Advice on a rescue bullX Lurcher?

[spookster 0]

Well done and good luck with him!!

[rabitin girl 16]

Very best of luck with your new dog

[littlefish 587]

Good luck for giving him a chance. Obviously (looking at your bitch) you are familiar with handling big dogs - she looks a right bruiser. Hope it all works out.

[bullmastiff 615]

Thank you everyone,

 

Missie we were amazed at how quick it was. Came back from the walk, gave him back then sat in the car, had lunch and discussed if we could take him on or not, less than an hour later were stood in reception, signing the agreement (says we've got to get him castrated) and paying the 'compulsory donation'.

We didn't expect to take him there and then, luckily I've always had a spare lead/collar in the car as Tia's broken three so far (strongstuff's collar still seems to be holding!) as the lady pottered off and brought him out to the car.

 

FJager, judging from the state of his muzzle it looks like he's done some hard work already so once I've got the recall down pat he'll be out with me for a mooch about. Although it's not the reason why we got him, I'm hoping he might give us a bit of sport and perhaps catch a few. There's hundreds of acres around here that aren't hunted (wasn't any use to me, I'm a pot hunter not a vermin controller) so if he show's some promise then I'll go and ask.

 

Littlefish, she's very small for her breed!!! she may look like a bruiser but really she's a soft old gal!

 

Training wise, he's VERY food orientated so after maybe 15 mins on the long lead and with a pocket full of diced pig heart he was recalling back, then my partner releasing him for a distance recall. Although he jumps and snatches at the treat (which I hate but will work on that as he trains) and will, I'm sure go very differantly when there's distractions.

Are most Lurchers/Greyhounds this trainable? I presumed from some threads on here that they were slower to learn? (and I know presumption is the mother of all f*ck ups!) but given a few weeks I think he will be at an adequete level

 

Thank you all again for Pm's and posts and will try to keep you updated.

 

Luke, Lisa, Emily, Tia and Roo.

Edited March 21, 2008 by bullmastiff

[spookster 0]

Training wise, he's VERY food orientated so after maybe 15 mins on the long lead and with a pocket full of diced pig heart he was recalling back, then my partner releasing him for a distance recall. Although he jumps and snatches at the treat (which I hate but will work on that as he trains) and will, I'm sure go very differantly when there's distractions.

Are most Lurchers/Greyhounds this trainable? I presumed from some threads on here that they were slower to learn? (and I know presumption is the mother of all f*ck ups!) but given a few weeks I think he will be at an adequete level

 

I have found that all my rescued lurchers(none of which were bullx. Saluki and deerhound x's) have been perfect in the begining! They have all been off lead from the early days and recall 100%. They all eventually got more confident , nothing terrible, but they did teach me not to be complacent!I found them all to have a wonderful 'honeymoon' period

Good luck with your boy, looks like he is going to be a good one!!

[littlefish 587]

Regarding the posts about you getting this dog home very quickly from the rescue centre.....maybe after meeting you at the show, the people who run it saw it as a chance for this dog to get taken on by people who were genuinely interested in taking on such a big 'specialist' type dog. I have been to dog rescue centres where there were loads of big crossbreed type dogs, for them the future looked pretty bleak, obviously not the obvious candidates for rehoming as pets in typical small family houses, where small dogs would probably be easier managed.

 

Good luck - hope you have lots of sport with your new mooching pal.

[bullmastiff 615]

they did teach me not to be complacent!I found them all to have a wonderful 'honeymoon' period

 

I think we must be going through that now as training seems to be going OK! (for only the second day anyway!), I'm trying to just keep it fun and loaded with treats at the moment, as were still new to him/him to us. Took him to the Farm today for a bit of socialization and see what he's like with some livestock, completely ignored the cows even when they ran, had a quick sniff at the Chickens but was watching the sheep a bit intensely so got a quick tug at the lead and a firm leave and then he ignored them as well (for now, I'll have to keep an eye on that!). So far he seems a well mannered, calm and fairly intelligent dog. As you said I'm trying not to become too complacent but it's hard when you can't find many faults! (apart from the food stealing and bin diving!)

 

Littlefish, maybe your right, either way I'm not complaining!

 

I managed to find a quiet fenced in field and finally let him off the long lead to properly stretch his legs and I'm sure most of you probably take it for granted but for me it was the first time to see a Lurcher flat out around a field... CHRIST!!!

Tia was chasing him about and to start with she was catching him then we all realised he wasn't even trying, when he tucked his bum in, spun round, 'bitch slapped' her then took off at full pelt (wise move!!!) it's almost as if they fly, their feet so rarly touch the ground! and the poor old gal didn't stand a chance of catching him but she kept after him, cutting across the field as he ran round it but he jinked twice and was off again. After a few mins he was back and blowing like a train as Tia came hammering up the field again and ran straight through him! and although he probably did twice the distance as Tia, she stopped blowing a lot sooner than he did. He is really muscular in the shoulders and back but his back legs are almost all soft squishy muscle (I guess his 5 month stay in a kennel has done that?)

 

I'll try and get some Video of him, as fast to me and you lot is probably miles apart!

 

Cheers

 

Luke

[Missie 1]

I found with my three that they have a settling in period of about 2-3 weeks where they will fit in and be as good as gold, sometimes not quite so long but 2-3 weeks is about average. After this 'honeymoon period' they will start testing thier boundaries however, if your dog is very food orientated then its much easier to train them, just make sure they know you have treats with you and they are the reward for good behaviour. With my new dog I have found it so much easier than with my lurcher who couldn't give a toss if I have treats in my pocket or not.

 

Some long line training might be an idea unless you have an enclosed space to do recall training in.

 

Of course other will probably have other methods, i'm talking from a pet point of view rather than training a worker as mine are still predominantly pets.

 

I had just called him as I pressed record and all my recall training was done with treats but his recall is second to none if I have rewards or not now.

 

Edited March 22, 2008 by Missie