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Neal

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Everything posted by Neal

  1. Neal
    In the wood next to my son's school, there's a den made by some of the older kids that even has a visitors' book.
  2. Neal
    Hi Bird; sorry for taking so long to reply but it's the Easter holiday so I've got two under sixes to look after and a nine week old kelpie pup to house train. I'll have to answer in layman's terms as that's the only way I understand it myself. I only read about it a couple of years ago in a kelpie book but then saw it explained on TV recently (it may have been on "Bang Goes The Theory" but I'm not sure). I've not read through the whole thread so apologies is somebody else has already answered this. Mitochondrial DNA is contained in both the cells supplied by the parents i.e. the fem
  3. Neal
    One thing to consider is that it's only the bitch which passes on her mitochondrial DNA.
  4. Neal
    In my humble opinion, the pups from repeated matings should be fairly similar for the reasons stated above. However, if the pups were linebred then, with one or more elements being prepotent, the resultant litter(s) would be more likely to be more even. I hasten to add that I don't speak from experience.
  5. Neal
    As the majority of people reading this thread are, presumably, owners of working dogs (as opposed to purely pets), it's safe to assume we all agree that "willingness to comply" doesn't necessarily equate to intelligence...if it did there'd be a high proportion of McDonalds staff with an Oxbridge education. However, due to the nature of some lurcher literature in the eighties, the opinions held regarding collie blood in lurchers has tended to become polarised whereby some assume that being well trained is almost an indication of not being intelligent. This has been added to by the, understandab
  6. Neal
    I never tire of seeing photos of her in action. It's good to enjoy your chosen sport/work/hobby but it's better when your chosen dog obviously enjoys it so much too.
  7. Neal
    Thanks Beast and Skycat. It'll be another kelpie to replace the rapidly ageing old fella in my avatar (I think that photo was taken about eight years ago). Good point about travelling in cars too. I bought my last kelpie nearly seven years ago and it was about a year after moving to a more rural area, as a result I didn't need to take her anywhere in a car and so she's never been as happy in one as old Rust.
  8. Neal
    Thanks skycat; that's just what I was hoping to hear and is pretty much what I did with the last pup.
  9. Neal
    Completely agree. I have permission on a small area within walking distance, which is handy as I can't drive. More often than not I come home empty handed but it's a very enjoyable empty handed! Unfortunately, it's now in the process of being covered in concrete so I didn't even bother to replace my pair of ferrets when they died a year ago. Never mind...I prefer bushing/mooching/raking about anyway...there's less to carry!
  10. Neal
    I'm soon to acquire my first pup for nearly seven years and I'm aware that a lot has changed during that time, particularly with regards to research into how pups develop in their first year and how this is effected by "sensitive periods." When I bought my last pup I'd recently read a couple of books in which the authors put forward their opinion that pups shouldn't be kept in until two weeks after the second jab (as had previously been recommended). Their reasoning was that the danger of contracting something during this period was outweighed by the benefits of earlier socialisation. Or,
  11. Neal
    Not sure why my post came up quite like that...probably because my laptop has given up on me so I'm writing this on my wife's tablet.
  12. Neal
    Goodonya Neal... Thanks Phil! I'll be picking him up around Easter so I'll invite you round for a look. I love the 'herding types',..either purebred, or as lurcher hybrids... Obviously they don't suit everyone, or tick all the boxes, but as roustabout rabbiting/mouchin dogs they sure suited me ..
  13. Neal
    Cioch Glamaig? They're made to measure which is a huge plus. I have the full length zip version but it comes in a smock too. I'd highly recommend them...handmade on Skye too!
  14. Neal
    Until recently I worked three pure kelpies. However, I now only have two as my ten year old bitch was put down due to her temperament. She was the most one-man-dog I've ever known and never accepted my young son so they were kept permanently apart. Unfortunately, her fate was sealed last summer when the red mist descended as somebody tried to stroke her in my local wood. I hasten to add that my six year old bitch is extremely friendly and the fourteen year old male in my avatar is paricularly easy going. I've also ordered a replacement for the old fella from a litter which is due fairly
  15. Neal
    I can recommend a book called "In Defence Of Dogs...why dogs need our understanding" by John Bradshaw. It has a lot about the evolution of dogs and goes a long way to debunk the old idea of dogs as constantly fighting for dominance. It encouraged me to change some of the ways I interact with my dogs.
  16. Neal

    Grubs Wellys

    Neal replied to Chid's topic in General Talk

    I had a couple of different pairs of Muck Boots but the soles only lasted about a year each...then my wife bought me the Grubbs Stalkers several years ago and they're still going strong. Having said that, I tend to spend most of my time in Lundhag Scouts which could have an effect on saving the soles of the Grubbs!
  17. Neal
    It's so infrequent that I see a rabbit in my part of Hampshire that the last one I saw I had to check it out in a field guide when I got home!
  18. Neal
    Not sure how much help this is, but there's a litter of pure working beardies in this week's Farmers' Guardian. You can view their classifieds online. Could just be the same place you got yours from though.
  19. Neal
    Vin, a forty mile journey to my nearest permission would be no good to me...I don't drive! That's one of the reasons I now have kelpies and used to have collie crosses...I wanted something which could keep up with me! Hot Meat, I've booked another kelpie. My oldest has recently turned fourteen and "the pup" is now six...won't say anything else about the pup yet as I don't want to take the thread in a different direction.
  20. Neal
    I've still got places within walking distance which hold the occasional rabbit etc but, as I don't have permission on them, I'll put off getting any more ferrets unless things pick up...I'm still planning a replacement for the old kelpie in the spring though!
  21. Neal
    I'm in a similar position. I only have the one small piece of permission...it's never held a lot of rabbits but enough to keep myself and the dogs and ferrets happy. However, both my ferrets died at the tail end of last season and while umming and arring about replacements I discovered that the farms are due to be under concrete within the next couple of years so, for the time being, I've not replaced the ferrets.
  22. Neal

    Collies?

    Neal replied to Mustelid's topic in Bushing Dogs

    If you,ve taken more with a bushing kelpie than you have with a lurcher in the open then?.Im the Collies biggest fan,but at times we need to be a tad more realistic.The lurcher was bred to overcome the limitations of their pastoral cousins,well most of them.Ive seen a couple of Borders that could leave any lurcher in their shadow when working,hunting and marking,the catching bit is best left to the lurcher as ive never seen a Collie compete on that level,yet?. Sorry Morton, I should have made that clearer. What I mean is that my kelpies have caught more in general (almost exclusively in c
  23. Neal

    Collies?

    Neal replied to Mustelid's topic in Bushing Dogs

    Not quite the same thing, but I have two kelpies which I use for bushing etc (actually, that's not quite true as one is now fourteen so he just bimbles along) and I've said several times on here before that I've caught more with them, working in this manner, than I used to get working lurchers in the open. One more thing; it's mentioned above that if you have the time you can teach them anything...I'd go one further and say that if you have the time, and the inclination, then they can teach you a thing or two!
  24. Neal
    Although I've always preferred a dog favouring the collie etc side, I have to admit that one of the best dogs I ever met was 3/4 greyhound 1/4 collie. He'd knock over rabbits all day long while waiting for his main job of waiting for something bigger to turn up. His owner used to get the paper boy to pick him up at the beginning of his round and road walk him as part of his paper round...lovely, friendly, easy going dog. Ironically, he was almost exactly the same yet completely opposite to the dog I had at the same time; breeding wise. Both were Hancock bred but mine was Richard x Linnet i
  25. Neal
    Is that the same as the purple spray you find in the horse section of places like Jolleys?
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