Neal
-
Content Count
2,569 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Articles
Gun Dealer's and Fieldsports Shop's
Reloading Room
Blogs
Calendar
Store
Classifieds
Everything posted by Neal
-
Earlier this year, over a month ago so before the leaves came out, I thought I could hear the "plaintive mew" of a buzzard which was then being answered by another. I looked up, expecting to see one circling over the top of the wood, but couldn't see one. I heard the call again so looked up again and still no buzzard. The only bird I could see was a jay. Then, while watching it, I saw it open its mouth and let out the buzzard call! I've since seen this pair of jays doing the same thing several times. I looked it up online and several other people have said they'd witnessed it too.
-
Bearded collie cross greyhound breeder
Neal replied to GeorgiaK96's topic in Lurchers & Running Dogs
I once owned a brother of Enoch. Lovely dog. Could go all day, amazing feet and coat, lovely character. His two downsides were that he didn't like some men and his coat took ages to dry; apart from that I'd say he was one of the nicest dogs I've ever owned. -
We had a smooth back in the 70s. She definitely worked. We also had a fox terrier x Sheltie (also worked). Both lived to a ripe old age but spent their whole lives apart as they hated each other.
-
Sorry for your loss. Enjoy the memories.
-
I just made my wife a cup of coffee. I almost put the mug in the fridge and took her two litres of milk. Still; not as bad as the time that I only realised I'd thrown a sweet in the bin when I stuck the wrapper in my mouth.
-
There are a couple of "pet home" GWPs near where I live. I'd always been put off the breed as I'd been led to believe they were very fiery. However, both of these (dog and bitch but separately owned) are lovely and easy going. Having said that, the male wears a bell so his owner can keep track of him in the forest as he has a tendency to go freelance. I've been talking to every gundog owner I meet over the last few years as I'm fairly certain that I'll go down that route when Old Noggin is past it.
-
R.I.P. I never met him, but had a few email conversations. Although I mainly bought EDRD for the lurcher as opposed to terrier articles, his were always my favourites as he really made you feel like you knew every one of his terriers and their backstory.
-
I think you're definitely right here. One of the biggest problems with people resurrecting or "improving" breeds is that they feel the need to use breeds which look similar whereas they should be using breeds which work and/or think similarly. As a very exaggerated example: if I was looking for a bearded collie, I'd prefer to buy one which worked and acted like a proper beardie but was smooth coated than a beardie coated border collie which worked like it's border collie parents. Does that make sense? Edited to add: re the inaccuracies of old books, I was reading an article by the l
-
Comanche, have you read "Taught By Dogs: working, farm and family" by Colin Whittemore? My wife bought it for me for Christmas and there's a chapter called "Father's Sheepdogs" which is mainly about Welsh Sheepdogs. I've not read it yet but it's the first one in my Xmas present book pile that I'll be reading when I've finished my Philip Larkin novel: I'm so cultured!
-
Bio-Flow dog collars. Any experience of them?
Neal replied to Neal's topic in Working Dog Health & Training Talk
I think so, but not in the way I expected. He still limps but one thing has changed for the better. He was born as a naturally calm easy going dog (his nickname is Bob Marley) but, as a result of his accident, he's been highly likely to have a go at any entire males he meets. I was talking about this to someone earlier this year when it suddenly struck me that he'd only had a couple of minor incidents in months. I then realised that it's been since he's had the collar. We still get the occasional bit of handbags at dawn but he's much better than before. There have even been a lot of occas -
Interesting points. I know this thread is about collie x greyhounds, but the reason a lot of people hark back to them is the myth/legend (?) of them as the original poachers' dog. I read somewhere recently that although some poachers' dogs were collie blooded, they were just as likely to use a pure curly coated retriever.
-
I had my annual check-up for my kidney stones last week. Fortunately the tablets I take to reduce the production of potassium (which my body does in excess for some reason) are still working and the little darlings haven't grown over the last year. However, when I mentioned in passing that I'm a BRCA1 gene carrier, he looked at his screen a little puzzled and asked what my GP had done as a follow-up to my PSA test this year. When I replied that nothing had been done other than a call to say it was at a normal level he looked a bit shocked. Turns out it was slightly high and that, coupled
-
I know the pups aren't with the dam for long, but those few weeks are long enough to leave a lasting impression on the pups, either positive or negative. I'm not saying that the temperament of the male doesn't count (as it certainly does) but, in my limited experience, the temperament of the dam is even more important.
