young terrier

[higgins 75]

to many young Terriers are put down by to many young men, i've had many a phone call about a pup , saying wow its the best ever , and the next week and the next week, then a few digs down the line the pups jacked, worked sore and not given time to rest,or i was trying to get it to bay!!!!!!!

spend time with your terriers, play with them, find out how long they will play tug of war or catch the tail.

As pups do they get bored easy or are they a pain in the Ass always pushing there luck?

a mate of mine run's sheepdogs, the two dog he's won the most with need to be handle differently the one dog needs a smack just a tap before the leaves the van to settle him, the other {bit shy} needs to be walked around the crowd before hand, the guy knows his dogs

well said pickaxe

well said Pickaxe the bit about playing with the dog to find out it's strengths and weaknesses,unfortunately too many

people who own terriers just lock them up and expect a hard days graft when they take them out on a hunt,time and patience are sadly lacking in some cases,there is no rush with a terrier,like boxing champions with the best managers

they can succeed,the worst managers can ruin them,observation is important and understanding too,but time is always of the essence isn't it?

Higgins.

[Guest pikey]

I would never in a million years claim that my terriers are fair dinkum hard digging stock, and they can take forever to enter properly: if someone wanted an early starter then I'd no way let them have one, but once they do start, sometimes as late as 2 1/2, they keep going and going for years and years. My old bitch who is now 11 would still work to ground if I let her, and her daughter who is 7 is still in her prime as far as earth work is concerned. They are'nt hard dogs, though they do start mixing it a bit in their second season. Shout at them, or worse still hit them and they fold up like the most sensitive lurcher: not everyone's cup of tea by any means, but they'll find anywhere and never give up once they know what their quarry is and how to deal with it.

Sometimes it has taken more than 5 or 6 digs before I could truly say they know what to do, but I'm past the age where I need to impress anyone, and lucky enough to be able to enter them slowly, letting them take their time, watching at several digs to begin with, and usually self entering in the end after they've put one up in cover.

 

And in answer to that original question: yes, they are very likely to come away to begin with, coming out and looking at me as though to say "What the hell do I do now?" Then back in again, maybe another bit of baying. I never push them, just tie them up again, stick an experienced dog in and let the young one listen and learn. Then let them see the quarry bolt after the dig.

I don't consider myself anything of an expert when it comes to terriers, but to me it makes sense to allow a young dog the opportunity to watch, listen and learn: after all, that's how any predator learns to hunt, by copying its dam/sire/older relatives, depending on what sort of predator it is.

good post any one just in to digging terriers read this and take what is said in and you wont go far wrong

 

a working terrier when he is brought on the right way ,leading up to the point that you think he is up to the job of being dug in a nice light earth, then he should be dug with out coming out and looking up " what the hell do i do now" ??? i would never allow a terrier to ground unless i expected him /her to be dug, i have had dogs that were nearly two years old before they entered to ground and were dug to, but they stayed to there game till they were dug, i never kept a terrier that i brought on the right and correct way that looked at me "what the hell do i do now", i have seen terriers that do this and later kept walking out around the hour mark, in my eyes a true working terrier once he goes to ground should be dug to his quarry, if the dog moves a few feet when digging, then he is doing his best and thats all you can ask, but if he comes out ??? a good terrier man will read his dog like a book, go through the different stages that lead up to the time he thinks his dog will be dug on his own, with the quarry, this is the joy and reward he gets after spending up to 2 years with that working terrier, no offence to anyones post or there thoughts on how they think different to my post .

[Terrier man 38]

I would never in a million years claim that my terriers are fair dinkum hard digging stock, and they can take forever to enter properly: if someone wanted an early starter then I'd no way let them have one, but once they do start, sometimes as late as 2 1/2, they keep going and going for years and years. My old bitch who is now 11 would still work to ground if I let her, and her daughter who is 7 is still in her prime as far as earth work is concerned. They are'nt hard dogs, though they do start mixing it a bit in their second season. Shout at them, or worse still hit them and they fold up like the most sensitive lurcher: not everyone's cup of tea by any means, but they'll find anywhere and never give up once they know what their quarry is and how to deal with it.

Sometimes it has taken more than 5 or 6 digs before I could truly say they know what to do, but I'm past the age where I need to impress anyone, and lucky enough to be able to enter them slowly, letting them take their time, watching at several digs to begin with, and usually self entering in the end after they've put one up in cover.

 

And in answer to that original question: yes, they are very likely to come away to begin with, coming out and looking at me as though to say "What the hell do I do now?" Then back in again, maybe another bit of baying. I never push them, just tie them up again, stick an experienced dog in and let the young one listen and learn. Then let them see the quarry bolt after the dig.

