The Encyclopedia

of the Lurcher / Staghound.

By. Gary Hosker.

This page is continually under construction, if you would like to contribute please email
gary@lurcher.com

Account. A term used in pest control. Someone undertaking pest control duties might describe their catch of thirty rabbits as "Accounting for thirty rabbits".

Action. The movement of a dog at the walk, trot and run. As with colour there is no good dog with a bad action, though it would be true to say that you will seldom see a good dog with a bad action. The action of a lurcher is as important as the action of any animal, which has to run, be it greyhound, whippet or racehorse. E.G. Walsh in his book Longdogs by Day describes the movement of a lurcher in the show ring as follows. ‘So it is with running dogs and over-stepping is the first thing to look for. Watch the way the dog moves his forelegs, the free, confident mover that stretches out its legs and puts its feet down crisply; free movement in front means a well placed shoulder blade. Watch the stifle bending as the hind leg is brought forward and see how much over-step there is. The whole movement should be supple and fluent, the front legs stretching out and the hind legs moving the dog powerfully forward, the dog looking balanced and symmetrical’.

When I judge a lurcher show or watch a lurcher work in the field, my eyes are drawn to the dog’s action. It must be remembered that a lurcher takes a hare or rabbit at the run not at the walk, however, if a dog is balanced and moves well then I would have little hesitation in predicting that the lurcher will be able to gallop and turn satisfactorily when coursing.

Afghan Hound. Of all the hunting dogs that claim ancient history perhaps the Afghan hound has the strongest claim. Papyrus documents found on the Sinai Peninsular dating from 4,000 BC speak of Afghan hounds and reputedly the Afghan hound was the dog Noah took into the Ark. The Afghan hound as its name suggests, has its origins in Afghanistan and also in Northern India where it was used as a sporting dog.

Coat. Long smooth hair.

Colour. Red, white, black and golden-red.

Conformation. Strong, muscular.

Feet. Large and strong.

Genetic Faults. None.

Head. Long but not too narrow.

Height. 27" to 29" dogs, bitches 2" to 3" smaller.

Nose. Reasonable.

Obedience. One of the most intractable of all the intractable breeds.

Afghan hound Greyhound. Of all the hounds, with the exception of the borzoi, the afghan is the least suitable to use in order to produce a working lurcher. The dog is completely intractable and without any detectable hunting instinct. The coat is so long that unless clipped right back it would take an age to untangle if the dog had to do any serious work. Any qualities a lurcherman might want from an afghan are better found in other breeds. The afghan hound is best left to the show fraternity who can brush, powder-puff, tie pretty little bows on top of the dog's head and trot around the show ring to their hearts desire.

Age. The age of a working lurcher is not as important as you might believe. Rather, it is the type of work we lurchermen ask our lurchers’ to undertake, relative to age, which is important. For instance, you wouldn’t ask a six-month-old pup, or a twelve-year-old dog to course hares regularly but there are ways of enjoying the time spent with both animals.

With the pup, the work would necessarily be teaching it field-craft, the skills necessary for future work in the field. For the older dog, if it has been broken properly and led a relatively injury-free life (but which lurcher’s do?) there might be work for the old dog marking. Or perhaps bringing on a young dog that has reached the transitional stage between pup and worker. Providing an older dog keeps in good health it is possible to extend its working life to almost any age.

Normally, once a dog has reached twelve months it is ready for its first full season of work, a season often used to let the dog gain experience in the field. The following three to four seasons are when a lurcher should be at its best, peaking during the second or perhaps third working season, or at roughly four years old. Naturally, these are rough rules of thumb as the ability to continue to improve depends on the amount and type of work the lurcher is given.

After the third working season, you can expect a steady decline in the catch rate of the lurcher until retirement. That said, if a lurcher has had a hard working life the fall from the peak of ability could be dramatic. Quite literally, especially with a dog that has grafted, it is possible to have a top-class lurcher one-month and a tired old dog the next.

Yet, balanced against catch rate, there’s often an improvement in the dogs hunting standard. What the dog looses in speed it makes up for by using its head. I never have come across this myself, I always say a good young-un will always beat a good old-un but I’m reliably informed it is so.

I have a simple maxim, which I try to follow with each and every lurcher I break, in order to give the dog more of a chance to succeed and also to extend its working life. First of all I aim for an all-rounder, an animal that can hunt, course and catch a hare. A dog that can work rabbits with ferret, net and lamp when required.

True I don’t lamp often at all these days but there again it doesn’t take much time to break a dog for the lamp. Second rate lurcher’s, dogs that are not good enough for daytime lurcher work often look impressive on the lamp. Lamping is the easiest of all lurcher work, it must be so, otherwise we lurchermen wouldn’t do it. A lurcherman is presenting game to the lurcher (as opposed to the lurcher hunting game for the lurcherman) in an artificial situation.

If a young lurcher fails on one count - and more often than not it’s hare coursing - I'd then work my way down the list. I’d use the dog for rabbit work with the expectation of catching the odd hare. Should the animal fail as a rabbit come occasional hare dog, and thankfully it does not happen too often, I can always fall back on the third option, marking. Mind you, if all a lurcher can do is mark and nothing else, then it’s best to find the animal a home as a retired ladies companion in Surrey.

This practice, or perhaps it might be better to described it as an expectation of ability, has a bonus. In later life, when the dog has passed its peak, blunted the cutting edge needed to catch hares regularly, I reverse the options. The better a lurcher is broken in early life, the greater its diversity of experience, the longer you will be able to find work for the dog in the field.

Another use for the older lurcher is to bring-on a pup, to guide the pup through its formative months. Many-experienced lurchermen swear by this method: They argue that by using an older dog to break a pup they ensure continuity. You generally find that better lurchermen always have a useful dog about them. Often it’s because they employ this method. However, as with all lurcher work, there is a caveat. A young lurcher will pick up bad traits from an old dog a sight faster than it will the good. It takes an experienced lurcherman with a keen eye to distinguish between the two and nip a potential disaster, firmly in the bud.

You see it’s all right for an older lurcher to use its head, but not a youngster. As an example, an experienced lurcher might not chase a rabbit sitting on the edge of the wood. The old stager tried this as a pup and learned the futility of the exercise. But this is just the lesson we lurchermen want a pup to learn for itself.

This is especially important for the dog, which is going to be used as an all-round lurcher. A young lurcher must learn for itself, not to fly-in at every distant, no-hope rabbit. Chances are the pup will disturb everything in the parish and perhaps spoil a morning's sport, which is all right once or twice, from a pup, but a terrible fault in an older lurcher. So, let the young lurcher have its head and take its chance on the wood side, it’ll do it more good than harm.

