skycat 6,173 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 My Airedale lurchers are now 9 months old. Schuck is 241/2" and Lena just 24". I think they may have another half inch or so in them, but their growth rate has slowed right down and they've both been just had their first season. Very early in my experience. So are they being total, untrainable monsters, with that dreaded Saluki blood in them? NO! In fact, very biddable, cheerful uncomplicated pups all round. Very keen, but very sensible with it. Of course I'm only doing a bit of bushing with them at the moment, though I took Schuck ferreting a few times towards the end of the season: didn't put a foot wrong and retrieved a couple of dead rabbits to me nicely. Lena has really surprised me. I thought at the start that she'd be a bit of an air head, Saluki minded and more difficult to train. Not a bit of it. She really wants to please and is now a fanatical retriever the same as her sister. She is more laid back, less broody and intense, and showing a lot of field craft already. Whereas Schuck wants to hunt hard, like her dam, Lena is creeping through hedges, stalking along the edge of a field, and freezing and crawling along almost like a cheetah. It's lovely to see. We've got hardly any catchable rabbits round here at the moment, so no catches, but she carries back anything she finds: bits of dead birds etc Tennis balls as well: we're always finding stray tennis balls. I threw one into a patch of weeds over a low bit of barbed wire down a bank, and she didn't hesitate to go and stick her head in the nettles and weeds and come back doing a real high, show-off jump. Schuck saw a couple or so foxes towards the end of the winter, purely by accident, which the terriers put out. Watched the lurchers on the first one and joined in like a nutter on the next two. Not really a good thing for a pup of only 6 or 7 months old, but at least she didn't get bitten, and it bodes well for the future. Now they are learning to swim, though not too sure as yet: mind you, Dill never really swam until she was a year old and now I can't keep her out of the water. So far the pups just mob her when she comes back with a ball, take it off her and generally beat her up LOL All in all I haven't got a bad word to say about them, though they are slower in some things than their dam. Sitting and staying are proving to be the hardest thing for both of them: that damn Saluki again :laugh: Recall is excellent unless they're hot on the scent of something, and now its really a matter of trying to keep them safe and sound until the ground gets softer. It's like concrete here now, and I don't want them running stuff and smashing their feet. Roll on next winter! Lena will be the first one I take out on the lamp: she is very agile, bendy and quick. Shcuck is more like an Airedale with long legs, she'll be very powerful but I don't think she'll have the agility of her sister. Time will tell. A few pics: Quote Link to post
skycat 6,173 Posted May 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Having problems with uploading photos! Quote Link to post
skycat 6,173 Posted May 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Schuck out ferreting a couple of months ago bringing me a rabbit I'd hidden in the hedge. Quote Link to post
skycat 6,173 Posted May 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Mobbing Dill for a stick Quote Link to post
skycat 6,173 Posted May 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Last one for the moment: takes ages having to put them up separately: how do I put a slide show on from Photobucket? 1 Quote Link to post
speedie 329 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 nice dogs what else is in them Quote Link to post
bleachtastesnice 4 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Happy days skycat, really good progress and they both look really well All the best for the future, bleachtastesnice Quote Link to post
KittleRox 2,147 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Seem to be doing good, nice to see them retrieving over fences, they look strong well built dogs as well, atb and roll on the winter Quote Link to post
furgle 14 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 strong looking dogs mate Quote Link to post
Rabbiting man 1,192 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 They are cracking dog penny like them the first time I seen them Quote Link to post
Mars 42 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Sounds like yours are coming on great Skycat... Do you think perhaps you are more used to Saluki types, and so are more used to their traits and thus you are more inclined to train in accordingly without even thinking about it....?? My pup is doing ok... she will retrieve close to me but doesn`t really want to give up her prize to me, Sit is good, stay she`ll do for a short while and she will walk to heel of lead IF i keep a close eye on her.... She loves to use her nose learning from my dog Good scents to follow, Just the other week the two of them dived into a large hedge after a bit of crashing about a fox bolted closely followed by my pup, another fox bolted from the other side of the hedge which my Old bull cross gave chase too the young dog still crashing around in the hedge.... Saw my pup loose her fox as it dived through a hedge on the other side of the field a few hundred yards away, which i`me quite thank full for really as i don't think she`s ready to tackle one on her own yet.... Her most annoying trait is her dependence on me and the other dogs... I cant leave her outside at night in her kennel as around ten mins before my alarm clock goes of to wake me up for work.. she starts whineing { wakeing the neighbours} so now i have her in the house at night and she licks my face instead...and if i`me in the house during the day and she`s int kennel it`s the same again whineing And as much as i`ve tried with socialising she is nervous when on her own... But her confidence in the field, and hunting instict is overcoming her faults " for now" gonna start her ferreting this coming season and see where we go from their... In looks and build she is the double of your Lena.... Mars... Quote Link to post
rolysmate 49 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Strong looking pups and for 1st crosses dont look at all cloddy, will be interesting to see how they continue to mature Quote Link to post
Hannah4181 260 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Looking good penny . .. that last profile shot of Lena, you can really seem Ream in her head!! I'l pop over soon for a walk out and catch up. Quote Link to post
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