RTurlough
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Posts posted by RTurlough
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Hey dont worry about the month thing, even a spot on treatment you pick up in the corner shop at the pets stand works for a month.
I had one sheep farmer friend who was concerned about the ivermectin and I asked him what did he do......now this is genius.......since he is a sheep farmer he filled a wheelie bin with water and threw in a cup of sheep dip and sloshed it around and the dipped the dog! Cleanest dog in the country, dont know how future pups will turn out....but cleanest dog in the country!!!! lol
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My god and to think hunting with terriers is getting such a bad rap these days. If he was to employ pest control to achieve them results through bait boxes he would have been out a clean fortune and no company could achieve those results in a few hours.
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He jumped over the gate on a dander down the mountain and I wasn't for opening the gate, so he had to make his way back over again. Lead or no lead.
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4 hours ago, white van man said:
He’s a nice strong looking dog
He is Irish terrier greyhound (lurcher to lurcher) so has great brains about about him, great round sheep and fiery when I need it. He is sitting at 14months old now so just starting out.
Two good friends of mine bred him and I tell ya what, dogs of back in the day are so hard to find now.
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Luck is what we need for definite buddy.
Luckily I have a few Fenn traps out, a few HMR rounds for the grey backs and maggies, as well as feeding the ground with a ton of old carrots and cabbages from Christmas.
Strange taken what I know about managing deer and applying it to rabbits. Who ever thought rabbits would need this kind of conservation effort. I definitely didnt!
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Crackin lurcher. Ya can't beat the old types. This is my big fella learning how to jump there in early spring of this (nearly last) year.
One thing I gotta give you a heads up on injury wise, is see the second you let the pup out of the pen and he is twisting and turning in the garden sprinting, until he is about 11-12 months old those first few minutes out of the pen can make or break your dog for the season. I am long in the tooth buddy and until his muscles properly develop make him walk out of the pen and his head goes straight through the loop of the lead. I have a few pals dogs have broken their legs, tore knee ligaments and main back leg muscles in the first few minutes out of the pen.
Hope that helps and I have definitely given my penny's worth to the sense that I sound like an auld boy giving life lessons.
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If ya get the chance throw up a photo of the pup. Always good to see the dog on the other side. Happy Hunting!
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9 months old but don't expect much and if on the lamp you have a real chance of your dog pulling up after 3 or 4 rabbits and not bothering running for the rest of the night.
Drip feed the pup. At 9 months old keep your stuff to a bit of day time ferreting. As for the lamp 1-2 runs on a lamping night. No more, honestly. Taking a 9 month old lurcher pup out hunting is like taking a 10 year old child to a boxing session for the first time, you wouldn't get that child to spar for an hour but just give him about a few minutes so he can go away and think about what he has experienced. Injury to the minimum and positive experiences to the maximum.
Get your dog broken to livestock, ferrets and jumping fences or five bar gates, especially in the dark. But even jumping gates comes in time. Don't push the dog, let it grow with you, learn what you expect from him each month and ya know what, enjoy the puppy months. Get as many photos of the dog as you go along and each time you both go out it will do something new.
Focus on the relationship, the rabbits will fall into place after that.
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He is happy we took the rabbits off his ground.
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Big mission happening here to relocate what we have left, moving some to old warrens, unused now for over 2 years. 22 relocated so far. We are only taking several from specific areas and relocating them all round us to make better bloodlines and keep the long-eared populations going for hunting seasons to come.
Few burrows kicked out already after only a fortnight.
Hopefully the virus wont wipe out our hard work but gonna be a great thing come summer to start seeing chippers again.
Hunters duty bound to help and look after what we hunt for not only ourselves but the young hunters in our area coming on behind us. Happy New Year lads!
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Hope you don't mind me adding my pennys worth.
You would never encourage a lurcher to chase something that wasn't there, or keep putting a ferret down a dead rabbit burrow so it is vital a Springer isn't asked to work cover that might be dead also.
