BIG DOG SMALL DOG

[DIGGIT 6]

HI ALL & :welcomeani:

Which is the best size of dog for all round luercher work,

please give your points of veiw and why you have picked this size of dog to work and the type of ground you run on, also it would be a big help if you could give the size of dog or bitch in inchs.

The samll type come in at 23" to 25"

The big type come in at 26" to 30"

 

please all join in i would like to see the veiws on this.

[Guest Nightwalker]

HI ALL & :welcomeani:

Which is the best size of dog for all round luercher work,

please give your points of veiw and why you have picked this size of dog to work and the type of ground you run on, also it would be a big help if you could give the size of dog or bitch in inchs.

The samll type come in at 23" to 25"

The big type come in at 26" to 30"

 

please all join in i would like to see the veiws on this.

 

 

First of all, I would say that small lurchers start with whippet sized dogs up to about 23 " or so, then you have medium sized dogs of 24- 27" and from 28" and up you have large dogs - I have seen and owned very, very good working dogs over 30" so I wouldn't put an upper size limit on it.

 

It's a very easy answer really . A good big dog can do everything that a good small dog can do, but not the other way round. This is a comment from someone who started with small dogs (my first lurcher in 1975 was a 22" bull x ) and found that small dogs just couldn't do what I wanted them to do, so the answer - get bigger dogs. The only situations where small dogs may have an advantage is some ferreting situations where little whippet types have the acceleration to pick up rabbits which bigger dogs may miss.

Edited January 4, 2007 by Nightwalker

[Guest Dale]

i have to main running dogs i use , a 3/4 whippet 1/4 bedlington , shes only 18'' to shoulder , and a 1st x deerhound x greyhound , at 28'' to shoulder , ive just got him and hes turning out really good , takin all game and at only 14 months old , still learning , but i wouldnt change my little whippt bitch for anything , i think it just boils down to personel prefrence

 

regards

Dale

[Crow 1]

It's a very easy answer really . A good big dog can do everything that a good small dog can do, but not the other way round. This is a comment from someone who started with small dogs (my first lurcher in 1975 was a 22" bull x ) and found that small dogs just couldn't do what I wanted them to do, so the answer - get bigger dogs. The only situations where small dogs may have an advantage is some ferreting situations where little whippet types have the acceleration to pick up rabbits which bigger dogs may miss.

Now that's a contradiction for a start!

 

There is no absolute answer to your question Diggit, because in all sizes you can get good, bad or indifferent dogs. So to say that a certain size is better than another would not be 100% correct. However, we can generalise on a few things:

 

1) a smaller dog is generally quicker off the mark.

 

2) a smaller dog is generally better at turning.

 

3) a smaller dog doesn't generally tend to hurt itself as much in a fall.

 

4) a bigger dog generally has a greater top speed.

 

5) a bigger dog is generally more capable of taking larger quarry (law permitting of course)

 

Therefore, I'd go for a dog that was neither big nor small, thus generally giving me a trade-off between it's best qualities. In my opinion that would mean a dog of about 23"-24".

 

All that is pretty irrelevent anyway, because in my opinion size has very little to do with what makes a 'good all round lurcher'.

 

Crow

Edited January 4, 2007 by Crow

[Border Terrier 0]

there is no best dog, theres good big ones and bad big ones, same for small dogs. in general the smaller the dog the less likely it is to see its prey in heavy cover, tall grass etc and it may have a harder time bringing down bigger game or anything that would put up a healthy struggle. but the saying goes its not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog i have seen some good and bad in a range of sizes so any size that does the job will do for me.

 

good hunting

[tote 856]

Have to agree with most of the replies,you get good and not so good in all sizes,it's all down to personal preference.

I prefer my dogs to be medium sized,which is between 23"-26".

[Guest Lurchers2006]

A good dog 24/27 takes abit of beating for allround use.. if it has the heart that is

[jacob 28]

Have to agree with most of the replies,you get good and not so good in all sizes,it's all down to personal preference.

I prefer my dogs to be medium sized,which is between 23"-26".

horses for courses,same goes for lurchers.

[Guest Lurchers2006]

Imo it depends on what quarry you will be going for.. for all round work then abigger dog is more suitable...

i run a small dog which is 22 inch, i run him on all different ground as we travel alot for our quarry... and i have took rat, rabbit, hare, fox, and deer with him... Some times he does struggle eg. on deer he gets dragged along or carnt hold them and on fox takes abit longer than a bigger dog to dispatch them BUT he has the heart for it and i am catching and taking the game with him...

 

 

 

 

 

my mate runs a 31inch bull x and we have took the same quarry with him... he kills alot quicker, and can hold bigger things down alot easier...

 

 

 

If i was looking for a dog for allround work i wouldnt be looking for a bigger dog or a smaller dog i would just be looking for something out of dogs that will keep trying if they are struggling doing the job and also out of stuff that has done ALOT of work....

 

all pics before the ban...

 

 

jay

Any pics of the 31inch Bull X?

[Guest Lurchers2006]

Hes a big lad!! What was he like pre-ban?

[Guest furryferter]

HI ALL & :welcomeani:

Which is the best size of dog for all round luercher work,

please give your points of veiw and why you have picked this size of dog to work and the type of ground you run on, also it would be a big help if you could give the size of dog or bitch in inchs.

The samll type come in at 23" to 25"

The big type come in at 26" to 30"

 

please all join in i would like to see the veiws on this.

Heres my tupence worth having seen all size of dogs work ...if its an allrounder then it has to be a big dog every time my definition of an allrounder to keep it simple is a dog that kills all quarry on all types of ground day & night (pre ban) where as a smaller dog is restricted to what quarry & what type of ground is it used on a 23" lurcher cannot be used on large deer never mind in 18" of heather ...where as a 30 dog can be used for rabbits it wont be as good as a whippet but it can be used for rabbits so as far as a perfect size for an allrounder I would go for a 26"-30" dog

[snoopdog 1,256]

my personal choice would be between 24" to 26 " i run some tight fields so anything bigger than 26 would not be much use to me even tho i like big dogs ..thats about the size of an allrounder for me..the roe is the biggest quarry round me so i dont need anything bigger ....

[brock 11]

i would go for nothing smaller than 25",small dogs are just rabbiting dogs,why do people go out and buy 19-23" dog and expect it to do all quarry,i know theres a hell of a lot of dogs this size that does it,but theres a hell of a lot more bigger dogs doing it and more to the point doing the job cleanly.you must choose and buy a dog after a lot of consideration,you must think what game you will be after mostly,these days you can only go rabbiting anyway

[Lennard 10]

There are other factors too. Small dog uses less space and such. Some breeds or crosses are easier/nicer to live with than others. Most of the time you won't be hunting it.

 

L.

Edited January 4, 2007 by Lennard

[leec 132]

ive got a 24 inch bitch witch i consider a good allround bitch in all terrain on all quarry but have seen certain dogs better on certain quarry on terrain suited to them i.e a 21 inch wippet/irish terrier in paddocks or on close slips on rabbit shes killing 20 plus out of 25 runs but she only kills rabbit and so on the main important thing is to remember an allrounder is exactly that not specialist at one paticular job but good at everything i think purely due to physicall ability 24 ins would be of minimum size to do the job properly just my opinion