On the flip side of the coin there’s the potential hare dog. A dog which, by the nature of its sport, you want to try for everything. I subscribe to the theory that it's best to let a hare dog gallop only hares and anyway, who has ever heard of a good, old hare dog? Three seasons as a top-flight lurcher is all anyone can reasonably expect from a hare dog; any more isn’t a bonus, it’s a miracle.

I measure the durability of a lurcher not in years but by the amount of work a dog has done. A lurcher is given a block of energy. We have a choice when to use that energy. Should we use the bulk of that energy during the early life of a lurcher (which most lurchermen do)? Or should we use the energy sparingly and enjoy the working ability of the dog for longer. One thing is certain energy is not everlasting.

The wise lurcherman would no doubt choose to drip-feed work to a useful lurcher. Not to over-run the dog when its knocking hare after hare over - but that is easier said, than done and an option I’ve never taken.

Air Scent. If ever I ran my lurchers exclusively from slips there’s one aspect of lurcher work I would miss more than any other. Air scenting. Literally hunting scent which hangs in the air. Often while working a lurcher on land where there is cover, especially when working to the book, down wind (which I often forget to do, even when ferreting), a lurcher will indicate game is close by raising its nose and studying the air for a while. Almost tasting the wind.

Air scenting can be dramatic. Some of the most exciting air scenting I have been fortunate to watch has been on open moorland, where hares, fox and rabbits snuggle deep into the dense grass or heather to make their seats. Game often ‘holds-up’ in this type of cover during the day. There is a school of thought, which suggest that game, which has been in a seat for a time, gradually looses or changes its scent. So, finding game as opposed to stumbling across it (which, by the way, I’ve done my share of) is the most enjoyable part of the mornings sport. I like a good chase but I love a good hunt.

Experienced lurcher’s will hunt away on the wind - that is, take the wind on their face and work into it, using a good northerly to full advantage. Then - and I’ve seen this literally hundreds of times - the lurcher will pick up a positive scent, sometimes over a distance of forty or fifty yards. Nose and tail held high the lurcher moves into the wind at an ever-increasing pace. As the pace increases so the lurchers’ head drops lower and lower. Finally, almost at the gallop, tail going like mad, eating the earth, when a strike is no more than a whisker away, the dog forces his head into a tangled mass of grass or heather. If his judgement has been correct, then like a magician he appears to pull his prey out of thin air; a marvellous sight, magnificent work, rewarding for both lurcherman and dog.

Another demonstration of air scenting is seen on walls and hedges. Where a lurcher will work the downwind or on the blind side of a wall or hedge and pick-up sent from the other. In effect working both sides at the same time.

I’ve had some rare old sport from the blind side of walls. You see everything is in the lurcherman’s favour. The wall (or hedge) acts as a natural shield, the wind cast the scent through the wall to the dog. Any hare of rabbit sat under the wall is totally oblivious to your presence, until that is, the dog jumps the wall.

A good example of air scenting came when I used my little dog Spud to flush hares. Now, it seems like only yesterday that my friend Kevin telephoned and asked if I would like to take my little dog Spud onto a large rough at Penrith, Cumbria. The idea being that Spud would flush hares off the rough and force them onto the adjoining meadows for the larger hare dogs to course. Walking down a fence side I saw Spud raise his nose into the air and give his rudder a tell tale wag.

He’d picked up a scent from the field at the opposite side of the fence. I gave the command ‘get-up’ and over he popped. Spud used the wind to hunt the rough and it didn’t take him long before he got a definite line on the hare. Unfortunately no one explained the rules of the day to Spud. Without thought for anyone but himself, he took the hare.

Some of the more experienced lurchermen I’ve hunted with over the years can actually distinguish between the various types of game their lurchers’ are working. How they do this I don’t know. I certainly cannot. Seven or eight years ago I had a day with a lurcherman from the South of England. His dog Speckle, a useful animal, was hunting meadow here in the dales when she picked up an air scent. I said rabbit, the chap turned and said pheasant - it was too. Only moments later half a dozen birds took to the sky.

I’ve watched lurchers use air scent on the flat lands; where hares dig deep seats and it is almost impossible to see them as you scan the fields, looking for that tell tail spot of brown, or grey as a hare so often appears. Many is the time I’ve considered buying a pair of those pocket binoculars, a useful tool, but as with most things which involves expense, I’ve never quite got around to prizing the money out of the old wallet.

Often, especially on the flatlands, you might very well be within spitting distance of a hare and not notice her. It takes an eagle eye to spot a hare. However, your presence has been noted by the hare, she’s more than aware of you. She shuffles deeper into her seat. With the hare almost invisible and when you are just about to walk over her, the dog picks up air scent (there is opinion that like a leveret, a hare loses her scent after she has been in her seat for a while). The dog stops in his tracks. There’s a moment of thought. The lurcher makes towards the hare, hunting the wind, head down he strikes and picks up the hare. Or, the hare is a fraction of a second quicker and he misses. The course is on. I wonder, how many times that has happened?

Often a lurcher will pick up a mark from the air while hunting. Again the dog suddenly stops, studies, trots a short distance and marks. Picking the scent of the warren on the wind reinforces the importance of hunting down wind. Now it’s all well and good my saying hunt down wind but how often is it practicable? It’s often better to hunt taking the geography of the land into consideration, rather than the wind. Still, all the experts tell us to use the wind so I’ll go along with them.

Yet another situation where I have seen lurchers use air scenting techniques effectively is on hedgerows and bushes, where game is able to get deep into the core of cover, unseen by the eye, detectable only by the sensitive nose of the lurcher. Small lurchers around whippet size are priceless in these situations.

When an air scent is found, small bushing type lurchers think no more than to charge headfirst into the cover, in an attempt to catch game. Sometimes they are successful but more often than not they end up flushing game. I’ve seen small lurchers flush all manner of game from deep cover, including deer, hare, rabbit, pheasants, foxes and feral cats.

Some years ago I had a border Lakeland terrier which I used to work in partnership with a friends whippet. Now it wasn’t unknown for the whippet to run the cover and the border Lakeland to stand on the outside waiting to run game. Roll reversal I believe is the modern terminology.

Interestingly you don’t teach a lurcher to use air scent to best advantage, you cannot. The only way a lurcher will learn to use air scenting techniques is by practical experience. Taking the dog out into the countryside, working the dog off the slip, giving it the chance to work as often as possible. With luck, the average lurcher will pick up the knack of working the wind in no time at all and that’s what effectively working air scent is, a knack.