-
I'm always amazed at how other people just don't seem to notice deer. There are numerous occasions when I've watched people walking along a country lane within yards of a roe and they've not seen it. There are two blokes who regularly take their remote control cars to the centre of my local wood and I've seen the deer walking behind them on the other side of the stream and these two blokes had no idea they were there. I suppose having a dog that says "there's a deer over there" helps.
-
I live in an area of East Hampshire called The Forest Of Bere, sandwiched between Portsmouth and the South Downs. We have a thriving population of roe (you'd have to walk around with your eyes closed not to see them almost daily) and I've also seen a couple of muntjac during my local walks in the last couple of years. The only time I ever see fallow is when I walk farther east (to the east of Rowland's Castle) apart from a single buck I saw this year a little to the west of that. While walking my kelpie this morning, I noticed him pause, look over to his left, then back at me. Sure enough
-
One of my previous dogs earned the nickname Dickhead. When my young daughter overheard me calling him this she asked what dick meant. To this day I'm proud of how quickly I responded by telling her that, as he was a sheepdog, and sheep are counted differently (yan, tan, tethera etc) and he was my tenth dog...hence dick!
-
Whippets, thickets and working dog classes
Neal replied to Luckee legs's topic in Lurchers & Running Dogs
A racing whippet breeder from the Midlands who I bought a collie x whippet from told me that, of all her whippets, the only ones with poor feet were the ones with racing greyhound blood. -
One way I've found of building confidence is to simply walk a dog in woodland with lots of intersecting paths. Rather than directing which route you'll take, let the dog decide. I know it sounds daft but I've used that method to instil confidence into several more sensitive or submissive dogs. I once had a collie x whippet I did this with. She was so stuck to me like glue that, although she was the most obedient dog I've ever had, it took ages to teach her a recall as she never left my side. I had to get somebody to take her off on a lead and let her off so she'd run back to me and becom
-
Yep He was very friendly and outgoing, but calm and polite (never jumped up, even as a pup). He'd walk up to people and/or dogs, but unfortunately not all dog owners believe in the benefits of socialising dogs.
-
We've tried that, but didn't make any difference. The only things we've found that works 100% is if she travels in the front (wider field of view and all that jazz) and has her music on. Fine for me apart from I'm not looking forward to travelling from one end of the country with Taylor Swift all the way.
-
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, it's impossible to go the day before as we're staying in a rented cottage and we can't leave early (our usual tactic) as my mother in law has Alzheimer's so my wife has to do one last shopping trip and visit on the morning we leave before the carers take over for the week.
-
My male was attacked several times as a pup (due to idiots assuming he was either an Alsation, Rottweiler or Doberman cross and immediately putting their dogs on leads to "protect" themselves). After one attack he ran off and was hit by a car. Before this he'd been extremely easy going and relaxed (his nickname is Bob because he was like Bob Marley) but after the accident he became aggressive, initially only towards large dark coloured dogs (as these had previously been the main culprits) but eventually towards anythings with testicles that got too close. Fine with bitches and castrated males
-
Quick question: we're travelling up from South Hampshire to Appleby to visit my wife's family at the beginning of the school summer holiday. We've always previously gone via Oxford, A42, M6 etc but it's almost always static around Stoke-On-Trent. When I checked the route on aa route planner it also came up with an alternative route via the A3, M25, M1, A1(M) until Richmond and then head west. Anybody know which of these two routes is most likely to be unblocked (or the least congested) on the average Friday? We need to stick to as many non-winding roads as possible as my daughter is a puk
-
Feature on my local news a short while ago about fibreglass being found in shellfish in Chichester harbour. The reason given was because boats are now rarely built from wood.
-
Not a pure whippet, but the only whippet lurcher I've ever had (collie x whippet) would come in season pretty regularly every four months. What with that and her dreadful feet and I remember one year when she spent more time on the lead than free.
