Coneytrappr
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Posts posted by Coneytrappr
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Sometimes they spend the day inside doing nothing, sometimes it will be a half hour walk, sometimes it will be a day of ferreting, bushing etc before heading out for the night.
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Chances are the ferret had a stubborn rabbit in a stop end and was scratching at it's arse or trying to dig alongside it to get to it's head, hence the mud on it's feet and face, and the bolted bunny. It may well have been working on another when you smoked it out. I have a jill that will dig up alongside stopend rabbits to get to their heads...once all the easy bolters have been cleared out things will often go quiet for a while. If I locate and dig I will find her with rabbits in a stopend. If I wait quietly then there will be a bolt, sometimes several one after the other. A locator can teach you a lot about what happens in those dead end tubes! I also have ferrets that will enter and bolt the easy ones but which don't put the effort into those holed up in stopends...great for non-diggable places or for when things need to be done quickly.
The biggest problem that I can identify with your ferret from your post is that it sounds hand shy and immature/inexperienced. Work on the skulking, give it more work on rabbits next season and you may be surprised. It will almost certainly have a different style of working than your other...but you could find yourself rewarded with rabbits.
I would advise against attempting to smoke ferrets out. If your ferret gets stuck behind a rabbit you could end up killing it.
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Had a rabbit that outwitted my dog every time- half a dozen runs on this thing and she just couldn't pick it up. I thought maybe it was just my dog being useless even though she does ok so borrowed a friend's dog...half a dozen runs with him...no rabbit to show for the effort. Knew it was the same bunny as it had a white marking that made it rather distinctive.
Chased that rabbit for over a month with two different dogs that both caught plenty of other rabbits in the meantime with no luck!
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My whippet is an 'easy keeper' even when fed very little and worked hard...some dogs are just better at getting the maximum benefit from their grub.
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4s not bad i would say average life span be around 5-7 yrs (AVERAGE) but i have had em live longer. Throw something terminal into the mix ie, cancer,kidney failure!! and the little lads not done that bad.. Good look with your next one ATB Ry.
4 is well below average life expectancy, at 4 mine are doing all the work I can throw at them. I retire mine when they start to slow down/take the work harder, usually around 7 and then generally live a few more years as 'retired seniors' (lol) after that...would be very disapointed if they died at only 4!
Sorry you lost your fert Kev, not fun to lose them especially when still young.
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My whippet is a bright wee thing, never had any trouble learning anything I put the time in to teach her. She'll chase rabbits and a lure...but she doesn't think the lure is a rabbit, or even alive...she just takes any excuse to chase and run. Loves it!
Dogs know that a lure is not a living thing. Do dogs that chase a ball think that the ball is alive? Nah. It's just another way to satisfy their drive.
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How old is it? Some start slower than others. Had some start working at six months old, some have been useless until their second season. Those ones have always turned out to be good hard grafters once they click. My poley jill was useless her first season but on her third season now and is excellent, totally reliable and will turf out the most stubborn rabbit. Got a wee albino jill that I have high hopes for due to that very reason, but at this point she is just fecking about and bolting very little. I'm confident that it will be a different story next season.
If it's the ferret's first season then give it time.
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How's she doing now mate? Hopefully still improving, they are tough little things.
I've had a few on death's door over the years and have managed to bring quite a few around by mixing animal milk replacement powder with raw egg yolk and ground cooked chicken...and yes that cat milk stuff will get them drinking!
I agreed to mind a pal's pair of ferts for a few weeks and when he dropped them around they were living skeletons barely able to keep their heads up
absolutely disgraceful. Spent the last two weeks feeding them and they are doing well now but was touch and go for a while. Haven't heard from him since but plan on haveing a conversation with him when I do!Anyway hope your jill continues to improve, amazing what they can come back from.
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how old are you? About 12. Na a didnt mean that i ment what i said that story is pure bull.
what a load of bull shitgot onto this topic the other night in the pup and had a good laugh. a old mate of mine had a half bull x and it certainly looked the part
he had it from a gamefair as a pup and bought it along one night on the lamp. we entered a field and there was a rabbit smack bang in the middle, his dog was about 14 months at the time so i let his dog have the slip. it runned the beam no problems turned the rabbit and come running straight toward us, his dog made the strike no less than 2 foot away from us and the rabbit squealed and the dog let go of it took a few steps back and started to bark at it 
the dog just looked at us as if to say what the feck was that the rabbit then tried to make off again but his bull x didnt want to no just stood there thinking feck that. needless to say some banter took place for the rest of the night and the dog never made the grade and wouldnt touch a bunny after that so come on lads spill some of these stories 
always one numptey
now f**k off my thread you 20 post hard man 
i think you got it the wrong way round you mean what a shit bull x
So after the dog dropped the rabbit the rabbit sat around to get barked at? I think not
Once watched a young dog put a rabbit out of cover, chased and caught it then paraded it about a bit...dropped it and rab crouched frozen whilst dog was stood over it looking pleased with itself...dog then trotted towards me and rab took it's opportunity and legged it back into cover, dog turned around just in time to see it dissapear, not such a happy pup then.
It was a valuable lesson...dog doesn't drop live rabbits now no matter how much they struggle...or how quietly they hang.
There is nothing in Ray Mear's story that is beyond reality. Some rabbits will sit tight and wait for their opportunity- or maybe just frozen in fear?...even after being caught and paraded by a daft dog!
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Thanks Taffey, to be honest a salxwhippet would be one of my first choices, have never heard anything bad about them about them and the idea of a whippet with a bit more leg and stamina for longer runs really tickles my fancy. Yours sounds spot on! But, and it is a big but, no one here breeds them! I'm not in the UK and very very few people use salukiX here, it is easier to get a purebred than a X. Not many collieX around either.