Airedale Terrier. A breed that has declined in popularity, thought to have been formed by crossing an otterhound and working black-and-tan ratting terriers (Manchester Terrier) by sportsmen and farmers of the Wharfe and Aire dales, Yorkshire, about the middle of the nineteenth century; known originally as the Waterside or Bingley Terrier. The Airedale is a courageous dog originally used for otter hunting, ratting and drawing fox and badger at the end of a dig. The breed was first recognised by the Kennel Club in 1884, and in that year the well-known `Keigthley Crack` won at show.

Today the Airedale is used in America for vermin control and big game hunting and an American, William Haynes, wrote this breed standard in 1922:

‘A good Airedale is about as big as a pointer; somewhere in the neighbourhood of forty five pounds, a little more for a dog and a little less for a bitch. His head should be long; the skull flat and broad; the cheeks smooth; the muzzle strong with tight lips over big, white, even teeth. His eyes should be small, dark and full of fire and his ears little carried high and shaped like a V, for nothing can detract from the correct terrier expression as large, light eyes and houndy ears. His front legs ought to be a pair of gun barrels, straight and strong and about the same thickness all the way down. His shoulders are like those of a racehorse, long and sloping; while his pads should be firm and hard, not those loose, sprawny feet sometimes seen.

The only kind of back for him to have is short, and his ribs must be well sprung. A long- backed dog lacks staying qualities, and a slab-sided one has not the room for lungs. His chest should be deep, but narrow, and he should be slightly cut up in the loin - not the wisp-like waist of a greyhound - but no better is a body like a stovepipe. His hindquarters should be strong, with the hocks quite near the ground. The Airedale that does not carry a gay tail is a delight to no eye.

Last, but not least, comes the coat. In colour this should be deep, rich tan on the head, face, chest, legs and under parts, while over the back is a saddle of black or iron-grey. Personally, I like the black more than the grizzle, for it makes a prettier contrast with the tan, but "a good horse cannot be a bad colour." The Airedale’s coat is (or rather should be) double. The over coat is hair like wire, stiff and hard, about an inch long all over the dog, except on the skull where it is shorter. Under this jacket of wire, there ought to be a vest of soft, woolly hair.

If you collect in your mind’s eye all the above details of description, you should see a big, strong, compact, businesslike dog, full of the proverbial up-and-coming spirit that inspires all terriers. His every movement shows strength, yet he always moves in the effort-economising way, which is the very personification of grace. When running he sweeps along with the free open stride of a galloping thoroughbred, with his head often carried low, but his tail always high’.

Base dog. Greyhound only.

Coat. Hard, dense and wiry.

Colour. Black and tan.

Conformation. Strong, muscular.

Feet. Good.

Genetic Faults. None.

Head. Strong with well-set jaw.

Height. 60 to 70 cm.

Nose. Very good.

Obedience. Easy to train, eager to please.

Airedale Greyhound. A type of lurcher I have never seen at work. I understand that there are Airedale greyhound lurchers working in Wales but I have failed to track one down. In theory at least and perhaps if the right Airedale terrier could be found, a throw back to the courageous dogs of old, the Airedale terrier would be the ideal dog to produce a heavy lurcher. The breed as a whole (other than in America where Airedale’s are worked to large game) has not worked for generations and this is a problem.

The head, jaw and feet of the Airedale are splendid and the coat would defiantly hold to three quarter and given a little luck, even seven eight’s greyhound. I really do not know why the Airedale terrier is not used to produce lurchers, possibly because the first cross could be ‘too heavy for light work’ or because of the popularity of the bull terrier lurcher’s the Airedale has simply been overlooked? Airedale three-quarter greyhound would be an ideal cross but there again, show me a cross that is not useful at three-quarter greyhound.

All-Rounder.  Said to be a lurcher with all-round ability. Many lurchermen claim there is no such animal as an all-round lurcher, stating that in order to qualify for the title of an all-round lurcher a dog should be able to take all game fur and feather, work all nets in daytime and night , have the pace of a greyhound, the stamina of a saluki and have the retrieving ability of a Labrador. This school of thought poses the question: Does the modern lurcherman ask too much of his dog?

 A working lurcher does not have to have the combined ability of every other specialised breed of working dog to be called an all-round lurcher. Versatility is healthy but the specialist be it greyhound or gundog, will always excel. If a lurcher can hunt up, course and catch hare and rabbit, mark to ground, work with terriers, ferrets and net and work on the lamp, it is an exceptional animal that more than qualifies for the title of all-rounder.

 I would define an all-round lurcher as the dog that lives up to the expectations of its owner by completing to a reasonable standard, most of the tasks given of it.

American Pit Bull Terrier. Pit bull terriers are courageous, fast moving dogs with a powerful bite used in the sport of dog fighting. Some breeders have crossed the Staffordshire terrier and the English bull terrier with the APBT, yielding especially aggressive dogs that are also called pit bulls. Due to instances of unprovoked attacks by such dogs on children, adults and other dogs in the early 1990’s the ill-conceived ‘Dangerous Dogs Act’ was introduced and the APBT has fallen into general disrepute. It is now illegal to own an APBT unless it is neutered, and muzzled when in public.

Base dog. Greyhound usually but whippet or saluki would be interesting.

Coat. Hard, short.

Colour. Any.

Conformation. Strong, muscular, powerful.

Feet. Good.

Genetic Faults. None.

Head. Strong with well-set jaw.

Height. 18 to 21 inches.

Nose. Very good.

Obedience. Easy to train, eager to please.

American Pit Bull Terrier lurcher.  See home page

Aesthetic. A heightened sensitivity to beauty many show orientated enthusiast are preoccupied with.

Apron. The long hair on the throat and brisket, seen an many collie crosses especially the beardie collie crosses.

Artificial Insemination.   

Ascorbic acid. See vitamin C.

Auction. While I have attended one lurcher auction it was not a success. Lurchermen being what lurchermen are, most of the bargaining was done out of the ring. There is also the uncertainty of not knowing what you are buying. Unlike a greyhound or racehorses, lurchers have no documentation to prove their ability. True some lurchers were offered on trial, but such guarantees at these events are of little value. I have attended one lurcher auction, it is not my intention to attend another.

Badger. (Also known as Black and White, Brock, Pig and Billy) Before to the Badgers Act 1973 it was permissible to work a lurcher to badger. Lurchers were often used to draw a badger at the end of a dig. Badgers are strong animals with a powerful jaw and sharp claws but are not a match for a large lurcher. To quote David Harcombe in his book Badger Digging With Terriers (Fieldfare 1985): ‘Should a badger bolt, you will find that the owner of a lurcher or heavy dog will always loose his animal and this amazes and angers me. What pride can be taken in allowing an animal of clearly superior height, weight and speed, to tangle with a badger.’

