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skycat

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Everything posted by skycat

  1. skycat
    Whilst it's great to know the nutritional values of food, it never ceases to make my mind boggle at how much we are confused by science these days. Years ago many people fed a tripe-based diet to their dogs and they seemed to survive well: though the two words 'survive' and 'well' may be contradictory to each other. My dad fed his gun dogs on tripe and either brown bread or a basic mixer meal: Winalot. The dogs got household scraps as well and always looked well with a good shine to their coats, however, I wouldn't ever feed tripe as a sole source of protein, but only as part of a balanced ra
  2. skycat
    Can we asume that these little mongrelly things were of little use on hares, but ok for a few rabbits. Presume they were to small for fox, Were they any use on the lamp. Ive seen you with some stunning looking dogs thats won in shows, What were the breeding of these dogs, They certainly didnt look like little mongrelly things as you call them. I was being slightly tongue in cheek when I said mongrelly: the fact is that they were total mongrels, bred for work, but who knows what the breeding was. The parents of the friends mongrels were scruffy yard dogs: lurchers, but yard dogs on a farm. An
  3. skycat
    Both testicles can be present in a pup, but one can sometimes retreat back up: if this is spotted straight away it can sometimes be massaged back down again, but only when the pup is still very young. Once it has grown up a bit the retained testicle won't fit back through the opening through which it had originally descended, and then slipped back up again ... if all that makes sense. I was told this by my vet years ago.
  4. skycat
    And ain't that the truth! All hares are not equal. A poor hare can make a poor dog look OK, but its not until the dog runs a good hare that you have the true measure of the dog. Personally, if I was looking at land where to run a final, I wouldn't be looking at land that had never been run, unless of course you wanted to make it easier for the dogs. There used to be a saying: a hare's not a hare until it's had a dog on it. Even at this time of year, totally inexperienced hares will be easier to catch than ones that have been 'disturbed' by dogs over the season.
  5. skycat
    .......and also because they were bloody fast dogs. A small slower dog wouldn't stand a chance. Those little bitches literally drilled hares into the ground and forced them to make mistakes with the dog tight up their arse all the time. I loved watching them run: very impressive.
  6. skycat
    I've had a few dogs that wouldn't have stood a cat in hell's chance of catching a hare off a fair slip: they could nab them easily if they were put up out of their seat a few yards in front of the dog, but that ain't coursing, and never a fair test of hare or dog. Hares take longer to get into their stride than rabbits: a lot of so called 'wonder dogs' would have built their reputation on kick ups: or so it would seem from some of the videos I've seen.
  7. skycat
    Most peoples' estimates of time are way off: that goes for distance as well. I remember they did a 'guess how far yards is' at Newark Show once. yards being the minimum length of slip in the coursing club in those days. If I remember rightly someone had to walk out and stop when the guesser told them to. Most people reckoned that 40 yards (or less) was 8- yards. Friend of mine always used a stop watch. Many times people told him that such and such was a 10 minute run: his stopwatch proved otherwise. IMO a 5 minute run was exceptionally long. I'd love to see a verified video of a 10 minu
  8. skycat
    That's not entirely true, and very misleading to anyone who reads this and doesn't understand how it works. Most puppies under 12 weeks die from Parvo even and often when treated by a vet as their immune system isn't mature enough to deal with bad gastro-enteritis. Add a heavy worm burden which has damaged the gut lining and the pup literally shits out its own blood. Also, each dog is different. I had a litter of pups dumped on me and they all came down with Parvo within 24 hours: obviously already incubating the disease. One died within 12 hours, one had no symptoms at all bar a bit of diar
  9. skycat
    The whole foot is swollen, toes and pads this would have happened monday night. So either the dog has broken some toes, or there could be another wound in the foot somewhere, or its just bruised badly: without seeing the dog in the flesh impossible to tell: get it to a vet.
  10. skycat
    Telling you something there!
  11. skycat
    A small amount of swelling is totally normal with any wound. Stop messing about with it. Let the dog lick it when ever it wants to. Do not bandage. IMO a wound that small shouldn't warrant antibiotics, which should always be given as a complete course, not just a couple of tablets here and there, which will only make bacteria more resistant to them, unless you are giving a long acting penicillin injection, in which case one should do it, with possibly a second 2 days later. If this is actually a deeper puncture wound than it appears from the photo it is possible that there may be infection in
  12. skycat
    Maybe a good idea to contact Lurcherlink?
  13. skycat
    Make the bed area small and cosy and draught free, and the run as big as you can.
  14. skycat
    This bit jumped out at me the most: one thing's for sure, we ain't living in a democracy!
  15. skycat
    Very well made pup
  16. skycat
    Some truly stunning photos on that link. I particularly liked "Have you caught anything yet?" Lovely
  17. skycat
    I don't see anything wrong with its feet> from the photo. Not all types of dog have round cat feet: but they can still hold up over a life time of work. Or is there something you're not telling us?
  18. skycat
    That's some seriously heavy duty weaponry in those jaws. Look how the canines are worn flat on the ends as well.
  19. skycat
    how do you know what you are reading is the truth? Only by knowing if the breeder has a sound reputation. There are good breeders of KC dogs who strive to improve a breed in all ways, and not just for the appearance laid down by other breeders and the KC. Unfortunately, there are as many idiots in pure breeds as their are in pet owners and working dogs.
  20. skycat
    I have one that retrieves them too: she retrieved quite a few alive until she got bitten: thank God!
  21. skycat
    Not often you see snow on the ground here in Cambridgeshire! Can't believe it is still here. Glad you had a good day Tomo: and actually found enough rabbits We've been struggling to even find the holes under the snow
  22. skycat
    Many people who feed complete do so for convenience and because they are worried about getting it wrong if they feed raw. Of course it takes a lot more thought and knowledge to feed a properly balanced home diet of raw carcases, the right amount of fibre, bone, protein etc etc, than to just open a bag of grub and fill a bowl, but with all the BARF websites around these days there is all the information you need, and it ain't rocket science. I think that most who feed complete really just do so because it is so much easier.
  23. skycat
    Yes< because it is cheaper to grow cereals than it is to grow cows!
  24. skycat
    From what I have read and learned over the years, dogs can and do use carbs, but their primary energy source, given the chance, is animal fat. I feed very little carbs at all: a small handful of porridge oats, slice of brown bread, or a small amount of brown rice. Even when I have fed no carbs at all I've not noticed any change in my dogs' energy levels providing they are getting enough fat in their diets. What I have noticed, is that dogs which live outside need a lot more fat in cold weather. Adding extra carbs alone doesn't seem to keep the weight on them when they are working hard in
  25. skycat
    Why not drop the net right down the hole so it is hanging like a curtain across the run underground? Wrap the peg and line a couple of times round the bottom wire of the fence: that way the net fills the tunnel: you can fix it to the sides of the run with a couple of small twigs pushed into the earth if you like: just to hold it in place but they'll come away if a rabbit bashes into the net: works for us anyway and we have a lot of holes like that under stock fencing.
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