intellegience in lurchers

[ginge2k6 0]

the other day an old friend turned enemy said my dog was as thick as a lampost, i was not there at the time, the point is i want't to know how important is brains in a working dog, hes a colliexwhippetxgreyhound by the way so he's not really stupid.

[Guest Gregg Barrow]

Ginge,

 

Your (ex) friend must not be a real dogman, or, there must be a deep seated hatred that is bordering on therapeutic intervention. Everyone knows that it’s safer to slam a hunter’s spouse and children, much safer then casting insults at their dog.

 

I’m on the first step of my lurcher journey and selected a collie cross on the recommendation of several people (some on this board) because of the addition of the collie blood and the hopes for some increased biddability. Nothing against the other crosses, it was just mentioned that for my first lurcher, that’s what they would recommend (I’m satisfied). My lack of experiance here means that I won't have a lot to add.

 

Where retrievers and scent hounds are concerned, I look for a dog that will, with experience, begin working productive cover on his/her own without being directed or cast in that direction. Given fair training and adequate exposure, I want to see the light bulb go on with regard to what areas will prove to be a waste of time and what areas produce game.

The other thing I like to watch is how well they work scent. With the scent hounds, a certain amount of babbling and back tracking, as well as slick trees (trees with no game) is acceptable for puppies and a nice indication of their drive. With an older experienced hound, this would be a sign that they are in fact dense. Again, with time and experience, I want the dog to settle down on the track and their accuracy start to increase at a fairly young age.

With the retrievers, I will work a lot of harnessed or wing clipped birds in cover and watch how well they work a runner or diver in training (I’m not a great shot and a good dog on cripples is a must).

 

My two cents (with change).

Best regards,

Gregg

[colliejohn 840]

the other day an old friend turned enemy said my dog was as thick as a lampost, i was not there at the time, the point is i want't to know how important is brains in a working dog, hes a colliexwhippetxgreyhound by the way so he's not really stupid.

hi mate, alot of people over look intelligence when choosing a dog,prefering speed ,fire and guts.there is nothing wrong with the afore mentioned but with the right balance.a dog with brains tends to catch more quarry, by using its head to anticipate its quarry,s escape route,also a dog with brains doesn,t tend to get knocked up as much as a dog which runs at 100 mph at everything it chases.regards collie john.

[Guest Jane Russell]

I've not met a lurcher yet that was stupid. A pair I knew very well were very different from each other and they were a perfect match for each other because where one was less good at something, the other filled that skill shortage -- but they were both intelligent.

 

They came from the RSPCA so we never knew their breeding. I'll dig out some pix of them sometime and see what you you guys think.

 

Jane

[ginge2k6 0]

thank you guys for clearing this up for me

ta

[ziggy1 0]

It does not matter what anyone else says. I have got a whippet X collie and its a cracking dog a friend of mine always knocks anyone else dog behind there back. But he gets through that many dogs. He has what ever is in fashion at the time. But the rabbits what his dogs catch are totaly smashed.

 

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR DOG AND ALL THAT COUNTS IS YOU KNOW HOW GOOD THEY ARE

[LDR 29]

what was his reasoning for calling it thick? mine sometimes seem thick as f**k, but i dont want them to do tricks, i want them to hunt and thats what they do, its the best part of working dogs, seeing them learn the trade and develop, watching the mistakes and seeing them learn from the misses and run the next one differently to adjust..........

[Guest barn]

thick?? i have a bull greyhound that you may call thick ha ha but sometimes people dont understand is this so called thickness is lots of gut/or full of confidence dont let anyone tell you what your dog is like all you have to do is stick to your own thing people have there own opinions you just have to accept that

[smallmouth 1]

The lurcher (50% border collie), I've got now is certainly the most intelligent I've owned. She's also the most neurotic and difficult. It was either at the Midland, or Pride of Peaks last year, that someone, (sorry, can’t remember who), said something along the following lines to me when we were discussing how smart a lurcher needed to be......

 

“.........thing is, if you want someone to work FOR you, they need to be just bright enough to learn the job and then concentrate on doing it, but not so bright as to always be questioning why......."

[wild dog 9]

well said

[Nipper 0]

“.........thing is, if you want someone to work FOR you, they need to be just bright enough to learn the job and then concentrate on doing it, but not so bright as to always be questioning why......."

 

Excellent point. Too much intelligence is a pain in the arse and not required. Lurchers or londogs taken out from a young age and shown plenty of quarry should have enough savvy to do the job. I'm not an advocate of leaving running dogs until they are over 12 months before they see anything especially if they are going to be fast.

[TOMO 27,190]

well said smally , i like colie crosses , but to be honest how clever does a dog need to be to catch a rabbit its not rocket science

 

i also think a good hunting instinct is better than intellegience and this can be sceen in all crosses

[HBG 350]

if a dog of any breed is taken out enough and given the work they pick the job in hand up quite quickly,most of the time its the owners that are thick

[allrounder 47]

as long as my dog comes back when i shout her that will do me

[ginge2k6 0]

thank you lads, it just makes me angry when people in glass houses throw stones.

ps hbg hope you are not saying i am thick :11: