Running hazards

[dirtwinger 235]

out in the field there are always hazards to our dogs from minor to major that will render some ground unsuitable to run on despite plenty of game. What do you consider makes a piece of ground a no go for you?

 

For me there are several some unique to the desert where I run, others I suspect universal to anyone running a sighthound. Here are mine.

 

Barbwire, wont stop me running a field but may effect how I work it. I ahte the stuff with a passion though.

 

Roads, busy roads are something I try to avoid.

 

Volcanic rock rubble, I have some fields that have a lot of loose pieces of lava, this will cut and bruise a dogs feet badly. My old dog seems to be able to run on it fine, but my bitches will end up bloody and sore unless heavily taped up.

 

Arroyos, these are dryed up water courses in the desert. Small ones dont worry me much but some can have 20 to 30ft drops, I worry my dogs would run off the edge chasing a hare. i wont run in fields with these deep arroyos.

 

Goatheads, these are spiny seedpods found in the desert. Some fields can be carpeted with them and they will sink into the dogs pads. I have seen it so bad that the dogs have just ground to a halt unable to move, they have to be carryed out and the thorny pods removed. I have one field one mile from my house loaded with hares and I cant run it because of goatheads. The only time I get on there is when it snows, a light cover of snow alowys the dogs to run over the goatheads.

 

Interested to see your opinions atb dirtwinger

[swamper 11]

hmmm.....good topic.....

i would say it also depends on the dog...and if it knows the terrain ....

roads is a no go for everyone i would have thought.....

but as for drops i have one dog that i have every faith in when it comes to cliffs and such.......my other one i wouldn't go anywhere near with her...

golf courses can be deadly and i will steer away from them......also graveyards is another..

peat bogs can be a concern where i run mine as well as boulder fields..

barbed wire is just part of the game nowadays.....

a couple of pics to demonstrate the terrain i mainly work one of the dogs

 

 

[dirtwinger 235]

Two other factors for me are seasonal, Once the weather warms up rattlesnakes can be a danger for my dogs in some fields. my old dog was bitten once on a camping trip. Luckily it was a dry bite and he was non the worse for it but I have heard of dogs dying this way.

the biggest seasonal danger for me is heat. I tis very easy to fatally overheat a dog in the desert even in Nov or March I very careful about this and soak my dogs with water on warm days and carry water with me in the field. It is easy to find yourself a very long way from water with a dog that needs cooling done urgently. This is the biggest killer of dogs in the deserts I run in.

Swamper I do agree that individual dogs dictate what you will or wont risk.

 

all the best Dirtwinger

[bird 9,970]

Most hunters on here, go lamping [spot lighting]. With running a dog in the dark at 30 mph, can very dangerous. And if you dont know the ground 100%, if its [hot ] it can be very dangerous.

[Guest jt750]

Never around farm machinery bloody coney's almost guaranteed to make your dog hit something

[poacher3161 1,766]

Never on railway bankings some muppets round here used to atvb

[undisputed 1,664]

Anywhere theres been land testing done where they leave small iron pipes sticking out the ground by about a foot, anywhere theres farm machinery or roads....never in frozen conditions.

[Pops 19]

why not the golf courses?

[noddy10 411]

i wont lamp next to cliff tops or quarry edges.

[runforyourlife 361]

So, so far we have had. cliffs, drops, boulder fields, pete bogs, grave yards, golf courses, farm machinery, etc etc. So please can you tell me where you do run your dogs, because i would like to come and run mine there. It must be the ideal runnig ground. Flat open meadows for as far as the eye can see, no stones, wood, trees, drops. jeez, i would love to live somewhere like this....

[woodga 170]

why not the golf courses?

 

golf courses look like flat land in the lamp and your dog will run hard after its game but the ground undulates with a lot of hidden dips and humps making it dangerous for your dog its very easy for a dog to tumble and break its neck on places like this as for hazards its just common sense and down to the person who,s dog it is to decide when he slips his dog, every lurcher owner should know when a dog is slipped there is the possibility of injury or worse even on the safest of places

[runforyourlife 361]

why not the golf courses?

 

golf courses look like flat land in the lamp and your dog will run hard after its game but the ground undulates with a lot of hidden dips and humps making it dangerous for your dog its very easy for a dog to tumble and break its neck on places like this as for hazards its just common sense and down to the person who,s dog it is to decide when he slips his dog, every lurcher owner should know when a dog is slipped there is the possibility of injury or worse even on the safest of places

 

what a load of bbbbbbbbbbbbbllllllll, golf courses are great runnig ground, we lamp on at least 6 different ones. Come and lamp on the moors around us, then you will love golf courses..

[woodga 170]

yes mate you are full of bbbbbbbbbbb!!! you do what you like you seem to know every thing at least a few people have brains,

iv seen a good few good dogs ruined on golf courses so it think ill pass.

your not the only one who has difficult places you know and i run on a good few moors so know what the heather can do to dogs feet its down to the individual lwho decides when to slip his dog and the risks involved in that slip are or at least should be judged by common sense on the part of the dog handler

Edited April 19, 2009 by woodga

[runforyourlife 361]

yes mate you are full of bbbbbbbbbbb!!! you do what you like you seem to know every thing at least a few people have brains,

iv seen a good few good dogs ruined on golf courses so it think ill pass.

your not the only one who has difficult places you know and i run on a good few moors so know what the heather can do to dogs feet its down to the individual lwho decides when to slip his dog and the risks involved in that slip are or at least should be judged by common sense on the part of the dog handler

 

 

Common sense! and why do i know everything! people ask for advice, if i dont know it , i wont say, if i do, i will. Your dreaming pal, golf courses! What about the flats of the fens with dykes and wallows! What about the flats of southport with dykes and farmed muded fields! And who mentioned "heather".. I really cant understand what you are talking about, on golf courses, sorry pal if it offends you but i would like to know of anyone else who wouldnt run a dog on a golf course....

 

In fact in the local park, it is one of the main walking areas in the evenings for dog walkers...

 

You say "a good few dogs" how many, where and who are there owners? I approach many golf courses for permission, when rabbits are digging up there fareways, as it is great easy running for the dogs, and get some excellent courses on them.....

[Loser_Jacks_It_In 0]

i dont like too run on the daytime after november becos it makes my dogs look no good