Admittedly, brock will give a good account of himself, but he should not have to do so. It is unfair and unsporting and proves nothing - at least, nothing about the lurcher though it may throw light upon its owner.

Bay. Barking at, and occasionally nipping quarry.

Charge. A badger will mount a ferocious charge at a terrier in order to bolt or to move to another part of the sett. It was game terrier that could withstand a charge.

Dig. Terriers are entered into a sett in order to locate a badger, when a badger is found, the terrier holds the badger at bay. If the badger attempted to turn its back on the terrier in order to dig itself deeper into or move to another part of the sett, the terrier would dart in and nip the badger. After a while the terrier and badger would settle in one spot, often a stop end, terriermen would then begin to dig to the sound of the barking terrier.

Draw. At the end of a dig, when daylight falls on the terrier and badger for the first time, a badger often finds a few extra inches in which to withdraw deeper into the sett, placing itself just out of reach of the terriermen. In order to save the terrier from taking further punishment and often because terriermen themselves treat a badger with the utmost respect, a strong lurcher (sometimes two or three lurchers) is be brought to the dig. Using its extra power, speed and agility the lurcher picks the right moment to dart in and grip the badger. Once gripped, the lurcher would back-out of the sett and the badger would be drawn from the dig.

Grip. To hold in a restrained condition so that the badger can safely be handled by the terriermen.

Locked-on. When a lurcher has a firm grip on a badger it is said to be locked-on.

Barking. (See Opening-up) Barking at the entrance to a hole, as part of a mark or on a hot scent is uncommon among lurcher. Barkers often stand back or even walk around a warren barking. It is important to discourage any from lurcher barking.

Base dog. The most suitable breed of dog to use as a base in a lurcher breeding project, more often than not a greyhound. The dog that dominates the cross, for example in a bedlington whippet x whippet lurcher, the base dog is the whippet.

Bat-ears. Large, erect, open ears like those on the Pharaoh hound.

Beard. Heavy, bushy whiskering as on the Beardie Collie.

Beat. The area covered by beaters.

Beaters.  Used in hare coursing and driven game. People who walk the fields and cover behind the Shy in order to drive hares towards the dogs

Bedding. The material a dog sleeps on. Opinion is divided as to what is the best bedding for a dog. Straw and hay are warm and do have a healthy, clean smell when fresh. However, they harbour fleas. A lurcher bedded on straw might show a low burden of fleas during the daytime but at night, while the dog is resting on its bed, fleas leave the hollow stalks of the straw and infest the dog. Because fleas are the ‘intermediate host’ for the tapeworm the lurcher is almost immediately re-infected with tapeworm. With hay and straw there is the additional problem of dust, which can produce respiratory problems.

Shredded paper is the preferred choice of most greyhound trainers. It is warm and clean, probably the two most important factors, and it is easily obtained from most greyhound tracks at a reasonable price. The fault with shredded paper is that it forms itself into paper balls which if not shaken out daily, which becomes uncomfortable for the dog. Shaken daily and changed once a week, shredded paper is probably the best bedding for a lurcher.

During hot weather a deep layer of newspaper is often preferable to straw, hay or shredded paper. The newspaper provides insulation and a mild, if somewhat firm cushion for the dog to rest on. Again, as with all bedding, it is essential to change the newspaper regularly.

Bedlington Terrier. A very old British terrier. Originally game, intelligent and fearless - often belligerent. The earliest Bedlington of which records exist is "Old Flint" one of a litter dated 1782. The Bedlington of old excelled at otter, badger and fox hunting and had an exceptional aptitude for killing all vermin. It is said that bedlington terriers were also used for the sport of dog fighting.

The working strains of old are almost extinct and one has to look hard to find a through back, a bedlington with the qualities needed to produce a decent lurcher. But search hard because they are there. Not the roach-backed, linty coated show bedlington, the one which turns white at twelve months old, they are of little use to the lurcher breeder. But the hard-coated little gladiators, with a jaw like a miniature pit-bull-terrier, they are the bedlington’s to use.

Also, there are bedlington terriers that have been outcrossed, several generations ago, to both border and black Lakeland terrier (often called the Patterdale) these terriers are game and throw remarkably good jackets onto their protégé. Strains to look out for are Granitor for the pedigree bedlington and Rillington for the outcross. If I were given the choice to breed from a good outcross or a good pedigree bedlington and taking nothing away from the outcross, I would plumb for the pedigree dog every time.

Base bog. Greyhound, Saluki or Whippet.

Coat. Hard, dense with good undercoat.

Colour. Black, blue and chocolate.

Conformation. Strong, muscular.

Feet. Good.

Genetic Faults. Copper Toxicosis.

Head. Narrow with no stop.

Height. About 15"

Jaw. Strong with well-set teeth.

Nose. Exceptional.

Obedience. Easy to train, eager to please.

Bedlington Greyhound.  See home page.

Bedlington Whippet.  See home page

Bitch. A female canine. Also applied to female ferrets.

Biting.  It is uncommon for a lurcher to bite a person. However, in an attempt to dig down to game when a mark has been made, some lurcher’s bite the ground and dig the surplus earth away.

Blaze. A white marking running up the Centre of the face. Often seen on greyhounds and salukis.

Bloodline. The pedigree of a working dog such as the foxhound, greyhound, whippet etc. Where it is possible to trace the bloodline of a pedigree dog, in order to study and choose a suitable sire for a bitch, it is not so with the lurcher. A lurcher is a crossbred and as such has no independent bloodline.

Blow. Lurchermen often describe a single run at game as, ‘giving the dog a blow’. Just as racehorse trainer would give a race to a horse in order to fine-tune its training, so too with a lurcher. With one difference, ours is not a race with other dogs but a gallop at a hare or run at rabbit. While walking, play and hand slipping are the most important aids to actually getting a lurcher fit, there is nothing better than a run with a purpose, to get a lurcher on-its-toes. If for example you were training a dog for a specific day’s lurcher work; you would naturally road walk the dog in order to bring the dog to a point where the do is straining on the lead to gallop.

Three to four days before you intend to run the dog is the point where a short blow, a hard run but without fully releasing all the dog’s energy, is beneficial.

