RATTING Vs DIGGING

[Guest oneredtrim]

.

Edited January 16, 2008 by oneredtrim

[fellman 116]

i dont know what to say about that post foxdropper

..........................

[Guest shay]

Me neither Felly, :whistle: I always thought Foxdropper spoke a bit of sense, until that load of drivel, I'm sorry to say I pity anyone whos terriers can't hold there own on a few hundred rats and to say that rats test a terrier surely they aint no test to a good fit strong earth dog,

 

I have seen a 10 month old pup kill scores of rats, with hardly getting bit, crunch spit onto the next, test for a dog my fecking hole

[Guest Eamon.Mc]

To move off thread like everyone else has ,it appears that those of you doing the slating now dont appear to have really tested a dog ratting .Go on laugh ,but I tell you many a digging dog will not see out a day on LARGE NUMBERS of rats.When the mouth is sore and the energy is sapping ,thats when all but the best of TERRIERS are still slaying rats as they did the first .I'm a digging lad as well and value the worth of a terrier that stays but I also hunt rats in numbers and know that phisically,for the terrier, there is a difference between a day of ratting to a long dig .Its the mental state of the terrier that keeps it below ground at its work ,combined with fitness but its the desire to kill the next rat that drives the good ratter and that desire does not finish when the dog is exhausted .Theres nothing to say a digging dog cant rat too and thats exactly what mine do .Ratting is work but must not be bred for formost in the creation of a terrier.Proven lines of stayer to stayer ,the only way .Keep the pics coming lads and let the individual decide to read it or not!

When you talk of staying power I could tell you stories of dogs that heave been with their stuff and dug to for upwards and well over 6 hours, 9 hours and even 10 or more hours , now to me that's what I call staying power.But then they're only stories!

[Nell 1]

Excellent reply there Foxdropper, I can relate to what you say 100%

Personally I don't keep my terriers for any one particular type of quarry, in fact I use them for whatever the day brings but for all the 100% digging boys out there, keep the pics coming, it's always good to hear of other people's days out, whatever they are doing.

 

All the best

[Guest NANDO]

Edited August 20, 2007 by NANDO

[IanB 0]

You can see the true messers a mile off how they big it up on the internet.....

[jpnixon 7]

Everytime i have seen pic's of great ratting days with rat numbers around the 100-130 mark there is always at least 10 terriers there so when you average out that it works out at around 10-12 rats a terrier form the day. So where is the hard test for a ratting terrier. On the other hand when a terrier is working to ground it will often find himself faced with quarry bigger and more powerful than himself, and for him to hold that in one spot for a day is a proper test of the terriers fitness, working ability, mentle state and desire to WORK. I have seen 5 month old terriers kill rats without any bother.

[skycat 6,173]

Me neither Felly, :whistle: I always thought Foxdropper spoke a bit of sense, until that load of drivel, I'm sorry to say I pity anyone whos terriers can't hold there own on a few hundred rats and to say that rats test a terrier surely they aint no test to a good fit strong earth dog,

 

I have seen a 10 month old pup kill scores of rats, with hardly getting bit, crunch spit onto the next, test for a dog my fecking hole

 

I think Foxdropper was referring to the amount of stamina and fitness etc needed: I don't do a lot of ratting nowadays (more's the pity: great sport), but once had half a dozen terriers on a badly run pig farm finding rats, helping dig them out and killing them: this went on for 4 hours or more, and at the end of it the terriers were so knackered they could hardly stand, barely crunch one more: didn't count the tally, but they filled 2 wheelbarrows. The day after their heads were so swollen they could hardly eat: I wouldn't say that was exactly a daisy picking day for those dogs.

I could also say that when my old Russell (many years ago) killed a good strong fox to ground, albeit with her daughter and came out relatively unscathed after an hour ready to go again, that particular incident took a lot less out of her than the above mentioned day's ratting.

At the end of the day, it all depends where you are, how things go, the attitutude of the quarry, the numbers of rats, and plain old luck/fate/karma.

Personally I find that an earth dog that goes into the darkness of an earth to engage an invisible foe with very big teeth and a strong desire to survive and a brain to match should win anyone's respect.

