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skycat

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Everything posted by skycat

  1. skycat
    Superb. Oh what I'd give for snow...
  2. skycat
    Sorry to put my oar in, but it is really not fair on the bitch to put a pup in her bed when she doesn't want it there. Dogs are social animals, for sure, but it is asking for trouble to expect an adult bitch to accept a pup that is not her own. The one place where she should be able to sleep and rest in peace, is now no longer her place of safety and retreat. Dogs also put up with a lot, for a long time, and then one day they can literally snap, and break the pup as easily as they would kill a rabbit. Is it really worth the risk? And, from the pup's point of view, it doesn't do the pup any goo
  3. skycat
    Don't you mean 'sulky'?
  4. skycat
    The milky lumps will disappear, though some bitches get really hard bits that take ages to go. It is said that these can be the cause of problem later in life. And yes, if she is spayed then that stops 99% of tumours. As mammary cancer is linked with changing hormone levels and the effect that has on mammary tissue, once there are no more ups and downs in hormone levels the risk is greatly decreased. If you took the bitch to the vet he would advise spaying her at the earliest opportunity, but then, vets all suggest that no matter what. Don't worry, the lumps will definitely go, but as this
  5. skycat
    It is the pregnancy hormones which are produced after a season. Even though she is not pregnant the bitch's body prepares itself for birth, and the mammary glands get bigger and sometimes produce milk. Whilst it is more unusual for a bitch to show this amount of swelling after her very first season, it can happen. Some vets say that the more pronounced the swelling the greater potential the bitch has to develop mammary cancer ...eventually, and probably not for many years, but it does happen. I can't say whether this is true or not for both cases of mammary cancer I've had in my own dogs didn'
  6. skycat
    He hit her first
  7. skycat
    I would say that the white feet in the first photo have such short claws because of the way the foot is made: when the toes are vertical like that the claw can't but help be worn down all the time. The other foot, the one with what I'd call a dropped pastern in a horse, to me, shows signs of ligament damage below the wrist, or pain in the foot which she is trying to alleviate by leaning back. No dog should stand like that, with its leg leaning back like that. OK, hard to say from a photo, and when you can't see the rest of the dog. Is someone holding her in place? Lack of exercise, slip
  8. skycat
    The only problem I'd foresee with these pups is that if they haven't been socialised: (been out for walks and generally had some sort of education in the field, if only to find their way through a hedge, or to know not to chase strange dogs, and respect their owner's commands) their new owner will find it much harder to teach them all they need to know than if they were still at the stage where learning comes naturally, instinctively. Looking at the complete lack of muscle and leg strength I would doubt if they've been out of the yard. I hope that I'm wrong, and that the photos are misleading,
  9. skycat
    I can honestly say that my 24" Airedale lurcher can get anywhere the terriers can. It might take a bit longer to push under a bramble and pull out a rabbit they've caught, and she comes out full of thorns in her head and her ears dripping blood, but she gets there in the end, and if she finds stuff in brambles by herself, then she'll push in until she reaches it or pushes it out. No bramble is a match for her determination. I reckon it's all in how a dog's brain is configured. If it has the genes which tell it to get into cover, it will, no matter what its size.
  10. skycat
    Saluki types, are as a rule, not over fond of water. It's not that they can't swim, but more because they have little or no subcutaneous fat and therefore feel the cold much more than dogs with say, more Collie, Bull or other terrier in them. Dogs generally obey their genetic heritage to a great extent, and when you consider that Salukis are not, historically, water dogs, many don't adapt to this type of work. Having said that, I've had a couple that were so highly driven that they would go through water, fire or brick walls to get what they wanted ... it all depends on the individual. But you
  11. skycat
    Some really well composed photos there: particularly the one of the terrier. Not sure about the tulips though
  12. skycat
    Yes, I did think it a bit offhand not to even acknowledge the donation I made. Seems I'm not the only one. I wish this whole sorry tale could have a happy ending, but when someone refuses to explain themselves we tend to think the worst. It's a shame, because I'll probably not donate to anyone again in a similar situation unless there is absolute proof that the story they are telling is true. It's a sad, sad world when people lie through their teeth for their own gain, and con their friends, even if it is just online mates from a forum. I've never met the guy, unlikely to. But I suppose I shou
  13. skycat
    We must have had our wheel for over 3 years now. It gets a lot of use with the mental jills hammering along in it day and night: certainly very well made, and built to last.
