Why bedlingtons?

[poacher3161 1,766]

cheers for all the replies

 

First off, do people agree i am making the right choice, just for rabbit and a bit of ratting but with the speed to take rabbit in the open with a fair coarse ie ferreting companion.

 

Why do you think adding grey makes it more 'versatile'? Versatile for preban, or for terrain, speed etc?

 

This is why its taken so bloody long to narrow it down, too much choice and too many seemingly sound arguments and opinions

 

Apart from the obvious advantage of a bit more height,adding greyhound seem's to produce steadier tempraments without affecting the dogs desire to catch,im not saying all beddy/whippets are headstrong but ive seen a few you would swear were totally deaf,i stopped lamping with one mate because if his bed/whip missed a rabbit he would run the rest to ground clearing the next field,and its not the only one ive seen do this,just my personal view on what ive seen.

 

cheers for that, i have to admit thats why i was originally thinking collie/grey or kelpie/whippet because i can't stand ignorant disobedient dogs. I reckon i need a beddy/whippet X kelpie/grey lol

kelpie and terrier blood good luck both are head strong dog's whippet and greyhound MIGHT steady them up a bit lol

[green oval 8]

cheers for all the replies

 

First off, do people agree i am making the right choice, just for rabbit and a bit of ratting but with the speed to take rabbit in the open with a fair coarse ie ferreting companion.

 

Why do you think adding grey makes it more 'versatile'? Versatile for preban, or for terrain, speed etc?

 

This is why its taken so bloody long to narrow it down, too much choice and too many seemingly sound arguments and opinions

 

Apart from the obvious advantage of a bit more height,adding greyhound seem's to produce steadier tempraments without affecting the dogs desire to catch,im not saying all beddy/whippets are headstrong but ive seen a few you would swear were totally deaf,i stopped lamping with one mate because if his bed/whip missed a rabbit he would run the rest to ground clearing the next field,and its not the only one ive seen do this,just my personal view on what ive seen.

 

I'd have to agree with the above, my beddy/whippet good as gold around the house. Put her in a field you might as well go home there wont be anything left and she comes back when SHES ready.

[sandymere 8,263]

cheers for all the replies

 

First off, do people agree i am making the right choice, just for rabbit and a bit of ratting but with the speed to take rabbit in the open with a fair coarse ie ferreting companion.

 

Why do you think adding grey makes it more 'versatile'? Versatile for preban, or for terrain, speed etc?

 

This is why its taken so bloody long to narrow it down, too much choice and too many seemingly sound arguments and opinions

 

Apart from the obvious advantage of a bit more height,adding greyhound seem's to produce steadier tempraments without affecting the dogs desire to catch,im not saying all beddy/whippets are headstrong but ive seen a few you would swear were totally deaf,i stopped lamping with one mate because if his bed/whip missed a rabbit he would run the rest to ground clearing the next field,and its not the only one ive seen do this,just my personal view on what ive seen.

 

cheers for that, i have to admit thats why i was originally thinking collie/grey or kelpie/whippet because i can't stand ignorant disobedient dogs. I reckon i need a beddy/whippet X kelpie/grey lol

One of the best dogs I've owned was a beddy/whippet x collie/grey, very good dog though a little hard.

[undisputed 1,664]

I must admit I like beddy/whip x's....I think the reason they were so popular was that not only were they nippy enough for bunny's but the coat protected them in the cold & wet as well as the cover....very game wee buggers too.

[digger63 3]

Heres a couple of pics of my lads bitch,beddy x whippet/grey back to whippet [accidental mating] 22" tts and 35lbs,she's 12 months old and doing really well.The whippets my coursing bred bitch,and a half sister to the beddy x's dam.

[Finn. 0]

Ratreeper, believe it or not I've got a Beddy lurcher X kelpie and she is a cracker!

 

She's 22 tts and 38lb last time i weighed her the prey drive in her is unreal, absolutely loves ratting and a bloody good all round rabbit dog, would and has done more.

 

They do have a tendency to be pretty full on but with a little effort are a joy to work, keep you on your toes mind !!

