Dog Feet

[Guest Frank]

Mike, cracking pic of big bunny.

Edited May 28, 2007 by Frank

[Guest whitser]

How would you rate your dogs feet? Can you run your dog on any ground or do you pick and choose where you run and what cross is it? I can rum my dog on any ground and he has never hurt his feet, the only injury to him so far being a broken toe nail, Hes a fast dog so am surprised because some fields he runs on can be a little rough to say the least,

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theres no where a dog cant run if its bred right and conditioned. look at all the arab,morrocan and afghan hounds like the saluki and sloughis they run gazelle and hare etc.. over the driest stoniest hardest ground you can get.

[scotty3968 0]

How would you rate your dogs feet? Can you run your dog on any ground or do you pick and choose where you run and what cross is it? I can rum my dog on any ground and he has never hurt his feet, the only injury to him so far being a broken toe nail, Hes a fast dog so am surprised because some fields he runs on can be a little rough to say the least,

 

 

Wait till a hare takes him down a tarmac road ect and he puts in a turn or two...............then tell me how good his feet are :whistle:

 

yep..well said,the only damage my adult dog got was from chasing a big lugs which took him onto a tarmac road,,was like sand paper on his pads..didnt slow him down though,apart from that he will run on anything,,on the other hand my bull x pup has very soft feet and is already carrying a toe injury..

scotty

[Meerihunter 7]

Imo you can only rate a running dogs feet as 'good' when it has at least 5 or 6 seasons running under it belt and it's feet still remain sound, I've never had a lurcher remain totally sound in the feet past 6 years old hence I'll only run pure Salukis these day and I am still striving to select future dogs with larger/stronger feet.

[Boojet 0]

Imo you can only rate a running dogs feet as 'good' when it has at least 5 or 6 seasons running under it belt and it's feet still remain sound, I've never had a lurcher remain totally sound in the feet past 6 years old hence I'll only run pure Salukis these day and I am still striving to select future dogs with larger/stronger feet.

not sure if i agree with larger/stronger feet as in perhaps theres more to get knocked up,

always ran fell collie grey x bedlington grey medium sized but strong tight feet, if conditioned correctly.

never had foot problems only sore pads if run off course onto tarmac roads on odd ocasion.

all the best y.i.s

[Giro 2,648]

Amazing pics mike the dog ...

[Meerihunter 7]

Imo you can only rate a running dogs feet as 'good' when it has at least 5 or 6 seasons running under it belt and it's feet still remain sound, I've never had a lurcher remain totally sound in the feet past 6 years old hence I'll only run pure Salukis these day and I am still striving to select future dogs with larger/stronger feet.

not sure if i agree with larger/stronger feet as in perhaps theres more to get knocked up,

always ran fell collie grey x bedlington grey medium sized but strong tight feet, if conditioned correctly.

never had foot problems only sore pads if run off course onto tarmac roads on odd ocasion.

all the best y.i.s

 

Thousands of years of selection has developed large thickly padded, well boned feet on all the rough ground running dogs Saluki's, Afghans, Taigan, Pharoah hounds, Ibizan hounds etc. I'm inclined to believe there is reason for it.

 

I blame todays racing greyhounds for the weakness in many of todays lurchers feet, if a greyhound feet are damaged running on graded sand it does'nt say much for their feet when running over rough ground with sharp turns etc. even if they are crossed with another breed. When greyhounds break down through racing som long as they are fast enough they are bred from, seems to me all is being sacrificed for pure speed. It's a fact that they (the greyhound men) wanted to out cross to the earliest saluki imports from 100 years in an attempt to improve feet and general soundness.

 

However as you say conditioning does play a part.

 

Are the quality of feet now being over looked when breeding lurchers?

[gaz 284]

Imo you can only rate a running dogs feet as 'good' when it has at least 5 or 6 seasons running under it belt and it's feet still remain sound, I've never had a lurcher remain totally sound in the feet past 6 years old hence I'll only run pure Salukis these day and I am still striving to select future dogs with larger/stronger feet.

not sure if i agree with larger/stronger feet as in perhaps theres more to get knocked up,

always ran fell collie grey x bedlington grey medium sized but strong tight feet, if conditioned correctly.

never had foot problems only sore pads if run off course onto tarmac roads on odd ocasion.

all the best y.i.s

 

Thousands of years of selection has developed large thickly padded, well boned feet on all the rough ground running dogs Saluki's, Afghans, Taigan, Pharoah hounds, Ibizan hounds etc. I'm inclined to believe there is reason for it.

 

I blame todays racing greyhounds for the weakness in many of todays lurchers feet, if a greyhound feet are damaged running on graded sand it does'nt say much for their feet when running over rough ground with sharp turns etc. even if they are crossed with another breed. When greyhounds break down through racing som long as they are fast enough they are bred from, seems to me all is being sacrificed for pure speed. It's a fact that they (the greyhound men) wanted to out cross to the earliest saluki imports from 100 years in an attempt to improve feet and general soundness.

 

However as you say conditioning does play a part.

 

Are the quality of feet now being over looked when breeding lurchers?

 

Yep well said sir,some good points there to think about although ive never run saluki,s or saluki types,

but the weakness of racing greyhound feet is spot-on.

What i would say is i dont think you can class the feet of a racer compaired to a coursing g/h,as i would,ve thought their feet would be far better for breeding lurchers with ?

[Mitch 0]

We have some rough ground down here. Personally I dont really like running my dog on it, she hasnt had a problem with the pads but she has had an accident on a log and hurt the back of her back left leg. So i have been only running her on good ground now, Just hate taking the risks.

I also dislike the fences, but when she is coursing something she pulls up most of the time. All the time after she ran into one, its a hard lesson to learn.

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul in North Lincs 15]

a mate of mine had first cross bull / grey....its feet were huge and although it worked well it toes were always getting smashed. Personally I have always prefered a small tight foot which I feel from experience is much more resistant on rough courses.

[MikeTheDog 153]

Regarding racing greyhounds, I wonder what kind of force is constantly put on their feet when cornering at 45mph. Must really feck their toes, imo it’s not bad breeding. As for Bull types with bad feet, no fecking surprise imo,… they weren’t bred for running!..Just my own thoughts and opinion!..

 

Edited to add.

 

Look at this pic' and you can imagine the incredible torque/strain going through toes and sinews!

 

 

 

Sorry it doesn't look in focus, the full original is fantastic!....But that's just my opinion!..

Edited June 1, 2007 by MikeTheDog

[leec 132]

old saying i got told not long ago by very experianced lurcherman when looking for a stud for my bitch [breed from the feet up] something i never considerd till he said

[baz 464]

THAT SECOND PIC MIKE POSTED OF THE STONEY GROUND WOULD BRING TEARS TO MY EYES IF MY DOG RAN ON IT