Update On My Minkenry Pointer Lurcher

[Minkenry 1,044]

On May 6th I drove down to New Mexico to pick up a 11 week old lurcher pup who I named Onsa (which means "fast runner" in the Omaha Native American language).

 

 

Onsa is 1/8 English Pointer, 1/8 saluki, 3/8 hot blood, and 3/8 coyote dog from the Cherry blood line (the "Cherry" line of coyote dogs is mostly cold blood greyhound with a little bit of deer hound way back in the blood line). So far I have been very pleased with my little pointer lurcher!

 

Her mother "Yin" is 1/4 hot blood, 1/4 coyote dog, 1/4 saluki, and 1/4 English Pointer, and has retained a lot of good pointer qualities, making her very driven with using her nose. Thanks to her good nose, she is quite useful at finding hares and rabbits hiding in brush and long grass.

 

Onsa's mother Yin

 

I was hopeful that my pup would use her nose like her mother does, but seeing as the father is pure sight hound (1/2 hot blood and 1/2 coyote dog), and isn't too fond of using his nose, I wasn't really sure what to expect seeing as my pup is only 1/8 pointer.

 

Onsa's father Trucker

 

When I was originally considering getting a pup from Onsa's litter, my friend who has lots of lurcher experience told me that pointer genes were very strong, and since the mother had a good nose, he suggested I give one of the pups a try. I was a little skeptical at first, but after watching how well Onsa's mother and aunt both worked using their noses, I was convinced I wanted one of her pups!

Over the last few weeks I've been working on teaching Onsa basic obedience, as well as doing some simple nose work. I have been really impressed with how easy this pup is to train! She has a strong desire to please, and is really quite smart! She easily picks up on what I am trying to get her to do, and is very willing to do what I ask of her. She has flown through her obedience training, and is becoming quite solid, even when around plenty of distractions. (Just to give you some back ground on my previous dog experience, a lot of the dogs I've trained in the past were border collies and other herding dogs that I trained for working cattle, so I'm accustomed to working with some VERY smart and trainable dogs!)

 

 

I have also been especially impressed with Onsa's nose work! Just like my friend said, that pointer blood must be pretty strong because just like her mother she REALLY likes to use her nose! She has quickly progressed through basic trailing and locating, and is now at the point where I'm starting to look for ways to trick her to make things more challenging. She is quite determined when on a trail, and unlike most puppies she is not easily distracted. She stays surprisingly focused, and keeps searching until she finds it. I have even had her out with her brother Tuff (who has not turned on yet, and just acts like a typical goofy puppy) and she will totally ignore him and his silly puppy antics, staying focused on the job at hand, even though she herself is also just a pup! In fact, when her brother starts getting in the way (trying to chase and wrestle with her while she's searching for the dead rat I've hidden), instead of getting distracted by him, she gets annoyed and kicks his butt for getting in the way!

 

Me holding Onsa with my Friend Alex who owns her brother "Tuff"

 

Her initial reaction to the mink was to want kill her, but after a couple walks with Onsa and my mink both on leashes to keep them apart, she calmed down and realized that I didn't want her to kill the mink. Once she realized I didn't want her to hurt the mink, it was as if the mink no longer existed! I took her kangaroo rat hunting with a couple mink and she chased and killed kangaroo rats, without even thinking of grabbing the mink! Even when excited during a kangaroo rat hunt, she knows the mink is not prey, and stays focused on the kangaroo rats being hunted. (In case you are wondering what a Kangaroo rat is, here's a video showing a little kangaroo rat hunt from last summer https://youtu.be/MyHGAuc_Y6Y )

 

 

In addition to the basic training, I've been getting Onsa accustomed to water, as working with a mink will involve getting wet at times. In this area I have also been very pleased with Onsa. So far she has shown zero fear or avoidance of water, even in chilly weather. This time of year obviously doesn't get very cold, but a couple weeks ago we did have a day or two of rain with a chilly breeze, and I was curious how my new pup would react. So I took her on a walk down to a pond near my house to see if she would follow me out across the water on her own accord. She was already a little wet and chilled from the wind and rain by the time we got there, but she didn't even think twice about following me across the pond. Though swimming for the first time did make her noticeably nervous, she continued to follow me without looking back, and swam the entire width of the pond (roughly 20-25 meters across). I've taken her down to the pond several times now, and it is clear that swimming or wading in the water is not something that bothers her in the least.

 

 

Over all I am very pleased with my pup, and the only thing I'd change about her at this point is I'd give her a thicker, more insulated coat. She is more easily chilled than I would prefer, with her short thin greyhound coat, and it would be really nice if she had some more insulation to protect her from the cold weather to come. The nice thing is, despite the fact that she does get cold when wet, she doesn't let it hold her back too much. She may not be physically resilient to the cold, but mentally she does surprisingly well for such a young pup. When cold and wet on that windy day I first took her swimming, she didn't complain or react to the cold near as much as some short coated adult dogs I've worked with in the past, so at least she's mentally tough enough to handle the cold, despite her physical short comings in that area.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Minkenry

[tyne 25]

now youre a hunter , what part of new mexico did you go to nice county dry but big land for chaseing game , you got your mink running dog you will have plenty fun , an dyoure catches will get more varied good luck

[Minkenry 1,044]

now youre a hunter , what part of new mexico did you go to nice county dry but big land for chaseing game , you got your mink running dog you will have plenty fun , an dyoure catches will get more varied good luck

 

I was in North Central New Mexico near the Carson National Forest.