 

Loads of stamina but not the fastest and seem to be made of rubber. My mates got her litter brother and he's pretty similar if a touch steadier !!

 

Got a 2 year old beddy whip/grey and shes a lot slower to mature, only really now starting to fly but got a hell of a lot of potential, lovely nature real easy going but when fired up is a demon. She's 23 tts and around 30 lb.

 

Will get a mate to put pic's up soon.

 

Hope that's of interest, cheers,

 

Finn.

[digger63 3]

Ratreeper, believe it or not I've got a Beddy lurcher X kelpie and she is a cracker!

 

She's 22 tts and 38lb last time i weighed her the prey drive in her is unreal, absolutely loves ratting and a bloody good all round rabbit dog, would and has done more.

 

They do have a tendency to be pretty full on but with a little effort are a joy to work, keep you on your toes mind !!

 

Loads of stamina but not the fastest and seem to be made of rubber. My mates got her litter brother and he's pretty similar if a touch steadier !!

 

Got a 2 year old beddy whip/grey and shes a lot slower to mature, only really now starting to fly but got a hell of a lot of potential, lovely nature real easy going but when fired up is a demon. She's 23 tts and around 30 lb.

 

Will get a mate to put pic's up soon.

 

Hope that's of interest, cheers,

 

Finn.

 

That beddy/lurcher/kelpie sounds like a useful dog and speeding them up a bit could produce something a bit special by the sound of it,look forward to seeing a few pics mate.

Im surprised the bed/whip/grey has been slow to mature,my lads had to hold his [above] back a bit,she's to willing for her own good really,maybe its the extra dose of whippet?

[Ratreeper 441]

Ratreeper, believe it or not I've got a Beddy lurcher X kelpie and she is a cracker!

 

She's 22 tts and 38lb last time i weighed her the prey drive in her is unreal, absolutely loves ratting and a bloody good all round rabbit dog, would and has done more.

 

They do have a tendency to be pretty full on but with a little effort are a joy to work, keep you on your toes mind !!

 

Loads of stamina but not the fastest and seem to be made of rubber. My mates got her litter brother and he's pretty similar if a touch steadier !!

 

Got a 2 year old beddy whip/grey and shes a lot slower to mature, only really now starting to fly but got a hell of a lot of potential, lovely nature real easy going but when fired up is a demon. She's 23 tts and around 30 lb.

 

Will get a mate to put pic's up soon.

 

Hope that's of interest, cheers,

 

Finn.

 

Can't wait for the pics, thanks. Do you think that this cross with a bit of grey and less kelpie would be a bit quicker, potentially a bit of an easier dog to work

[donk 12]

Very head strong bitch mine was,would hunt up like a c**t if she missed a rabbit Very brave little bitch though,protects me and my other dog from undesireable people,cows,sheep,horses and other dogs.

Never quite got to grips with foxes pre-ban,ive seen her on a gingers back but not wanting to get a good hold on them.

 

 

She is a yapper as well if she chased a fox pre-ban. Although that never bothered me as i knew if she opened up that she was onto a fox or had one in cover ,which i always thought was handy if she was working cover and i couldnt see her.

 

 

Has been an excellent ferreting dog and her marking is 100%

 

 

She has endless amounts of stamina,you can be out all day and still want to go out on the night time.

 

All in all she is a good bitch,she has been very frustrating at times with her stubborness but is a very loyal dog.

[shepp 2,285]

I think beddys are great little dogs, i would say smarter than most terriers and sensible.

Quiet in the field, good nose, fast for a terrier. Good jaw, big teeth, thick skin.

But as said before prone to ignoring you , especially when on a scent.

I get the feeling it's not intentional with mine as she looks surprised somtimes when i do finally get her attention.

 

I must admit i am really taken by my young beddy and would definately consider a beddy grey as my next lurcher sometime in the future.

 

Shepp

[digger63 3]

At least the beddy lads on here seem to aknoledge the fact that a common fault with beddy's [lurcher's or straight terriers] are a little "deaf" greyhound blood does alter that though.

