Beardie or Border

[Stabs 3]

Does anyone actually work Beardies any more? All the working collies I know, which is not a great deal, are Borders.

 

Not the traditional role, but a damned good working pure Beardie for the ferreting game

 

[zx12edge 1,001]

Does anyone actually work Beardies any more? All the working collies I know, which is not a great deal, are Borders.

 

Not the traditional role, but a damned good working pure Beardie for the ferreting game

 

 

Reminds me of a beardie we had when i was a kid. Nice dog you have there Stabs.how big is he looks quite tall in the photo.

[kent hunter 15]

BEARDIES ARE UNMATCHABLE!

[wuyang 513]

Ive had both border collies....border collie lurchers and border/ beardie lurchers. The beardie/border had better drive to find a scent when there wasnt much about. If there is plenty of game about both will do fine, but i have found that about 50% of the border collie and border collie lurchers ive worked get bored easily if theres not much about and find something else to do....(i unfortunately hunt were thers not much game and am speaking from a soley hunt up and catch point of view). The border lurcher i have now who's nearly ten is great when theres a bit of game about, but wont put herself out to find game if she feels theres nowt much happening. Another thing i found was my beardie/border lurcher would hunt much futher a field from me than my border lurcher who tend to go so far away then come back, almost wanting me to tell her to do something. Both crosses had great coats and feet.

[leegreen 2,182]

Does anyone actually work Beardies any more? All the working collies I know, which is not a great deal, are Borders.

 

Yes, there are some people who are totally devoted to Beardie lurchers and wouldn't have anything else. There are some good hard working lines out there, and they're not just rabbit dogs. they're just not the sort of people who come on forums. Though there is a good little forum: Collie Curs. I don't know if it is now a closed forum or not, but its certainly not open to every idiot with a lurcher

That counts me out then . I actually meant working collies not lurchers, for shepherding and the like.

[darbo 4,776]

Does anyone actually work Beardies any more? All the working collies I know, which is not a great deal, are Borders.

 

Yes, there are some people who are totally devoted to Beardie lurchers and wouldn't have anything else. There are some good hard working lines out there, and they're not just rabbit dogs. they're just not the sort of people who come on forums. Though there is a good little forum: Collie Curs. I don't know if it is now a closed forum or not, but its certainly not open to every idiot with a lurcher

That counts me out then . I actually meant working collies not lurchers, for shepherding and the like.

www.shepherdswithbeardies.com is worth a look. all the info on beardies working in england, scotland,and wales.

[Magpie 102]

The Beardie cross is not a dog for the modern lurcher man. They are not a point and shoot dog by any stretch. They won't blindly smash 10 out of 10 foxes from the back seat of a 4x4 or run like a Beagle on speed across the fenns.

 

If you fancy an old style traditional hunting pot filling lurcher that does what a lurcher was intended to do then they are hard to beat. They are as tough as old boots and a have boundless stamina. Apart from one slight indiscretion with a buck Munty I haven't had need of a vet for over 15 years.

 

The Beardies shape lends it's self well to the Greyhound so you often get a far typer looking half cross than with the Border. Obviously not in all cases there are some very shapely half cross Border bred dogs out there. A look at James Bradley's DVD's will prove the point.

 

As far as working Beardies are concern there are far more out there than most lurcher people realise. Another chap on this thread has pointed you in the direction of the ShephardswithBeardies web site. The site was put together by an American lady who with the help of a Lancashire stockman has found a vast majority of the true working Beardies still working in the British isles. There are one or two other folk out there, but I guess they will find their way on to the web site before too long.

 

One word of advice for the would be Beardie enthusiast. Avoid the Working Beardie Society like the plague. The society has long since been abandoned by shepherds and stockmen. Unfortunately the involvement of a well known and now deceased lurcherman and his groupies put an end to anything genuine there as I found to my disappointment. All that's left is a bunch of fat middle aged women with agility dogs more akin to hyper trail bred Border Collies.

 

My reverse 5/8 3/8 Beardie bred dog.

 

 

And my 5/8 3/8 bred bitch

 

 

My full Beardie pup.

 

 

Beardies at work.

 

Edited March 29, 2012 by Magpie

[wirral countryman 2,110]

Magpie,a really informative post well written,I like the look of your dogs,I've only owned one beardie cross and she was something very special to all the family not just me,endless stamina and a joy to work on anything fur or feather,atb,WM

[Magpie 102]

Here's a few more pics.

 

These dogs are out of the litter I bred back in 2010.

 

 

This was my bitch a 6 months

 

[omegathelast 160]

I had a Beardie cross years ago. She possesed almost human intelligence, was totally biddable, ridiculously easy to train and a very faithful and lovable dog. She proved herself as a fantastic all-round rabbit dog season after season. We lamped, ferreted, hunted up during the day and she even snatched a few lucky Hares over a short dash. Temperament wise she was totally steady, obedient and very soft but constitutionally as hardy as I can imagine any dog could ever be! She would happily choose to sleep on top of her kennel in mid-winter, even in the snow! had very good feet and a coat so thick and waterproof she didn't look like what most people imagine a lurcher to be. The worst weather would not bother her one bit whilst working and she had endless stamina for her size.

 

The fact she would 'run clever' was, in my view, an attribute and a joy to watch. She would often hunt a rabbit up and rather than run it as you might expect, she would anticipate, almost like a sixth-sense, where it would head for and when she first started doing this I would initially think where the hell is she going, only to be amazed as she stalked up a boundary stone wall, for example, to intercept the rabbit as it turned towards what it thought was safety. She would have been hopeless at simulated coursing I am sure, as once she had seen where the lure ended up a few times she would have ignored the chaos of the 'course' and ran leisurely straight to the end of the machine and waited for the lure to arrive! That is how clever she was. On the lamp she would work out how to run the rabbit in a split second; she would either have a mad dash at it or she would run out of the beam slowly picking her moment as the rabbit picked up pace. She would also give up on runs (only on the lamp) when she knew she couldnt catch it - I have read peoples opinions on this suggesting it is a fault, but why? She would still be working right through to the end of the night whereas some 'guests' dogs that ran hopeless runs would be knackered, limping or both with hours to go. I saw that many, many times! I could easily call her off a run which in a few circumstances over the years was priceless.

 

She wasnt the fastest lurcher, would be laughed out of a show ring but I am sure she accounted for more rabbits than any show winner of the time and indeed most lurchers I have ever known or seen work since.

 

Your were a great dog Tess, RIP.

Edited March 29, 2012 by omegathelast

[Magpie 102]

Did you not fancy another? To hard an act to follow maybe?

[omegathelast 160]

Did you not fancy another? To hard an act to follow maybe?

 

When I was ready for my next one I couldnt find a proper one (other than possibly a Hancock which i didnt fancy at the time) so ended up with a Bedlington x Greyhound off a friend which also turned out to be a good lurcher but a totally different prospect. I now have a small dog with beardie blood and my friend and old hunting partner has a 5/8ths 3/8ths hancock so we have our beardie crosses back and the start of a possible line...sort of

Edited March 29, 2012 by omegathelast

[spindolero 1,111]

enjoyed the recent beardie threads, sound like they have a number of uses, real versatile dogs.

[Flipper_Al 1,012]

What sort of height are your Beardie X's

[Guest born to run1083]

I have only ran myself a border cross but I have to say from what I've seen in other dogs with beardie in is they have a better mentality then the border. I prefer a head strong animal as usually there the ones that don't like to quite in certain situations I think this can lack in the border sometimes.