Lost Skills?

[leethedog 3,071]

Does modern technology reduce the skill needed by a terrierman

[neil cooney 10,416]

IMO no.

At the end of the day if someone has patience and good hearing lying on the ground listening or feeling for a bump is not rocket science.

Also IMO there's a big difference in using a locator and being good with one.

Anyone can switch one on and find a terrier but the man who knows how to use it properly will not only know where the terrier is but will know which way the quarry is and what way it's going, if it's going to go.

Years ago big places were often left alone and there was many men to dig. Nowadays threes a crowd and big places are tried regularly.

To me the locator has made for better terriers and an overall more professional approach to terrierwork.

The locator when used on a good terrier is a lot kinder to earths and quarry too.

 

The legendary digs of old when legendary terrier men would be lying on their bellies listening to legendary terriers were just that, legends.

The difference between now and then is that in those days they could sit on the high stool that evening telling everyone about the great dig they had to the great terriers.

 

Should be a good topic with conflicting views. The old timers will say the locator's ruined the terrier and the young guns will say it hasn't.

After 30 years of working terriers I still consider myself a young gun, LOL.

[marshman 7,758]

I put my ear to the ground one time to listen for dog and put my ear right on top of a young stinging nettle ouch fook that lol !

In all seriousness I had a dig to my dog and when I broke through he was in water cold water . Anyway I reckon if I'd of been a bit slower he would of been a dead un , nah I'll stick to my box !

[Moorside 642]

I get out with a mate who was digging before locators were about, and he is by far the best terrierman ive seen. Whether its because he honed his skills prior to the locator or maybe experience I dont know.

[Blaise 2,324]

Does modern technology reduce the skill needed by a terrierman

 

Good topic Leethedog,

I feared that such discussion would growing up in my topic.

[Blaise 2,324]

IMO, Technologies have great influence on hunting practises.

If technology improves your abilities (view, ear, speed...), you are able to do more. And thanks to this technology, more and more people are able to do the job.

In fact, if a technology don't help you to improve your abilities, you'll never use it.

With technologies, you need new skills (how to use it efficiently ?). And obviously you lost other skills (some human skills are now run by technology).

So I'm convinced that technologies introduce great changes in hunting practices.

Hunting a boar with a bow is definitely different than hunting a boar with a 300 WMag automatic with a modern swarovski scope.

Do you think technology development in hunting activities is good ? This is another matter.

[Bryan 1,362]

No one could argue that technology hasn't led to a loss of skills*

 

 

 

 

 

*Except Neil, LOL

[Onlyworkmatters 1,584]

I always have a listen for the terrier I have below ground and will usually get pretty close before I turn the box on, pisses me off when I see lads chasing the terrier with the box from the minute its off the lead

[mango 343]

IMO no.

At the end of the day if someone has patience and good hearing lying on the ground listening or feeling for a bump is not rocket science.

Also IMO there's a big difference in using a locator and being good with one.

Anyone can switch one on and find a terrier but the man who knows how to use it properly will not only know where the terrier is but will know which way the quarry is and what way it's going, if it's going to go.

Years ago big places were often left alone and there was many men to dig. Nowadays threes a crowd and big places are tried regularly.

To me the locator has made for better terriers and an overall more professional approach to terrierwork.

The locator when used on a good terrier is a lot kinder to earths and quarry too.

 

The legendary digs of old when legendary terrier men would be lying on their bellies listening to legendary terriers were just that, legends.

The difference between now and then is that in those days they could sit on the high stool that evening telling everyone about the great dig they had to the great terriers.

 

Should be a good topic with conflicting views. The old timers will say the locator's ruined the terrier and the young guns will say it hasn't.

After 30 years of working terriers I still consider myself a young gun, LOL.

I would agree with most of that but you need to explain to me how the locator has improved the working terrier?is it your opinion that maybe bigger earths are being worked because of the security offered by the locator and consequently the dog is being tested a bit more.

In my opinion there is nothing new in the terrier game regarding the working ability of the dogs.

[Waz 4,265]

Cant imagine digging to a dog without having a listen to him at work 1st.

[the goat 642]

Cant imagine digging to a dog without having a listen to him at work 1st.

so what if he's 7+ feet in tight ground? Even with barring down you sometimes won't hear him...watch the box for five and then make your mind up. Onlyworkmatters how do you go about that in a big place, again if it's deep. Imo modern technology is the dogs, I'm too young to know any different. Sit down with a cup of tea box on or off...on I'd rather it not to chase the dog right away but I like to know how long he's been where and what he's been doing before he got there. Don't have to have a 'mark' as such to know what he's doing with this new technology you can tell from many metres away whether he's in 1 place or not.

[Onlyworkmatters 1,584]

 

Cant imagine digging to a dog without having a listen to him at work 1st.

Onlyworkmatters how do you go about that in a big place,

 

 

Same as in a shallow place it just takes longer and you wouldnt be as accurate, dont get me wrong Im not against locators and I wouldnt leave home without 1, its just the way some use them as I said earlier chasing the dog with the box for example

[Thrush 181]

Personally I think it has improved terrier work in lots of ways, dogs are being used in places that you wouldn't even consider without a locator, the standard of terrier work is far superior today with owners and breeders striving for nothing but the best!

Let's not forget back in the day anyone would try for a dig with any old terrier or two or even 3 !!!! But nowadays the standard of most terriermen is much higher, let's not remember with rose tinted glasses because it's a fact that terriers got put in and when they showed another would be dropped and then another and when all else failed they'd all get dropped in together, did anyone give a shite? No.

All that mattered was the result! Now we have dogs that work single handed for long periods of time in massive rangy earths and diggers having to dig huge depths to reach there terrier!

Ok so we're not crawling around searching for the slightest sound getting soaked and covered in crap but do you really consider that makes you less of a terrierman? I don't!

Nowadays I can travel across the country and meet friends for a dig in a couple of hours, back then it would have taken me half a day without the motorways, am I less of a driver because of that?

For me it's the best thing that's ever been invented regarding earthwork, but it's just my opinion!

Atb Thrush.

[Waz 4,265]

[neil cooney 10,416]

If you want to listen to a terrier working under ground and see if it's mixing it, standing off or getting stuck in then the best way is to stick your head and shoulders in to the nearest entrance and have a good listen.

But that's not locating your terrier, is it ?

Locators are all about locating.

Some folk have mentioned that lads are too quick to get digging because of locators. I'd say that the same lads if they were digging 40 years ago would still probably have started digging when they heard the first bump or sound anyways.

Personally in a big place I would give a terrier anything up to an hour before looking for a positive mark. I might switch the box on an off a few times to make sure that a bolt hasn't taken place (or the terrier hasn't decided it's time to f**k off) but when the terrier has settled then usually we can start digging knowing that we're over the terrier hopefully resulting in the fact that the earth only suffers one dig.

In the old days the hour's waiting would have been the same but when the digging started it was, let's face it, a lot of guess work that would have resulted in trenching on or several holes being dug.