Are brains an over rated quality in a lurcher

[scotty2306 37]

I THINK ITS MORE OF EXPERINCE, THAN BRAINS. Most lurchers take them out enough [day+night] soon pick it up. You need a bit of brain, a 1/4 from collie's, or other breeds is plenty enough.?? The sences = from most lurchers [nose,sight,chase,kill,] is [instinct], just that bit of brain helps thats all, maybe to retrieve and a bit eaiser to train.??

too many brains,ive a dog and when its out for a walk and it comes on to rain it runs off and i find it sitting in the bus shelter, and it has no collie, also it stalks and lifts out of seat and will not run a rabbit it knows it cant catch either too far away or close to dyke i like that because it wont waste energy on pointless runs but with long ears it will its as if it knows they cant get through the fence as easy i think its too clever for its own good sometimes

[Catcher 1 639]

I THINK ITS MORE OF EXPERINCE, THAN BRAINS. Most lurchers take them out enough [day+night] soon pick it up. You need a bit of brain, a 1/4 from collie's, or other breeds is plenty enough.?? The sences = from most lurchers [nose,sight,chase,kill,] is [instinct], just that bit of brain helps thats all, maybe to retrieve and a bit eaiser to train.??

too many brains,ive a dog and when its out for a walk and it comes on to rain it runs off and i find it sitting in the bus shelter, and it has no collie, also it stalks and lifts out of seat and will not run a rabbit it knows it cant catch either too far away or close to dyke i like that because it wont waste energy on pointless runs but with long ears it will its as if it knows they cant get through the fence as easy i think its too clever for its own good sometimes

 

 

Hi mate.Any dog with half a brain soon learns not to run a fence line

[scotty2306 37]

I THINK ITS MORE OF EXPERINCE, THAN BRAINS. Most lurchers take them out enough [day+night] soon pick it up. You need a bit of brain, a 1/4 from collie's, or other breeds is plenty enough.?? The sences = from most lurchers [nose,sight,chase,kill,] is [instinct], just that bit of brain helps thats all, maybe to retrieve and a bit eaiser to train.??

too many brains,ive a dog and when its out for a walk and it comes on to rain it runs off and i find it sitting in the bus shelter, and it has no collie, also it stalks and lifts out of seat and will not run a rabbit it knows it cant catch either too far away or close to dyke i like that because it wont waste energy on pointless runs but with long ears it will its as if it knows they cant get through the fence as easy i think its too clever for its own good sometimes

 

 

Hi mate.Any dog with half a brain soon learns not to run a fence line

oh does it ive never seen any other do it most of them are flat out wether its going to get away or not

[Catcher 1 639]

I THINK ITS MORE OF EXPERINCE, THAN BRAINS. Most lurchers take them out enough [day+night] soon pick it up. You need a bit of brain, a 1/4 from collie's, or other breeds is plenty enough.?? The sences = from most lurchers [nose,sight,chase,kill,] is [instinct], just that bit of brain helps thats all, maybe to retrieve and a bit eaiser to train.??

too many brains,ive a dog and when its out for a walk and it comes on to rain it runs off and i find it sitting in the bus shelter, and it has no collie, also it stalks and lifts out of seat and will not run a rabbit it knows it cant catch either too far away or close to dyke i like that because it wont waste energy on pointless runs but with long ears it will its as if it knows they cant get through the fence as easy i think its too clever for its own good sometimes

 

 

Hi mate.Any dog with half a brain soon learns not to run a fence line

oh does it ive never seen any other do it most of them are flat out wether its going to get away or not

 

 

 

Your taking about when they run.Not if they run

[Paid 935]

Brains are handy in all aspects of lurcher work, even lamping, a dog needs to learn to cut off its quarry from cover ect.

Really usefull to have a bit of brains for ferreting and bushing too.

 

too much brain can be annoying though, i.e choosing its own runs (see collie crosses)

[Guest fence_hopper]

theres brains and to much of it, you dont need a clever dog in the field, i've seen brainy dogs slipped on rabbits close to hedges and not even give it a try. my whippet bitch is the thickest dog i have seen and gives 110% at a 100 miles an hour all the time harder work than a collie x but more rewarding, knowing that she can do everything you would need a lurcher to be able to do, but with more guts. she tears up cover, marks holes, jumps anything etc you dont need a clever dog imo.

