hobbies

[toolebox 1,569]

Since my wife required to be dropped off at her mother's place in Central Otago  ,I thought it rude not to take advantage of the high rabbit populations that can be found around the lake in central Otago so I threw a couple of young lurchers ,ferrets and nets on board and after dropping her grace off, I bolted off to one of my favourite places, an area of flat ground with some large pine trees around the local collie club. There is a walking and cycle track that runs along the water's edge at one end, a busy man road at the other and the two other boundaries are both fenced in rabbit netting. The south fence is new & the north end fence is old and done .I first checked the main road fence to make sure there were no rabbit holes leading under the fence, as I didn't want the dogs, during a chase, jumping the fence and getting hit & killed on the busy road. That done, I then let the dogs out and walked under the pines to push all the rabbits underground, I was headed to a big warren to the north I'd netted off and on for 30 odd years. Over the next 3 hours, I only had to shift the net once for a healthy total of twenty rabbits, I could have taken a lot more, but I sat and enjoyed the slow pace, alongside the views and ponded what new adventure lay ahead for me now that I've retired . I think I'd be happy just doing more of this, as a hobby as it once was, many years ago..... I have gone the full circle...

"Nellie", the white bitch, is a straight cross of a collie bitch to a working whippet dog. She is about 20 months old . The chocolate bitch is my own breeding,"Nannas"Dam is a half whippet x bird dog (including GSH,WHP,visla)and sire is a half greyhound x Whp/beardy.She is about 24 months old and as mad as a hatter, that I don't think will reach old age .

Edited March 26, 2023 by toolebox

[blueeyes 45]

Gid write up and gid pictures well done 

[Aussie Whip 4,138]

What's the white dog got in it mate? it looks whippet or grey and russell.

[toolebox 1,569]

16 hours ago, Aussie Whip said:

What's the white dog got in it mate? it looks whippet or grey and russell.

Aussie Whip we bred this bitch ourselves, her Dam was 50% collie 50%kelpie and her Sire was a working whippet imported from Aussie. She's very full on and bossy as all hell, also has a truck load of brains.

 

[toolebox 1,569]

I wanted to fast track and improve the brown bitches strike, so I started her on a fizz be. At the first couple of throws, she walked over & gave it a very slight push with her nose, within five minutes she decided to murder, that red flier. It has now become one of the most important things to her, only a slight second to her joy of chasing a rabbit. Nanna has never been one for half measures, it's always 110%,in anything she does. If she can catch the disk before it hits the grounds, she's as happy as a dog with two tails, it's a type of game to her, catching that flying red bugger before it hits the ground. After a couple of runs, she hops into a stock bath full of water where she releases the disk to get a cold drink, then she has to place her whole head underwater, moving back and forth like a bloody seal to locate the red demon. No matter how many times I see this, I can't help but break out laughing, They only last a couple of weeks as she worries them to death, folding them in half as she chases the other dogs growling, barking out of the side of her mouth, but never once dropping the toy on dry land where one of the others might steal off her oh no ,then there would be a bloody murder .

Edited June 2, 2023 by toolebox