Labrador X Greyhound First cross

[Gilbey 1,496]

Back when dogs roamed there was a good few lab x collies about, used for allsorts, like a handy lurcher with no gears

[Seagull 574]

Just now, Gilbey said:

Back when dogs roamed there was a good few lab x collies about, used for allsorts, like a handy lurcher with no gears

Even old mongrels can make handy dogs and can catch all sorts of game.

[WILF 49,845]

On 07/08/2025 at 02:18, Colliemack said:

What are people’s thoughts on the Lab Greyhound first cross? 
 

I’ve only heard stories from the 80s of people running these type from older boys. Don’t see or hear of any, only one I have seen is a lass in the dales who runs a lab grey X Collwhipgrey and looks superb (lamping and picking up / works water) 

I have already got my self a greyhound from irish coursing lines ready, she’s due in 3-5 weeks. I’ve lined up a well bred black working lab too. 

I have a CollieWhippetGreyhound that is fairly decent and retrieves to me but doesn’t rush back (understandable he’s very explosive so uses a lot to catch and catch’s well) and he’s 3/4 whippet greyhound and only 1/4 bearded collie so not heaps of stamina anyway like a half cross . But doesn’t run and bring it me back and put it in my hand direct every time  which is what I want.  I can catch 5-8 with him before giving him a proper break and just let him catch his breath inbetween moving field to field. 

a lab grey makes sense to me, good feet, smart, loves water, loves to retrieve, dark coat, good coat, obident, loyal and athletic and some speed and fire from the grey (obviously not bull fire, i only want it to pick up for me and lamp rabbits)  … to me the ideal poaching dog??? 

im not after a fast dog, just fast enough to catch rabbits doesn’t need to be a pocket rocket I’ve already got that type for rabbit. I want a ultimate poachers mate.

I had a motorbike accident and my knee is f****d at only 27, I get about but would make life a lot easier if a dog ran back and passed it me instantly to my hand.. plus you’d catch even more, I catch enough with the collwhipgrey but we always want more 

anyway, I’m on with it… and shouldn’t be long. Just wondering what people think and stories they know or personal experiences of this type. 

thanks for reading 

 

 

 

 

 

I just shot a Lab x Whippet that I got for my lad a few years back…..an absolute article and total pain in the arse, couldn’t do what a lab does, , couldn’t  do what a whippet does, didn't have any killer instinct at all and just found ways to piss you off all the time.

Theres a reason all the lads who were out killing things with dogs in a seriously way never had these type of crosses….its because they are shite !

Edited yesterday at 20:18 by WILF

[chartpolski 27,781]

14 minutes ago, WILF said:

I just shot a Lab x Whippet that I got for my lad a few years back…..an absolute article and total pain in the arse, couldn’t do what a lab does, , couldn’t  do what a whippet does, didn't have any killer instinct at all and just found ways to piss you off all the time.

Theres a reason all the lads who were out killing things with dogs in a seriously way never had these type of crosses….its because they are shite !

I’ve nothing against any crosses, but I’ve always wondered why use a HPR as a cross, they’ve been bred for centuries NOT to run in or chase game ! 
Cheers.

[WILF 49,845]

3 minutes ago, chartpolski said:

I’ve nothing against any crosses, but I’ve always wondered why use a HPR as a cross, they’ve been bred for centuries NOT to run in or chase game ! 
Cheers.

Like most things mate, I’m sure there is the occasional happy accident that lands in the hands of really good, dedicated dog lads…..but it’s wouldn’t be a go to thing out of choice most of the time and I’m  not a dedicated good dog lad to start with.

[jukel123 9,382]

11 hours ago, WILF said:

I just shot a Lab x Whippet that I got for my lad a few years back…..an absolute article and total pain in the arse, couldn’t do what a lab does, , couldn’t  do what a whippet does, didn't have any killer instinct at all and just found ways to piss you off all the time.

Theres a reason all the lads who were out killing things with dogs in a seriously way never had these type of crosses….its because they are shite !

I had a collie/ grey which had the speed of a collie and the intelligence of a greyhound. Great at retrieving sticks.

Took it out one night in a 'hot' area and showed it a roebuck on the lamp. Went straight for it and returned with a stick. 

I could have beaten it to death with said stick.

But the kids loved it as did the Mrs. So it lived over 14 years just to spite me.

[Aussie Whip 4,288]

Depends what you're doing but a lab is the last thing I'd put to a grey if you want to catch anything fast but I don't like labradors, food guzzling, dog aggressive and annoying. Leave them to the visually impaired.

[jukel123 9,382]

On 10/08/2025 at 09:57, chartpolski said:

Interesting views on teeth .

Ive never had a whippet with bad teeth, possibly due to their diet and cleaning routine.

My two last lurchers before this one were 12 and 15 and had perfect teeth, plenty bones , deer antler, etc and would let me scrape off any tarter build up.

At a recent show, the judge commented how good my bitches teeth were; I said they are exactly as I would expect a four year old dogs teeth to be and he must have seen some bad teeth to make that comment, he said he’s seen lurchers with terrible teeth.

I imported a Manchester Terrier from Australia and its teeth were in a bad way, so straight to the vet to sort them.

When I was paying the bill, the receptionist asked what I fed him on , I said raw and bone. She asked what “raw” was, I told her and she said ahh , that’s how his teeth were bad !!!  
I said no, it was because he had been fed on those tubes of mush from the supermarket and now he’s on a proper diet he won’t be back again for his teeth !

