my first terrier pup was a header!

[flint67 2]

ive always had lurchers ,over 25 years , but when i got my first patterdale i realised just how little i knew about terriers ,he was a header and might have come through with no faults in the hands of a real terrierman , id be the first to admit that i could have done a better job with hindsight , but i also tend to think that not many terriermen would put up with him , he was not a professional mans dog for sure , but he was good enough for the likes of me and in a world where we are plagued with dogs with not enough heart , it seems churlish to criticise one with too much. . . .! I know enough about lurchers to know the penalties we pay for entering too soon , so as opinions on terriers varied from 10 , 12 to 15 months i was in no hurry with this lad , id take him out with the running dogs let him hurtle about a bit. One night i had him out with me running loose while i had a sapling and the lamp, im squeaking , shes coming , and the lurchers looking at the moon , the stars , everywhere but the beam , the more i try to pull his head round to look , the more hes saying oh no what have i done !! Next minute screaming in the dark , i spun the lamp round and theres cubs running wild and my 5month old pup is ragging one like a rat . ( that woke the lurcher up) from that day on he was like a dog posessed ,as soon as he was on the couple he was pulling panting eyes glazed over , total header , exactly like a male dog when theres a bitch on heat, incomunicado, heads gone. As soon as we walked up through the farm he was on his hind legs like a dancing bear , of course all the scents and trails , fox and badger shit every where were just blowing his mind. 7months old and as i climbed over a gate ,he was through the bottom two bars , i dropped his lead to pick it up the other side , and he doubled straight back ,off down the hedge about 30yards , in and out and as i got to him , he went straight to ground , 7 months ,no locator ,dragging a chain , and over a mile from home. I didnt know whether to laugh or cry, a quick check on the barbed wire that the runs went under . . And i dont need to tell you what colour the hair was.. . .and he found , baying non stop with a little bit of crash bang. He emerged after 25mins ,bottom lip bit through blood everywhere and clearly having the time of his life , i just caught the chain in time as he dived back in for more .i was relieved to see him , and proud in a way but had it been a disaster , would he only stick it 20 mins for ever? Ooooh no !!! But i can tell you ,theres been times i wish he had come out after 20mins, cheers for reading , theres plenty more , maybe later

[Fitz 14]

Great read mate! Looking back on it, sounds like you enjoyed every minute of it

[chippy 1]

you should write a book!

[goldfinch2007 2,331]

good post mate.could nt stop laughing

[flint67 2]

the thing was , once he d killed that cub at 5months old , it was like he d flicked a switch in his head , that was the only thing he focused on , and once hed self entered then he became obssessed . Id decided that although hed shown some aptitude for the job ,and would likely enter at under a year , i definately wouldnt rush him ,as i was still concerned that doing 25mins and coming off had likely done more harm than good . . .but he had other ideas and this is where the real comedy of errors begins. I got home about a week after his first self entering , and theres feathers every where and ripped up chicken wire ,chewed through wooden gate and 2 dead shamos, (i told you plenty of lads wouldnt put up with him!) he never ever ever got broke to feather ,every time he heard 2 birds enjoying each others company in the enclosure the other side of the yard , he would be doing backflips to get out . . I lost more birds to that little sod than i ever did in the legal pits of mainland europe. Anyway on this particular day ,a quick check and he d burrowed out of the dog run ,dug his way out ,killed a couple of my birds and was nowhere to be seen. On this farm , there is a huge place , 11 entrances along about 30or 40yards 20foot up a bank and going deep deep under a high sloping field , some of the entrances are like caves, when the hunt used to draw through years ago they used to stop it , the terrierman told me he would NEVER drop a dog in there , understandably so , if you go in 8foot ,you are under 15 foot and more. So guess where my little lad was , and he was easy to find , cause he was going in one ,out another , having a great laugh , i couldnt tell if it was chickens blood on him , but it turned out to be mostly his own ,when i finally caught him, after listening to him working for half an hour , then seeing him outside an entrance 10yards away , then crawling along and calling him , only to see him disappear back in.. . . So much for not rushing him in case he only stayed 20or 30mins forever , noone had let him in on the plan. He was a total header , and his first year was full of stories like that , countless times he broke out of the kennels , but i have to say despite all the attempts he made to ruin himself as a pup , having repeatedly outsmarted me , he did go on to be a great earth dog and stayed and stayed . He was far too hard for his own good initially , but after a sustained period of work every other day when he was 18 months , he settled into the job , but he always worked hard

[4x4dartmoor 2]

double post

Great post keep them going chap.

[goldfinch2007 2,331]

whats his breeding?get a couple of pics up

[flint67 2]

i bought him at sandbatch services after ringing an advert from the countrymans weekly , he made 15inch about 17 pound fit. The lad said the sire was a black pat and the dam a pat x lakey . . .they had 2pups available , one was tan and black , the other black and tan , the black one was mad and the tan one was quiet , i said i will have the quiet one , ive always wondered what the hell the other one turned out like !!

[flint67 2]

ive been reading treat them like heroes ,and thinking about this lad a lot . . .not that he could live up to the high standards of the dogs in the book ,but in some ways yes , he finds he stays he gets stuck in and he does give it his all , but oh how he drove me crazy that first year. He had to be either in the dog run or on the couple . .or he was below ground , simple as that. If i didnt get the gate shut quick enough he d be out and gone ,the only chance of catching him was if he stopped to get at the birds.. I used to run him in the middle of a huge field with the lurchers for 5or 10mins keeping them running back to me all the time with him chasing, then back on the chain. The slightest thing and that was it , a crow ,a pheasant he d chase it for 20yards then the switch in his head would go, he d run 2or 300yards in whatever direction he was facing till he got to a hedge then he d follow it half a mile round the field till he got to one of 2 places and straight to ground. So he had to be in the kennel or on the chain at all times. .little sod. Of course all these places on the farm were sprawling great things with a huge amount of turnout.. . ... His first proper dig was a bit of a non event a manky mangey vixen ,who was bald from the tip of her tail to the middle of her back , he killed it swiftly and dragged it out, simple as that. It was a very sorry specimen . . So i hung it on the gate next to the footpath for the ramblers !!

[The one 8,405]

Nice reading mate

[goldfinch2007 2,331]

a nice stamp him mate.

[Guest fence_hopper]

good little read mate shame leanlurcher never read this before buying her pup

[lugs 0]

good read mate