Injuries/collisions.... does and donts

[AndyD89 253]

Evening lads / lasses 

im pretty new to owning and working a runner . Would be really interested to hear from the experienced on here your thoughts on preventing injuries/collisions .  I accept a lot of it is just common sense  avoiding frozen/baked ground, trailers etc left out in fields stuff like that. An I suppose with the rough an tumble of working , injuries can never be totally avoided an come down to bad luck.  

But u carnt beat experience... would love to hear ur thoughts , any advice much appreciated

[moonlighter 1,164]

Lamping is the number one killer of dogs.. I’ve lost 3 on the lamp. Depends where you live though and what your hunting. Dykes/hares/deer and your lucky to have a dog reach old age. 
also, more than one dog chasing can lead to accidents, either colliding with each other, or hitting obstacles on the run, as they have one eye on the other dog, as well as what’s in front. 

[Gilbey 1,472]

Like you say injuries can't be avoided. Get pups out and about from a young age, across all sorts of ground etc and get them jumping clean, and

Edited July 20, 2021 by Gilbey
Yeah should of said before they get any speed?

[socks 32,253]

Get your pup out and about on all and every ground and obstacle you can … better it learns how to avoid things when it’s running at 3 mph rather than 30mph …….

[zigzag dan 784]

15 minutes ago, moonlighter said:

Lamping is the number one killer of dogs.. I’ve lost 3 on the lamp. Depends where you live though and what your hunting. Dykes/hares/deer and your lucky to have a dog reach old age. 
also, more than one dog chasing can lead to accidents, either colliding with each other, or hitting obstacles on the run, as they have one eye on the other dog, as well as what’s in front. 

Spot on pal, Ive lost two and there's no worse feeling than coming back without your dog, saying that, every time you slip him there's a risk so you have to have a bit of luck on your side sometimes. 

[AndyD89 253]

Would u  lads say jumping gates /fences is essential for a working lurcher ??? Have u ever seen a dog clear a fence or gate whilst in pursuit of something ?? Would always have me gun-dogs jumping , but like been mentioned above there not going 30mph.  I just imagine a dog misjudging a jump in full flight being an absolute car crash.  An maybe jumping better left out, an just accept loosing some game as a result

[moonlighter 1,164]

2 minutes ago, AndyD89 said:

Would u  lads say jumping gates /fences is essential for a working lurcher ??? Have u ever seen a dog clear a fence or gate whilst in pursuit of something ?? Would always have me gun-dogs jumping , but like been mentioned above there not going 30mph.  I just imagine a dog misjudging a jump in full flight being an absolute car crash.  An maybe jumping better left out, an just accept loosing some game as a result

That’s your call. I’ve seen my dog jump a 5 bar gate chasing a hare, and catch it within 100 yards on the other side.. the same dog also got killed hiting a dyke side chasing a fox on the lamp.. the same dyke he’s jumped before on the lamp. 

[Gilbey 1,472]

4 minutes ago, AndyD89 said:

Would u  lads say jumping gates /fences is essential for a working lurcher ??? Have u ever seen a dog clear a fence or gate whilst in pursuit of something ?? Would always have me gun-dogs jumping , but like been mentioned above there not going 30mph.  I just imagine a dog misjudging a jump in full flight being an absolute car crash.  An maybe jumping better left out, an just accept loosing some game as a result

Yes and yes all the time. But it's up to you it's your dog. If you do go down the jumping route, I wouldn't have young pups jumping high stuff, it can do more harm than good

[Ferretman65 2,271]

All very good advice and agree with lads 100 percent what to do with your dog or pup But always remember once they are off the lead they our in God's hands 

[Bosun11 537]

I'd agree with just about all of the above BUT one other factor to be aware of is that some dogs are just more injury prone.

And that can be classed in a couple of ways. Some dogs constitution can play a part, poor feet etc, some dogs are just bomb heads, born stupid and never learn how to run, no matter what their breeding and it's these that live very short lives...

[dytkos 17,820]

Also walk your lamping ground in the daytime (if possible ) so you'll know where there's any old chain harrows, half burried old farm machinery, open land drains, dykes etc so you know when you slip the dog has got a good chance of an unhindered run.

Flip side of the coin, seen a mates dog kill itself by running flat out into an old trailer (huge great thing) because it was single minded on the fox it was after and had no awareness of anything else, sometimes it can't be avoided but you've got to do your best to try to stack the odds in your favour. 

Cheers, D.

 

[Bosun11 537]

Yep, single minded fox dogs get themselves into all sorts of trouble...

[Countryman62 542]

Good advise all round, enjoy your time making good memories with your dog/s, atb

[fenman1# 724]

Try not to get an emotional attachment even tho it's hard when your getting a dog fit and ready for running and spending hours every day you build an attachment then see it kill its self off a tree, dyke cattle troth is hard but when it's happened a couple of times you just say f**k sake and start again if that was your only dog. Most dogs iv seen killed on the lamp was from fence stakes and you can't avoid them. There's a hundred+ in most fields round me 

[terryd 8,650]

I all ways lamped a dog up hills by walking along the bottom the plan being when the dog went up and then swung round around after the rabbit or tried to intercept it. It would have some inkling of what it was running on. Rather than go along the top and send your dog blasting off down into the unknown. Just common sense I guess