what is the best bred of a lurcher for ferreting

[lurcher93 2]

thanks

[jonathan 0]

everyone too their own but for me a ferreting dog is a dog that catches rabbits and work cover to put rabbits to the ground and mark up. all so know about purse nets and longnets. i would say the best kind of dog for just that work is a beddyx or collie x whippet. big dogs will never work cover like a little beddyx will all so because my two bedlington cross are mostly beddy they have one hell of a good nose on them.

[ASME IX 1]

i will allways use the collie greyhound for the ferreting game ... their inteligance and and natural stalking ability make them a cut above the rest ............

 

 

 

 

i do like that black dog there socks nice animal

 

asme9

[lurcher93 2]

they are al nice dogs

[lurcher93 2]

thanks for al your help

[inan 841]

as it says above?thank lurcher93

If you just want a "ferreters companion" I dont think you would go far wrong with a 3/4 whippet x beddie.My Rabbiting partner Magwitch has a 4 month old pup"Ted ",he is a Mick Brown Whippet x Gutchcommon Beddie and is nailing rabbits allready.I was out with him yesterday [see his post,in this section].His little fella was on the bunnies like a flash no hesitation,he made my 9 month old Saluki x look half asleep,if I d had room ,I would have bought one of the litter,Im very impressed with him.Inan.

[bill88 6]

So lets look at this logically, you want a dog to go ferreting. It musn't be too big, must be blistering fast off the mark, will learn quickly and have loads of guts in case charlie puts in an appearance. So what dog is best? WHIPPET

 

Been done to death this argument but heres my views.Firstly can i say that i am not knocking all whippets,some of the working strains are fantastic dogs.And in a straight race would roast a BeddyxWhippet.

 

It musn't be too big,most beddyxwhips are between 18-21 tts

It must be fast off the mark,well beddyxwhips are no slouches i can assure you.

Learn quickly,my bitch has been catching bolters since 6 months of age.

Have loads of guts,Bedlingtonx's are renowned for there fire and determination.

 

Now heres what else a BeddyxWhippet has.

Better feet.

Better coat (always handy when standing around for long periods between october and march)

Thicker skin.

Better nose (plenty of forum members who can vouch for my dogs marking and bushing ability)

Stronger jaw.

[comanche 3,038]

I'm torn here.Had a collie/spaniel/mongrel thing years ago that marked superbly , was soft mouthed on badly netted bunnies & nimble enough to nail an escapee before it got into its stride.Mums 'whippet marked and caught well &would've faced hell-fire let alone brambles to get his rabbit -but the vet bills!

Bought my present whippet/saluki /heinz 47 after seeing a mates'genuine Whipplington.Having seen em work together I'm not sure the Bedlington blood adds anything but a rough coat and a cute face.. Would'nt want anything smaller . A valid criticism of very small,lightweight dogs is that they have trouble carrying live to hand as it is often easier for them to kill the bunny or even worse,not bother retrieving at all! The old rugby adage of a "good big one over good little one" definatly counts for something on wide-open ground . My oldest dog ,colliex longdog of mixed breeding(pictured in his younger days)isn't much taller than a big whippet but crashes cover and has strength . Only a personal thing but maybe the speed and guts of a big old coursing whippet, weight andtrainability of a sensible (as opposed to some of the hyper-manic things about today)border collie ,with the -I'll sound daft now- the affectionate sensitive and almost spiritual qualities of a saluki ,a big mixing bowl and a magic spoon..I dunno .,,,get the dog you fancy, train it ,love it and stick with it.

[bill88 6]

I'm not sure the Bedlington blood adds anything but a rough coat and a cute face..

 

Yes im sure thats what they were looking for when they first used Bedlington blood.

[gnipper 6,494]

With everyone saying about the 3/4 beddy whippets and the thicker skins and better feet, do you think that there will still be a difference in the 3/4 cross compared to the 1/2 cross? Not many rough coated 3/4 breds.

[mush 204]

the first collie cross i had was only a 1/4 greyhound but had no trouble catching as she would be at the right hole waiting for the bolt. She would not only mark rabbits to ground but also the ferret on its kill, work cover find the ferret if it came out in cover as well as a lot more.

The one in my pictures would also mark, mark kills,work the nets, follow the ferret as it worked the set i never had him working cover as i lost one dog down a mine shaft from doing that. Most of the fields are 1 to 3 acres around here and he was 25-26 and had no trouble catching bolting rabbits. if he didn't take it at the start he would get between it and the hedge so the rabbit didn't know what to do and had to try and get past or turn back out in to the field, what ever way it was dead.

[Guest dotty]

With everyone saying about the 3/4 beddy whippets and the thicker skins and better feet, do you think that there will still be a difference in the 3/4 cross compared to the 1/2 cross? Not many rough coated 3/4 breds.

 

mines only quarter bedlington. and she has a rough coat

the rest is quarter whippet and half greyhound

[Guest bigredbusa]

I'm torn here.Had a collie/spaniel/mongrel thing years ago that marked superbly , was soft mouthed on badly netted bunnies & nimble enough to nail an escapee before it got into its stride.Mums 'whippet marked and caught well &would've faced hell-fire let alone brambles to get his rabbit -but the vet bills!

Bought my present whippet/saluki /heinz 47 after seeing a mates'genuine Whipplington.Having seen em work together I'm not sure the Bedlington blood adds anything but a rough coat and a cute face.. Would'nt want anything smaller . A valid criticism of very small,lightweight dogs is that they have trouble carrying live to hand as it is often easier for them to kill the bunny or even worse,not bother retrieving at all! The old rugby adage of a "good big one over good little one" definatly counts for something on wide-open ground . My oldest dog ,colliex longdog of mixed breeding(pictured in his younger days)isn't much taller than a big whippet but crashes cover and has strength . Only a personal thing but maybe the speed and guts of a big old coursing whippet, weight andtrainability of a sensible (as opposed to some of the hyper-manic things about today)border collie ,with the -I'll sound daft now- the affectionate sensitive and almost spiritual qualities of a saluki ,a big mixing bowl and a magic spoon..I dunno .,,,get the dog you fancy, train it ,love it and stick with it.

 

 

the black and white one is great !!

[nick barker 0]

The whippet has been bred for many years as a purpose built rabbit dog. So why ruin the bloodline by crossing out? Crossing them with a terrior of any sort reduces the speed, reduces the common sense, makes them as hard mouthed as hell, which is ok if you are rabbiting for a bit of fun. But 90% of my rabbits go to the butchery trade. They sure do not want mangled bunnies. Terroirs by their very nature are noisy creatures, thats what they were bred to do. As for whippets not handling rough ground, ask Mike Brown, they spend half their days running up and down mountains. There is a world of difference between the modern show bred whippet and the working whippet. Yes the working whippet does get knocked about but no more so than any other sight hound, but everyone has their own choices, me I will stick to a whippet.

[Sorley x 32]

any one got any ferreting dogs for sale

 

 

If anyone tells you they have a great ferreting dog for sale they are probably lying. Great ferreting dogs take a long time to become great. If you want a great ferreting dog then you need to get a puppy and spend three seasons working over ferrets I would say.

 

Only my biased opinion but dogs that excel at ferreting are rare and their owners treasure them.