skycat
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Everything posted by skycat
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Jeez! I pity anyone trying to sell pups these days: bad enough gifting them to 'trusted' friends: who knows what the future holds for anyone, man or beast. I've bought a few pups in car parks: the breeders have always brought the dam along, and sometimes the sire too if they owned him. You get a feel for someone over the phone, if you have any savvy about you at all. Reminds me of a conversation over the phone after I'd advertised a litter many years ago: Potential Buyer: (PB) "Alright love, heard you've got pups for sale" Me: "Ye....es" Cautious but not alarmed yet PB: -
Pups should be rounded, plump, clear clean eyes, no diarrhoea, not pot bellied (that means full of worms). Should smell 'puppyish': a sort of warm, nice smell. Any bad smell then run for the hills as fast as you can. (There are any number of contagious diseases that affect dogs). Don't worry if there is a bit of shit in the pen: the state of the shit tells you about the health of the pup, and they shit more often than any normal person can clean it up. Puppy shit should be firm, not in pools of sludge. But if the pen is filthy and the pups mired in it you know that the breeder doesn't really
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do the owners of your dogs sire and dam work their dogs penny? He used to, in Canada, but has been in poor health for a long time now. He brought 4 Airedales back to the UK with him. He owns both dam and sire. He wanted to reinstate the working Airedale in its country of origin. I think there must be a fair few working Dales from his lines, but the owners don't come on here. I remember seeing someone in Ireland had a litter a few years ago and said they were Redline Airedales, which is what this type are called. Also think there are some people up north working them as part of mixed fox
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Yes, retrieves anything from water: compulsive retriever. Only been out on flight ponds a couple of times but took to it like the proverbial duck to water: even going under brambles and overhanging banks to find a wounded duck.
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Scared of heights Dan?
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Biggest drawback in my Airedale is her shape: although her sire stood at 25", long legged, and her dam only slightly smaller, but also long legged, one quarter of her lineage was a shorter, more heavily built type of dog: she has thrown back to that type. Not a problem in cover at all, but she's not exactly the fastest thing on four legs. Works all day, tremendous stamina, but I would have preferred the more leggy type if I'm honest. But then again, maybe it wouldn't have had her tremendous brain power: who's to say!
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The risk of mammary cancer is greatly reduced if the bitch is spayed before her first season: also, she can't get a pyometra (uterine infection) if she has been spayed as the uterus is no longer there! Only had one case of mammary cancer in over 40 years of keeping bitches. It often starts after a season as it is hormonally driven. Spaying after first season allows the bitch to mature properly but still cuts the risk of cancer by over 90%, or so I've read. Millet: why shouldn't a non hunter be on here? Maybe some people like to hear about how our hunting dogs are going, what they do, w
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Am I really the only person that works an Airedale? I got mine from a line of imported dogs: working stock from the USA. Can't fault her: drive, nose, toughness, temperament second to none: works alone or with other dogs. Just wish I was in a position to get another one, but I wouldn't be able to do it justice these days. I haven't heard of anyone working KC English dogs. Retrieves anything from anywhere, even tiny rabbits. Very soft mouthed on tender game, jaws like a gin trap on some things.
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fitchet: great read, and it's not the quantity of game caught IMO but the quality of the hunt. Love to see dogs using their brains and putting themselves in the right place.
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If you remind me next time im coming up your way i'll drop you one off, I have far too many - i enjoy making them as much as shooting them (and im better at it!) lol Cheers But how will I know when you are coming up this way?
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Great read ideation Only ever caught two mink round my way: both males, though I know there's plenty about: they usually scarper to the top of the thorny bushes and cling to the top twigs like squirrels: impossible to dislodge when there's no way to get in there without a complete suit of kevlar to protect you Really need a catapult!
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Don't lend out ferrets! I know it is nice to help others out, but unless you are absolutely sure of the hygiene, and health of the jills he goes to he could pick up all sorts of problems. We've used straw since the year dot. Never had a problem. But use barley straw, not wheat, as it contains much less dust and irritants. Diamataceous Earth is excellent and non toxic: kills mites and fleas by dehydrating them as the tiny particles get under the scales of insects with exoskeletons and makes them lose their body fluids
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It depends on the dog, but nature dictates that a lot of male dogs are more likely to want to lead rather than follow. Providing the owner is firm and strong most dogs will happily obey, but many, not all, bitches, do seem more accepting of rules in the pack. I know that's a lot of generalising, and there are always exceptions to prove the rule, but I have found I needed to be firmer with dogs than bitches, overall. Work wise there's nowt to choose between them.