I enjoy the ground I hunt, tough but rewarding.
Good luck with your pup this upcoming season, sounds a grand little beast.
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Cons: You might educate your quarry, reduced catch rate.
Pros: You might catch stuff! You have no chance iof catching if you stay at home.
I don't think anyone would argue that dark, windy nights are the best hands down, and there is certainly nothing like a good night out on one of those nights. But all the same, we went out a few nights ago and it was much as you said, lots of moon, no wind, clear sky. We still managed to find a daft clapper that the dog trotted up to and plucked almost from it's seat, would have been one rabbit we wouldn't have had if we'd stayed in and that made it worth it.
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Thanks for the input Smart Dog, I would say that 90% of my permission is tough ground because 90% of ground here is tough! The tough land holds game galore, I would rather find a dog that can cope than bypass it!
Saluki X are not readily available here [or I would have one in a flash], and most fast running dogs [what I'm after] are heavily greyhound influenced, but also prone to injury. The other option is deerhoundX, but personally deerhoundx have never really tickled my fancy- nothing against their abilities, just not what I'm after.
I also just have a general interest in the saluki, and just want to know if it could be utilised in a variety of ways, or if it is strictly a one trick pony. I would be happy with a dog that had a specific area of talent but could also be use in other areas the way that my whippet is. She most definitely shines at ferreting but also has a decent crack at lamping, mooching, etc.
Thanks again for your input.
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Alright lads, I'd like to hear the good the bad and the ugly.
I'm in the tentative process of -thinking- about adding a pup. And I am very interested in the pure salukis.
We do a bit of this and that- ferreting, mooching, walk up, bit of lamping. Some smaller fields, some big ones. The ground here is rough and hard as iron, and although the whippet has decent feet the ground can be tough on them. So feet like iron is a must, and I have heard that salukis do have very good feet.
Could a pure saluki run land both big and small, run the lamp, mooch, ferret and above all stand up to super tough ground?
Would love to hear opinions from people who have experience running pure salukis.
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I use a normal flat dog lead, don't cut it at all just clip the buckle end to the length and pull the noose tight on wrist, then thread other end through collar and hold the loop, simply drop it to slip and lead stays attached to wrist.
Doubles as an everyday walking lead.
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Your dogs sounds clever and most certainly not a jacker.
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I generally like to work good medium sized jills that will put a bit of pressure on if the rabbits decide to stick....have a cracker of a jill who is a real whiz at turfing rabbits out of stop ends. She grabs them by the flank, hauls on them until she can get up beside them to their face, turns them around and sends them flying out, never fails.
I also like a good soft bolting jill for those places where a softly softly approach is required, and a good hard hob for when the heavy artillery is required.
It's good to have a varied toolbox.
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Is there any chance someone has been laying baits for the rabbits?
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Yep roadwork is the go.
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I prefer watching my own dog but watching any dog run comes a very, very close second.
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Can a whippet take a fox? Yes, some whippets can. I've seen it with my own eyes. However, they are not an out and out fox dog and I don't think anyone would claim that they are.
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Fantastic pics Saluqihounds. Can you tell me a bit about the dog in the fifth pic? Interesting looking hound.
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Good stuff fella, like I said wasn't having a go it was just a thought. Sounds like it was a one off, understandable under the circumstances.
Cracking pic that.
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Glad your lad is alright, these things happen. However, perhaps have a chat to him about getting physical with the pup. After all it is just a pup and at that point the pup wouldn't have made any connection between your lad hitting it and it's lack of spatial judgement
. I do realise that a two year old isn't likely to do harm/bother to a good strong pup however he won't be two forever and now would be a good time for him to learn that ye don't take 'revenge' on a pup for making a daft mistake. Not having a go, just think that would benefit your lad as a [hopefully] future dogman. Daft bloody pups.
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Mine lives indoors, he does shiver when out working but as someone else has said, no more or less than any other lurcher.
I think the idea that whippets 'break easily' is just that, someones idea they will because they are a slight framed dog. Imo they have just as much chance as most other dogs and less than others. All to do with weight/force, a slight framed dog is going to have less weight behind it so the force of impact will be just the same as a dog double the weight with a thicker set frame.
Never had a skin tear with mine, his only injuries have been on the bridge of his nose from collisions, and he has been hung up on barbed wire etc etc just the same as any of my other dogs who have had tears/rips.
I have found the whippet to be a lot less maintenance than any other running dog Ive owned. I can run him slightly overweight, slightly under, never really need any special foods or additives and he never seems to suffer for it.
I'm not sure i agree with you Moll. Granted, my lad is worked in all weathers, on some pretty rough terrian, and asked to face some harsh cover and obstacles, and he never backs down. But if he collides with something sharp, or just bounces off / over barbed wire, he usually walks away with some nasty skin tears, in the last 12 months, he has had four trips to the vets to be sewn back together.
He is however i total nut job.
I think some dogs are just like that, regardless of the breed. I have a big lurcher dog (breeding unknown) he just needed to look at something sharp and his skin split, i likened it to wet tissue paper
The whippet is coming up to 4yrs and never had a tear yet.Never had any problems with feet either mackay. Perhaps i have just been lucky, perhaps it will all fall apart as he gets older, who knows. But i talk from my experience, and he has never been a problem health/injury, endurance wise
Why whippet has annoying skin [ runs near something sharp and tears] but she has good tough feet and can't complain about her stamina either. She had a run and caught a very fast rabbit yesterday and was ready to go again quite quickly.
How Small Are Mini Ferrets?
in Ferrets & Ferreting
Posted
I have a 500 gram jill which, whilst no means tiny like some 'micros', is a few hundred grams smaller than my other jills which range between 600-800 grams. She's a great worker and she doesn't let me down.