skycat
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Everything posted by skycat
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They're a nice litter and look well, but I would never have just left a bitch with someone else to supervise the mating!
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I've had lurchers stay smooth until over 6 months old. My Deer/Grey was still smooth, though slightly wavy, at a year old: by 19 months she was properly rough coated. Another was smooth until around 8 months, then went very rough coated. Generally, the woolly type coat shows earlier than the more wiry rough coat, but it is never set in stone in my experience.
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Great photos: shame what they do to those horses' hooves. Especially the hackney.
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The biggest problem with very excitable (high drive) pups is that if they learn to get away with that sort of behaviour when young, they are more likely to turn on another dog in anger as an adult. Many adult dogs, depending on their drive and temperament, won't tear into a pup for misbehaving. We call it the 'puppy licence'. Problem is that once certain pups feel that they can use their bite on another dog it can lead to more serious problems. I've seen it myself on numerous occasions with Saluki type pups: their drive and need to bite is out of all proportion to their age, but they don't
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Someone should catch it up or it won't survive the winter will it. Beautiful bird though, and amazing photos.
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Same here: always used to drive out in my soft suedy house boots: once had to spend a day foxing on the fens like that after forgetting to put proper boots in the van. Never again! Funny how things like that serve to teach a lesson Frozen wet feet act as a good reminder!
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Trouble is, if you have a full on, very determined pup/dog, and its conformation isn't designed for the sort of things it wants to do, you are always going to have problems. Never a good idea to let a pup run around with older dogs, especially if it is a heavily built animal with tons of drive.. Unfortunately, if the pup is already having wrist problems at this age, it sounds as though there may be a design fault: twisting and turning on legs that weren't necessarily made for that type of action will cause problems. Not a lot you can do if the conformation is at fault, except follow Maxhardc
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That is good news Gaz: fingers crossed things go as planned. I think that any person who is breeding for themselves, and not for money, is more concerned with their pups getting good homes than anything else. I'd far sooner give a pup to someone I trusted than sell it to just anyone and maybe hear later that it had been passed on or ruined by an idiot.
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Look at a healthy ferret's winter coat: double coat, super insulation properties. Obviously a ferret on its own will need plenty of bedding to make a nest deep inside. I prefer straw to anything else. Hay can get very musty and hot and 'sweaty'. Shavings can't be turned into a nest. We pack the nest box fairlyt loosely full of barley straw and the ferrets tunnel inside and hollow out a nest. There's no way they'll ever get cold like that. Any sleeping quarters need to be fairly large to allow a decent amount of straw, which equals good insulation. I guess the nest boxes in our court are aroun
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http://www.tbfreeengland.co.uk/faqs/
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Definitely: but how does the newcomer to dogs actually know when someone has that animal sense or if they are just spouting crap? The only way you can go is by reputation: if people whose opinions you respect speak highly of a trainer, then they are bound to be good, but it's hard for the newbie who doesn't know the wheat from the chaff.
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You have to phone Tom's mobile number to book an appointment with George.
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Yes, what is truly scary is that most people get a dog then wonder how to train it: and I don't just mean lurchers. I was lucky that my dad was a good gun dog trainer, and I got the basics through him as I was growing up, though nowadays I'd say that his methods would be well outdated. It is the people who have never had family dogs when they were kids who really struggle, or should I say, those who didn't have family dogs which were well trained. It is a hard thing to start out on your own with no one to mentor you at all, and this is the only reason I advice newcomers to dogs to go to puppy
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http://www.dogtraining-online.co.uk/ Be aware that there is little or no regulation: anyone can call themselves a dog trainer, and whilst attending a course is a good start, it is only through years of experience that some, not all people, can begin to call themselves an expert! I tend to go to classes on how to train dogs once in a while, more to see things from a different perspective than anything else. We can get so enmeshed in our own ways and ideas that it is easy to get stuck in a rut. I would sooner listen to the voice of experience, people who approach each new animal with a
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I don't know if it closes up exactly, but it would become more rigid, less able to open fully. Like any part of the body, things become more fixed with age, tissue loses its elasticity. And whilst bitches don't go through the menopause, their seasons often become lighter as they get older: so I would think that hormone levels decrease; fluctuate less as the bitch gets older, and the readiness of the body to bear pups depends on the hormones: generally speaking.
