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skycat

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Everything posted by skycat

  1. Boyo, Inan: that was the scariest thing: being squashed at the front of the march, right up against a copper who seemed like a brick wall and ten feet tall. When I told him he was squashing me, he told me to move back Yeah right: with I don't know how many thousand people behind. The only time I have felt truly frightened. But by all accounts that side of the march was child's play compared to what went on in the square.
  2. You need to decide what you want the dog for first. Secondly, how big a dog you want. If you just want the dog as a pet it is important to realise that most sighthounds: Salukis, Greyhounds, Whippets, and Deerhounds, are lovely as couch potatoes at home, but they have a strong prey drive and want to chase things that move fast: not a problem if you want to work the dog, but if it is only for a pet, then get something with a lower prey drive, or learn to train the dog very well indeed or you could find yourself in the brown stuff when the pup becomes an adult and wants to chase sheep, chic
  3. It is normal for a pup's growth rate to slow right down at around 9 months, especially in a smaller breed like a Spaniel. He may have reached his adult height, but it could take another 6 months or so for him to fill out properly, put on adult muscle etc. His skeleton might go on growing very slowly until he is just over a year old, but not so as you would notice much. A lot depends on how much exercise he is getting, and what sort of temperament he has too: a lot of galloping, or a hyper temperament, will mean that he is running off most of the food you give him, but again, he could be ab
  4. ...even our own sporting publications: dead right Paulus. In a recent article in the Countryside Alliance magazine the only mention of lurchers was when the writer said something about poaching: can't remember exactly. I was so angry I threw the mag in the bin immediately. I'll be writing a letter to them!
  5. 5 years old isn't too young if the arthritis has been caused by damage to the joints: dogs run too frequently on hard/bad ground, or dogs with imperfect conformation which has led to undue stress on the wrists. Very hard running dogs with upright wrists will be more susceptible to early onset arthritis than those with better skeletal structure. Also dogs that do a lot of jumping may suffer: landing on hard ground or very regularly puts tremendous stress on the wrists and shoulders. Not a lot you can do bar using anti-inflammatories and pain killers, though daily massage of the joint with a h
  6. Sorry not to answer your question, but why isn't a lurcher an option for him? A Whippet-sized lurcher doesn't take up any more room than a pure Whippet, or is there another reason?
  7. WHY savlon Any antiseptic cream that keeps bacterial infections away will do. Dogs that are kennelled alone won't have a mate to lick their ears clean for them. I've found that they often make things worse by rubbing their heads or scratching their ears like mad as the scabs are healing: makes things worse and can cause infection. Germolene is another good one: contains local anaesthetic which soothes and stops dog scratching or rubbing.
  8. My Whirrier has scabbed ears, end of tail, and his keel (he's a deep chested large terrier size) is like leather from all the old scars. Means they're really trying, but as has been said, smaller dogs whizz through brambles with much less damage. Just remember to bung loads of Savlon or similar on his ears afterwards; helps to stop the 'crimping' effect after a few years of such damage. My old terriers ended up with curled ears due to scar tissue.
  9. What a damned shame: I have felt just as bad if I've lost a ferret before its time. They work so hard, demand nothing, and truly become part of a great team: some of them at any rate. Hope you're sorted soon.
  10. He comes from good rabbiting stock by the looks of things. Got a slightly quizzical look about him with those ears
  11. Pack leaders can allow all sorts of liberties ... if they are in the mood for it. The crucial thing is if the dog does what you tell it to when you tell it to and without fuss. Mine are all over me on the sofa: saves lighting a fire in cold weather but they get off if I tell them: mind you, my old bitch generally has to have both feet planted against her back to help her on her way back to the floor , gently of course.
  12. That had to be really crap vet if he didn't prescribe antibiotics. Get some Animalintex poultice from a horse tack shop or farm shop. Follow the instructions for wet poultice. Leave poultice on for FOUR HOURS AND NO MORE: it is made for horses which have much thicker skin than dogs and it will melt the skin if you leave it on for too long ... AND get the dog on a course of good antibiotics straight away. Or see a better vet .....also straight away.