I don't consider myself anything of an expert when it comes to terriers, but to me it makes sense to allow a young dog the opportunity to watch, listen and learn: after all, that's how any predator learns to hunt, by copying its dam/sire/older relatives, depending on what sort of predator it is.

good post any one just in to digging terriers read this and take what is said in and you wont go far wrong

 

a working terrier when he is brought on the right way ,leading up to the point that you think he is up to the job of being dug in a nice light earth, then he should be dug with out coming out and looking up " what the hell do i do now" ??? i would never allow a terrier to ground unless i expected him /her to be dug, i have had dogs that were nearly two years old before they entered to ground and were dug to, but they stayed to there game till they were dug, i never kept a terrier that i brought on the right and correct way that looked at me "what the hell do i do now", i have seen terriers that do this and later kept walking out around the hour mark, in my eyes a true working terrier once he goes to ground should be dug to his quarry, if the dog moves a few feet when digging, then he is doing his best and thats all you can ask, but if he comes out ??? a good terrier man will read his dog like a book, go through the different stages that lead up to the time he thinks his dog will be dug on his own, with the quarry, this is the joy and reward he gets after spending up to 2 years with that working terrier, no offence to anyones post or there thoughts on how they think different to my post .

 

 

NAIL ON THE HEAD!!! 100% bang on well said p***y

[lukey 1,621]

Good thread lads and nice to see it has stayed clean unlike most

 

Good few views and opinions

[kris 0]

A good thread fellas i enjoyed reading it , all good points well made. I'm bringing on a pup myself this year and will bear in mind some of your veiws

[skycat 6,174]

Like I said earlier, mine are not hard digging stock, they do a bit of everything, including beating on shoots, along with ratting etc, but once they've been dug to that first time they understand what they're supposed to do below ground. Someone once said 'slow to start, slow to finish', meaning that they'll go on a lot longer than some, not all of course, of the hot early flyers.

I would never keep a dog that came away from its game once it knows what it's doing, once it's properly wed to its quarry, but that learning process is never one I'll hurry, and a one of my youngsters that's to ground for the first time is sometimes unsure of what it is exactly supposed to do.

If we've spent a bit of time digging down and breaking through then the young dog may come out a couple of times and look to see what is going on, though never stays out for long if its going to be any good. Once you break through and the dog is rewarded for staying there, the whole thing clicks and the dog understands the process.

 

I fully take on board what your'e saying p***y, and I agree with you, but I'd hardly call myself a terrierman LOL, and would be the first to admit that earthwork is only part of what we do. Yes, its an important part of the work on the shoots, and like I've already said, I wouldn't keep a terrier that won't work well to ground. I guess I'm just a bit more laid back about the whole thing than some and tolerate slow/hesitant entering to ground as I've always another dog as back up if the young one isn't quite up to a stroppy dog fox round a difficult corner on its first outing or two.

I put myself in the terrier's place: it goes in, meets a real tough customer who keeps gnashing its teeth from through a tiny tube where the terrier can't reach it, or shooting out from above the dog's head to deliver blows from above, or from round a corner where the dog gets grief every time it moves forwards. Yes, the 'properly' bred dog will stay there come hell or high water, enraged by what the quarry is doing to it, but the softer dog, like mine, is likely to think: "well, this isn't how it happened when I met Charlie on top in a bramble and we all piled in together!"

 

I think that these sort of dogs need time to grow in confidence when they're alone below ground, and its only time and experience that will enable them to learn and gain that confidence. The reward they get after being dug to for the first time and achieving their goal makes them so puffed up and full of it you can see they're on a real high.............if they fail after that then no, I wouldn't be happy at all: but I can say that none of mine have failed once they've properly started and been dug to.

[howard 0]

There dogs,animals,not machines they deserve to be given a chance or 2.No 2 earths are the same it is very unlikely that a terrier will regularly meet foxes in exactly the same conditions and it is quite unlikely that every fox big or small will act exactly the same as other foxes the terrier has met.So it needs to learn .How many driving lessons did you have to pass your test and even then did you pass it 1st time.

Maybe a silly comparison but Ive seen to many slow starters turn into good working dogs to give up to soon.Ime not saying you should go on forever but one dig just isnt enough to judge any dog on.

[skeet 1]

Im not a terrier man buy any accounts, so i shouldnt realy have an opinion!...but i do..lol.

 

If i have a pup, thats about 18 months and i think he is ready, i would let him have a go at being dug too...if he comes away, thats not great, but i wouldnt cull him for it!...just chain him out and let him see the game dug with a made dog...i would let the pup watch the made dog rag-up on the game (once humanly dispatched of course) but i would NOT let the pup have any contact with the quarry...if it came out, but gets a rag on dead game, is the rag up not a reward?...should the dog not have to work for reward?...i think it makes them keener to get to there game, they get well up in 'drive' if this is done...imo anyway.

 

Once the dog is going/started (had about a dozen digs) THEN comes away, i wouldnt be happy at all...i would chain the pup out at digs, until it was going ape shit to be at his game...and i wouldnt let him go to ground again, until he was like this...then i would let him try and get dug to again.

 

If he came out after this, then maybe it just wasnt ment to be?!...i would stop with the dog.

 

That is just what we have done in the past...im not saying its right or wrong, just what i have done.

 

Kye...

 

PS...good topic, i look forward to hearing what the much more exsperianced lads think!

my mate was given a dog cause it was not working he only wanted for ratting at 1st then one day the penny dropped the terrier was about 2yrs, you should see her fly to ground staying ,baying,marking etc etc