training advice?

[Moocher71 4,050]

6 hours ago, abarclay00 said:

id love to find a couple of people, if its any use i make a cracking brew haha. x

If you was closer you could have day out ferreting with my bunch but I in east anglia .

[abarclay00 17]

27 minutes ago, Moocher71 said:

If you was closer you could have day out ferreting with my bunch but I in east anglia .

thats such a shame, it tends to be the case that everyone willing to let me tag along are really far away haha x

[terryd 8,660]

Best trained dogs I had were when I was a young fella and no internet or any one to guide me. Not one would do a basic sit lol. But every one flew back to hand day or night. 100% with stock and all great with dogs. All exposed to a lot of work and every thing revolved around that and a pleasure to live with.
With the internet is easy to over think stuff and then it just goes tits up
 

[OldPhil 5,811]

Too right TerryD...

As far as training a lurcher goes,...much of the working side is purely instinctive and other than getting lots of first hand experience and absorbing (and hopefully acquiring field craft),.there ain't a whole lot you can do to make a dog ,.it's often down to the Gods.. As for training a young lurcher into becoming a sensible side-kick, it is sometimes best to forget that he is a running dog composite, and instead of trying to school a dog along the hunting road, the favorite way is to simply become acquainted with the methods used to school any canine type, and to use them to the fullest. 

I always try to establish a close bond and friendship with a young dog,...then,..all the hunting bit generally falls easily into place.

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by OldPhil

[Neal 1,873]

Completely agree with the sentiments of both Terry D and Old Phil. 

When I had lurchers I always reread John Holmes' "The Farmers Dog" before I started any training with them. No wonder I ended up swapping to sheepdogs I suppose. There was also the fact that all the lurcher books at the time were of a certain type and left me feeling like I'd done a bad job if my pup couldn't retrieve a rabbit which I'd secretly hidden two weeks previously from a distance of 3.5 miles...a slight exaggeration but I'm sure you get what I mean. As Old Phil says, letting them be dogs and enjoying their company reciprocally is the best foundation to a good working partnership. 

I often get people asking me how I train my dogs (or at least I did before Ned the nutter) and I even get parents jokingly asking if I can train their kids...but I always say something along the lines of, "Erhm...well...I just kind of...erhm...I don't really know." I just work from previous experience, tainted by the knowledge that every dog is different. I find the best way to do it is to remember that you're both going to make mistakes and that every cock up is a learning opportunity. Though it's sometimes hard to stick to that maxim when you're kelpie is still trying to herd buses on the main road and jumps all over complate strangers like long lost friends at two and a half years old.  Happy place, happy place, happy place...

Edited November 20, 2020 by Neal

[Black neck 16,218]

4 hours ago, OldPhil said:

Too right TerryD...

As far as training a lurcher goes,...much of the working side is purely instinctive and other than getting lots of first hand experience and absorbing (and hopefully acquiring field craft),.there ain't a whole lot you can do to make a dog ,.it's often down to the Gods.. As for training a young lurcher into becoming a sensible side-kick, it is sometimes best to forget that he is a running dog composite, and instead of trying to school a dog along the hunting road, the favorite way is to simply become acquainted with the methods used to school any canine type, and to use them to the fullest. 

I always try to establish a close bond and friendship with a young dog,...then,..all the hunting bit generally falls easily into place.

 

Why do u look so miserable in every pic

[Redace 41]

Do you think a 575 lumens head torch would be good enough to lamp rabbits with. I use it for trail running.

I was out on a run wednesday morning just getting light and the dog bolted after couple of rabbits who seen him a long way off. I was thinking to revisit in the night with this head torch.

I was wondering what times best for rabbits and if my torch would be any good for them ? Dogs recall very good.

I'm looking forward to the day I upload my dogs first catch on here. atb

[Redace 41]

Just bought a clulite long ranger plr 500. I couldn't find any halogen ones so heard these are ok, sure be better than my head torch.

 

[morton 5,368]

On ‎18‎/‎11‎/‎2020 at 06:22, abarclay00 said:

Hi everyone, just looking for some advice / tips on training my new pup.

He will be arriving tomorrow and is 16 weeks old, whippet x grey x collie x wheaton, and I'm hoping to make a lovely little ferreting dog out of him. 

He knows the basics (sit + wait) and is really high energy. 

From your experience, what steps did you take to get to the point of being able to take them out with the ferrets?

I have a good idea of what to do, but I always like to hear more experienced peoples thoughts, as its not something you see too much of these days. 