When you watch youtube videos of fieldtrial springers in action, most of the time they are working estate ground with released birds. In fact the ground scent would be crazy which an FT springer has to differentiate between old and new scent. But FT springer are given a time span of about 5-15mins max so bomb through cover for that small time-frame as this is how they are programmed.
If you want your dog to do this then you have to prepare the training ground accordingly, items for the dog to find during training.
If like most people you take your dog out and put up snipe, woodcock or grouse on all the heather moorland but then get to thick bramble and expect the dog to bomb through this it doesn't really work like that and for a few reasons. Generally the dog quarters in front of you, so the first question is, are you walking through that tough cover as well? If not then you can't expect the dog to be working fresh ground like that as all it will want to do is go in front of you as you walk along.
So during the training phase you have to keep it structured, short, highly positive and evolve your training, i.e. open woodland, then some with willow or rhododendron (no thorns) and then getting a bit tougher as you go. Please don't take a dog not entering cover and try to train it in the summer in brambles as the wee dog will get destroyed. It can also end up highly frustrating for the handler for a dog in pain that doesn't want to work and a handler badgering the dog to get back into cover.
Here is what I do. I find something that particular dog absolutely loves, I have a dog which loves rabbits and a bitch that loves birds so for the dog it is rabbit fur dummies or real dead rabbits I hide in cover and for the bitch it is either a winged dummy, partridge or pheasants thrown into cover as I walk along a track. I then go get the dog and begin quartering now entering the cover myself. I don't have a rabbit pen but have access to a ton of wild game.
Please never follow on this ridiculous advice some people try to give, such as:
1) Never throw your dog into cover for being reluctant.
2) Never shout at your dog for not entering cover.
3 Never send an untrained dog into cover lacking any game. Especially again and again and again and .....you get my point.
4) If a dog in training can't find placed game (dead) never keep throwing or commanding the dog back into cover. If it didn't find it the second time something like the wind might be wrong or it is high of the ground in cover that the dog can't get too.
I hope this helps. I am only a simple countryman who enjoys working dogs but I dog have 20 years of experience with springers so that is my pennies worth right there.
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You did the right thing, how do I know this? Because I took the option you were going to pick.
Way back, I sold all my dogs and went back to University to do a 2 year course. I got absolutely no where with it. I lost my self, my friends, my hunting and for over 6 years lived out of a back pack, 3 of those years in hostels.
Workwise a degree got me nowhere. It has taken me near half a decade to rebuild my life, rebuild a home with dogs that you can call a working line. I now am only back to myself and can truly say I have my energy back. Doing a degree and the bullsh1te of striving for a good career in my line of study had me completely burnt out.
Only until I got a great mentor in my workplace who sat me down and told me it was time to get off the stress train, he shifted my focus back to family, hunting and ever since everything in work has just got better and better.
I am happy to hear you made the right decision and wait until you see, when you are happy surrounded by your family you will walk into work everyday a happier man, a happier husband and a happier father. People finally get to see the real you and when you surround yourself with positive people, positive things and family, your energy for hunting will go through the roof.
Hope this helps and honestly, it took me over a decade to undo the decision I made, which is the one you had the sense not to follow.
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Hey if that is demodex (demodectic mange) the vet wont treat it with anything other than a rinse i.e. Advocate.
The only thing for this pup is Ivomec or Bimectin. Now on that note it is advised not to give it to collies as they have a gene which can cause death if given ivermectin (the active ingredient in Ivomec or Bimectin). That said every sheep farmer I know here in the Sperrins will always ask the vet to give their dogs a jag while he is there dosing sheep.
Ivomec or bimectin retails at about £20 for 250ml. It is super strong but works miracles for demodex. I mean it is like 1ml per 50kg and really really easy to apply. A quick jag to the scruff and in half a second boom, done.
It doesnt need a prescription and if you go to any agri store they will have it. They usually throw in a free needle which is real easy to fill 0.1 ml which I would consider for your pup. In a 250ml bottle you will have enough to do you the dogs lifespan (joking, the shelf life will probably expire first).
