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skycat

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Everything posted by skycat

  1. skycat
    I remember there was a competition to guess how far yards was, at a show a long time ago. There were pegs in the ground, at intervals, ranging from 30 to 100 yards out. 90% of people who went in for the guessing game said that 40 yards was at least . 100 yards fair law has most people twitching violently as they see the hare running away and thinking that their dog will never get up on it. To get a good slipper who can properly judge distance is a rare thing, or was, should I say.
  2. skycat
    The notion that what's good for us is good for them is not true. The canine body reacts very differently to humans, and the margin of safety is tiny compared to human dosage. Ibrufrofen is bad for humans too, if used too often, and can even cause stomach ulcers if use if prolonged. In dogs it is much, much more poisonous. Read this: http://canigivemydog.com/ibuprofen If the foot has 'blown up' in a short space of time suspect black thorn puncture/wasp sting/ broken bone. Manipulating a toe yourself is not a good way to diagnose a broken bone as spiral or greenstick fractures are impossib
  3. skycat
    Cereals of any sort aren't really good for ferrets: Webbox itself is cereal based, meaning that there is more grain than meat in it, and by adding bread you are doubling up on grain. Not very good for dogs, and certainly not for ferrets which are obligate carnivores. Sorry to have to say this as I know you look after your animals with so much love and care. The old ways aren't always the best.
  4. skycat
    I'ts the dogs I feel sorry for: who in their right minds would even dream of running a dog in this heat and humidity? Ignorance, stupidity rule.
  5. skycat
    Interesting that the 'civilised' races look in scorn on indigenous peoples who haven't evolved a fantastic consumer society and a need to work themselves into the ground to gain huge amounts of material possessions we don't actually need. Our dogs are no different: man made products to satisfy the massive prey drive we have in order to wipe out the feral animals we introduced in the first place. There's a kind of irony in that scorn, I find.
  6. skycat
    If you seriously want to improve things, get in touch with Jim Greenwood: an excellent lurcherman and a brilliant trainer of both dogs and people. Here's his website link: http://jandjgreenwood.co.uk/
  7. skycat
    I wish all he wants to do is hunt up. I have put the hours in will walk to heel until he goes into gaze mode then he gone ruled by his heart. This lead set up has stopped him lunging for any and everything. Think I took wrong advice and had him out ferreting at 4 months. I should have trained to good standard then introduced him to work. The problems you're having with the dog on the lead have absolutely nothing to do with taking him ferreting at 4 months old, but everything to do with his lack of respect for you. If a dog lunges at anything and everything while on the lead it is beca
  8. skycat
    I think there seems to be a bit of confusion about socialisation, and what it really means. To some people, socialisation means getting your pup out and about and letting it come into contact with everything and everyone with not much intervention from the owner. To others, who have learned how puppies process their experiences and what negative experiences can do to a dog, socialisation is a much more controlled and positive process. I am fortunate that I live in an area where there seem to be an increasing number of people with dogs who actually understand this. Yesterday I met a 4 month ol
  9. skycat
    And speaking of issues: one of my Airedale lurchers is not what I'd call completely normal, either. I wouldn't swap her for the world, but I could quite understand that if someone else had her they'd have got rid long ago. Seriously, the sad thing is that if this pup had been tried on game, and found wanting, the lad would be getting rid of it having failed to understand that what you see at 8 months is not what you'll get at maturity, though if the pup hasn't been reared right, or already suffered some injury etc etc, there's no guarantee it would go on to become a competent worker.
  10. skycat
    I wonder why the wild dog didn't kill it first. I know, that long before the ban, my own lurchers, having tripped larger game, always went straight to the throat to suffocate the animal. Or is it the case, in pack animals like African Wild Dogs, where they are used to being on a kill in large numbers, it is important to get quickly into the softer underbelly to claim their share. Late to the feast, through being on the throat, means the easy to get at meat has gone. Forget trying to kill it, it will die soon enough anyway through shock and blood loss. Just wondering.
  11. skycat
    Where does it say that?
  12. skycat
    What utterly stunning photos. Quite incredible to capture their antics on camera like that.
  13. skycat
    I thought it was beautifully filmed and very moving. Sometimes, when the images are damn near perfect, they speak far louder than any amount of commentary.
  14. skycat
    Beautiful creatures. Love grass snakes. Remember the dogs finding one in a tussock by the lake: it did the dead snake thing: flipped on its back and made a nasty stench. It looked totally dead, even had its mouth open and its tongue lolling out. I took the dogs away and watched and when it was sure it was safe it flipped the right way up again and swam off. Sometimes see them swimming along the lake bottom in the shallow, hunting.
  15. skycat
    An intuitive man who made sure his dogs had the best possible life. So very sad to hear that he is gone.
  16. skycat
    Brilliant photo showing just what incredible rear vision they have. No wonder they're so hard to catch!
  17. skycat
    Stunning. Worthy of a National Geographic entry.
  18. skycat
    What you said about her changing at about 16 months and becoming much more willing to work with you is, in my opinion, one of those strange quirks of the Saluki brain. I'm not saying other types and breeds don't have it to some extent, but I've noticed it in Saluki lurchers, both male and female, far more. It is as though their brains to take longer to develop the social side. They become less feral, more domesticated, if you like, and of course once they have actually sussed that you are somehow important to their ability to get out and hunt, then bingo: once that particular penny has dropped
  19. skycat
    What an eye catching dog: literally. Those eyes are so full of fire. And lovely condition too.
  20. skycat
    My own vet, who I've been with for over 25 years as they are country vets and not only very good at their job but understand working dogs too, said that yearly boosters are unnecessary, though they do advise giving the first booster at just over a year old just in case. You can also do blood tests to see what level of immunity your dog has, which obviously costs a bit, but for those who are worried about the possible effects of yearly boosters might be the way to go. I once had to take a terrier to the vet for an unrelated reason, and they had to do blood tests to rule various things out, an
  21. skycat
    Using a line-bred Beagle Russell type maybe?
  22. skycat
    It depends on what you call aggressive. Terrier pups can be very full on fighting amongst themselves. I even had a lurcher pup that went absolutely spare when I cut its claws at 6 weeks old. Really turned on me trying to bite, growling. She lost the plot completely. I just held her calmly, didn't tell her off or reassure her. Eventually she calmed down and I finished cutting her claws. By the time she was 8 weeks old she was just like any other pup. Her brain just needed a bit more time to figure out how to react to the world around her, including me. One of my Airedale lurchers was also supe
  23. skycat
    Keep the jumps small until the dog is a year old, and don't let it try to jump barbed wire on top of stock wire unless it shows great confidence. I don't subscribe to the 'let them get on with it' method. A bad tangle with barbed wire at a young age can put them off for life. I manage the pup's walks and excursions to include various small obstacles: barbed wire, but only if it is lower than the pup is tall. Pups will try and follow older dogs, which can be good teachers, but having seen too many accidents with barbed wire I prefer to teach the pup myself, starting low, and not when it's tryin
  24. skycat
    My kind of heaven.
  25. skycat
    Racial bias is simply the comforting familiarity we feel amongst others of our own kind. It exists in most animals, but would, I believe, be termed 'species bias', if there is such a phrase. I even see it in my lurchers when they meet another lurcher or sight hound. They are far more relaxed when meeting a similar dog than when meeting something that is completely different, such as a GSD, poodle or whatever. Behaviour must have something to do with it as well: body language, stance, head movements: each race has tiny differences in the way we interact with others, notwithstanding belief sys
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