Any Advice On Dogs Feet And Flint!!

[tomshep 41]

Hello all bit of a long shot I know but just after some advice/tips.I have a big bit of ground right on my doorstep that has a lot of rabbits on it that I run my whippet on and can have some good bags in a night. The problem I have is that the ground is light chalk downland and is full of flint that is like bloody razor blades!! And the dogs feet just get hammered with cuts. I wouldn't say the dog has soft feet as it is not just my dog that get cut feet as the lad I hunt with has the same problem with his collie cross and I also graze ewes on the farm for work and my welsh sheepdogs get cut pads.it,s nothing a bit of superglue can't fix but just a sod to run a dog one night then have to rest it up for a week or so after. So was just wondering if anyone else runs ground like this and has found a way to help the dogs feet I know the is no quick fix or no real way around the problem but just be good to hear others thoughts on the problem. Many thanks Tom

[leegreen 2,181]

Advice, find some other land to run your dog.

 

Flint can be the ruin of a running dog. The only thing in your favour is the lighter the dog and the better the skin, the more you'll get away with.

[tomshep 41]

That's about what I thought would be the answer thanks for take the time to reply leegreen it,s just bloody annoying as the farm manager is getting on at me about the crop damage for the rabbits

[the big chief 3,099]

Shoot them mate i ran my lurcher on a flint field his feet was cut up so i don't bother with the dogs use my airgun instead

[Deputy Dog 28]

No your dog. I'd run 1 of my 2 but not the other on such ground.

[*The*Field*Marshall* 674]

Sounds hazardous. . I'm told the Arabs soak their salukis feet in henna? Would like to know the difference that makes. .

[desertbred 5,490]

Henna is more of a mild antiseptic and helps cool the feet on hot ground. 0ne of the reasons saluki feet are not injury prone is double thickness skin on pads nothing to do with the Henna.

Edited July 5, 2014 by desertbred

[krawnden 1,036]

My first lurcher was a first cross collie greyhound and virtually all the ground I had access to at that time was flinty arable that was absolutely jumping with rabbits. His feet used to get shredded - it was so frustrating as he'd often be laid up during the season because of it. If that's the only land you've got access to I think you'll just have to accept the dog's going to get injured. I used to do a lot of coursing with N.C.C registered clubs and I can remember seeing whippets running on similar ground and their feet used to take a hammering too. So I'm not convinced it's just down to the weight of the dog.

 

Interested to read desertbred's comment about double thickness skin on saluki pads - does that help? I don't know. My guess is that even a saluki running on flints will get sliced up - some flints are just like razor blades. A dog running and turning at full speed puts massive force through its feet and if it's happening on ground littered with sharp 'blades' I think the outcome for most dogs will be the same. If you're coming under pressure to control the rabbits I'd look at other methods - shooting, longnetting, ferreting etc.

[desertbred 5,490]

My first lurcher was a first cross collie greyhound and virtually all the ground I had access to at that time was flinty arable that was absolutely jumping with rabbits. His feet used to get shredded - it was so frustrating as he'd often be laid up during the season because of it. If that's the only land you've got access to I think you'll just have to accept the dog's going to get injured. I used to do a lot of coursing with N.C.C registered clubs and I can remember seeing whippets running on similar ground and their feet used to take a hammering too. So I'm not convinced it's just down to the weight of the dog.

 

Interested to read desertbred's comment about double thickness skin on saluki pads - does that help? I don't know. My guess is that even a saluki running on flints will get sliced up - some flints are just like razor blades. A dog running and turning at full speed puts massive force through its feet and if it's happening on ground littered with sharp 'blades' I think the outcome for most dogs will be the same. If you're coming under pressure to control the rabbits I'd look at other methods - shooting, longnetting, ferreting etc.

Salukis can run land that most dogs would not be able to cope with, injuries from flinty land do happen occaisionaly to the salukis feet but far less than other breeds

[slip lead 862]

Heavy flinted ground will f##k up any dogs feet no matter what breed.

If your lucky it will just be the pads but on a bad day it might remove stoppers or worst still cut there hocks and wrists and drop toes because of cut tendons.

 

My advise would be avoid the place as you wouldn't run a dog on a field full of broken bottles...

[darren_nash 85]

wiltshire..?

[fitchet 788]

A strong body and absolutely fabulous feet are the key to running stony fields I've ran alsorts on Flint and I've had some good results but the best allways seem to have a nice strong body and good strong feet instead of bieng speedy type dogs. Gashes to pads take a fair while to heal so it's a gamble I prefer to go to better land but temptation can be too much sometimes ....

[desertbred 5,490]

Most of my permission is flinty and stone

 

Heavy flinted ground will f##k up any dogs feet no matter what breed.
If your lucky it will just be the pads but on a bad day it might remove stoppers or worst still cut there hocks and wrists and drop toes because of cut tendons.

My advise would be avoid the place as you wouldn't run a dog on a field full of broken bottles...

most of my permission is stoney and flinty and I dont get that many injuries to my dogs

[paulf 820]

i used to run hares on flinty land before the ban and seen some career ending injuries on it ,its really not worth it mate no matter what you do to your dog we tried everything and nothing worked .

some heavy saturated saluki types done well but still got cut up pretty bad and my old deerhound x never got a bad cut in all the times i run him on there and he was a very fast type of runner ...

[Deputy Dog 28]

To add : the dog i'd run is heavily saturated saluki - he's not all that. Great feet on him though