A good dog or a great one, how do you judge it?

[scotty3968 0]

FOR ME I THINK ITS NOT JUST ABOUT THEIR WORKING ABILITY,MY LURCHER DOG HAS TAKEN RABBITS HARES DEER AND THE ODD FOX WHICH IS EVERTHING I ASKED FROM HIM AND MORE,THIS DOESANT MAKE HIM A GREAT DOG, BUT HIS INTELLIGENCE, HIS MANNER AND HIS KNACK TO MAKE ME LAUGH AND A JOY TO BE AROUND MAKES HIM A GREAT DOG TO ME.IM DREADING THE DAY HE GOES TO DOGGY HEAVEN,HERES TO OUR COMPANIONS

 

[THE STIFFMEISTER 15,938]

Every dog lad thinks he has seen a great dog..very few are fortunate too..I lamp regularly with a lad whose bitch is probably the best I have seen, however he is the dogs most fierce critic, and if you know the game like he does...is the only way to be...

[J Darcy 5,871]

One that has the "WOW!" factor......

 

theres not that many about....

[Guest markbrick1]

hi countryman ,i dont know your dog but i know your dogs sire ive got photos here of him retreavin 3 rabbits at a time,yes 3 he catches 1 then drops it for another and them same again then remembers were they are and retreaves them all at once, i know a lot of people wont beleave me but really i dont give a shit, also the dad had 86 foxes last season to my knowledge witnessing a fair few myself the night my pups were born we had 2 with him in 15 minutes ,hes no show dog and hes rather ugly but he is one in a life time dogs cheers mark

[longstone lad 1]

Interesting question: IMO a good dog becomes a great dog when it consistently performs at a level that leaves you saying to yourself:"How the hell did it do that?!" Making those 'impossible' catches that other dogs would have missed, finding where other dogs have gone by or given up, and never chucking in the towel when the chips (of whatever sort) are down. So you can apply this list of things to any sort of dog, lurcher, terrier or whatever working dog.

A great dog is IMO the one you compare all your other dogs to, and the one you remember after it has gone to the great hunting ground in the sky and your'e watching your other dogs at work. Its the one you use as a measuring stick of competance at its job, and the one that lived every day as a tiger in the field, but lay like a mouse in your home.

 

well zd mate

[whin 463]

m chapmans bob was a great dog and he bred good stuff ,one the nlrc feildtrails etc , and faced what was put in fromt of him was aloyal dog ,saw him work and owned a son of him and grandaughter very good all rounders

[byron 1,179]

Firstly id like to underline the fact that im not claiming to have a world class dog in this post, im only using her as an example of my question.

Sophie, a 4 year old bitch of mine is a Belgian/greyhound half cross, not a very racey looking sort of animal, and definately not a show winner! However she is a reliable working dog at night, collecting some reasonable hauls of rabbits on the lamp. She is also a good dog to use during bushing/ general mooching with terriers etc and marks reliably. This morning whilst excersing the dogs she marked a small hole and after she had pulled a small stone from the entrance removed and then retreived to me a halfgrown rabbit. This sort of thing is not uncommon for her to do.

She is also a very loyal animal and is a usefull gaurd, i think inpart due to her Shepard blood.

Now, to me, and in comparison to other dogs i have kept/seen she is a great dog. Although she has never secured any legendary hauls of rabbits as an all round dog she fits me perfectly. To me the definition of a great dog is this,.... If this dog had to hunt inorder to feed me, would i starve? Sophie is one of these animals.

 

So what makes a good dog great? Is it massive hauls of quarry, or is there more to it?

Id be interested to hear your thoughts on this one.

one that keeps you interested

[heart of wales 19]

A good dog or a great one in my humble opinion is one that when in the field exels as such that anyone who is with you is amazed at his guts stamina and strike rate will catch alive and retrieve what you want to eat,with the exeption of deer,will kill what you dont.Will mark without error,Would guard you and loved ones to the death,Will give you many a great memory of him when he is gone,a practically impossible dog to replace,thinking of you scoob

[Rabbithunter 456]

in my opinion one that does what you ask of it anything else is a bonus

 

 

Edited April 10, 2007 by Rabbithunter

[highlander 0]

in my opinion one that does what you ask of it anything else is a bonus

 

Totaly agree with you.

Regards highlander.