Giving a lurcher a good blow entails looking for the right hare or rabbit. The rabbit or hare must be close enough for the dog to get too, but far enough away and with a sufficient distance to run, to allow the dog to open up into his stride and maintain that stride for a time.

One point to bare in mind when giving a dog a blow at a hare. Make sure the hare has a reasonable means of escape or the slip is long. The last thing you want is for a lurcher which is approaching full fitness, to have a five minuet grueller at the back of the strongest hare in the parish. There is a dividing line which must be trod warily, a good gallop is one thing but if the dog needs electroliting and three days to recover, the object of the exercise has been defeated.

A blow is a short-sharp burst of action, a tone-up given when a lurcher is approaching full fitness.

Blowing. At the end of a hard run when the dog’s tongue is hanging out to give the maximum cooling effect to the dog and its ribs are heaving and its head is down so that oxygen can take the most direct rout to the lungs. A lurcher is said to be blowing. Also Marking.  Blower’s put their head as far down the hole as they can and blow or snort. Blowing is to be discouraged.

Blown. A lurcher or greyhound that has little or no stamina because its lungs and muscles are severely damaged often a result of over running as a young dog. Blown lurchers often wheeze or cough both while and especially after a run. Because of this handicap a blown lurcher finds work and catching game extremely difficult. There is no way for a lurcherman to know if a lurcher is blown other than by seeing the animal run at the back of a hare or at several rabbits. Because this condition does not respond to treatment a blown lurcher is of no practical use to the working lurcherman.

Bolt. The moment when a rabbit, rat or fox is driven from a refuge by a ferret or terrier.

Bolter.  A bolting animal, although it is more usual to apply this term to the rabbit..

Bolt Hole. The hole from which game bolts. More often used in rabbiting to describe a hidden hole on a rabbit warren.

Bones. All dogs require good, fresh beef bones to chew on. It helps to keep their teeth and gums in good order. However, it is not advisable to feed chicken or rabbit bones to a lurcher as they can get stuck in the throat. Also, take care when feeding bones to more than one dog, lurchers are jealous animals and kennel fights can ensue.

Borzoi. The wolf Coursing dog of Russia, still sometimes known as the Russian wolf-hound, truly a magnificent dog. The first standard for the breed was drawn up in 1650, in the reign of Tsar Alexis. A Borzoi Club was founded in Britain in 1892 after the breed had received great attention from Queen Alexandra and the Duchess of Newcastle, and in that year the Grand Duke Nicholas entered Borzois from the Imperial kennels in the Islington show. "Oudar" and "Ouslad and "Koratai" were among the historic dog names on that occasion.

Base dog. Whippet or greyhound, possibly saluki.

Coat. Long and silky with a twist.

Colour. White with patches of brindle, brown, blue or grey.

Conformation. Deep chest, long back and legs.

Feet. Strong and rounded.

Genetic faults. None.

Head. Long and lean with no stop.

Height. 29 to 31"

Obedience. A mind of their own, completely intractable.

Recommended Reading. Borzois by Winnifred E. Chadwick. Pub. Kemp of London.

Borzoi Greyhound. After the Russian revolution of 1917 the breed, as hunting dogs, went into decline and have never really recovered. As a lurcher the Borzoi cross greyhound would not be my first choice. Unless crossed to a whippet the resulting lurcher might very well exceed 30" and although the Borzoi is graceful at the gallop, 30" is far too big for any practical purposes. I can think of no reason why anyone should with to produce a lurcher from a borzoi. Anything that might be considered desirable in a borzoi can be found better in another breed. The borzoi was used in Russia for hunting wolf, unfortunately there are no wolves in Surrey.

In America Borzois are used to course Coyote. In ‘Hounds Hares and other Creatures’ (Donald R. Hoflin 1977) Steve Copold shows Borzoi’s killing both badger and coyote but the closest animal we have to a coyote is the red fox and no lurcher should be set onto a badger. I have heard of the occasional borzoi being worked on hare and raced against other borzois on race tracks in this country. For a good account of borzois hunting wolf see Tolstoy’s War and Peace, book VII, chapters 3 seq.

Breaking. Teaching a lurcher its trade. When a lurcher is said to be ‘fully broken’ it is broken at many levels which often include, jumping, marking, stock, ferrets and nets. The whole package is usually referred to as ‘breaking a lurcher’ and is usually applied to a pup or young or inexperienced lurcher.

Breeding. (The principles) The sole object of breeding a lurcher is to improve stock. Sentiment should not enter into the equation.

Breed-up. During the close season game, especially rabbits are given chance to breed. There numbers increase significantly, they are said to breed-up.

Bring-on. Often used in connection with a young or inexperienced lurcher that has acquired the basic skills but needs to be taught the refinements of lurcher work. A lurcher might be broken to all the basic commands as well has having an introduction to field craft and even be lucky enough to have caught a couple of rabbits. Building on these basic skills by further schooling such as jumping, stock training and further work in the field a lurcherman would ‘bringing-on’ the lurcher, often during the summer months, for work proper the following season.

Brisket. That part of the body between the fore-legs and immediately in front of the chest.

Brindle. A mixture of dark and light hairs giving a mottled appearance.

Broken. A term with two connotations. Usually applied to a working dog which has learned its trade, is steady to stock, ferret and nets. However, a broken lurcher can also be one that has had its day.

Broken Coated. A rough weatherproof coat (jacket) as found on the deerhound, bedlington terrier and border terrier.

Broken Bones. The best advise I could give anyone for the treatment of any broken bone is to get the dog to a veterinarian who specializes in the treatment of running dogs, such as greyhound or whippet, as soon as possible. However there are certain ‘first aid’ procedures, which can assist the healing process.

Broken leg.

Broken toe

Broken Down. (see Season) A serious state of ill-health as a result of work.

Brood Bitch. A bitch, sometimes a lurcher but more often a Greyhound, kept exclusively for the purpose of breeding. After a brood bitch has been taken to the sire (stud dog) and produce a litter of pups she becomes a Dam. Brood bitches are a special cases as they are often kennelled, fed and watered correctly but otherwise forgotten until they come in season. Where to get the best out of any brood bitch she should be treated in the same manner as any working member of the kennel, with regular grooming, nail clipping, exercise and companionship. There is even a case for giving a bitch the chance of a little light work, indeed a bitch called Flirt ran-up for the 1847 Waterloo Cup a few days before whelping a litter. Treating a brood bitch as you would any other member of the kennel pays dividends as they do tend to produce larger, healthier pups.

Brood bitches do necessarily require extra feeding and even their diet supplementing with vitamins or other additives such as bone meal or cod liver oil. The time to do a brood bitch proud is the moment you obtain her, for it is a fact that you only ever get out of the pups what you put into the bitch.

