Hard Ground

[Meerihunter 7]

give it another 5 to 10 years and the lurchers of this country will be the same as the cruffs brigade ,all washed out through being treated with kids gloves .and bred of rubbish .i suppose it all comes down to having you meat in plastic bags .so you dont need to work your dogs ,ONLY ON MUD .

 

 

I have both scent and sight coyote hounds. We do not take into consideration at all what the ground is like. I am not tryin to act macho but we just dont care. We hunt 5 or 6 days or nights a week when possible and sometimes 7. The ground has been hard as a rock over here until last Saturday. I have two staghound gyps that have not had a night off in over 3 weeks. Did they get sore footed a day or two? You damn straight they did. Did I stop running them? Hell NO! Why would you? I have told dozens of people this and nobody has the balls to even try it but the facts are that if you run the pads off of a dog, then run the sumbitches back on. You might not catch a bunch of game while they are tender footed but they will slow down and learn to run even with slipped pads. They will take care of themselves. Them two bitches arent real "keen" right now cause they are tired but they are ten times smarter and in my opinion 10 times more efficient at being a true hunting dog, not just a rush of adrenaline for some poser.

 

2 great posts! Not much to add to that.

[bullcross1 10]

weve had the rain up my way all day, so thats me sorted all week

[UNFIT 0]

i hate the rain ,it brings every one out ,it will be like blackpool illuminations around where i live tonight ,and all the game will be that much fitter ,because of all the chasing they will get .

[whin 463]

im lucky there not much lampers and hardly any body with dogs down here, spaniels labs and plenty game keepers with the police on there side , so difrent type of set up lol

[UNFIT 0]

im lucky there not much lampers and hardly any body with dogs down here, spaniels labs and plenty game keepers with the police on there side , so difrent type of set up lol

no one in my area has a lamping dog ,i just get half of the welsh valleys out for a weekly jaunt . Edited October 6, 2009 by UNFIT

[whin 463]

what the aberdare crew or mountain ash lol

[UNFIT 0]

what the aberdare crew or mountain ash lol

the whole lot .any one with a dog and lamp ,i dont mind it keeps the local bill happy .

Edited October 6, 2009 by UNFIT

[taffyboi 19]

im lucky there not much lampers and hardly any body with dogs down here, spaniels labs and plenty game keepers with the police on there side , so difrent type of set up lol

no one in my area has a lamping dog ,i just get half of the welsh valleys out for a weekly jaunt .

 

hay no need of that lol

[whin 463]

cannon fodder used to get that in eastlothain guys would come out 12 in afternoon to course get nabbed and go home , such is life cant beat local knowledge

[iceman001979 1,316]

Ground is rock hard now, but the rain has started we need loads of it to

soften the ground out... we have still been running, if you wait for the right weather etc

how manytimes a season would you get out? not many, just have to pick the fields

you run, and keep an eye on there feet, and if they got dodgy stoppers tape them up

anyway.... hopefully the rain will keep up but not drown the land so it makes it hard

to drive

RUNNING DOGS ON HARD GROUND ALL DEPENDS ON THE BREED OFF THE DOG AND CAN THERE FEET TAKT IT AND THING WITH TERRIER THOUGH SHOULD BE ABLE 2 HANDLY IT WHIPPET OR SULK CROSS IS A NO NO BECAUSE THERE FEET WILL GET SMASHED 2 BITS AND B OUT FOR WEEKS

[Paid 935]

Saluki crosses have some of the best feet for hard ground. Whippets do well as their light on hard ground, so I duno where you get that from mate.

Edited October 6, 2009 by Paid

[whin 463]

the the only dogs i would run on harrd would be a no no with whippets ,for me my big ole saluksna nd the soup plate collie cross i keep ,anyhting fine and spindly you ned to watch not just the feet the wrists to stoppers

[thetonyboy 0]

What's the consensus on running on hard ground? Do you blokes generally wait until things have softened up a bit before you run your charges?

i would not run charges on hard ground mate i done that a few years ago and ended up with a compund fracture it was a big deerhound cross front leg... taken him to a specialist after 2 months of treatment had to get him put to sleep so in my opinion dont risk it , some dugs dont no when to hold back when chasing quarry..wait for some rain it will not be long now

[dirtwinger 235]

alot of guys i meet dont no ground hard from soft but i m going tell youse i go to new mexico for 2 to3 weeks a year always dry and they run all winter on the land , they keep 5 or 6 dogs cause at least once a year they get lame i keep 3 dogs in there prime and ones on the backward peddle so i always have a replacment, but realy no need to run on brick hard ground ,but never had a toe injury in yrs witht he big strong saluk crosses or the old collie type , but i must admit they never run hard once it gets hard, run qaurrys hard stubble rolled barley feilds some times on a walk only flushing roe odd rabb , never hares bigger chases with more pressure on them for what $4 quid hare not that silly ,hares will get flushed come winter when its knocked back to winter wheat and the odd stubble left or rape,for sport,if YOUR DOGS BEEN WORKED HARD AND BRED [bANNED TEXT] THEY SOON LEARN WHAT THE GROUNDS LIKE , a good poaching cur if out all th etime soon learns whats what believe me , mind you ive had some that there lucky they have good feet or they would be vet bills buts thtas dogs for you ,get them out young let them learn and they soon no whats what or they dont last and not there , but there aint no prizes for running adog hard on concrete ground

bble and exposed

Whin most of the ground in New Mexico is sandy so never hard, even after freezing the sand is so dry it doesnt go hard. There is still some hard ground around here though. I have one field near where I live that varies from sandy to lava rubble and exposed rock. My old dog is as toughfooted as they come and he can take the rough stuff. But other dogs I wouldnt even go on there with.

Heres some pics

 

Nice typical New Mexico sandy ground

 

Some of the lava rubble found in the field, most of it is loose on the sand so gives when the dogs run on it

 

More of it, similar to running on flinty soil the catcus is a added bonus

Generally speaking my dogs spend more time off with wire cuts than damage from rough ground.

 

all the best Dirtwinger

[bri1970 22]

never had a problem running the dog on hard ground plenty of road work should help keep the dogs feet tip top.

never .?????..road work will help minimise srcubbed pads ....but it wont stop wrist injuries or stoppers getting ripped ....or worse ....i so a bad injury last year on hard ground 4 month off for the dog ........

 

I can honestly say I've never had a serious injury on hard ground...we ran some pretty inhospitable bits too....with big divots made by tractors on old factory ground, flinty etc.....all the stopper injuries I've had have been caused by broken glass. As for wrists again the worst one was cause by stumbling on a rabbit burrow on sandy ground

you must have just had a bit of luck.run on hard ground and you risk getting the dogs feet smashed ,simple as.