skycat
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Everything posted by skycat
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I never weigh any food for any dog. I look at them, and feel them for muscle mass in the case of rough coated dogs that hide their true shape beneath thick fur. Older dogs lose muscle as they age, so they actually do better on the same type of food that you'd give a growing pup: high protein.They often do less as well, so are less likely to have good muscle tone, which means they can sometimes look thinner. Hence the need for an easily digested high protein food. Although I feed mostly raw, I do feed older dogs and pups a good quality high protein puppy complete for their breakfasts: I use
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Dogs are designed to run on empty, or virtually empty, stomachs. It is dangerous to feed any dog a normal sized meal before working it hard. Not talking about a little lead exercise, but to me, the feeding regime should take into consideration how the canine system works. A carnivore hunts in order to feed, then it rests with a full belly until it needs to fill its belly again: very basic. I add hard lamb or beef fat to a high protein diet in winter when the dogs are working harder. If they are kennelled outside they need much more food than a house dog as they are having to keep themselve
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Sorry, I'll shut up and stop ruining Vin's excellent topic as my comments have got me in hot water yet again. Now, about the spectacular disasters that got away ....
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Not denying a fox can turn like a hare, and especially difficult on the lamp unless the ground is dead flat drilling or grass. Maybe I just got lucky with either dopey foxes or brilliant dogs but I did have a bitch that never missed a fox during her life, either by day or by night, but she didn't die of old age and was crippled by the time she was 6 years old. Ditto her daughter: both died in action. Collisions with immoveable objects.Took suicidal risks and ultimately paid the price. Also, at the time, no one lamped or shot the foxes in the area I ran, so they were greener than those which
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Weasle: a fox in the middle of a big field has no chance against a kami-kaze dog that really wants it: now near cover I'd agree with you completely. But I've had more 'careful' dogs than fox mad lunatics: I can count on the fingers of one hand those who would sooner have cut off their own heads than lose a fox, but then again, I never bred particularly for fox.
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How true Phil: at one time I was obsessed with foxes, to the extent that I'd walk through an entire field of feeding rabbits when I spotted a pair of yellow eyes in the beam Happily time passed and my obsession died a natural death when I realised that they were a damn sight easier to catch than some rabbits, providing you had a dog with an equally obsessive attitude towards foxes
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Ah, sorry, misread that: thought she was missing an entire lung! When my own Deer/Grey did her lung, they said that she would have died within an hour if her chest hadn't been so huge, so there was room for all the air that was leaking out without squashing her lungs: from accident to vet took around 2 hours, and I hadn't realise there was a problem until she became short of breath after running 3 more rabbits Very scary moment, or three.
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That is incredible: so she's still got enough stamina even with only one lung?
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Isn't it sad that our dogs' performance affects our status within our group. How we all want to be accepted, applauded, even respected, and the poor old dog has to carry that burden alone. For me, competitive coursing was the very worst thing in the world. I had a little white bitch who could course all day, superb strike, but man, was she weird. She'd jack for no apparent reason, and on the most important days. One day she stopped not 15 feet from a hare she was running; running it well, strong hare, but oops, there was some pheasant cover in the distance OK, when she stopped it was about 20
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Minor puncture no problem. Lungs heal themselves very well with no surgery. My Deer/Grey, many years ago, badly ruptured a lung hitting the far side of a dyke on the lamp. She couldn't breathe properly and the vet drained off 3/4 pint of air that was gathering in her chest cavity crushing the lung. She made a full recovery within 3 months and never had a problem again: worked hard for 8 years. Of course if there is an external injury or a broken rib piercing the lung things can be a lot more difficult, with contamination, infection etc.