When you obtain a brood bitch give her a thorough once over. Start by cleaning her a good grooming, clean her teeth and ears, worm and flea her as a matter of course

Brush. The tail of a fox.

Bush. That type of tail with long bushy hair as on a collie, though on the saluki the hair hangs low and free and is called feathering.

Bumping. When two lurchers are coursing they run jealous, each wanting to be the dog which makes the kill, some lurchers take jealousy a step further and attempt to knock the other dog off the course by bumping into the other dog.

Bushing. Game often holds up in cover during the daytime. Small lurchers such as the bedlington whippet are often used to flush game from cover in the same way as a spaniel would. Alternatively, a terrier is entered into cover with the lurcher waiting outside the cover to chase any game that might bolt.

Butterfly nose. A nose which is mottled or shows some flesh colouring.

Buying a lurcher. See purchasing a lurcher.

Carrying condition. Lurchers can be seen carrying condition during the summer months or when recovering from an injury. During these times of enforced inactivity the dog necessarily puts on weight and gains strength. The extra weight is known as carrying condition.

Carry. Most lurchers will carry any game they have caught back to the lurcherman. And let me say that if a dog catches a hare half a mile away, it's the end of the day, you're tired and finding it hard to put one foot in front of the other the carry is the most useful of all tools). Carrying comes naturally to some lurchers but others have to be taught. Throwing a hard rubber ball (never a stick) and letting the dog retrieve the ball as part of a game best does this. When the dog gets within ten yards or so crouch down on your haunches, hold out the palm of your hand and give the command 'give'. Never prolong any training so that the dog looses interest and then transfer the training into the field. Lurchermen often talk of carrying live to hand, for my ten peneth, I prefer game to be carried in a single grip and brought back dead. For two reasons, the game is not suffering and it's not going to run away, as often happens, when the dog gets tiered and puts the game down for a moment. When this happens the lurcherman is often seen chasing game around the field himself, I speak of course, from bitter experience.

Cast. Cast, or cast-out. To send a lurcher in a certain direction or place in search of game.

Catch Dog. In coyote hunting. A dog that makes the initial contact with the coyote . Usually the fasted dog.

Chest dog. In coyote hunting. A dog, which grips the chest of the coyote and delivers the fatal bites to the coyote’s vital organs, thereby ensures swift despatch.

Chops. The pendulous upper lip as seen on some foxhounds.

Clarke H. Edwards. Author and authority on the greyhound and hare coursing.

Close Season. There is no official closed seasons for fox, hare and rabbit though in England and Wales. It is illegal to course a hare on a Sunday and Christmas day although for fox and hare the Master of Foxhounds Association, National Coursing Club (N.C.C.) and the Countryside Alliance do have their own recommendations.

Given that there are is no legal closed season for the primary quarries of the lurcher, I recommend that N.C.C. guidelines are used. The N.C.C. rules says that no coursing meetings shall take place between 11 March and 14 September in any year, both dates inclusive.

While it is true that lurchers are used for pest control hunting throughout the summer months can be so efficient that there are little or no pest to control in the winter. Give all quarry a closed season, a time to breed in piece. If a farmer asked you to control quarry in the summer do oblige but make only a token effort. Often, when I am asked to clear rabbits in the summer I go onto the land and shoot a few cartridges into the air or make an appointment to lamp the land, then shine my lamp everywhere, including onto the farm, just to let the farmer know I am there. Then come late August, early September I make a serious assault on the land. This keeps everyone happy.

Clubs. Lurcher clubs spring up around the country from time to time, some last the majority fold within a season or two. The basic idea behind lurcher clubs is good. That a group of individuals with a common interest meet each month to exchange views and work together in order to promote the lurcher and its work.

Usually when a new club is formed the first question to be asked is: "When are we going to hold a lurcher show?" Shows are a great way of funding the club but inevitably the responsibility of organising and running the show falls onto the shoulders of one or two committed individuals with little or no support from other members. While these individuals may be quite happy to do all the donkey work for one show they soon become disenchanted with the club and the club folds

Code of conduct. There is an uncontrollable element within the lurcher owning fraternity (surprised?) there always has been and I suspect there always will be. All lurchermen should adhere, where practicable, to a voluntary code of conduct. The code of conduct need not be draconian, simply reasonable and might take this form.

1.        Only fox, hare and rabbit are considered suitable quarry for a lurcher.

2.        Do not course hare between 11 March and 14 September in any year, both dates inclusive.

3.        Do not allow more than 2 dogs to course a hare.

4.        The Slip. When lurchers are run out of slips give the hare Fair Law. The length of a slip must necessarily vary    with the nature of the ground, and should not be less than 75 metres.

5.        Open Field Coursing (where a lurcher hunts-up a hare). Whenever practicable ensure Fair Law is given.

6.        Whenever possible, course under National Coursing Club rules.

7.        Never work a lurcher without the permission of the landowner.

8.        Secure written permission where possible.

9.        Open Field Work. Ensure that lurchers’ are broken to all farm stock.

1       Lamping. Take all reasonable steps to inform everyone connected with the land of your intention to lamp. Where you will park a car, the registration, the time you intend to begin lamping and an estimated time, you will end.

1      Respect the sport of others. Do not work a lurcher in an area where a hunt or shoot will be taking place in the near future.

       Respect the countryside.

Cod Liver Oil. Cod liver oil is a useful but somewhat dangerous tool. Rich in vitamins A and D cod liver oil in small quantities is beneficial to all working dogs, pregnant and nursing bitches and pups suffering from rickets. Cod liver oil, used sparingly should be given three times a week and fed to a working dog only in winter.

Coat. The hair on the dog. Also referred to as jacket.

Coldblood.  Sometimes used to describe an unregistered greyhound.

Collie Greyhound.    See home page

Colour. There is an old adage; there is no good dog that is a bad colour.

Coming again. A term used when coursing to describe a dog that has been out of the action but which finds its second wind and is able to renew its efforts.

Complete Meal. (see feeding)

Conditions.  When hunting take the weather condition into consideration at all times. The directions of the wind, temperature, cloud and rainfall are all of equal importance, especially with young or inexperienced lurchers when asking then to search for game that has been on its seat for some while or asking for a mark. Cold, still days are considered better for hunting than warm wet days.  However, scent is fickle and you could very well find a lurcher hunting wonderfully on a day when in theory there should be no scent at all. Be patient with young dogs. After a season, when the dog has familiarised itself with all the variations in conditions and scents, the average lurcher will make a steady hunter and throughout the next season, given the opportunity, develop its marking skills. 

