Numbers

[C.green 3,203]

How many lads will get through a season with just one or two terriers ? Working them at every opportunity. Most the lads i know flat out at it like a good few dogs around them but that isnt for me id be hard pushed to keep a pair of terriers myself.can many lads have a decent season with just a couple terrier or not possible ?

Edited November 10, 2018 by C.green

[darencross 72]

I would say most lads would have 5/6 terriers to get them through the season 

[Rabbit Hunter 6,608]

Every single person you ask will give a different answer, all depends on dogs working style, amount of land you've got to hunt and how much time you have to be out per week.

[dogmandont 9,312]

Lads I know well that do a lot of digging would have at least 10 workers between them as well young dogs to start. A couple of half sensible terriers would do me a season easily but then I also follow hounds and do covers with the lurchers. So as rh said it all depends on the terriers you keep and the amount of work you can put in front of them. 

[C.green 3,203]

I know bit of a hard qestion to answer aint it but keep hearing terrier lads talk of having a few dogs i do enjoy checking few places on a sunday but dont fancy kenneling a whole pack to do it regularly lol. Like above think ill just stick to a couple half sensible types that keep me getting out.

[dogmandont 9,312]

57 minutes ago, C.green said:

I know bit of a hard qestion to answer aint it but keep hearing terrier lads talk of having a few dogs i do enjoy checking few places on a sunday but dont fancy kenneling a whole pack to do it regularly lol. Like above think ill just stick to a couple half sensible types that keep me getting out.

At one time I could have kennelled 5 or 6 and a few lurchers and sickened them all but things change as do circumstance so I only keep now what I think I can get the graft for. 

[fat man 4,740]

As said it all depends on the work style of the terriers you keep and the amount of work put in front of them.we have at preseo10 workers and all are dug regularly or when they are fit to be dug everyone differs and not everyone would have the ground others have to go at so a couple of terriers would easily see them through a season.

[dillydog 8,414]

And some of us can't shake off our past and keep far to many just to go through the process  ! 

I'd sooner keep a few pups and know they had the best of socialisation,  the best entery and the best chance of becoming all they can be. ...........just to place them with lads that do plenty and look after them.

Age has no respect for any man 

Edited November 11, 2018 by dillydog

[C.green 3,203]

13 hours ago, fat man said:

As said it all depends on the work style of the terriers you keep and the amount of work put in front of them.we have at preseo10 workers and all are dug regularly or when they are fit to be dug everyone differs and not everyone would have the ground others have to go at so a couple of terriers would easily see them through a season.

Without sounding big headed having the ground and qaurry isnt an issue. Got enough work for a few dogs but just dont want the numbers around me im a great believer in giving one or two dogs serious stick than sharing it between 5 or 6.  A lurcher and a pair of terriers aswell as my spaniels will do me hopefully. Even better if i could get away with just the one terrier lol.

Edited November 11, 2018 by C.green

[howdeeposxxt 1,448]

Horses for courses and all that!

[rob284 1,678]

Depends how many lads you go out with too, you won’t be digging your own dog the whole time. I could keep a dozen of my old dog as he’s great around the yard and no hassle but these pups I have, to keep half a dozen of the lively type would break your heart haha, knock years off your life.

[foxdropper 17,092]

The amount of terriers is strictly on a needs must basis for me .Only ever had max of 3 here myself but about 7 between me and my old digging partner .Down to 2 now that will be ,with all good intentions ,my last .Rat packs are different but you have to have serious numbers about to keep more than 3 terriers working ,that I know to be fact .

[Lenmcharristar 9,169]

On 10/11/2018 at 13:20, dogmandont said:

Lads I know well that do a lot of digging would have at least 10 workers between them as well young dogs to start. A couple of half sensible terriers would do me a season easily but then I also follow hounds and do covers with the lurchers. So as rh said it all depends on the terriers you keep and the amount of work you can put in front of them. 

bang on dogmandont,  i usually only had a terrier and a lurcher,  even loved going a dander up the back fields and touching for a fox to ground on a frosty morning or even just mid winter, some of the most excitible hunts were just by chance and fallling lucky,  ive done plenty of digging and would rather have a half sensible terrier who could work week in week out without being too wreckless. as out and out diggers the blacks were madest except for a bull russell bitch who was a total nutcase. one of the best for enjoyable days was a we border bitch i had about 10 yr ago, we foxer and handy for walking new places she bolted some foxes and dug well too. but ya knew she wouldnt take too much stick and could go anywhere with her. then theres the fellas that are out and out digging men and they keep a few, too much for me. lol  i think it just depends on peoples own preference and the type they use. for the more wreckless type yad need far more than a smart type.

[downsouth 6,814]

Ive only ever needed 2 workers if they were truly any good as id always be out with a mate or 2 who'd also have dogs that needed work.Id sooner be short of a dog on the very odd occasion during the season because both eould be needing a rest than have dogs in the kennels not getting the work they needed.

[dillydog 8,414]

The trouble with keeping just one or two is you can soon fall flat on your face, if you keep maybe one or two more than you need you can juggle them about and help out other lads that you know. 

I enjoy the process of bringing a youngster on, watching all the pennies drop and their talents shine through.  I don't have enough work for a lot of terriers, I'm to miserable to kiss enough arse to help myself out there lol.  

Then you've got the fact that 90% of lads haven't a clue how to bring out the best in a terrier, I'd sooner do it for them and then put the dog out with him or her firing on all cylinders. 

When I was a young man starting out I used to keep upto 7 working terriers, I never felt comfortable with so many in truth.  Not that I couldn't find the work for them, there wasn't the rifle boys back then and I was falling over game. I gave countless workers to mates and people I thought were decent lads, I got down to two workers I could bet my life on and I was a happy man. Within a season I'd lost them both, strangely all those mates and people I'd helped out melted away into the background when I needed help. The only person who gave me something back was someone I didn't talk to, someone who I'd fell out with three years before  !  

There's more than the amount of digging in front of you to take into account when keeping a family of any type of terrier.

Edited November 13, 2018 by dillydog