  13. I'm afraid that it would be impossible to say if there's a problem or not without seeing the dog in the flesh or examining it. The internet is great for information/general advice, but only a fool would make a diagnosis without seeing an animal. Best take the pup to the vet if you're at all worried, and by the way, those 'ham' bones from pet shops are, if I'm thinking about the right ones, not a great idea for dogs. If you mean the deep fried ones, or even those very hard marrow bones, they can cause tooth damage if chewed on long enough and hard enough, and the big knuckle bones can crack tee
  14. How lovely to see you back again me darlin' And HOW I've missed your fantastic action photos: particularly like the skyline ones, and there's one where you could say that the terrier looks very like a fox running in as two lurchers close on a rabbit.
  15. An old time coursing man said to feed the dog a good lump of goose fat before running: something about coating its throat: obviously this would only affect the very upper reaches of the airway, but he swore by it. Trouble is, if a reasonably fit dog, say one used for lamping rabbits, gets an unaccustomed run on a long ear, its lungs are working like bellows for a lot longer than usual, so what Sandy said makes sense. Often found when coursing that once the first few hard runs had passed the dogs were fine and never coughed again, unless they'd gotten a throat/lung full of fur or mud. I f
  16. I'll never forget when, out coursing one day, an 'experienced' lurcher man's dog caught a hare: didn't kill it. He'd been in the game for many years, but grabbed hold of the hare and was waving it around his head in triumph with the hare screaming its head off. A young friend I'd taken out for the day was shocked and very angry at the bloke's lack of respect: ran up to the man, took the hare off him and killed it immediately. I'd forgotten this incident until I read this thread, but it left a bad taste for quite a while afterwards at the time. If you're going to kill something, do so immedia
  17. Thanks for the info: damn, I wish I lived over there!
  18. Thanks and WOW! One thing I've always wondered is what else, apart from coyotes, live on that sort of ground. Ground hogs? But what about hares? Or something similar. It would seem strange for that kind of open land not to contain hares of some sort: they are all over the rest of the world but I don't hear of them in the US much. There doesn't seem to be a coursing community over there: any thoughts on that?
  19. I'm not ashamed to admit that I got my old terrier bitch one of those furry cat igloos. She is getting on, works herself very hard every day, and is smooth coated as well. Took her all of 2 seconds to figure out how to crawl into the igloo ...haven't seen her since I just put the igloo inside her kennel sleeping area which is already quite small. You can get big dog igloos as well
  20. Love those rigs Just a question: how many square miles does 'the high desert' cover? Just can't get my head around the vastness of where you live/run the dogs.
  21. One of my lurchers has done a similar sized tear to the OP's dog: on her flank. 10 days later, without stitching it is well filled up with new granulating tissue and in another week won't even be seen. Yes, If I'd noticed it I'd have stapled it, but she's very rough coated and I didn't see it until I saw her licking the area the next day If the dog is healthy, fed a good quality diet, a wound of that size should heal within a fortnight UNLESS the dog nags at it continually, keeping it open. Fine for it to lick it a little, on and off throughout the day: keeps it moist, and dog saliva contai
  22. Should be OK, but I'd watch out for giving very young pups weight bearing-bones, such as thigh bones. Better to stick to wings, though any bone may cause a problem if the pup isn't used to them. If in doubt, smash bones with a hammer before feeding to young pups. Let them chew on larger bones that they have no chance of swallowing lumps off: such as beef rib bones. Once they have their adult teeth to grind bones up I'd still stick to non weight-bearing bones, and you have to watch out for dogs that will swallow big lumps without chewing. Most dogs can dissolve bones in their stomachs, but ther
  23. Words of wisdom there: especially the last sentence: we don't expect children to act like adults when they're young, so why expect it from a pup? More important to get a really good bond, based on play and reward than have a pup jumping through hoops like a robot. Dogs do things because it makes them feel good, satisfied: those which are formally trained too early will usually kick over the traces and want to do their own thing once that prey drive kicks in. Sure you can force obedience into them, but you'll always be squashing them down rather than working with their drive.
  24. These had a dodgy few months a year or so ago, but are now delivering regularly again: good quality, decent prices: http://www.bulmerdogfood.co.uk/
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