Couplings. That part of the trunk between the limb joints. Terriers are ‘short-in-couplings’ (short-coupled) while a lurcher should be long-in-couplings (long-backed). Also, a device to couple two dogs together, usually a chain or rope. More often used with terriers but sometimes used in stock training a lurcher. A sound to stock broken dog is coupled to a young or inexperienced dog.

Coursing. Coursing the wild brown hare is the oldest of all the field sports. There are two types of lurcher coursing; competitive and non-competitive. Non-competitive coursing or open field coursing takes place all over the country every weekend during the winter for sport, pest control or to simply get a hare for the pot. There are many graduations between competitive and non-competitive coursing. For instance, coursing matches may take place within non-competitive coursing, where two lurchermen simply go for a walk in order to test their dogs against each other, the winner being the dog that catches the hare.

Contrary to popular belief coursing in England does not involve enclosing hares in any way. Hares are coursed on the land where they live and are familiar with. Indeed, hares blend into their surroundings so well that lurchermen often talk of 'having to find a hare'. Beaters, people who drive a hare towards the dogs are seldom used in lurcher coursing. A typical lurcher-coursing event would entail lurchermen walking line abreast, with their dogs, across the fields, when a hare is found the two dogs, which are closest to the hare are slipped.

In open field coursing a useful lurcher would take one in five hares, this ratio is fairly constant so the mortality rate from lurcher coursing would seldom exceed 20% of the hares on the ground. This should be compared to other forms of pest control such as shooting or netting at night which are said to be 98% effective.

Competitive coursing, where lurchers are run to rules.

 Competitive coursing, a branch of lurcher work where lurchers are run under rules is organised by The Association of Lurcher Clubs. There are two types of competitive lurcher coursing; single and double handed.

 In single-handed coursing the object is for the lurcher to catch the hare. This is often carried out at the request of a farmer for pest control purposes, on land where hares are numerous. Often best -of- three or best-of- five hare competitions are run. A farmer would indicate to The Association of Lurcher Clubs that the hare population is greater than his land can reasonably sustain. A single-handed competition is then organised. Up to 32 competitors are charged an entrance fee of around £10. This money is paid directly to the farmer who often donates it to a local charity.

The aim of single-handed coursing events is to catch hares. Other forms of control are indiscriminate. Single-handed coursing is one method, which ensures that the strongest hares survive to breed.

 Doubled-up lurcher coursing, where two lurchers run against each other, is very similar to coursing under National Coursing Club rules. The dogs are slipped at a hare, the distance of the slip being varied according to the nature of the land, but generally speaking a hare would be given a start of not less than sixty yards. The course is then judged on a points system.

The Run-up. 1 point to be awarded at the judges discretion, for a dog that has taken a

clear advantage in the run-up to the hare.

The Turn. 1 point for a turn greater than 90 degrees.

The Wrench. 1/2 a point for a tern less than 90 degrees

Go-By. Up to 3 points A for a dog that is more than one length behind and comes through to lead by a clear length and puts in a turn of more than 90 degrees or more.

The Trip. 1 point for a dog that trips or flecks a hare.

The Kill. Up to 2 points for a dog making meritorious kill after a period of sustained effort.

Perhaps the most popular type of coursing is open-field or ‘one for the pot’ type coursing, where a lurcherman allows the lurcher to hunt the wild brown hare. When a hare is found, the lurcher courses the hare. The hare is either caught by the dog or as more often happens, evades the dog using its speed, stamina and superior turning ability and lives to run another day.

Cow-hocked. A lurcher is said to be cow-hocked when its hocks are bent inwards.

Coy or Coy dog.  Coyote - domestic dog hybrid.

Coyote. Coyote: singular. Coyotes: plural. Also known as grey boy, prairie wolf, bush wolf, plains wolf. Male, dog. Female, bitch. Young, pups.

Coyote Hound. A large, powerful lurcher bred specifically for coursing coyote. Also known as the staghound.

Crafty. Running crafty, occasionally lurcher’s appear to think for themselves while running a rabbit or coursing a hare. A common assurance when two lurchers are coursing a hare by a hedge or wood side, is for one lurcher to leave the course and ‘goalkeep’ the hare or run to the opposite side of the hedge and wait for the hare to break through. Other examples of running crafty are seen when a lurcher heads-off a distant hare or when a lurcher pulls-up while at the back of a hare.

It is easy to confuse intelligence, which running crafty is said to be, with instinct. Intelligence is the ability to solve a problem while instinct is a reaction provided by nature, to a given situation. I do not believe that any lurcher possesses the intelligence, to reason that, if it pulls-up on a course while at the back of a strong hare it will conserve energy for the next gallop. Running crafty is not intelligence it is instinct.

Croup. The area immediately before the root of the tail.

Cunning. Some lurchers think while running game, though whether is desirable is open to debate. Perhaps the most dramatic form of cunning can be seen when a lurcher runs in front of an avenue of escape, this practice is also know as goal keeping.

Cuts. Small cuts can be treated by the lurcherman, a simple saline solution is all that is required. In order to make sure the wound is thoroughly clean, wipe down the cut using a antiseptic tissue or clean cloth then pour the saline solution into and over the wound. Anything more than a small cut should be treated by a veterinary surgeon.

Cutters. (USA) A coyotes canine teeth.

Dam. Female, mother to pups

Dead coat.  Old coat that has not been cast, regular brushing will remove dead coat and help keep the lurcher in tiptop condition.

Deerhound. In the days of Picts and Celts battles were often fought over the possession of  Scottish Deerhounds’, some hounds used to fight alongside their  masters’ and were often used to guard the Standard (Flag). In later time's wolves, wild boar and red deer  were hunted by Deerhounds and the last wolf to be killed in Britain was killed by a single hound in Glencoe.

 However,  deer coursing was the main use of the hounds and coursing meets were often attended by Royalty. Deer were presented to the hounds in one of two ways. Either driven past a brace of hounds hidden in a shy much as hares are at coursing meetings are today. Alternatively, the more conventional method of stalking the chosen beast with a couple of hounds held on a slip lead, getting the hounds as close as possible to the deer before slipping them.

 A famous brace of hounds were ‘Bran’ and ‘Buscar’ who saw most of their coursing on the Isle of Jura. Bran was small for a Deerhound dog at 28” to the shoulder and weighing 85 ld . Whereas a red deer stag could well be 48” to the shoulder and  weigh 250lbs a well as having a set of antlers which could well rip open a careless hound.  

