Luckee legs

Sorry to read you lost two ferrets

Loving the optimism. Agree there was a time prior to RVHD when rabbits had less sensitivity to myxi. They'd often still get it but survive. Let's hope this type of tolerance builds to RVHD Where I am in East Anglia I see a few pockets with reasonable numbers. Although where I have permission, bonanza days are gone and we catch 20% of even five years ago. Interestingly numbers typically build in summer and then catastrophically collapse but with no carcasses seen. Unfortunately some areas like ThetFord forest seem not to show any signs of recovery

Good to know as that's less than an hour from me

Completely agree, at times I feel I am anthropomorphic about the best old ferrets but when you compare them to young ferrets I see a massive difference. I really trust them to stay down until the job is done and warren clear (most of my hobs will stay while we dig) and then return, or in hedgerows if a rabbits sneaks away I often spot them tracking it on the surface to the next holes

That's tricky injury, I've only had to deal with it once and toe needed amputation, in this case the dog recovered well and could still run well, Our local vets are good, independent and I trust them with dogs and ferrets.....but their opinions on lameness is far from mine, unless the dog can hardly walk it's acceptable For orthopedic surgery in East there is the insurance place at Dick whites near Newmarket. Also East of England practice at Wimpole one of the partners lived 2 doors down from me when he trained at Dick White's and seemed a decent guy. And there is Robert m

I have two older ferrets that I doubt will survive this winter and I'll miss them when they go. I completely trust these two The hob has outlived his litter brother by 2 years and the Jill a litter sister by 3 years and I find it's incredible that at 7 years old, long long past the typical lifespan of polecats in the wild, and despite their obvious tumours and associated thyroid swelling both those old ferrets are still keen to get out and do their thing very well .

Some fair points made. I should add that the although he's apparently made of paper the whippets skin heals incredibly quickly and even the one injury that needed professional stitching, it's barely visible a season on. The niggles from working I've seen over the years in our other lurchers, all primarily greyhound bloodlines, like feet and wrist injuries are much less in comparison

These days I just do a bit of ferreting and while our collie x largely avoids trouble apart from the odd foot injury or wire cut , our whippet is always marked after ferreting. Yesterday giving my two oldest ferrets a quick outing, our whippet picked up several nasty cuts on bramble, no wire anywhere. This is not unusual for him as he's very game to the point of reckless / stupidity but it made me think that a working whippet must have scars. and yet at the few shows I go to , most other whippets seem pretty clean. Is my dog just a skin injury magnet or are many working whippets not getting mu

Really impressed to see those swimming lurchers. So we do swim but honestly I've not had one of 11 I've owned in 45 years that enjoyed swimming for the hell of it. You can see here our current whippet and collie x showing lifeguarding skills in case anyone gets into trouble at the shallow end

Great advice from the answers above. Young ferrets are often nervous hunting the first couple of times out and if they are not used to being picked up around your feet it's a recipe for reluctance to fully exit the holes. Consistent sounds or talking to them when handling at home definitely helps them come back to you and as they learn the game this really speeds things up I always work mine first season starting 4 to 5 months but don't expect much early on. Hopefully by February you'll see improvement and the benefit of careful starting. Good luck

Great looking lurcher, I'll be interested to see how they go. I've preferred first cross collies for ferreting and after 45 years since my first dog I recently got my first whippet. Unbelievable athletic potential but he doesn't catch more than my bulky collie x as he has the attention span of a gnat

Its incredible rats try to get in. I've not had them try to access hutches which are primarily ply and all off ground but they do make efforts to get into runs. Here they don't go for wire sections or thick ply 12mm , but where I used thin ply 4mm, rats have chewed through in the past

There's a vet based in Uxbridge who was well respected for greyhound and whippet work. I have no experience of him and checking his details last year I saw He was investigated for malpractice signing off certification for Irish puppies so easy to find on internet search. That said it seems he was allowed to continue practicing. Two owners I know really rate him

Absolutely, the ligaments take 3 months to heal. Hopefully not necessary to amputate but in the event, I had a Greyhound we had to remove the knocked up toe as it wouldn't stabilize and she still ran fairly well and without pain.

Genius devices, genuinely I never thought that could work. Do they all use it