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Looks shockingly underweight in the last photo: can see its pin bones. Looks a lot better after a week with you. Just a tip: get some chicken carcases with plenty of fat on them too: lamb hearts are fine, but pure protein and very little fibre: try and vary the diet as much as possible, and include stuff like brown bread, boiled rice, beef mince, and breast of lamb too: plenty of fat on there, as well as meat, and gives her something to gnaw on: also important to develop jaw muscles and a good energy release: chewing is very important both mentally as well as physically.
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Wow! Great post from Hutch I'd just add, that at 7 months, the pup may well be mature enough for a rock solid recall, but you have to remember that the Saluki type is one of the most independent creatures on earth, and all its instincts have evolved to see and chase what is moving: like Hutch says, zoning out anything else. But the dog that comes within a few metres and stands there, failing to make those last few steps to you, is showing that you represent something negative in its life. The end of freedom, being told off? One wrong word, a bad tone of voice when you get frustrated a
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I have a friend who only breeds from a bitch once she's got to at least 6 years old. He's never had a problem, BUT his are very lightly built bitches with a lot of Saluki in them, and he runs them hard right up until they are bred from: they are very fit indeed. From what I've noticed over the years, Saluki type bitches generally seem to whelp more easily than some more stocky, heavy types: they are extremely supple anyway, and whilst ligaments lose their stretch over the years, Saluki types seem to go on a lot longer generally, work wise. That could have something to do with it, though
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Respect for the quarry: respect to you.
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She is 6 ,Penny ,she had 5 pups all together ,the first 4 she pass herself ,but the first to be born was small and she kept pushing it away,it died in the end,but the pup that was stuck was a big one and it died down in the womb,not on the way up,so she had no chance in passing it So she's not that old then: but I agree with you when you said you'll not breed again from a first time bitch older than 4. It's very tempting when a good bitch has served you well, to breed from them older, but a lot of the time you end up with dead pups and a Caesar. Years ago, one of my bitches had a very s
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As long as you give it time to heal from the inside out, gradually filling up with new tissue, it will heal just fine. Keep it clean and dry while it is healing: only bandage if it is still bleeding. Give it a couple of days then leave the bandage off and let the dog lick it. Wouldn't hurt to put some Padsanol on it to stop the edges of the cut going crispy and dried out. Sudacrem works OK too as it is quite a greasy ointment. Depending on how deep it is cut pads take around 3 weeks to heal before you can let the dog run on it again. As long as it has completely healed there's no reason it wil
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Introduce them on neutral territory: take them for a walk together before going into your house. Make sure to let the terrier know that he's still your main dog: don't fuss the whippet and ignore him, but also don't expect them to act as equals: he was there first, so you need to let him know he's not been demoted. Don't even think of leaving them loose together indoors ... ever. Get a cage and put one or other of the dogs in it at night and when you're not there: wouldn't be the first time that a terrier has killed a small lurcher or sight hound.
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How old is she? I bred from a bitch at 6 1/2 years and she had a hard time of it, but the whole line were slow whelpers. If she only had 4 pups in her it's more likely the size of the pups that caused the problem, rather than her age: a huge litter will make the pups smaller, whereas only 4 means they have much more room to grow big in side the bitch. Hope she continues to do well.
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I honestly don't think that the exact breeding really matters, apart from the size issue of course, but temperament is absolutely vital: make sure that the parents are sensible, steady dogs which are working well: the rest is down to you, but a bit of Collie always helps IMO. For what you want I'd steer clear of anything with a lot of Saluki in it, but apart from that: why not go lurcher to lurcher? An inch or two either way won't make or break your truck! If you restrict yourself to certain straight crosses you could be doing yourself out of a really good pup. As far as sitting in the tru
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Make sure the run is roofed over: some dogs don't want to go out in the cold or rain at night to pee. Also, try putting a good handful of straw at the far end of the run: what bedding is the dog on? If you use straw, try something else and put a handful of pee soaked straw in the run so he gets the right idea. Has he been told off for peeing anywhere? If so, could maybe be peeing in his bed as worried to go elsewhere. Just some points to consider.
