whippet not keen to kill

[canaliculata 28]

Its not the dog mate...it'll turn out to be a cracker. Who cares if it licks the cage...come on.

 

Its all down to patience and entering. Im bringing a little pup on at the minute, she's also not always keen to come to hand. I know many years back i expected the world from my young little whippet, i used to read stories in the shooting news by Garry Hosker, all those rabbits he used to catch with old Spud, god i envied him and his dog. As years past i realised that all the faults in my whippet were down to my lack of experience, he turned out a very good dog in the end, he never had the catch rate of Hoskers old spud, but then again we all hunt different land.

 

Give him time, and remember his faults will probably be down to your mistakes so dont be so harsh on him.

[rob284 1,682]

I really can't understand folk wanting to get dogs working too young, I start to show mine abit about 10-11 months old, depending on the pup. Some arnt ready at that age as there still immature mentally and pysically. All the pups i've reared and entered have made good working dogs, some may say thats just luck some may say it's because i took things steady.. I've seen dozens of dogs ruined for starting them too early but i've never seen one ruined starting them too late...

to be honest i understand him. i think a pup should be willing at a young age. but shouldnt be started. especially a whippet, their gameness should be through the roof.

[BORDERSCOT 3,816]

I'm not being funny mall, and i pretty much agree with most of what you re saying, but i think SOME dogs, DO fail themselves in the hunting field. Believing all running dogs will make the grade is like thinking all ethiopians will make marathon runners, it just isnt true.

 

So true mate - I've seen dogs that have looked the part big time and when push comes to shove they just don't have it. You can't get shit out of a rocking horse I'm afraid.

[Guest born to run1083]

Running a dog thats still growing is just asking for trouble in my opinion, the tendons are still soft and developing. You may not see a problem at the time but theres a very good chance the dog will be knackered by the time it's 4-5 years old.

 

The last 2 pups i've entered have both caught on there very first run on the lamp, one was 10 months old the other was 11 months old. Some may say this was down to just luck, but i disagree. I knew the dogs were ready both mentally and physically and they proved it.

 

It's very tempting to start a young dog too young, many say take it out with another dog just for a look. I never do this as it can over excite a pup and cause it to yap. I always take a pup out on it's own for the first few times, that way there is no distraction for the young dog and it encourages it to concentrate at the job in hand.

 

A working dog should have a long working career infront of it, i don't see the point in trying to rush things whilst its young. The more time you put in training etc will be rewarded tenfold.

There's mixed views about Starting early with dogs and injurys and being honest there's no direct evidence either way, my view is starting slightly early gives a more sensible dog who respects it's surroundings and if they take knocks it's at such a slower pace and less chance of injury. Almost like someone learning to drive you wouldn't stick them in an f1 car and expect them to come off well. I started mine at 6 months old had no problems at all if anything structualy she the strongest dog I've had ,could be a coincidence , might just not be who knows. To the poster prey drive comes out at different ages. I wouldn't get worried just yet like skycat said I think there's alot more development to come from the pup first

[Ideation 8,216]

Just jumping back into this, i'd first like to say i wasn't neccesarily agreeing with the lads entering method, and by the sounds of things, this particular dog has had some major negative experiances. If you have taken on a dog that you cant let off a lead for two months, wont come to you and is a nervous wreck, then getting it hunting probably shouldnt be your priority. At the end of the day i'd spend all summer, trying to build a bond, and its confidence, nd just trying to get it enjoying life with you.

 

All i meant by my earlier post (and not neccesarily with regard to this dog) is that whilst most of the time you can blame the owner / s for any failures on the dogs part, some dogs simply do not make the grade, and a few dont make any grade. I have limited experiance of whippets, owning only one, but i would have thought that in the normal run of things, whether it is too young to work or not, at 8 months old, the desire to chase things would be there. In the dog that i have raised, that was never an issue, there werre lots of other issues, but the little bugger wanted to chase stuff from about 8 weeks old, and by 6 months was very switched on with scents and wanting to run stuff.

 

I didn't take him out and run him on the lamp until he was much older, as mally says, around 10-12 months, due to the fact that he was quite immature, and a pain with the lamp. However, he had seen plenty of rabbits by this point, tagging a long ferreting and daytime mooching since 6 months old, and having a good catch rate, but more importantly, picking up all of the skills of the trade.

[sean925 2]

Took my whippet bitch ferreting at about 6 months onwards just to see the craic didn't even chase bunnies to start with but loved sent if its all play and fun for a young dog I think it can be positive as long as there's no expectations .when she started to want to chase kept her back and only give her easy bunnies didnt want her chasing and not catching too many Once the bitch got to 10 or eleven months started her on lamp she was slow to start but never looked back she 2yr 8 mths now and rabbit mad laid up with barbed wire injury at min but don't hunt now anyway so not to bad

[rob190364 2,594]

would it be worth getting a rabbbit skin dummy and doing a few chase/fetch games as part of the bonding etc?

[nasher1 258]

As said before spend time getting the bond with the dog it sounds like your trying to run before you can walk, get the dog comfortable with you before you even consider taking it out in the field, not all whippets or other dogs for that matter are game from a early age all dogs are different not all dogs make the grade but you have to put some time into the animal, nothing ventured nothing gained atb nasher

[bigoy19706 276]

thanks for all replys

 

i have give him a dead bunny to see what he wood do was a bit funny at 1st but when a mates lurcher pup started playing with it he started to play to he is very good with me naw i have a good bond with him i dont no what his life was like befor i got him he was a bit funny with the lad i got him from he was in good health just very shy but he a different dog naw here is a pic

[Moll. 1,770]

I really can't understand folk wanting to get dogs working too young, I start to show mine abit about 10-11 months old, depending on the pup. Some arnt ready at that age as there still immature mentally and pysically. All the pups i've reared and entered have made good working dogs, some may say thats just luck some may say it's because i took things steady.. I've seen dozens of dogs ruined for starting them too early but i've never seen one ruined starting them too late...

to be honest i understand him. i think a pup should be willing at a young age. but shouldnt be started. especially a whippet, their gameness should be through the roof.

 

I think that is the mistake many people make about whippets. I was told time and time again by a whippet man that whippet males take forever to mentally mature, and he was spot on. Chasing rabbits.....anything, was just a big game for a long time with my whippet dog.

 

As Mally said, just take your time with him, leave him off rabbits all summer then start him early season on the naive young rabbits.

[dytkos 17,824]

Let it see another dog catching for a while, it'll soon want to join in. As stated earlier, it's still only a pup. Some animals come into their own sooner than others. Be patient but if it's not interested by about 14/15 months I'd get rid if you want it as a hunting dog.

 

Cheers, D.

 

Typical answer for on here... Get Rid!!. The only reason why dogs fail is that YOU FAIL THEM, they don't fail themselves....

 

It's called being realistic. Notice I wrote "if it's not interested", not that it isn't killing, chasing, hunting etc etc.

If you've got a sight hound with NO prey drive or interest in it's prime function by the time it's 15 months old, what would you do? Unfortunately, not all dogs make the grade as I am sure you know.

If you got plenty of time, space and money, keep it as a pet.

 

Cheers, D.