[bird 9,864]

good post+pics , pup looking well

[boyo 1,398]

Good post look forward to seeing more as pup progress's. She's a lovely looking pup. Atb

[socks 32,253]

Cracking post ... Personally I would want my pup carrying a bit more weight ......

[Minkenry 1,044]

Cracking post ... Personally I would want my pup carrying a bit more weight ......

She's been wormed and gets fed raw twice a day, morning and night, and has an unlimited access to high quality kibble through out the day and night. Trust me, she's as fat as she can get at this stage. That's just how she's built. I guarantee you I feed her just as good or better than you feed your dogs.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Minkenry

[Minkenry 1,044]

Cracking post ... Personally I would want my pup carrying a bit more weight ......

Also, my dog perfectly fits the description of a dog at an ideal body weight.....

 

"How do you know if your dog is too fat or thin? You should be able to easily feel your dog's ribs and even see the outline of the last few floating ribs at the end of the ribcage that attaches to the vertebrae of the spine closest to the hips. You should not be able to see ALL the ribs, or the hip bones, or the vertebrae of the spine, just the outline of the last few floating ribs. If you stand above your dog, he should have a definite waist between his hips and ribcage. Remember that dogs are built differently from each other, so some may have a naturally stocky body that will not give you a waist no matter what you do."

[mad4it 694]

great post,good looking pup keep us updated with her progress

[krawnden 1,036]

Sounds like the pup's coming on really well. Look forward to future updates...

 

I think the point socks was making about weight is that although she fits that description you quoted, that's what you'd expect as an adult. But you wouldn't expect to start seeing that typical body shape much before 7 or 8 months - up to that point most people would prefer a chunky, solid looking thing. Though to be fair, a heavily sighthound saturated pup like yours will fine down earlier than many other types of lurcher.

[bird 9,864]

Sounds like the pup's coming on really well. Look forward to future updates...

 

I think the point socks was making about weight is that although she fits that description you quoted, that's what you'd expect as an adult. But you wouldn't expect to start seeing that typical body shape much before 7 or 8 months - up to that point most people would prefer a chunky, solid looking thing. Though to be fair, a heavily sighthound saturated pup like yours will fine down earlier than many other types of lurcher.

spot on , yeh i think thats what ken meant above regards young pup . My dog Buck as puppy and up to 12 months was very chunky ,i know he 1/2 alsatian so i thought will always carry that bit of weight, but i did think maybe he might not ever catch a rabbit lol . But by time he was 18 months his shape changed, he as caught lots of rabbits from some places where rabbits have rockets up there arse, deff hard to catch . when fit/working you can feel 3 ribs both sides, he catches well like this so i use it as a guide

 

[billhardy 2,342]

Ta me thems what they are strong hound types with by the sounds of it the qualities of there pointer blood they are what they are beauty's good luck with em really enjoy your posts mink man ,like usually begets like .atb bunnys.

[trenchfoot 4,243]

great write up! and a very interesting breeding. I'm with socks on this one though. A 15 week old pup should have a bit more weight on. That dog will have a large frame to fill and a bit extra body fat would do more good than harm in that instance. Its called puppy fat for a good reason Either way do what you thinks right and enjoy your new hound

[socks 32,253]

 

Cracking post ... Personally I would want my pup carrying a bit more weight ......

 

Also, my dog perfectly fits the description of a dog at an ideal body weight.....

 

"How do you know if your dog is too fat or thin? You should be able to easily feel your dog's ribs and even see the outline of the last few floating ribs at the end of the ribcage that attaches to the vertebrae of the spine closest to the hips. You should not be able to see ALL the ribs, or the hip bones, or the vertebrae of the spine, just the outline of the last few floating ribs. If you stand above your dog, he should have a definite waist between his hips and ribcage. Remember that dogs are built differently from each other, so some may have a naturally stocky body that will not give you a waist no matter what you do."

You are obviously the type of fella that doesn't like taking advice ... If I was bringing on my first mink I would be listening to everything you had to say so that I could learn and do the best by my mink ... But what do I know I've only had lurcher for nearly 40 years ....

 

As has been said the description you have quoted is for a fully grown dog ... HOWEVER that description just doesn't work when it comes to lurchers as the amount of different breeds that goes into the mix will dictate what the dog looks like ... Have a look at all the working lurchers on here and you wil soon realise that your description doesnot fit them all ....

 

As for feeding I doubt very much that you feed your dog better than I feed mine the simple fact that your allowing your pup to graze all day on dry food tells me you don't understand the digestive system and the nutritional needs of a dog ....

 

Anyway I genuinely wish you the best of luck with your young dog and I hope it does what you want from it .......

[tb25 4,627]

Good right up that best of luck with the pup.