  14. skycat
    Quite agree about training classes. You are setting out with the best of intentions, but lurchers, and particularly those with Saluki in them, are highly sensitive to the vibes that other dogs give of, and if, as you say, she hasn't lived with another dog before, then she may be doubly terrified of finding herself in what could be a chaotic environment where some of the other dogs may have no self control and be wound up and barking etc. Get her used to your home first, for at least two months. It takes a month for a dog to even begin to settle into a new home, and before that you won't k
  15. skycat
    You will need to keep her on a lead for at least 4 weeks, during which time you spend as much time as possible building a good relationship with her. Hand feed her so she comes to associate you with physically giving her food and not just chucking a bowl on the ground. Once she is looking to you, really engaging eye contact, then you can start playing with her. Play builds bonds. Try using a furry lure to reel her in. Getting the dog in prey drive and being with you is one of the most important aspects of rehabilitating an untrained dog. Of course it will take time for her to unlearn the wrong
  16. skycat
    Why not put them in separate kennels? It's not fair on the dog that doesn't want to 'play' if it has to put up with a dog in its face all the time. It might be a good idea to think of what effect the dogs have on each other.
  17. skycat
    Well said planete. I think that there are more would-be working dog owners who can be classed as 'clueless half-wits' than those who rescue their cast-offs.
  18. skycat
    Met a Drakeshead bred bitch at our local feed store the other day, with her dam. The moment I saw the bitch I saw 'lurcher'. Sharp as a razor, lightly built and with that sort of questing intelligence that wants to be into everything, but not in that lumbering way you see in your average overblown lump of a 'pet' bred Lab. Superb little dog she was: could easily see how a Greyhound over her would produce a half decent lurcher, and one not lacking in speed either.
  19. skycat
    The saddest dogs I've seen have been rescued lurchers stuck on harnesses, and sometimes muzzled as well. When I ask why, they say it is to stop them killing rabbits. Almost without exception round here they are Saluki lurchers, and most seem to have lost their heart and soul, plodding slowly along with no light in their eyes. There is one, which, if we pass it, spends the next 5 minutes looking back at my dogs as they tear about hunting up the hedges on the common. Am I being anthropomorphic when I think that the dog is wistfully remembering how it might have hunted like that in a previous lif
  20. skycat
    Try adding probiotics to their food. And keep them on cooked chicken and rice until they are all shitting perfectly solid and have put on weight. Pups can easily get bacterial infections as their immune systems are still very immature. Make sure all bowls are scrubbed out spotless every day, including water bowl. Make sure run and bedding are cleaned every day too; do not use harsh chemicals to clean run: either steam clean or use boiling water to sluice run after cleaning. What bedding are pups on? Shavings are very bad as can get in their guts and cause problems. Vet bed is the best bedding
  21. skycat
    I've just been informed that Richard Torr, George Drake and Tom Peppercorn have closed down. It is getting harder and harder to find someone.
  22. skycat
    Brilliant photos: I was there with you. You really captured the day superbly
  23. skycat
    One of my old coursing bitches always battered about on a poor hare. She'd dance around it and do everything bar pick it up. On a good hare you could see that she was trying all the way, but on a weak one it was as if she was trying to get it to run faster and farther as if she didn't want the course to end. Another bitch I had never took a squatter on the lamp. She had a very good fast accurate strike, but she would stand motionless about a yard from a squatter. At the time I thought it was because she was waiting for it to jump so she could see which way to lunge for it, and when they did j
  24. skycat
    Ive one kennel and the lurchers in there, wouldnt kennel them together. Im wondering if it could also be something to do with the lurcher being in heat? Definitely. A terrier at 6 months of age is far more mature than most lurchers of the same age would be. If you can't kennel him why not cage him in the house?
  25. skycat
    I tried my terriers in plastic barrels once upon a time. Horrible things. Condensation ran down the insides and pooled under the bedding, despite the front being open. I would put plastic on a par with metal in terms of dryness: zero. As for warmth, I suppose it might be a tad warmer than metal, but nowhere near as warm as wood. I also had a prototype ferret box made of some poly something material. Again, got very damp inside, where wooden boxes never get condensation in them. I just don't like the idea of putting an animal into something that is non-breathable, not if it is outside and subj
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