Don't be shy of jagging your pup. I have a dog with the exact same condition and Bimectin has worked an absolute dream, honestly. So if your pup has no collie in it try it out and please 0.1 ml or even half that. The tiniest amount.
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Lads must work their way through this questionnaire! It is completely structured so that many people will not fully understand how to answer and the most important part that we must highlight is for question 7! Sentencing disparity is shocking here, I mean come on, a £40,000 fine or 5 years in prison for hunting a fox with a dog. If answering that question just copy and paste this into the box:
"fully opposed due to sentencing disparity as this is a form of unequal treatment where the reason for such severe punishment is not explained. The sentencing is also biased, incongruous, unfair and disadvantaging in consequence separating the classes".
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I have to add this one last thing as I re-read your first post. It is vital that you change your ground every day. It does not have to be an entire field just a different corner of the field. Don't be casting balls or dummies over ground you trod on even a few days before. Your pup will get bored, become distracted and think "hey, we did this yesterday, I am going to do something else instead of this game". New scent is new stimulus which develops your dog into a true hunting machine. Repetitive action without development is like pissing into the wind.
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About the speed in your last question, watch clips of red setters covering ground for grouse! Your dog is using his best vision.....his nose! All the time! They can process scent cognitively so fast that we can't even begin to imagine how they see their world.
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If he is not quartering it might mean you are not walking into the wind. He will air scent mostly so don't you worry about his nose on the ground all the time, that's mostly just to push through rushes and long grass.
Here is a good one, drop him on sit and tie him to a gate. Walk forward 30 ft and over 20 paces drop 5 tennis balls out to the left and right.
Walk back to him, untie from the gate, put him on sit and then with your hand kept totally still above his face give a short pip to send him out and begin walking forward.
He is 6 months old so don't worry about him quartering. Make sure you do this exercise into the wind. Use your hands as you walk to cast left and right but do not talk to him just pip each time.
When he finds the first ball pip pip pip pip real quick, drop to your knees, look down at the grass and open your arms right out like a huge hug. As he runs in keep the whites of your palms facing him and narrow your arms the closer he gets.
If he possesses the ball lie down, put your face into the grass bit keep your hands out before your head. He should be all over you like a rash. Keep rubbing him saying "Good boy good boy". Now don't grab him by the scruff or the caller but this itself is his best game. The trust that he can come near you and be all over you. This is vital. Trust!
Put your arms over him and hand under his rump and take the ball. Hide the ball in your pocket or a bag high on your body so he knows it's gone. Now you need the key word "DEAD!".
Send him out from standing or him sitting, whatever his position is and continue this exact same for the next two balls.
I know I said 5 but here is the trick, you pick up two before the game while walking back to him. Before that very first time you cast him out. Your scent will be in the grass bit no ball. He learns not every scent spot has an item so he adapts to hunt on.
This point is so important, never inflict pain on him to get him to let go of a ball. Just hold it and look at him. The only word you say is 'Dead' or your own personal key word. If he doesnt let go just play the waiting game. Don't pull it or push the ball. Dogs love tug of war, this is about dominance. The punishment is the game completely stops until he takes his gums off the ball.
On quartering also if you pip to sit and he just stops and holds position, honestly this is brilliant. He is remaining focused, holding your gaze and saying to you "im tentative!" If you really need him to sit pip again, if trained he should sit. But honestly I see so many lads badger their dogs and it is the ruination of a good day. You want to reach the point where on a shoot you barely talk to your dog and the whistle only rarely gets a random pip to cover ground which interests you.
