Feet.

[desertbred 5,490]

I have yet to come across a dog with feet better equipped for dealing with most terrains than a saluki. Most people see the small height skinny feathery eared variety of saluki and dont fully understand the regional differences in confirmation and stature of the breed.

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Would have to agree

Edited July 12, 2014 by Phil Lloyd

[morton 5,368]

Feet are a running dogs most important attribute,i spend hours road walking the mutts so as to be sure their feet are sound.When a dog gets on a long gallop it may start on rich pasture and end up on scrubby boulder,heath or woodland,yet I make every effort to run the dogs on ground that's more suitable to less foot injury,if possible,unsuitable ground ill leave and let the shooters have.There,s ground to run a dog and ground to ruin a dog,why risk a dog when a gun,snare,ferret etc.can serve the same,or better purpose.At times the choice is taken away from us.

[DeerhoundLurcherMan 997]

I'm not the most knowledgeable when it comes to dogs but from what I understand the coursing men have it the right way. Generally they are all well tested animals, most tested to the limit and back. I think having a lot of saluki blood also helps. But they source out the best studs to breed from even if it costs them a few quid and have to travel a few hundred miles...where as the average lamping dogs generally get bred to whatever is about.... Obviously this does not apply to everyone but just something that seems apparent most of the time...you can also often trace the breeding back a long way with a coursing dog and find out about ancestors... But with most lamping dogs you can't so who knows what physical problems previous ancestors may have had...

[Brigzy 1,298]

Would have to agree ,....I've seen Salukis and Sloughis in various places...

Some of them, have feet that really are, out of this world....thick pads and equally tough nails,...unbelievable ....really, really impressive....amazing digits, created to handle a cruel and harsh landscape....

 

However,.to retain that style of foot, on a roustabout ferreting/lamping cur,..for work in the UK,.is a difficult task.

It would need several litters to establish a definitive type,.. and possibly require a whole lot of time to achieve such a worthwhile goal....It can be done,...of that I am certain.... [/quote

 

Isn't this exactly what I have been saying ?

[morton 5,368]

Possibly Brigzy,but without the literary masters style and elegance.

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

why risk a dog when a gun,snare,ferret etc.can serve the same,or better purpose.

That's ok if you are out for pest control.

 

But if out purely to work your dog and that is your sole purpose of the trip then do you go home disappointed or run the dog and risk injury?

 

After all there is an element of risk EVERY time the dog is slipped. Regardless of terrain.

[morton 5,368]

You never need to walk far to find more suitable land,the majority of land, a dog suitably prepared,can handle,some land its just not worth the risk of injury for the sake of a couple of poxy runs,to me anyhows.The risk element is part and parcel of the hand dealt,its minimising the said risk,thus favouring the mutts welfare,that sorts the man with the jukel at heel from the man who,s left his recovering in the kennel.The flattest and most forgiving pasture can wreck a dog as quickly as a quarry floor.Its what your happy to see run again, perhaps,that will be the deciding factor for some of us,im of the opinion that what I miss on Tuesday may give the dog a run again on Friday,especially if ive done my fieldcraft and catch him out in the rolling pastures.

[nothernlite 18,089]

A dog no use injured as said its there to run another day

[skycat 6,173]

I've had 3 purpose bred coursing type male dogs, one with a lot of Saluki in him, the others it would be impossible to say quite how much as they were bred lurcher to lurcher for so many generations. What they all had/have is/was exceptionally good feet: tight arched, thick-boned toes. Really thick solid pads and claws like iron, and leg assembly so strong they could run and turn hard on hard gravel, sand and packed earth without damaging themselves.

 

Dogs bred like that, where form follows function, may not be show winners, but their bodies, especially the feet, have been tested to the limit over generations. Whether or not their mindset is what someone wants is another question entirely