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She's a nice little worker, but not the heavy weight, very driven dog that her sister is. The red one, Lena, is much less intense than the black/brindle one, slower, not as hard, and gets on with everyone. Shcuck, the sister that lives on the dark side is a cantankerous, grouchy, 'leave me alone' sort of dog that only lives to work. They are like chalk and cheese. Should say, that Lena is more Saluki in her mental make up, and Schuck is all terrier in her head.
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And her sister: 8 weeks: 6 months out ferreting for the first time 2 years old:
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And this one at around 10 months: she is now 3 years old and hasn't changed much apart from having more muscle.
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Feck, I've run out of 'likes': they are all cracking looking dogs Here's a couple of mine:
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Recall best taught as you're mooching along. Get the dog used to an excited hiss, tone of voice, which the dog eventually learns means: get over here fast, there's something to hunt. Much easier if you can find another trained experienced dog to work with first, but getting the pup wound up to go and retrieve/find an old rabbit skin under a bramble also works. Make sure the dog always gets a suitable reward for its efforts. Food treats don't work in this situation when the dog is hunting hard and fired up. The only thing that works is more stuff to hunt, even if it is you that has put the
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I wonder if it was an Aesculapian snake: they are known to hiss loudly when threatened. Grow up to 2 metres in length. I only ever saw one when I lived in France, and it looked huge! I just read up on the Montpellier snake: I'd never heard of that one before despite having lived only a couple hundred miles from the town of the same name Those are wow photos Paulus.
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Reminds me a bit of a strange retrieve my old Deer/Grey did many years ago. At the time I had a Collie cross that was a very good hunter up of hares. One time she came back without the hare, but blood all over her mouth, and a hole through her cheek: also hare fluff in her mouth: I reckon she'd hit something hard striking in the hedge: later I found that her back molar had been sheered off at the gum. Anyway, my Deer/Grey had stood on the road by my side waiting patiently: I only ever used to let one dog off at a time on this stretch of lane to work the fields. I told her to go find it, a
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OK for a terrier, though I wouldn't want even a terrier to spend 23/7 in that size unless it was out and working every day and tiring itself out. Dogs need room to move about as much as possible, even if it is only for a few minutes at a time. I have 1 x 2 metre runs in front of my terrier boxes, but there is a 3 x 3 metre yard in front of them to which they have access during the day; only shut in their individual runs at night or if I'm out. Hasten to say, these dogs are never left alone together out loose. I wouldn't want to shut any size lurcher in such small runs: seen dogs in tiny runs
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Need eyes in the back of your head these days with so many people out with their pets. Some of my lurchers are a fair size compared to most pet mutts I see, so I always play safe and get them on the lead, even though they are friendly. The little pet mutt doesn't know that when there's a massive lurcher bearing down on it a warp speed and I have one that is too friendly: daft as a brush, everyone's his friend, but his size and speed are intimidating to small dogs. Unfortunately for us, these pet walkers have just as much right as we do to roam the land
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Sounds pretty good, though you may want to add some wholemeal bread or cooked brown rice as carbs. Young dogs need a lot of energy, and although dogs use fat as their primary energy source, they can use carbohydrate as well. Brown rice or bread is a good source of fibre too: stops them getting constipated. Some lamb ribs go down well too from time to time: if you can get them cheaply or for free from your butcher. The adult teeth will be embedding roots deep into the jaw at this age: a secondary chewing stage, so make sure the pup has opportunity to satisfy the chewing urge! Make sure there i
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Like Bossie says, too big if you can't control them, but I'd also add, a pack is only as good as its weakest member. Providing each dog works as part of the pack, rather than doing its own thing, then you can have a lot more dogs out. Biggest bushing/bobbery pack I've been part of have consisted of 4 terriers, 2 spaniels, one Airedale and 5 lurchers. This was to work several acres of cover for foxes. Each dog knew exactly what to do having lots of experience and practice working smaller areas before. I'd sooner take older dogs on this sort of job as you don't have to continually watch out for