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Neal

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Everything posted by Neal

  1. Neal
    I have RIR and Welsummer. The RIR lay all year round and are fairly friendly. The Wellies only lay in Spring and Summer and are fairly wild; I've only recently convinced them to nest in the coop as opposed to in the apple tree. Neither are broody.
  2. Neal
    @ Bunnys... Don't quote me on this, as I may have got my facts slightly wrong, but I think that the line that Rufus was from was related to the line that the collie which Dave Sleight used for his early kelpie/collie crosses i.e. Gem and Purdey was from. If my facts are right then I believe they're related to the chocolate and white collie called Moss which Daergi wrote an article about in the Shooting News.
  3. Neal
    Only a tad off topic, but did anybody see last night's Countryfile? I missed the beginning section but caught a bit on hefting on the Welsh borders and the shepherd had a number of interesting looking dogs.
  4. Neal
    Hi Jigsaw! That reminds me of one time about eight years ago when my wife and I were on holiday in Belstone (Dartmoor) with my two kelpies and Moss the kelpie/collie x greyhound that you have the photos of. It looked bright enough so we set off from the cottage, straight out onto the moor. However, knowing Dartmoor fairly well (as I used to live in the west country) I still took my barbour. Within five minutes it had started raining. Five minutes after that I was soaked to the skin. We stopped for a quick chat and decided these were stupid conditions and we should go back to the cottage...
  5. Neal
    It's pleasing to read that by and large, when discussing the merits of a suitable pastoral dog, the temperament and working style are rated more highly than the build. Usually, whenever you read an article about which collie to use, you'd think it was only the height that was important.
  6. Neal
    That makes sense; thought it might be something simple like that. I get on ok with the mark 3 but it's what I started with so I have no experience of the 1 and 2 to compare it to either favourably or otherwise.
  7. Neal
    When I had mine (about 20 odd years ago) I had a letter from Hancock telling me that one from a later litter was used as a sheepdog and had won a trial. Not certain but it think it was based in Exmoor and was Rufus x Linnet as opposed to Richard x Linnet so was more border than beardie.
  8. Neal
    I know nothing about the other makes of locator used for terriers but have often heard people saying good things about Bellman and Flint and have often wondered why they don't also make a ferret locator. Is there some particular reason for this and am I just being dense?
  9. Neal
    Just checked and mine does have the black and white gate photo but isn't a first edition so not worth as much as I'd hoped.
  10. Neal
    Although every lurcher book I've read would disagree with the next point; in Iris Combes book (The Herding Dog) she puts forward the complete opposite ancestry for lurchers. We tend to think of a lurcher as a sighthound crossed with whatever was available in that area but she believes it was actually a collie crossed with whatever was available in that area. So, in some areas you'd get collie x whippets whereas others would be collie x greyhound, collie x deerhound or collie x terrier...yes that's right, collie x terrier! I'm not necessarily saying she's right (it's uncomfortable on th
  11. Neal
    I've got that one; how much is it worth then?
  12. Neal
    My old 3/4 collie had almost endless stamina and a "gay" tail. I only wore him out once and that was when I walked all round Coniston Water in one day via the fells on both sides. I knew he was knackered because he finally dropped his tail for the last couple of miles. On the same day, while walking north through Grizedale, we heard a fire engine set off from Coniston and he charged along the track, with his head held high, howling like a coyote. It's a difficult question, and very subjective re how much base-blood to have in a lurcher. I've never gone further down the racy route than hal
  13. Neal
    I'm sure I'm not the only Englishman to be proud to be 1/16 Welsh!
  14. Neal
    I had a 3/4 collie 1/4 greyhound from Hancock's third litter of Richard x Linnet. There's actually a photo of his as a pup on page 41 of "A Question Of Lurchers," he's the slightly dopey looking one with the wonky white markings behind the board. As has already been said above, they have a deceptive appearance as they're more racy under that profuse coat than you'd think. They also have immense stamina and a hide like a rhino. Mine once snagged his coat on a strand of barbed wire which was hanging down from a fence; he gave a grunt and pulled himself free leaving not a mark on him but a cl
  15. Neal
    Pure kelpie. I find that what I need where I ferret is a dog which does the right thing rather than necessarily doing what it's told. They don't catch much that manages to get into its stride but there's not much space around here to get into your stride so everything they pick up is nailed in hedgerows, bushes, rough grass etc. I wouldn't say they're the best ferreting dog in general but they work well enough for my simple needs.