Cheers.

I am not dedicated enough to feed raw. I have in the past and tbn the dogs never looked better on it. But flies, freezing and unthawing, plus the inability to travel with your dogs when they are fed raw, always led me back to dry food.

Similar with cleaning teeth. I'm a punk dogman. Can't be assed. My Mrs cleans the teeth of the whippet we have now. Vets have cleaned my elderly dogs' teeth ...at a price. So you are probably right . Raw is better.

[chartpolski 27,781]

6 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

I am not dedicated enough to feed raw. I have in the past and tbn the dogs never looked better on it. But flies, freezing and unthawing, plus the inability to travel with your dogs when they are fed raw, always led me back to dry food.

Similar with cleaning teeth. I'm a punk dogman. Can't be assed. My Mrs cleans the teeth of the whippet we have now. Vets have cleaned my elderly dogs' teeth ...at a price. So you are probably right . Raw is better.

Don’t get me wrong, my dogs would happily eat a tin of chappy or Aldi complete dog food, but I know they look and perform better on the diet I’ve got them on. 
Yeah, it’s more of a fuss, but it’s my hobby, I’ve got a chest freezer in the wash house for dog food and any game of fish I might get. I get around 50 kilo of raw minced chicken at a time, it comes in 1 1/2 kilo packs, I take one out of the freezer at night and feed the next morning, so no real problem with flies. 
As for travelling, well as I said, the dogs could have tinned or dry for a few days no problem. 
When we went to the Cairngorms, I par boiled a load of chicken portions and put them in a cooler box and they lasted four days up there as the temp was below minus.

Some of the best greyhounds in the world are fed dry complete food, feeding raw is just a personal choice .

Cheers.

[Seagull 574]

19 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

I am not dedicated enough to feed raw. I have in the past and tbn the dogs never looked better on it. But flies, freezing and unthawing, plus the inability to travel with your dogs when they are fed raw, always led me back to dry food.

Similar with cleaning teeth. I'm a punk dogman. Can't be assed. My Mrs cleans the teeth of the whippet we have now. Vets have cleaned my elderly dogs' teeth ...at a price. So you are probably right . Raw is better.

I've been feeding my pup raw and kibble, not sure it's the best quality as it's mince beef & tripe, 80-10-10 mixture. Yes the flies are a nightmare and they basically after finish what you serve. Thankfully now the pup is finishing one of these in the one sitting so I don't have to feck about putting it back in the fridge.

 

[jukel123 9,382]

5 minutes ago, Seagull said:

I've been feeding my pup raw and kibble, not sure it's the best quality as it's mince beef & tripe, 80-10-10 mixture. Yes the flies are a nightmare and they basically after finish what you serve. Thankfully now the pup is finishing one of these in the one sitting so I don't have to feck about putting it back in the fridge.

 

I've found some dogs will look good and perform well on cheap dry food. Others never seem to fill out properly on it. When I've fed raw in the past, the poor doers always looked really well on it. It's just a matter of balancing dedication to your dogs, family life, travel,  convenience etc. I've had dogs in the past which can switch from raw to dry without the skitters and vice versa. Its just a matter of acclimatising them to different foods. When they can do that it makes life simpler. Raw in winter without flies and dry in summer?

Edited 13 hours ago by jukel123

[chartpolski 27,781]

1 minute ago, Seagull said:

I've been feeding my pup raw and kibble, not sure it's the best quality as it's mince beef & tripe, 80-10-10 mixture. Yes the flies are a nightmare and they basically after finish what you serve. Thankfully now the pup is finishing one of these in the one sitting so I don't have to feck about putting it back in the fridge.

 

My deer x bitch loses weight and condition during her season so I give her similar to that, but chicken and tripe. It seems to work .

We’ve been discussing feeding raw green tripe on my WhatsApp group and all agree it’s great grub for dogs .

Cheers.

[Seagull 574]

3 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

I've found some dogs will look good and perform well on cheap dry food. Others never seem to fill out properly on it. When I've fed raw in the past, the poor doers always looked really well on it. It's just a matter of balancing dedication to your dogs, family life, travel,  convenience etc. 

Yeah, as long as there is kibble in the bowl all day I'm happy. I've been giving him the one sleeve a day since I got him, maybe at 4 months now he should be having more but then you have the extra faff of thawing out two and then saving bits and pieces, for the next day as 900g of raw is way too much, he won't do two in a day. Lol

Edited 13 hours ago by Seagull

[chartpolski 27,781]

1 minute ago, jukel123 said:

I've found some dogs will look good and perform well on cheap dry food. Others never seem to fill out properly on it. When I've fed raw in the past, the poor doers always looked really well on it. It's just a matter of balancing dedication to your dogs, family life, travel,  convenience etc. 

when you say family life and convenience I wondered how my family and neighbours felt back in the 60’s and 70’s when the “BabyBurco” was bubbling away all day filled with tripe, lites, pluck, sheeps heads etc ? LOL !

Cheers.

[jukel123 9,382]

3 minutes ago, chartpolski said:

My deer x bitch loses weight and condition during her season so I give her similar to that, but chicken and tripe. It seems to work .

We’ve been discussing feeding raw green tripe on my WhatsApp group and all agree it’s great grub for dogs .

Cheers.

Tripe? Definitely. I used to buy a whole tripe for a quid. Sometimes still warm. Dogs would go crazy for it.