 

 

Agree with you on most things.But why not have a clever dog also

 

 

very true mate each to there own the end of the day,some like them with les brains, some like them with abit more brain so they can fetch nets out of the bag when ferreting

Edited December 3, 2009 by fence_hopper

[skycat 6,173]

To imply that Salukis are short on brains also implies that people who think like that have never seen a good Saluki or Saluki lurcher in action: they are some of the cleverest hunters on the planet if only they are given the opportunity to learn how to hunt. Far too many people just use them as point and slip dogs, little realising what a useful and talented all round hunter these dogs really are.

 

Not suited to everyone I'll admit, and can take some training and are often AWOL bast*rds to deal with until they are coming up 2 years old, but if you can live with them and understand them, they can there isn't much they can't learn and do: they just don't have the same sort of brain as a Collie. You either accept that or don't have one!

[Guest fence_hopper]

same goe's for a pure greyhound skycat its narrow minded people that think like that

[merle24 61]

Brains is a good point in a lurcher and the collie blood will make a more easily trained type of animal imo. But to be honest most lurcher types will start to use there head and clue up on the job in hand the more there worked.

Going back to the collie blooded lurchers, imo if you get a good collie grey they will be hard to beat as a allround dog, 3/4 grey 1/4 collie would be my choice, but if you get one which throws a strong collie head they can be very stuborn and frustrating. I had a collie grey prick eared type, and started him on the lamp at 10 months old, he took to the lamp like second nature, and when he was fit he was a very very good dog, he didnt miss half as many rabs as the dogs i was out with at the time, but this didnt last, he clued up very fast and started to pick his runs in his first season, if there was a rab anywhere near a hedge or any type of cover he would not run it, he wouid only run stuff well out in feild, and he hadnt missed alot of rabs into cover either probably less than the average dog, he would have been a good dog in the wright area where the rabs are a plenty and you can ignore the hedge huggers, but where i hunted you need a dog to go wherever the spot is whether its 10yard off the hedge or 100yards in the middle of the feild, so depending on where you hunt too much brain can work against you, its a fine line between getting a point and shoot dog and a dog that thinks ahead, plenty of work will get most lurchers thinking ahead.

[flint67 2]

really does depend what kind of work you do . . .or did , weve all seen dogs back in the day that have took a hiding off a fox or been booted up in the air by a stag , and then they nearly catch the next one , then nearly catch the one after that. . Too much brains or not enough guts ? Im not sure. .but me personally i cant stand mooching dogs , hunting up and thinking for themselves , if it suits you fine ,but it dont suit me , i hate seeing running dogs with their heads down like a foxhound , i want sight hounds , looking ahead not rooting about in hedges , its why i run longdogs not lurchers , and all the traits i dislike seem to come from the smart cross

[cúagusgiorraí 57]

When I start to see a dog anticipate the quarry, then I know the dog has brains, and I have even seen a greyhound do this (believe it or not).

 

But as regards breeding for brains, like the collie cross, you are almost garaunteed a dog that will be easy to work with, think things out, and have an almost precognition of it's quarry's next move.

Also I like a dog which knows when to work and when not to, a quality which comes from the sheepdog.

[wild rover 548]

In lurchers yes, some owners could do with a little grey matter as well !!!!

[sounder79 80]

i like collie crosses ,i think that theyre the best but i take the point that some lads are saying,that dogs can be too brainy for theyre own good.but its nice to see a lurcher in the right place at the right time watching the break instead of having some fool of a thing never in the right place when the game shows and ive had them aswell,in the cover when they should be out watching.

[Stabs 3]

I've always found bulls intelligent too but not many accuse bull crosses of picking their runs.

 

As for what Skycat said about Salukis....I'd agree with that completely.

 

Probably the best bit about hunting for me is watching a dog learn, watching them work together if you've got more than one. It's not always about experience all of the time. Some dogs hit the ground running and need little experience to start working and these ones seem to go from strength to strength.

[snap 15]

why is it that people say bull x havent got any brains??

is it becuse they are tryers and will run somthing that a collie x thinks about for a few secounds then thinks nahh i might not catch that which to me isnt clever!

if you put enough time and effort into a bull xs training you would be suprised of the standard they could reach.