Lost His Mojo

[Terrier Sam 297]

My beddy whippet grey was doing really well last season in his first winter. There were very few nights that he caught less than 50% of what he ran. There were no massive numbers with him catching 7 on his best night but that's the way it is on my permission. You'd be doing well to get more than 10 runs in a night so I thought that he was more than happy. He knew from the off that he should run hedge side of the rabbit and has never killed 1, bringing all back live to hand.

 

He's coming up to 2 and I'm really please with his temp etc. but this season it just doesn't seem to be happening his way. A few nights ago he had 7 or so runs and didn't catch and tonight he had about the same amount of runs - catching 2 and dropping 1 on the retrieve. This is the pattern for this season so far. Plenty of trips and falls, near misses and fumbles. Don't get me wrong, I have stepped it up a bit this season but it's nothing that he couldn't have coped with last season. I don't believe in stupid runs that make rabbits lamp shy and dogs give up.

 

Everyone on here always seems to be going on about "last night was my best night every" and "My dog caught 57 and only missed 1". Not many seem to come on here saying that things aren't going to plan so I'll join the select few

 

There is no way I'm giving up on him but I just wondered if other people have come across this, been through it and come out the other side? What are your opinions on getting him through it? Do I carry on putting as many sensible runs in front of him and hope that he doesn't loose heart or do I start being really choosy las if it was his first season again?

ATB

Sam

[jcm 2,327]

Had a few good nights this season and some not so good he has been catching almost everything he has ran bit there has been one or two nights where he has missed as much as he caught, could be that the dog is tired the ground to hard etc also with my dog only being 21tts he struggles Abit on heavy ground he is better on mote firmer ground

[FUJI 17,156]

Your not alone Sam buddy,trust me..I've encountered the same more than once over the years..sometimes it's just been a slight hiccup with dogs and yet others have just lost the desire that they once had and personally for me at least I failed to get that fire burning inside them again and had to admit defeat..I'd be amazed though at just two years old and with terrier and whippet blood in your mutt that it would be throwing in the towel already? Although again it wouldn't be the first to do it..I'd be certainly getting the dog a FULL health check firstly and then take it from there,if the dog has just been catching 50% of its runs which is unavoidable for any dog if that's the type of land you run then I'd be looking to take it elsewhere for a change of scenery where it's catch ratio "should" be a little better and give the mutt some overdue confidence..I wish you the very best of luck matey but like I say I've both salvaged this very situation and also failed so perhaps others will have more conclusive help to give you? Atb Andy

[skycat 6,173]

Before anything else, I'd get the dog checked over by a good greyhound man: could be there's a niggling little injury: sore muscle or whatever, that you won't have seen, but can affect the dog's performance. Once you know that there is nothing physical, then, if necessary, you can address the other possible problems such as lost confidence.

[weasle 1,119]

Two good posts there.

Always amazed when people claim never had a dog fail them.

I had one similar to you spent her second season treating her like a pup one good catch and home,kind of worked but truth was for a long time I was working a dog I had no faith in,caught her share on lamp but there was always something missing.

Many a mooch or ferreting trip was ruined by a golden opportunity(one of those you could walk for a year to get again) where missed.

No matter how much you try and pat your dog they sense what you are really thinking IMO .

Any way your along way from that get the dog checked out by some one real good then take it from there and good luck.

[Suzy Ross 236]

As Fuji said, you need to get ground with a better kill ratio. If that was his kill ratio in his first season, there must have been a lot of slips you shouldn't have slipped. Nice easy ones, take him ferreting with loose nets etc. A young dog needs to BELIEVE it'll catch everything it chases, if you have doubt, don't slip.

[bryson 562]

im in the exact same boat there mate my dog is in his second season and is piss poor to be frank some nights i take him out hes on fire then other night he wont even follow the beam like hes lost interest he will still run but its frustrating to watch last season was his first but it was twice as good as this one i had him out for a mooch on sunday with my 6 month old pup and a rabbit got up mabey 60 yards away he started running and the pup passed him and beat him on two turns before the pup had his very first rabbit in his mouth now i was over the moon for the pup but i was dissapointed in my other dog because i know he should have been the one to finish it i think its time to go and see a greyhound man because he just didnt seem to have the speed he used to and to be fair the pups a big chuncky thing and he was out turning him hope you get yours sorted mate Bryson

[weasle 1,119]

Mine in second season started killing rabbits dropping them in way in,walking around for 10 minutes trying to find a rabbit is dam frustrating.

She might retrieve first,basically always looking for the easy option,catch rate was alright on lamp,I had loads of easy rabbits.

Could have been very average but her head wasn't in it.

Many a windy night I have thought to myself I ain't going out tonight,go out side dog bouncing at gate,ended up going any way.

This one you would have to call her out of kennel.

I've had worse,that would never think of quitting in any way.

Some just ain't got it mentally,no matter how strong physically.

Edited November 28, 2013 by weasle

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

My bitch started missing everything she was slipped on over about 3-4 nights last year.

 

It was very unlike her. So I took her to a bone man and he has a good feel of her back and legs, gave her a good massage and clicked her back a couple of times. He didn't say much and just said see how she goes. She was like a new dog after that.

