when experienced terrier lads pass away.

[stonewall 1,913]

 lets say in any village parish or county in ireland wales scotland england,lets say for argument sake that if 10 of the most experienced terrier men passed right now within your county would that set back correct terrierwork knowledge a fare few yrs.or is their enough proper young interested lads about to learn. think im getting cabin fever due to the bad weather.

[blackmaggie 3,376]

Yes and mainly no to many young guns only interested in the harder sort that take stick so they can show it on Facebook I think one old hand is worth ten of today's fb warriors  in how to truely work a terrier that said I do know of a couple of young lads that are doing the job proud 

[stonewall 1,913]

8 minutes ago, blackmaggie said:

Yes and mainly no to many young guns only interested in the harder sort that take stick so they can show it on Facebook I think one old hand is worth ten of today's fb warriors  in how to truely work a terrier that said I do know of a couple of young lads that are doing the job proud 

one old hand is worth ten of todays fb warriors. what a great working terrier bumper car sticker.

Edited March 1, 2018 by stonewall

[Yankeeterrier 95]

I was talking about this very topic with a guy a bit back. Guy that’s showing me the ropes was planning on letting his yard die off or sell his dogs. He got them from a pretty well known guy who was the influence in our area. Generally regarded by guys I know to be the best and have some of the best dogs around and a good guy (as is obvious from here there’s always guys that I’ll argue). Any way this guy passed away a few years back. 2016 if I recall correctly. So this young guy has a yard of the same line but had lost interest. 

 

I got him out back huntimg this year and he basically told me that I reset the spark in him. I feel lucky to have the chance to get some second hand knowledge plus the 15 years experience this guy has. 

 

 

[DavidR 24]

Yankee who was the terrierman that passed

[Yankeeterrier 95]

21 minutes ago, DavidR said:

Yankee who was the terrierman that passed

PM sent

Edited March 2, 2018 by Yankeeterrier

[fireman 10,861]

11 hours ago, stonewall said:

 lets say in any village parish or county in ireland wales scotland england,lets say for argument sake that if 10 of the most experienced terrier men passed right now within your county would that set back correct terrierwork knowledge a fare few yrs.or is their enough proper young interested lads about to learn. think im getting cabin fever due to the bad weather.

Not that i claim to know a lot but no one has ever taught me how to do it,iv'e only ever dug with close pals as such and i'd say most of the time i known more than them.Still learning on every dig i am and the closest iv'e ever got to any "named" terrier men is through having a dog from there stuff or chatting to them on line.COMMON SENSE pretty much covers most of the other things so personaly it wouldn't influence my terrier world if they all dropped dead as i couldn't tell you who the "main men" in Norfolk are anyway  ...

[dillydog 8,462]

Not really,  apart from little bits of advice and being told to leave off your youngsters what can you learn unless you're out there doing it.

I'll happily give advice to anyone that asks, the trouble with most young lads is they already think they know it all...........no different than I used to be 

[jake824 517]

It s good that there s still younger lads coming through , but I watched a few lads out and noticed a few things that made me cringe . Maybe I’m set in my ways to much. First was dog in then box was on instantly. What’s the rush ? If the dogs worth it’s salt it s not going anywhere , give the dog plenty time. Digging on a bank and throwing the spoil down hill. Easier to back fill throwing it up hill. Last was scruffing dogs. It s my pet hate. The dogs worked for let’s say an hour or 2 or more. Then break through , scruff the dog and ram it back in terrier box. My oldest dogs nearly 14 now. We dug him last week nothing drastic a couple of metres but I still give the old dog a praise up on break through and afterwards. I heard one lad say they re tools . They re there for a job I agree but don t get caught up in the macho bollxxxs and start being heavy handed with em if you don t get a result. Take em off quietly on your own and let them work it out for themselves. Sometimes I think the dogs are brighter than the owner.

[neil cooney 10,416]

Great post Jake.

In the last few years I've seen some terriermen in their 20s and 30s who IMO could have showed some of the older generation how to do it. Respect for the quarry, the terrier, the earth and the sport was most important. Looking back the opposite was often the norm with some of the older generation. I know that they grew up and carried out their sport in a more carefree time where if you wrecked an earth by negligence it was no big deal because there were several more around and because farming wasn't so intensive the farmer often forgave bad backfilling etc.

One tradition I have seen carried on from the old ways to the modern terrierman here in Ireland is the releasing of game. It's still frowned upon by many terriermen. Not looking to start a row but that's how it is and always has been.

Back in the day there was plenty who boast about their terriers prowess and the digs and hunts they'd had but those who were listening would congratulate them. Whereas today because of the likes of FaceBook etc. the boasters are boasting to everyone and that's not good for the working terrier. So IMO loosing the ol' timers who've gone before us wont affect the game as much as modern life will. But, we do owe a lot to those who've gone before us that could breed good ones and kept lines and they should never be forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pirate 9000 676]

Bad habits are not just carried out by the young lads I've seen plenty of bad practice being carried out by men who should have learned the basics years ago.

[stonewall 1,913]

i got a good start off as a young lad my uncles all had mainly scatter bred terriers back in the 60s 70s i was introduced to terrier work in the early 80s.i was show fox runs badger runs fox earths badger setts, where foxes would lay up, in ivy trees ivy stone walls, lime trees, old houses, hay barns etc.i was told to stay away from a few earths with certain dogs on my uncles yard if i ever went out on my own and was told the reasons why.he would explain why a different type of dog would do for those earths. money wasnt that plentful and the old grey knocking boxes was rare enough if my memory serves me right so it was ear to the ground for a few yrs.that kind of grounding served me well and you get a good sense about the game.

[Daniel cain 44,957]

 I have always taken the time to listen /learn when on someone else ground... from old heads and new starters.... You soon get an idea if they are worthy of your company again or the sort of circles you want to move in?everyday is a school day as they say?seen plenty that's shocked me over the years.... But learnt a hell of alot more by keeping it buttoned and gleaning knowledge from the good ones. You find some folk are not in any rush because they have confidence in what they have, and it shows in the way their dogs work. 

[eastcoast 4,086]

I truly wish that the greatest threat to the continuation of terrier work, or any hunting in the UK and Ireland was individual men dying. People die, always have and always will. An irrelevance.

But I do get your point, just don't regard it as a problem..  

[diggabell 145]

For every well known terrier man that passes away there's dozens still left, which choose to stay under the radar with decades of terrier work behind them.me and my two digging pals have been wearing spades out for well over 30yrs together. we still take the odd young lad out,and even been guilty of sending for young blood when the going has got tough,but at the moment we try to keep every thing in house as there are too many loose tongues{and besides WE are still learning every time we go out}    ATB DIGGA