skycat
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Everything posted by skycat
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Cut the nail off as close to the toe as you can. Keep dog out of mud etc for a couple of weeks. Let him lick it to keep it clean. Watch out for signs of infection: toe swelling. If this happens you'll need antibiotics, but I've never had this happen after taking the nail right off. It will probably grow back fine, but if it doesn't grow back then no problem either.
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Play games with the lurcher: tug, fetch, chasing a lure on a bit of string. Make yourself the interesting fun one to be with. Keep the lab out of the picture while you are playing with the lurcher. He is just too full of energy and frustrated drive to leave the Lab alone. And if you do take them out together keep one on the lead while the other is loose. Don't tolerate this kind of bullying, because if the Lab does decide to get tough with the lurcher one day you may end up with two dogs which aren't pals at all. The lurcher is plenty old enough to be taught not to behave like this, and it isn
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If the skin was actually torn (a wound) then it is unlikely that it will grow again, but never say never. I had a lurcher whose dam tried to kill him at a few days old (she was fine with the rest of the litter ) and he had bald skin along one side and his shoulder. The fur never grew, but it was much less noticeable when he was full grown. The scar stayed small and he grew big. Not much consolation I know, and without seeing how bad your pup's bald bit is, hard to say. If the hair follicles have been destroyed then the fur will never grow back, and it would have done so by now if it was goin
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The sad thing is that Saluki lurchers are the most swapped around or sold on types there are, and precisely the sort of dog that shouldn't be passed from pillar to post for they do need a strong bond with their owner. Respect has to be mutual, and these dogs' loyalty is earned, not an assumed right just because we are humans. I see more adult Saluki types bought in at around 10-12 months old than any other sort. And the very people who buy and sell these dogs are probably the least likely to understand them or have the skills to deal with the problems arising from lack of early training, socia
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My Fat Lab Doing Her Thing For My Old Bitch
skycat replied to top dog 1's topic in Lurchers & Running Dogs
Fantastic seeing such an old lurcher is such brilliant condition. -
Could watch that sort of thing all day: just love watching a dog's super fast reactions.
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They're incredible!
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As you get older it becomes harder to 'get back on the horse'. I am so deeply sorry to read this about Tess who would have had the best life any dog could have. More than sorry: downright gutted. Made me feel sick and she wasn't even my pup. Why does life have to be such a total utter bitch.
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It won't knock her flat, but there will be some changes. While she is in season you know to keep her away from male dogs of course, and she may either act more skittish, or even a bit miserable as if it is her first season she won't understand the way her hormones make her feel. It is after the season that the major physical changes happen, but not for a few weeks. Her mammary glands may swell up a bit, and from about the fifth week after her season has finished she may appear fatter and softer in her muscles. This can last up to 3 months after the season has finished, and corresponds with the
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It hasn't 'gone wrong' as such. The dog is just going through a stage in its life where it feels the need to assert its independence and its prey drive has kicked in big time. You have to work through this slowly and patiently: patience is the answer, along with exercises that re-establish you as the leading part of the team. So many young dogs are taken out for walks, hunt around, learn how to chase and catch, all with no input from their owner. It's no wonder that they end up thinking that they don't need you in order to have fun. This is why ferreting is such a good team-building exercise a
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It's a stage. They call it the 'flight' stage, which seems to me to be the wrong term. I call it the AWOL stage. You'll get through it but ONLY if you do not punish the dog. This is not being soft, for what is the point of beating the dog up for something that is happening in its brain? You need to make yourself the centre of the dog's whole world. Play really energising games with her. Tug training really does help. See the articles on the home page on here. If possible, take the dog ferreting. That way she learns to be the predator alongside you and she learns the importance of being a t
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All the better to hear with
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It is very important not to feed just muscle or organ meat. Dogs also need bone for calcium and other minerals or their bones will be weak. Chicken carcases are an excellent source of bone and most dog meat companies sell minced chicken which is the whole carcase, bone and all, minced up. If you can get whole carcases even better as they give the dog something to chew on which is important for their teeth as well as being mentally satisfying.
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Read the last page first this morning (just in case the news was bad) and was so relieved. Fingers crossed she makes a full recovery, and how wonderful that the local community got so involved in the search.
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Why feed puppies milk which isn't even from their own species, and then mix it with wheat which is much harder to digest for a pup than meat? Why not go straight to minced chicken which mimics the regurgitated mess that their dam would feed them if she was weaning the pups herself?
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Gorgeous pup
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How old is he now? Only young still. That dog I mentioned was the worst for running up to other dogs I've ever seen, and this was despite living with plenty of other dogs that he played with non-stop. It really was just an age thing: one day something in his head changed and he was able to control himself. But I don't envy your plight at all. You have my deepest sympathy.
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A shock collar is not the answer. The only way you will get a handle on this dog is by making yourself more interesting and attractive to him than anything else. You should have started a long time ago, from when he was a little pup, playing tug, according to rules (see articles on tug training on home page on here) Mush: I had a dog exactly like yours, and he was always a pain in the rear until he got to around 3 years old: they really do take that long to mature mentally sometimes. Your only hope is to engage him (no, not like that ) so he can use you as an outlet for all that energy and da
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Herding dogs and sighthounds have great noses. Most search and rescue dogs are herding type dogs: Collie or Shepherd types. Sighthounds also have good noses, maybe not quite in the same league as a bloodhound, but certainly good enough to scent rabbits down a burrow. Thing is, historically sighthounds have been genetically engineered by man to be tall and fast and use mainly their eyes in pursuit of something (and their legs of course) but even a pure Greyhound could make a decent marking dog if it had been brought up correctly and given the freedom to explore the use of all its senses. I
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Beautiful mate that's all I can say Agree there: beautiful animal, and look at those tight feet.
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Most lurchers are far more sensitive all over than terriers or Spaniels as they have thinner skin and much less subcutaneous fat.
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All I can say is that most people must have far too much money if they can afford to buy then throw. In our house nothing is wasted or chucked. Maybe its because I'm of the 'older' generation who had parents that lived through WW2 and knew what hardship really was. Jeez, it only takes a little common sense to know when something has gone off, and whatever happened to having a fixed amount to spend on food each week? If you only buy what you will eat that week then how can you be throwing stuff away? Me no understand
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How old is the dog? Had it ever been out of the kennels where it lived before you got it?
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Any sport, or any activity, is only as good or as bad as the least ethical or the least competent within its ranks. Unfortunately the human psyche loves nothing better than to expose such weak links in an attempt to claim moral superiority. Shooting at its best is one of the most humane (as in instant death) methods of killing things, but very few lurcher men like to acknowledge this as it may make them feel that their methods are less ethically sound. So they jump on the 'wounds and runs off to linger and die' bandwagon. Equally unfortunate is the fact that there are more than a few shooters
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Much better.
