Me and my puppy out learning the ferreting ropes!

[luke_08 1]

i got a saluki greyhound x collie greyhound pup there from litter of hpool hunter its a gud dog tried for a rabbit other day damm its a good little dog for the age of it

[caterpiller 10]

Some good photos there Hannah, the one of the 3 Head Shots is Fantastic

[bagwell06 0]

i got a saluki greyhound x collie greyhound pup there from litter of hpool hunter its a gud dog tried for a rabbit other day damm its a good little dog for the age of it

 

na luke it's just about 4 to 5 moth old

[Guest ROUGH COATED]

My Beddy X Whippet pup Spider is just coming up 11 months, he was originally brought as a pet, however after joining this forum and learning more and more about working lurchers i decided i'd like to try him out and see how he takes to it. I've done a lot with him, jump training, retrieve and recall are all good. I did take him out over xmas with Fireman and Nighttime of the forum, however didn't slip him, just let him get out and see what it's all about.

 

A local man i know through my work as a photographer with the local Fox hound pack, asked if i wanted to go out ferreting with him. In my opinion he would be classed as "a Lurcher man". . . . very knowledgeable about the countryside and has kept lurchers and terriers all his life. Needless to say i jumped at the chance.

 

We went out this morning to a football club locally where he has the permission for rabbit control. Spider immediately fell in love with his Whippet bitch, Brin. . . .and became her shadow straight away! We netted up 4 burrows in all, some easier than others in terms of location. From the start Spider did me proud, he concentrated on every move Robbie made, watched him lay the nets, and then through instinct and watching the older dogs, started marking and watching the burrows like he'd been doing it all his life! We must have missed a hole at 1 warren as we got a bolter, the dogs including Spider flew after it and coursed it up the football pitch, Spider caught it and i was made up!!

 

We didn't get many (3), but it was more a about learning today for me and Spider! Robbie showed me how to dispatch the rabbits and i did it successfully. All in all a great day and lovely to learn from such an interesting and knowledgeable man. I loved hearing his stories of old and tales of his favorite lurchers, could have stayed listening all day! Anyway i was pleased as punch with Spider and we're going again at the weekend, thats if he has recovered by then. . . . .he must have been concentrating so hard as he's exhausted now, hasn't moved from the fire all evening! :lazy:

 

Anyway here's some pictures from the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my favourite shot of the day. . .

 

 

Some great pictures there mate all the best!!

[Malt 379]

Always great to see them coming on.

 

My Beddy/Whippet is 6 months old, and he's starting to show a bit of promise out ferreting. Finding bolt holes, marking, hunting up & running to the exact hole that a rabbits about to bolt from.

 

It's great, I bet your glad you've decided to show your dog a bit of work now?

[Guest tewkesferreter]

some cracking pictures there mate,nice looking dogs too. just out of interest was spider bred out of working stock?

[Hannah4181 260]

some cracking pictures there mate,nice looking dogs too. just out of interest was spider bred out of working stock?

 

 

Hi, Spider's Sire is a worker and his Dam a pet, however the dam lives very rurally and the breeders don't discourage hunting, so she regulary takes rabbits when out walking.

 

I'm split on the worker/pet thing, i love my dogs to pieces and they live in the house, however i firmly believe dogs should be allowed to do what their instincts guide them to do. Spider is a prime example of instinct taking over, he's always been off lead walking in farm land since 8 weeks and seen game daily, however when i took him out it was amazing to watch him focusing and marking the holes like he'd been doing it all his life. To me thats good enough, now i've got the bug i'll get him out as much as i can and will try and steer him more towards a hunting role when out walking. All my dogs flush and kill game naturally and i never discourage it, but with spider it's taking that step up to a "worker" and considering the risks that go with that. I was out just now with them and i threw a ball, spider got it and the other dogs chase him trying to get it off him, he loves playing this. . . . however now in my head i'm thinking. . . i shouldn't let him do this really as he needs to be retrieving for when he takes rabbits. It's a very fine line between pet and worker.