TODAYS TERRIERS

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Years ago ,trust me nobody put a single dog in places you would today .Earths were trenched to find a dog in a deepish place and sometimes ruined.Its very nice to fantasise and reminise about the good old days but lets face it, today with the collars we have now ,one dog ,one hole is the hoped for result however deep .Yes the collar does allow the use of mute dogs but all mute dogs ive come across are mute for a reason ,a mouthful of charlie.

 

what a load of bollocks. mute dogs where nigh on useless. and rarely lasted long. and the only reason they are tolerated today is the fact that they can be found fast and then got to before they expire. and thinking back to when terrier work was an art form is not fantasizing its remembering the good times had with good company and good dogs. and when i was younger it was the same as today one dog in then locate it and dig it out. the only difference i see is it was harder to find the terrier so a little more was needed from man and dog.and a good voice being one of the main requirements. it wasnt all brute force and ignorance

I never mentioned mute dogs back then cleanspade,i know they couldnt be used so whose spouting bollocks now .Never known a mute dog to expire either so more bollocks.Facts mate ,crucial life skills.

 

facts the best blood of today came from carefully selected stock from yesteryear. not plonkers running two and three dogs to ground. good working stock was easy to find even commonplace. the show scene has diluted most good working strains. hence the reason the best lines are carefully distributed. to protect them . mute dogs are more liable to be lost to ground than a good baying terrier. ive seen more than one dog expire due to the fact it liked a mouthfull of fur.

 

as for life skills put your locator away for one season. and see how the easy digs become harder for you and your terriers.

 

the working terrier was better and more accessable back in the 70s/80s. most being up to the job. thats the way i see it. and the locator has made the job easier so apart from very few terriermen they are and have been bred for an easier task for some time now.

Just for the record mate ,i make it a practice to find a dog without the locator everytime a dog is to ground and its me people ring locally when all else fails so no lecturing there please .Surprising how close i am in most cases .I have no qualms about my terriers staying mate and their ability to last the job out in style and i know ive improved the root stock i took on 25 years ago.I always say that a man has not wasted his life if he can honestly say hes leaving behind a better lagacy than when he started .Its easy to think everyone is a green horn up to ourselves ,forgetting that many remember the days when there were no restrictions but my memory is not clouded by good old boys and good old terriers and i stick by the fact that todays workers are better than they were years past .

You have been unlucky to witness the demise of mute dogs but as i said weve never seen it .A man can only comment truthfully on his own experiences which is where some of the rows start on here .I personally will never say anything is wrong or a lie until i know it to be fact .Pity more wernt like it ,commenting on heresay.You write about the small pockets of excellent breeding up and down the country and i agree with this wholeheratedly and the way pups are given and not sold to trustworthy lads to graft to the full and none achievers culled properly which is sadly not practiced much these days even by some of the good blokes ,prefering to pass on as pets to be bred from down the line as workers.

I agree that the terriers of today ,good stuff that is ,came from from good ancestry ,it has to, but the dogs of tommorrow will be from better i assure you .

[Cleanspade 3,322]

it makes sense to try to locate without the coller as often as is possible. as they arnt infallable. but its a different ball game to not having that technology as i'm sure you will be aware. as has been mentioned the badger laws also played its part by taking away that test from many terriers. i'm sure there are some pockets of very fine terriers out there. but to say that terriers today are better is in my humble opinion a bold statement. so i am happy to agree to disagree. good hunting cs

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]