

    Thanks mate, good advice this. I'll be stock breaking him ASAP. Also need to get him broken to ferrets (which I know is a different thing entirely). 

  17. Training a Saluki x Greyhound pup

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    1 hour ago, MagyarAgar said:

    A lot of good replies so far.

    One thing: You said he chews the sofa arms and you reward him when he stops.

    Alternatively you can give him something else to chew on e.g. a kong/toy/chicken feet/rabbit sinews. 
    It is not all about positive enforcement, it is also about providing alternatives and setting up the environment so that your pup has it easy to be successful.

    Don’t stress yourself too much, you will have plenty of good and bad days with your dog. Sometimes you will think that it goes backwards, thats totally normal.

    In the end, positivity and consistency will prevail.

    Cheers MagyarAgar

    Cheers bud, i've had a lot of good replies on here now which are really helpful. 

    I'll try and get him redirected onto things he is allowed to chew, especially now that he'll start teething soon.

    Thanks for the reassurance too mate, I'm sure me and him will get there ?

    • Like 1

  18. Training a Saluki x Greyhound pup

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    36 minutes ago, Maximus Ferret said:

    Best not train the release too soon as it puts some pups off tugging altogether. You can let the dog pullit out of your hands regularly to build it's drive for the game and if you play with the pup on a long lead it can't feck off with the tug. Use the lead to gently encourage the pup to bring the tug to you and the game resumes. If/when the pup starts to get keen, watch out for your fingers.

    Think of it as a game between you and the pup rather than between the pup and the tug.

    When you want the tug back you have to hold it solid lifeless and immovable. The pup will then let go. I crouch down and brace my forearms on my knees.

    You'll probably need to start with something soft like an old child's sock stuffed with other socks.

    Thanks mate, I've been doing a bit of research into the tug thing today and found this article. The principles of it all make sense i.e working with the dog's drive and increasing the dog's desire to be around you etc

    RetreiveFeatured.jpg

     

  20. Training a Saluki x Greyhound pup

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    19 minutes ago, Gilbey said:

    In my experience if you treat them well and fairly, and spend lots of time with them, they'll do as you say. Probably test you a bit, and you need  to pass lol.

    Some aren't very trainable though. Recall and stock training I'd be thinking about

    At the moment he's with me all the time which i'm hoping will help in the long run. 

     

    Have you got any advice on stock training? I'm planning to take him somewhere where there are sheep and give a tug on the lead and a 'No' if he shows interest. And just keep doing that until he shows no interest in them. I know I need to get this cracked early to prevent problems in the future.

  22. Training a Saluki x Greyhound pup

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, sandymere said:

    Keep it short,  keep it light, keep it fun, keep it positive reward based. Google tug training to get good recall. 

    Thanks bud, really appreciate the advice.

    With the tug training - is there a risk that could make him a bit hard mouthed and less likely to let me have rabbits off him that he's caught in the future? 

  23. Training a Saluki x Greyhound pup

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    24 minutes ago, jigsaw said:

    Jesus buddy,he's 12 weeks old....he's too young in MY OPINION to be doing any of that yet,I own 3 saluki bred dogs,....the only thing I'd be doing is getting him to sit when your feeding him....let him grow a bit,play and bond with him...you do know your his surrogate mum,and best mate,and all he wants is to be curled up along side you and the family....and no rough treatment to a 3 month old pup .....you'll wreck his future career and confidence , assuming that is what you have in mind for him.....best of luck ,and a lot more knowledgeable folk will contribute soon..

     

    Cheers mate, I am trying to just let him be a pup too within reason. I think I've got quite high expectations of him and what I want him to be like in the future, maybe I'm putting to much pressure on myself and the dog at the moment. I probably do just need to chill out a bit mate haha!

    I haven't been giving him any rough treatment at all, and ideally don't want to. I want him to bond with me and work for me because he wants to please me, not out of fear. I'm just gently trying to stop him chewing stuff by giving him something he's allowed to chew on in place of the sofa arm or a cushion right now but often those things are less interesting it seems! 

     

  24. Training a Saluki x Greyhound pup

    in Lurchers & Running Dogs

    Posted

    I've had my pup for 3 weeks now and I'm after some opinions from the experienced dog men on here about training. At the moment it feels like if I ask five different people I get five completely different answers and then I'm tearing my hair out working out what to actually do!

    He's a 12 week old Lurcher (Saluki x Greyhound and Whippet x Greyhound) and he's the first dog I've actually owned myself although we always had dogs at home when I was growing up. I keep reading things (Jackie Drakeford's 'The House Lurcher' and 'Understanding the Working Lurcher') about how hard it is to train Saluki crosses and about how sensitive they can be to any kind of rough treatment so I'm trying to only use positive reinforcement (rewarding when he stops doing a bad thing and starts doing something good instead) but I'm having doubts about whether I am actually correcting the bad behaviour at all? It feels a bit like he just does what he wants (chews the sofa arms for example) then when he stops and is doing something else I reward him but he then carries on doing the wrong thing again a couple of minutes later! Should I be scruffing him when he does something wrong? Or pinning him down until he calms down? (alpha rolling) or something else? 

    Positives with him so far: 

    • Sleeps through the night and has done since day 2 with us. His bed is on the floor in our bedroom and as soon as we turn the lights off he settles down and sleeps for 7.5 or 8 hours. Sometimes he'll get up at 06:30, bet let outside to relieve himself and then settle down again for another hour before we get up.
    • Is 90% house trained and has only ever shat in the house once on the first day we brought him home. He occasionally does a wee on the floor by accident still but very rarely now. He goes to the back door and whines a little bit when he needs out usually. 
    • Food motivated so I have been able to teach him sit, lie down and stay (we're still working on that one) fairly easily. 
    • Me and the Mrs love him and love having him around. I think he's bonded with us both strongly already, especially me. When I took him to meet other puppies he was very shy and just kept hiding behind me/getting close to me for reassurance. 
       

    Negatives:

    • Very patchy recall when he's out in the garden and finds a stick to play with he'd rather prance about with that than come back to me. When he does eventually come to me I never bollock him, I give him loads of praise for coming back and a treat as I don't want him to associate coming back to me with negativity. 
    • Barks at me and the Mrs sometimes when he wants attention. It's just a single bark and we respond by leaving the room he's in and ignoring him for 30 seconds to a minute, on the advice of a dog behaviourist from the puppy socialisation class we went to. He barks at my Mrs when she is eating even though we have never given him food from out plates (and we never will). 
    • Digs at the sofa (he is allowed on it) and starts biting cushions and doesn't seem to listen to a firm 'No' once he's got his mind set on doing it. Sometimes he'll bark back at me when I tell him no which concerns me... Does he think I'm not the one in charge? 
    • Whines like mad when I put him in the puppy pen in the living room. I've been trying to make that a positive place for him by leaving treats in there for him to find and hand feeding all of his meals in there with him but when we're sat on the sofa and he's in there he whines and whines because he wants to be with us. I've not been letting him out when he whines though, just waiting for a few seconds of silence before I open the door. 

    I'm taking him to some proper training classes from next Sunday onwards with some bloke who is an ex-police dog handler/trainer so I'm hoping that will help. I know the puppy stage is hard and there's a certain amount of just riding it out involved but I want to make sure I'm doing as much right as possible.

    Any advice anyone can give me will be massively appreciated lads, cheers! 

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