Also at 6 months, 15mins max! That includes 5 mins of mental burn off, 3 ball flush and finds, 5 mins of play to end. Play is Play!!!!!!!! No training. This is the bonding time. My last 5 mins is spent with little flecks of bacon or ham and I hold it just above my brow. It makes the dog look right into my eyes which in dog psychology is a death sentence. It makes the dog not to be afraid to continuously look at me when quartering, building trust and it is 5 mins of constant attention. Ask any dog to be focused on you entirely for 5 whole mins and see how long it lasts. I got this tip off a great friend who trains agility dogs and it is a complete game changer for working so springers.
Can I share this advice? Owning springers will at times put you close to a mental asylum. We pick up energy from our dogs and vice versa except springers are completely mental! So when you go to your pen practice this game! Keep your mouth closed tight, wear old clothes so the dog can jump up to greet you( I believe essential in making a dog brave enough to come near sprinting back to you on a retrieve!). With your lips shut let the dog be himself, no "Hi, don't do That, or get down, or come back". Just you clean the pen and let the dog be himself. Then with your lips tight show him the lead and get onto one knee. Dog on, balls in the bag and lead him out for the game. By being silent he becomes tentative as he needs to watch you so he knows what the next game is. Whispering commands (well within his hearing range), this itself commands attention.
I hope this helps, it's made dogs I have worked for life work for me.
Ronan
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Come woodcock season you will be wanting every drop of that drive. You have the complete opposite of a sticky spaniel and many people envy that. As long as he doesn't run out beyond the gun you are doing ok. Just don't let him possess it long enough to kill it. A bit of work with the dummy with pigeon wings, 3 retrieves in 5 mins, no more and end the session on play never a retrieve.
As for the recall, springers dogs can be deaf when they want to be but sit must mean sit. I found that once the springer is out of the oen you literally have to give the dog 15mins to burn off all that mental energy before training can commence. If you try and begin training the moment the dog is out of the pen just have a stress ball handy for yourself !
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Hi Margaret, where is the Kevin Maguire's show being held? Thanks.
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I took my wife and 2 year old son to Shane's Castle with three dogs (hound, terrier and lurcher). Can I just give a shout out to the guys in the show rings and say you guys made it a brilliant day!
My son got to show his first dog winning 3rd and the judges mentored and encouraged the kids the whole way through. Absolutely first class. The quality of dogs even in the family class was exceptional and the banter round the rings was mighty.
Allowing the cars to be pulled up next to the rings made showing and tending to dogs really simple, well thought out. The judges were changed frequently for fairness and I see next year as only getting better. The best game fair I have been to in my near 40 years of countrysports!
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Watch the bailiffs don't see you lamping fish! They'll think you are up to something.
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He would want to be putting vaseline on his ears too!
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Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!
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Aye worked first class on a lurcher howling non-stop when he was on nightshift.
Trouble on the first night...
in Lurchers & Running Dogs
Posted · Edited by RTurlough
Hey, I just wanted to say you have to hold this pup back. If you push her now she will pick her runs and start stalking rabbits on the lamp. I have seen pup after pup ruined by friends slipping far too a young age.
10 months old the bones and muscles are still forming and they just aren't ready. Lamping isn't like a normal hunt because dogs and especially pups are run constantly and sometimes there is either a ton of mileage involved and as well as that hardly time for an adult dog to get its breath before the next run, never mind a pup.
If you want a smashing pup, make a pledge to hold your pup back fully leashed while watching friends dogs run and no matter how much you are tempted don't give this pup any rabbits on the lamp until next September/October. Then you will have the foundation for a smashing dog. If it has been seeing rabbits run time and time again this winter being fully leashed, man that pup is going to be explosive come next year looking its turn.
Take it a ferreting day and let it learn the ropes were it can't stalk rabbits which already in full flight coming out of the holes but see lamping a young pup, that is the quickest way to ruin a dog.
I will give you a scenario if you keep running that pup on the lamp........You will get 3 to 5 good runs then the next 4 or 5 the dog will stop and start stalking then every rabbit after that even squatters which you walk right up upon that pup wont even run. This is gospel, I am 40 yrs of age having seen them all.
Honestly, hold it back! ................oh, and have a great season with your pup out and about with mates.