 

Give it a try pal.

 

Failing that. As said above get it on some really easy bunnys. They are out there

[Suzy Ross 236]

Mine in second season started killing rabbits dropping them in way in,walking around for 10 minutes trying to find a rabbit is dam frustrating.

She might retrieve first,basically always looking for the easy option,catch rate was alright on lamp,I had loads of easy rabbits.

Could have been very average but her head wasn't in it.

Many a windy night I have thought to myself I ain't going out tonight,go out side dog bouncing at gate,ended up going any way.

This one you would have to call her out of kennel.

I've had worse,that would never think of quitting in any way.

Some just ain't got it mentally,no matter how strong physically.

That's true mate but dogs are all different. Some are boisterous some aren't, it's easy to think a boisterous dog is more up for it than a quiet one. I'm not saying you don't know your dogs etc, I'm just saying incase some young lads reading this think their dog isn't game cos it's quiet. I've seen some very good quiet dogs fill bags.

[Terrier Sam 297]

Thanks for all of the replies. Some good info.

 

As stupid as it seems, I didn't really think it could be a muscular or bone thing but that makes a lot of sense

 

I think I was maybe a bit harsh in describing him in a couple of ways;

1) he hasn't lost interest, He gives his all on every run but it's like he's missing that extra little bit.

2) The rabbit that I said he dropped was dropped just after he caught it. He caught, I turned the lamp off, turned it back on after a couple of seconds and he was chasing it into a bush. I was just using it as an example in saying that everything just seems to be like bad luck.

 

As for the land I run him on, I said it's not good but thinking about it, I've never seen any different so I wouldn't really know. All I know is what it's like around here. Sheep and cattle farms with fields ranging from flat, half acre fields to big 6-7 acre fields portioned up by brows, dips and bits of hedge. There is no such thing as a perfect, flat 2 acre field where the rabbits sit in the middle around here, I don't know about anyone else.

 

I have been thinking about it and maybe it's a number of things. Maybe he has got something physically wrong (which will be looked at!) but maybe I'm being too eager. Maybe, after a great first season I was expecting him to pick up where he left off but in reality, we haven't had many nights with good weather. It's either been quite light, no wind or really heavy rain with the odd couple of good nights in between.

 

ATB

Sam

[Terrier Sam 297]

Thanks for all of the replies. Some good info.

 

As stupid as it seems, I didn't really think it could be a muscular or bone thing but that makes a lot of sense

 

I think I was maybe a bit harsh in describing him in a couple of ways;

1) he hasn't lost interest, He gives his all on every run but it's like he's missing that extra little bit.

2) The rabbit that I said he dropped was dropped just after he caught it. He caught, I turned the lamp off, turned it back on after a couple of seconds and he was chasing it into a bush. I was just using it as an example in saying that everything just seems to be like bad luck.

 

As for the land I run him on, I said it's not good but thinking about it, I've never seen any different so I wouldn't really know. All I know is what it's like around here. Sheep and cattle farms with fields ranging from flat, half acre fields to big 6-7 acre fields portioned up by brows, dips and bits of hedge. There is no such thing as a perfect, flat 2 acre field where the rabbits sit in the middle around here, I don't know about anyone else.

 

I have been thinking about it and maybe it's a number of things. Maybe he has got something physically wrong (which will be looked at!) but maybe I'm being too eager. Maybe, after a great first season I was expecting him to pick up where he left off but in reality, we haven't had many nights with good weather. It's either been quite light, no wind or really heavy rain with the odd couple of good nights in between.

 

ATB

 

Sam

Do you think that I should be looking for a chiropractor or a greyhound vet? If so, are there any in or around the North Wales area? I've already got Paul Evans' number

[squab 2,875]

had a bitch myself years ago same as yours really just lost her edge over a few days,i let a lad i know give her the once over wasnt till he showed me a slight problem,she would drop her head ever so slightly when one of her front legs was extended outward in front of her giving indication to a shoulder problem,cant remember the exact details now but he spent bit time with her anyways next day that bitch seemed sore as feck worse before it got better type of thing within couple days she was bouncing around like a pup and i mean really showing off,theres knowing your dog and theres really knowing your shit,to completly different things that bich come good and went on to impress me shortly afterwards,bone men are priceless for what they can do and for the price id never fall short on getting a dog looked at,ever,not saying your dog has a problem but hey always worth a check,good luck

[sowhat 1,572]

Some good advice there Sam

I'd definitely get him checked out though, more than likely he's got a niggle.

I recently suspected Minnie & Jacob weren't putting it all in, so I took them over to Tom Peppercorn @ Westhoughton for a scan & a check over, and I was right, they both had slight injuries, which could have ended up a lot worse if I had carried on running them.

Good luck with him and let us know how you go on

Geoff

[Terrier Sam 297]

Thanks Geoff,

 

After giving him a bit of an amateur once over, it looks like there's something going on with his front left shoulder. I don't know why that didn't occur to me won't be overlooking that again though. I'll be booking him an appointment today

 

ATB

Sam