  16. Neal
    Hi bjay, can you tell us some more about the kelpie; breeding etc and whether it helps with the ferreting?
  17. Neal
    I also keep the Welsumer bantams (which are mentioned above). They lay beautiful brown spotted eggs and are very cheap to keep as they tend to get the majority of their food from mooching around the garden. However mine are very wild and invariably roost way up in an apple tree...even when it was snowing!
  18. Neal
    I've actually thought about this after reading an article (think it may have been on here) about a bloke who won a competition to have his dog cloned. I'd definately clone my first kelpie (in my avatar) as he's been a fantastic working dog and best mate. He was hit by a van when he was eleven months old and I've always wondered how good he'd have been if he didn't have a mangled pelvis. He's none too fast, as a result, but has that knack of being in the right place. Then again, if he had that extra speed and agility, would he have learnt to run so cunning?
  19. Neal
    Well, I was going to put up my two penneth worth but John has written what I was going to put almost verbatim. I even got my Lundhag Scouts from the same place! I used to wear Brasher Supalites and, although they were comfy, they only lasted one or two years. Unfortunately, due to them being so light, everything else I've tried over the last few years on my search for a replacement has felt too heavy...until I tried the Scouts. John's right: you have to wear them with a different mind-set i.e. forget about the newer theory of how to keep out water and keep your feet warm and embrace th
  20. Neal
    Just heard that they'll be discussing a possible town based repeal of the hunting act due to this story. It's on today's programme between 12 and 2. Oops sorry...edited to add I meant to say on Jeremy Vine...I was in a rush as I was feeding my daughter.
  21. Neal
    Good point! I seem to remember a thread a few years back (or maybe it was on Jeremy Vine; I'm just so middle classed ) when there was a discussion on which piece of music would make a better anthem with Land of Hope and Glory coming out on top I think.
  22. Neal
    On the subject of the goretex...one of my old pairs of supalites eventually cracked across the toes due to successive wet and dry cycles as leegreen was saying. I bought a new pair and kept the cracked pair, which had the membrane exposed through the crack, and used them as my gardening boots. They still kept my feet dry!
  23. Neal
    Changing the subject a tiny bit...I think the problem with being a member of the English section of the British Isles is that patriotism is often seen as a negative. By this I mean that Welsh, Irish and Scots are seen as patriotic whereas English are seen as racist. It seems to be changing a bit over the last couple of years but, in recent history, the St George's cross was frowned on. As for me...I was born in Hampshire but...my great, great grandfather was a Welsh lighthouse keeper so I support both. But if their playing against each other...I support Wales. I can't put my finger
  24. Neal
    I used to wear the Brasher Supalites too. They were amazingly light and really comfortable...I remember Chris Brasher once saying that, after coming back from a day on the hills, he wanted to keep his boots on as they were so comfy and I'd definately agree. However, I had to replace mine every one to two years and, since their manufacture moved overseas I've found they no longer fit me. I also found their grip less than perfect in wet conditions. I've spent the last few years trying to find a replacement, including the Meindl Douvre which I gave away to a member of this forum as I found th
  25. Neal
    I had a 3/4 collie 1/4 greyhound from Hancock's third litter of Richard Jones x Linnet. He was a great old dog with loads of character. I agree that, on paper, a dog with more base blood than sighthound may not be fast enough for rabbits but it depends how the dog works. I now catch a lot more game with my 4/4 kelpies ( ) than I did with previous lurchers simply because they're better in the kind of terrain where I work them i.e. small fields, overgrown hedgerows and even more overgrown ex-coppiced woodland.
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