 

Nixy: I agree with you: it is the mental toughness which dictates whether a terrier will stick at its task underground, and the fact that it is alone down there, not fired up by other dogs running abut after visible small rats which die fast. And there is always the competition element which fires rat packs up to see who can get to the next rat the quicker as well.

But I have respect for all good working dogs that try their damndest to do the job they were bred for, and do it well. Just my opinion.

Very good thread this, and food for thought for anyone reading it.

Edited February 2, 2007 by skycat

[pockets 0]

Didnt Plummer strive for the ultimate ratting dog????????

 

Says it all really!!!!!

[Guest Eamon.Mc]

Didnt Plummer strive for the ultimate ratting dog????????

 

Says it all really!!!!!

 

 

:whistle: :whistle: :whistle:

How many terriers loose their lives in persuit of rats???Keep on hunting fellas, what ever your quarry, and keep those threads comming, better to read about what quarry is getting stiffed rather than what working ability is getting killed off by the money grabbing puppy peddlars.

[Yokel Matt 918]

"Keep on hunting fellas, what ever your quarry, and keep those threads comming, better to read about what quarry is getting stiffed rather than what working ability is getting killed off by the money grabbing puppy peddlars.

 

Couldn't agree more

 

just look at the state of the bull X whittet X lurcher X russel X deerhound X lassie cross's they are churning out now-a-days.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2007 by LocalYokel

[Guest Eamon.Mc]

I think one of the adds in classifieds on this forum says it all, PATT X COCKER SPANIEL!!! What the feck are they about?? And they're for SALE??

[Guest foxtrack]

Just to start off, a digging lad posted a thread and got abuse so he deleted his own thread . People on here gave him stick about the pics he posted. Now I've noticed that going back through threads that everyone back slaps and comments on dogs killing rats, i.e packs of dogs tearing rats apart. Now I'm by no means getting at anyone who goes ratting, I do a fair bit in the closed digging season. Now why is it that pics can be posted of rats being ripped apart by 1 or more terriers with pics of bloodied terriers out ratting but when a genuine digging lad puts a few pics up of his dogs after a dig he get's torn apart??? Bearing in mind a terrier that is dug to is facing a formiddable oponent usualy the same size or bigger than itself, it is inevitable he will take a hit or 2 even dogs ratting get bitten and bleed so can all you assholes that slabber and give digging lads abuse because of their threads not just feck off and sit behind your keyboards and go visit the crufts doggy site instead of bringing your shite on here. Real guys out there hunting their dogs and working them have enough to deal with, antis and such like that it's a pain in the arse when you come onto a so called hunting forum to be slagged off by so called hunters. If you don't like what you see then don't look or even better don't comment, I'd realy like to see some threads from those of you that posted negative comments about other peoples digs and pics, I'd bet we'd be lucky if even a 1/3 of yous go into the fields with your prized show dogs.Keep ratting boys and posting pics they're great, it's a pity those of us that are digging and sharing our exploits don't be seen in the same light by the armchair hunters out there.

well done eamon for speacking out ive been on here since january was told it was a good site for digging boys what a load of bollacks id say 90% of people on the terrier fourom have never put a dog to grond on anything bigger than a rabbit most have read the country mans weekley and the plummer crap hunted a few rats dug a few mice know it all tell us how it should be done well piss off and let real dog men do wat they do best

[pockets 0]

To move off thread like everyone else has ,it appears that those of you doing the slating now dont appear to have really tested a dog ratting .Go on laugh ,but I tell you many a digging dog will not see out a day on LARGE NUMBERS of rats.When the mouth is sore and the energy is sapping ,thats when all but the best of TERRIERS are still slaying rats as they did the first .I'm a digging lad as well and value the worth of a terrier that stays but I also hunt rats in numbers and know that phisically,for the terrier, there is a difference between a day of ratting to a long dig .Its the mental state of the terrier that keeps it below ground at its work ,combined with fitness but its the desire to kill the next rat that drives the good ratter and that desire does not finish when the dog is exhausted .Theres nothing to say a digging dog cant rat too and thats exactly what mine do .Ratting is work but must not be bred for formost in the creation of a terrier.Proven lines of stayer to stayer ,the only way .Keep the pics coming lads and let the individual decide to read it or not!

 

Please tell me your fathers not called Brian??????