Maybe a lot of the whippets used to create the bedd/whippet cross were carrying some staffy blood as well,especially the non-ped raceing lines,its still going into the non-ped's now,cant see that helping when mingled with the beddy genes,not on the obediance front anyway,the drive definatly.

[Finn. 0]

Ratreeper and Digger63,

 

reckon your right, adding more greyhound blood or any good running dog blood would certainly speed the cross up. I think that you need to decide what your going to use the dog for really.

When I went for this cross I had had no previous experience with kelpies but had read a bit about them and liked the fact that they sounded very committed and durable dogs with good noses and not short on brains. The ground I work has fields with a lot of quartz, old mine workings, again lots of stone so feet have to be strong. Hedges are full of flailed blackthorn and barbed wire like the somme so thick skin is handy.

A dog with loads of pace and easily torn skin can get fairly bashed up, how long does it take a dog to realize this and start slowing up when it's about to hit cover, a goodun would keep at it but would pick up injuries.

I do sometimes think that they could do with a touch more pace but they catch as well as a mates dogs and they are speed machines so they can't need the extra pace that much.

 

Our dogs dam was a beddy saturated lurcher and the sire a pure kelpie so considering there's so little actual running dog blood there they are pretty capable dogs and not exactly slow. If I had the choice between an absolute flyer or a smart, robust totally committed dog I'd leave the flyer behind every time but that suits my ground and work best in my opinion.

 

Whether kelpies are difficult to work I couldn't really say having only ever having seen ours work in the flesh. (and sleights on the dvds) As everyone knows different strains can vary a lot. Speaking from experience I would say that some may find their approach to life a bit hard to handle it's not that they are difficult to train, by 9 months my bitch was better trained than most spaniels I've seen. I was however training her the same as you would a spaniel but left out a lot of the steadiness training, sitting to a flushed rabbit wouldn't be ideal !! Over enthusiastic is probably a good way to describe them.

 

My advice to anybody getting one is to try and train them as you would a spaniel, think about what it is that you want the dog to do and direct it's energy in that direction, adapt it's training towards the work you want it to do and make sure that you keep it's mind busy don't let them get bored and keep it fun. In my eyes far too many people sell their dogs short, these are very smart dogs and I reckon that if you don't give them something to think about and busy themselves with then you could have snags with them.

 

Just realized that I'm going on a bit and probably boring you shitless.

 

Will get a mate to bang the pic's up as soon as I can,

 

Take it easy fellas, Finn

[Finn. 0]

Just wondering if many boys on here use a gundog whistle when working the dogs ?

 

I do and find that it gets a far quicker reaction and response than calling or normal whistling, even a very gentle peep and its got their heads up and reacting to command. It's a very under rated tool in my eyes especially when working in thick cover or at distance on windy days etc. They just allow you to give a much clearer signal to the dog and for the price their worth a try.

[digger63 3]

Boring mate not at all,its obviouse you think things through not enough people on here do that.

Speed is the easyest thing to put in a dog,anyone can do it,we all judge things depending on the area we hunt some do it without realising it,your dog sounds spot on for your ground,i know a good dose of whipp/grey would be required for my area,the runs arent gruellers and a dog with pace and prey drive is just the job.

Being used to working terriers i dont mind full on tempraments[i dont mean suicidal type dogs]after all if the dogs got a bit of drive you can steady it up ussually,if it hasen't got it in the first place you cant put it in.

atb steve

[poacher3161 1,766]

Just wondering if many boys on here use a gundog whistle when working the dogs ?

 

I do and find that it gets a far quicker reaction and response than calling or normal whistling, even a very gentle peep and its got their heads up and reacting to command. It's a very under rated tool in my eyes especially when working in thick cover or at distance on windy days etc. They just allow you to give a much clearer signal to the dog and for the price their worth a try.

yes mate i use a 110 an half two peeps for recall brings spaniales and lurcher under control a lot beter than the human voice [bANNED TEXT] you ar aving a mooch atvb