Neal
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Everything posted by Neal
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My last lurcher was used as a gun dog during his first season, as a result of which he got excited every time he heard a firework as he was expecting a dead rabbit to retrieve. In comparison, my oldest Kelpie hates them as he was knocked over by a van as a pup around that time of year and so any loud noise terrified him for about a year.
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My first bitch was Hancock bred, out of Remus, and I also once met a fantastic 3/4 greyhound 1/4 collie sired by Taffy out of his dam, Sally. But, as someone said above, that was a good few years ago when the dogs were completely different. Then again, to be fair, I can't comment on his present stock as I know nothing about them. Ouch! My arse is sore from sitting on this fence!
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As many have already said: an open fire and freshly cut grass. But also...puppies ( and I mean canine, not breasts!), wood shavings, earl grey tea, margaret merrill roses and last, but by no means least, my Mum's rhubarb crumble, which due to a b*****d of a thing which starts with C and ends with ancer I've sadly missed for seven years and one day.
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I was once advised to hold the rabbit by the back legs and pretend I was trying to chop a nearby tree down with it! Needless to say I didn't take up this pearl of wisdom. Since then I've always stretched but thanks to the descriptions on this thread I think I too shall try chinning.
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Similar to someone above, my early attempts were using the karate chop, simply because that's what I'd seen being used. Then one day, while helping someone with some daytime longnetting I chopped one which then got up several seconds later and ran off; left me feeling a right plonker. On another thread within the last month somebody mentioned that to avoid using a priest when ferreting an alternative way of overcoming the fact that the rabbit is tangled is to pick it up by the back legs and give it a shake to release the head through the meshes.
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Like Gaz, I have a wheezy eight year old but in my case it's a hob. Haven't worked him so far this season and probably won't as even though he always seems more sprightly than the younger ones a) he tires quickly now and I'd feel guilty if he keeled over when he could have been snoozing peacefully at home.
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I keep all three of my kelpies (8 years, 4 years and 12 weeks) together in a covered run overnight and while I'm at work. The rest of the time they are inside with me with free access to a decent sized garden (or the log fire).
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If all else fails...just cut your neighbour's thumbs off!
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Sorry for butting in to this thread but I'm a bit nonplussed as to why SJM is being heckled so heavily. For several reasons David Hancock's lurchers usually bring about a heated response in many people. My first two lurchers were bred by him and both had positive and negative points. Having said that, this was over fifteen years ago so I would not be able to pass comment on his present breeding. I can see why some would buy dogs from him as much as I can see why some would not. SJM's response was based on her own opinion and therefore should be accepted for what it is: an opinion about a parti
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I've known a few butchers who will give away the bones for free for the same reason you've stated above but I no longer tell them why I need the bones as most will then refuse to sell them. I expect it's because they believe the crap told by "complete" dog food companys and are worried about legal action being taken against them. One butcher actualy told me that if I was going to feed the bones to the dogs then I'd have to cook them first else they would kill them; he then went on to say that if I fed them raw and subsequently needed to take the dogs to the vets he'd deny selling me the bones.
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I'm just glad he's got a good home as I was so upset when I had to rehome him.
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I've had a couple of lurchers that have taken them but they're very agile and if they don't get the correct initial hold then they can certainly bite back. My old kelpie has caught a few too but he initially had the daft habit of trying to retrieve them live. Apparently, they taste better than rabbit, though as yet I've not built up the courage to try; has anybody else ever given them a go?
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I hate to be the odd one out but I ordered some nets from Brian Brinded last season and they arrived within the week and I've had no problems with them at all, which is saying something considering the ivy, brambles, hawthorn, blackthorn, nettles etc they have to contend with.
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Is anybody going to the River Cottage Festival tomorrow? The wife and I are off there tomorrow though personally I think she's only going in an attempt to get on the telly!
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I only have one and a bit seasons of ferreting single handed under my belt so I'm hardly the font of all knowledge but this is what I do, for what it's worth. On my first trip out I didn't fasten the collar well enough and had to dig to retrieve the bloody thing. After that I decided to work the ferrets without a collar but use one on a second ferret if one laid up. Lo and behold, I didn't get a lay up all season which either means I've got great ferrets or else their crap and weren't working hard enough. Anyway, after a few weeks of this, I went back to putting the collar on every time I
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Thanks Skycat, that all rings a bell. I've got a small book, more of a pamphlet really, by a woman from Scandinavia called "calming signals" but not looked at it for a few years.
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On the plus side you'll be able to send us all a post-card!
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Have to agree with the above. I switched to feeding raw about nine years ago and haven't looked back since. Smaller, less smelly stools, less hyper dogs, less fleas: better all round! As mentioned above though, the only problem can be finding a decent butcher, especially where I live near Portsmouth. On the other hand, even if it were more expensive, which I generally find it isn't, it would still be worth it.
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I use drontal and get mine done every three or four months. I feed raw but have never had any problems with worms as far as I'm aware.
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I've heard that it's a social thing, like a pride of lions all yawning and licking their chops when they wake up, set off hunting or return from a hunt. It can also be used as a kind of appeasement, unless I'm getting it mixed up with the licking lips.
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When my kelpie bitch was a pup she used to to squeeze through the bars of her run and make a bed under a sack of compost and some old plastic crates and my last lurcher was forever dragging his blanket out of his kennel to sleep out in the open; oh well, each to their own.
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I just got a bulldog rabbiting spade after reading advice on a separate thread on here. Got mine from www.fredshed.co.uk and it was reduced as it was second-hand which simply ment that it had been stuck in soil once for a publicity shot for the website. I guess that means I've got a famous spade. Not needed to use it yet though as I'm one of those lazy, wait-and-see types.
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Sound advice from Skycat. She'll probably be ok but it's best to stack as much in your favour as possible by "using" sensible, steady dogs.
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She can't have done it; she was with me at the time in a hotel room round the corner from Camden Tube Station...but don't tell my wife or she'll kill me!
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If only that nice Mr Plummer was still with us, I'm sure if you asked him nicely he'd breed a special strain of retrieving ferrets via a genetically modified Flat Coat Retriever...and you'd get a lovely article in the CW with algebra and all sorts!