Obedience, fitness, experience etc (we raw feed)

thank you in advance  

The most important step for you,especially with your location,is firstly to get the mutt stock trained,when you believe its safe with stock then start its stock training again.While you are doing that its easiest to train it to a ferret in your own garden,contact,contact and contact,it does not take long to educate a mutt to a ferret,with wheaten in the mix you may have to be a tad firmer.All this time keep it basic with command,retrieve etc.,again keep the lessons short and simple and don,t get caught up in the fashion to overtrain the dog a few basics is far better than loads of useless training and command,you will own a robotic failure.After several months of bonding and training it will be time to throw the ferret in an hole,no nets,bolt a few,run a few,make loads of mistakes,learn from them and one day your effort will reward you with a young mutt ignoring the ferrets,showing no interest in sheep and catching its first bunny,the first is the hardest and it will get better and more proficient with every outing,as will the owner,happy training.

[Black neck 16,218]

12 hours ago, morton said:

The most important step for you,especially with your location,is firstly to get the mutt stock trained,when you believe its safe with stock then start its stock training again.While you are doing that its easiest to train it to a ferret in your own garden,contact,contact and contact,it does not take long to educate a mutt to a ferret,with wheaten in the mix you may have to be a tad firmer.All this time keep it basic with command,retrieve etc.,again keep the lessons short and simple and don,t get caught up in the fashion to overtrain the dog a few basics is far better than loads of useless training and command,you will own a robotic failure.After several months of bonding and training it will be time to throw the ferret in an hole,no nets,bolt a few,run a few,make loads of mistakes,learn from them and one day your effort will reward you with a young mutt ignoring the ferrets,showing no interest in sheep and catching its first bunny,the first is the hardest and it will get better and more proficient with every outing,as will the owner,happy training.

Whos kidnapped morton there's no way he wrote that not a nugget ,turd or even a mush in the whole post ,very suspicious 

Edited November 21, 2020 by Black neck
Dross

[abarclay00 17]

15 hours ago, morton said:

The most important step for you,especially with your location,is firstly to get the mutt stock trained,when you believe its safe with stock then start its stock training again.While you are doing that its easiest to train it to a ferret in your own garden,contact,contact and contact,it does not take long to educate a mutt to a ferret,with wheaten in the mix you may have to be a tad firmer.All this time keep it basic with command,retrieve etc.,again keep the lessons short and simple and don,t get caught up in the fashion to overtrain the dog a few basics is far better than loads of useless training and command,you will own a robotic failure.After several months of bonding and training it will be time to throw the ferret in an hole,no nets,bolt a few,run a few,make loads of mistakes,learn from them and one day your effort will reward you with a young mutt ignoring the ferrets,showing no interest in sheep and catching its first bunny,the first is the hardest and it will get better and more proficient with every outing,as will the owner,happy training.

i really appreciate that, our daily walks include walking through life stock fields so i will be keen to see how quickly he gives up his little Mr perfect act because so far hes been good as friggin gold. i cant understand why the family couldnt cope with him, or maybe my other dogs are that tapped they make him seem normal haha. my only complaints with him is a) the yapping b)the food drive. i usually dont mind a god who loves to work for a treat but you can tell his old family really drowned him in treats and hes a stubborn little git  x

[abarclay00 17]

On 20/11/2020 at 07:42, terryd said:

Best trained dogs I had were when I was a young fella and no internet or any one to guide me. Not one would do a basic sit lol. But every one flew back to hand day or night. 100% with stock and all great with dogs. All exposed to a lot of work and every thing revolved around that and a pleasure to live with.
With the internet is easy to over think stuff and then it just goes tits up
 

before i started looking for a new pup i thought i had a pretty good idea of how to go, mainly just experience, but after watching and listening to a few people on the internet it blew my mind. i dont expect him to be a world beater, but id like him to show some of the potential i know he has. and if all else fails, he makes a very good looking lap dog  

[abarclay00 17]

23 hours ago, OldPhil said:

Too right TerryD...

As far as training a lurcher goes,...much of the working side is purely instinctive and other than getting lots of first hand experience and absorbing (and hopefully acquiring field craft),.there ain't a whole lot you can do to make a dog ,.it's often down to the Gods.. As for training a young lurcher into becoming a sensible side-kick, it is sometimes best to forget that he is a running dog composite, and instead of trying to school a dog along the hunting road, the favorite way is to simply become acquainted with the methods used to school any canine type, and to use them to the fullest. 

I always try to establish a close bond and friendship with a young dog,...then,..all the hunting bit generally falls easily into place.

 

 

thank you so much, these past few days ive just been soaking up his lovely personality and getting to know him. ive owned many different breeds before but he really is the most interesting by far. a lot of his smaller traing sessions ave happened without him even realising it, as he has a natural drive to want to be around me, doing whatever it is i am doing. from feeding the ferrets to sleeping, hes always by my side. its truly amazing. x

[Black neck 16,218]

How come them fecking pair got a x at the end

[abarclay00 17]

15 hours ago, Black neck said:

How come them fecking pair got a x at the end

haha im deeply sorry  it usually depends on if im on the laptop or my mobile, nothing personal! xxxxxxxx