Collie Crosses

[beast 1,884]

Never thought of that, would be marvellous,field full of rabbits and the dog makes it's outrun then gathers and drives them back to you, could be onto something, makes more sense than going backwards and forwards for one at a time, do the hundred in 2 or 3 runs

 

well i'm thinking now, wasnt that the theory behind the old long netters dogs? never done it or seen it done myself, but used to know two old boys in norfolk who worked on the elveden estate before myxy came, and they used to cross collies to pointers or setters for this work. i guess you might get a collie grey to perform such a task? anyone been down this road?

[brenner 773]

Yer I've seen them display traits which could probably linked to a herding instinct. But then herding instinct is just refined hunting instinct anyway. . . so if it catches the bunnys. . . . . who cares......[/quote very well put.. wolfs/ African wild dogs hunting in a pack work together andif possible would cut off and " herd " their prey to box them in for the kill. When people started breeding herding dogs they focused on this hunting trait but bred away from dogs that would go in for the kill.I had a dog with only a touch of collie that would lamp rabbits. By going wide and run down theside of ditch until he was between the ditch and rabbit before closing in.

[brenner 773]

Just an observation but after owning this particular collie x dog and watching him do things like that and other stuff like creeping around corners like a fox and pouncing at the last minute just to name two ways he had of hunting... I formed the opinion that there is a difference between running dogs that chase and catch and hunting dogs that can run and catch.. if that makes sence. I'm not putting collie x on a pedestal. He was a pleasure to watch hunt when he actually made this style of hunting work for him but since he died I'm just sticking to my whippet and bullx. More action and entertainment

[brenner 773]

Just an observation but after owning this particular collie x dog and watching him do things like that and other stuff like creeping around corners like a fox and pouncing at the last minute just to name two ways he had of hunting... I formed the opinion that there is a difference between running dogs that chase and catch and hunting dogs that can run and catch.. if that makes sence. I'm not putting collie x on a pedestal. He was a pleasure to watch hunt when he actually made this style of hunting work for him but since he died I'm just sticking to my whippet and bullx. More action and entertainment

just to clarify. I'm not saying lurchers in general are not actually hunting dogs but I noticed a distinct difference with my collie cross by doing things like mentioned already and creeping low through long grass to pounce on near by daytime rabbits. To be honest he did grow out of some of these behaviours as he realised it didn't work for him a lot of the time.

[Casso 1,261]

 

 

Never thought of that, would be marvellous,field full of rabbits and the dog makes it's outrun then gathers and drives them back to you, could be onto something, makes more sense than going backwards and forwards for one at a time, do the hundred in 2 or 3 runs

well i'm thinking now, wasnt that the theory behind the old long netters dogs? never done it or seen it done myself, but used to know two old boys in norfolk who worked on the elveden estate before myxy came, and they used to cross collies to pointers or setters for this work. i guess you might get a collie grey to perform such a task? anyone been down this road?

The crossing of the collie with the bird dog would make a lot of sense because the bird dog by and large has a much lower prey threshold meaning it perceives prey but also a lot of predator in smaller mammals and birds making it reluctant to commit to contact

 

whereas an animal like the greyhound has a much higher prey threshold allowing it to percive preylike attributes in much bigger animals and certainly rabbits to a grey are purely prey like

 

The higher the temperament of the breed the more prey like things appear eg the rottie became an excellent man stopper because of the fact it began as a cattle dog and can now feel prey like attributes in humans

 

When you cross certain breeds together you either higher or lower what the offspring will determine as prey due to how they feel about themselves

[benchick 42]

Have never seen a dog try and herd prey but my 3/4 grey 1/4 collie will just trott wide of the beam on rabbits and come in from the side and just pick em off the squat but if there running as I put the lamp on she will act like any other cross and just run straight down the beam, and shes never just tried to course something without actually wanting it either, they've got more than enough kill in em

[kevin kiely 66]

depends on the amount of collie I think

[The Hunting Lady 3]

this is why a good working lurcher needs to have the right mix otherwise it will not be good at hunting certain animals