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I haven't had a huge number of what you would call Collie crosses, but the ones I have had, bar one, were pretty nifty on most things. Sensitive? In some ways yes, but not all. The first Hancock bitch I had was weird, but a lot of her problems were due to having had a very nervous dam. The rest of her problems were through me not understanding her needs. The others I've had were all sound temperament wise. I still harp on about the Beardie 3/4 bred I had years ago, but a lot of her brilliance was down to her coming everywhere with me when I worked in pest control. She saw everything, did every
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In The Sedge Grass. . My Favorite Place To Hunt With The Dogs.
skycat replied to a topic in Ferrets & Ferreting
Lovely -
I think that some people, maybe too many of today's youngsters, just want something that will go out all guns blazing on whatever gets up: it's the thrill seekers who are like this, not the owners who truly appreciate what goes on in a dog's head when it is working. Yes, I've seen my little Collie cur stand motionless watching the other dogs run themselves ragged on rabbits flashing into the hedge, but when a pheasant comes over that hedge, maybe a pricked bird, obviously not flying quite right, she's on it in a flash, running along underneath until it turns back to the hedge just above her he
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Experience, exposure and a certain mindset. It's about giving the dog the correct upbringing. A pup that goes out ferreting on a regular basis from the moment it is ready, whilst it is still soaking up new experiences like a sponge should learn that waiting silently without fiddling about is the road to such rewards. Working shallow warrens in still weather (no wind or noise to drown out the sounds below ground) helps enormously. If you only work deep, difficult warrens in hedgerows, thick cover, places the dog can't see the bolt or hear what is happening, then it is less likely to learn so fa
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Bloody lovely to see that Never tire of watching them get their reward for patience.
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And to give the completely opposite type: I had a 3/4 Grey 1/4 Beardie from Hancock, many years ago, by a first cross dog called Richard Porter (I think that was his name) She took all quarry easily, even hares, though her method of running on the fens was to get her nose down when she lost sight of the hare and work to put it up again out of cover or a dyke. Not a real 3/3 single handed dog, but pretty good for a non Saluki lurcher. Brilliant on the lamp and with ferrets, and my most trusty right hand man on foxes, worked with terriers, drew foxes, and so easy to live with. Super intelligent
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I Can't Believe No-One's Mentioned Ukip .......... !!
skycat replied to Blackbriar's topic in General Talk
Just seen this: how it used to be: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2850464/Now-attitude-101-year-old-lived-Great-Depression-gives-rousing-90-minute-speech-unemployed-people-telling-work.html -
I Can't Believe No-One's Mentioned Ukip .......... !!
skycat replied to Blackbriar's topic in General Talk
Good point tandors, but the fact is that the vast majority of immigrants into the UK are not the super talented or qualified, but those who wouldn't have cat in hell's chance of surviving well in their own countries due to lack of education, skills etc. Those are the ones taking jobs from British born workers. My OH worked on the land for many years in Lincolnshire. Hard graft, but he could earn good money as it was piece work. Now it is minimum wage and all the workers are immigrants. In a couple of local factories here ALL the employees are foreign 'imports', and even they are self segrega -
Contact Jim Greenwood: he trains and works with problem dogs, especially lurchers, for a living, and he's one of the best. http://jandjgreenwood.co.uk/
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Done
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In that case feed him quietly away from the hustle and bustle of the home. Shut him in a room on his own when you feed him, not a cage where he will feel doubly defensive with everyone able to see him and stare at him. If the food is really the only problem then do what it takes to make the dog feel comfortable while he's eating and make sure the whole family know what you are doing and why, so no one goes and disturbs him at his grub. Also make sure that it is you who let him out again afterwards, just in case.
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That is NOT the right way to treat a dog that has been abused. I would suggest the dog is kept apart from children completely while you try and rebuild his confidence. If you can't keep the dog away from the kids, then you'll either have to rehome to someone that will understand the problem and work to rehabilitate the dog, or PTS. These sort of posts fill me with sadness, and make me even more sure that I'll never rehome a dog ever again to anyone I don't know as well as my own self.
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Great photo! One of a series of photos in the Daily Telegraph taken by a game keeper:
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Definitely worth 250 IMO: IF you can get those tiles out without breaking them! Beautiful they are.
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Lovely job LOL @ socks' comment