 There is an account of coursing on the Isle of Jura with Bran and Buscar where the stalker got the hounds within a hundred yards of a stag before slipping them. The hounds pressed the beast hard when suddenly the stag found itself on a precipice, 14’ high, the stag paused momentarily then jumped when the hounds were nearly upon him.

 Down he went over broken boulders and loose rocks, followed by the two hounds and the chase resumed.

 The chase eventually became un-sighted so the stalker took the assembled party, which consisted of a piper and six or seven sportsmen, to higher ground.  By then the hounds were on the beast, Bran grabbed a hock with such force that the stag’s speed was immediately checked and Buscar, passing Bran, seized the deer by the neck.

 The deer dragged the hounds some considerable distance, kicking Bran off more than once before becoming exhausted and being pulled down by the hounds.

Base Dog.  Greyhound, saluki, whippet.

Coat.  Thick, harsh, 32 to 50 mm long with softer down next to skin for insulation. Weatherproof.

Colour.   Blue-grey occasionally light bronze.

Conformation. Long back - the longer the better, strong whip tail. Narrow chest, no wider than a clenched fist, very deep providing plenty of room for heart and lungs.

Feet.   Tight.

Genetic faults.

Head.  Deep powerful head with strong jaw and well-set, even teeth.

Height.  29” to 33”

Obedience. Very obedient , loyal and a pleasure to own. Deerhounds have an air of arrogance about them, almost aloof to any other breed of dog.

Recommended reading.  The Scottish Deerhound with notes on its Origin and Characteristics by E. Weston Bell. Edinburgh, 1892.

 George Cupples. Scotch Deer-Hounds and Their Masters. Edinburgh, 1894.

Deerhound Greyhound. The deerhound is the largest dog in the hound group which lurchermen use regularly to produce lurchers. True the borzoi is taller and the wolfhound heavier but neither are commonly used and with good reason, both reproduce themselves, the borzoi gives a lurcher that is too tall for practical lurcher work and the wolfhound, a lurcher which is too heavy.  

Anyway, if it’s height and power you are breeding for the deerhound fits the bill perfectly. As a dog to put over a greyhound bitch the deerhound has a lot going for it, having a good action, feet, jacket, stamina and temperament. Aesthetically the greyhound deerhound is second to none and are more than regular winners in the show ring.

Over the years, I have watched quite a few greyhound deerhounds gallop and two stands out as being particularly useful animals. The first useful deerhound greyhound I saw gallop was a rough coated, dark red brindle bitch, which I was assured, was a genuine 'staghound'.

Now in those long-gone days, all rough-coated lurchers were referred to as staghounds and I remember plain as day sitting in the Dog and Partridge at Clitheroe, debating the merits of the staghound lurcher. Sat in the corner was Stan Wheatcroft, a man who always seemed to have a good dog about him. Stan was saying how it didn’t matter a jot what jacket a lurcher had so long as it could take a hare and all the other lads agreed but made the point that a dog needed a good jacket simply to survive a days coursing on Pendle Hill in winter.

Tremendous Monday nights those, twenty and more lurchermen pressed into a taproom, lurchers peering out from under bench seats, rabbits and hares coursed all around the room, the occasional fox dug and theories, more theories than a man could shake a stick at.  Sometimes a lurcherman would pop in for a pint, someone famous from down the valleys and we would all show suitable respect to our guest and listen intently to what he had to say – well until the sixth pint, then it was the usual free for all, great days.

Anyway to get back to the tale.  A friend and I were hunting on a large moor on the Lancashire, Yorkshire border. A moor that had the shattered remains of ancient quarries scattered over it.  Heather covered the quarries and game, hares and rabbits, sat tucked into deep seats on the sides of the old workings. While hunting one of the workings which had long ago surrendered to nature, a hare got-up and my friends two lurchers, a collie greyhound second cross and the greyhound deerhound set of in pursuit.

 What a course and it is only fair to say what a hare. For what seemed an age, the two dogs coursed the hare, bending, twisting and turning before disappearing out of sight. My friend and I scanned the horizon for the dogs and hare but saw nothing. A moment or two later the better bitch, the collie cross, came back head down, panting, there was no way the bitch would be fit for another run that day.

Taking us completely by surprise the deerhound greyhound charged into the quarry at the back of a hare. Now I am not suggesting the bitch was at the back of the same hare she coursed out of the quarry, because that is incidental to the tale. So too is the fact that the bitch coursed the hare for a further fifty yards into the quarry before she picked the hare up and in fine style I might add.

I don’t rightly know how long the bitch coursed the hare for, or if she had missed, the first hare early on in the course then found another on the way back to us. It doesn’t matter the bitch had been galloping for a long while and truth to tell after a short rest she was fit to gallop again. If my memory serves me, she picked up two hares and three rabbits that morning. Admittedly the catch was not outstanding but I must do remember that both hares were hard won so full credit to the bitch.

The rub was that this deerhound greyhound had out stayed and out coursed one of the best lurchers I had seen gallop. Now one morning doesn’t make a hare dog any more than one-lurcher makes a lurcherman, but the deerhound greyhound bitch had class that was plain to see.

The next half-decent greyhound deerhound I saw gallop was a fine animal called Gisburn. I watched the dog perform on a number of occasions and saw it kill quite a few hares and a lot of rabbits, and I once saw it do everything but catch a large stag. A great run where the dog was extremely unlucky to miss. Anyway, Gisburn was a rough coated, blue brindle dog of about 28" a fine animal by any standards.

A friend and I were coursing with Gisburn on pastureland that bottomed a hill farm. A strong hare got up and literally flew to the gate on this walled field. Gisburn was into his powerful, long, flowing stride, so typical of the greyhound deerhound and leapt the five bare gate beautifully. The hare was half way up the next field as Gisburn put his landing gear down but then without any fuss, as if he knew he had the power to get on terms with the hare, he powered up the field.

At the back of the hare, he did lose on the bends but again he used his strength and stamina to get back on terms with the hare. The hare turned and powered down the field but Gisburn to equal to her move and this time powered up to the hare and made a clean kill. The dog then carried the hare back to hand, leaping the gate, hare in jaw, effortlessly.  Nothing remarkable in that course, the like of which has happened countless times. However, as the dog dropped the still hare at our feet another hare sprang and the exact same course over the same gate and up the same hill took place and with the same outcome.

True, I never have owned a deerhound greyhound either at half or three quarter cross so I suppose I shouldn’t make too much of them, having said that I never have owned a Rolls Royce but I know they have class.

Dehydration.

Den Coyote term.   A place of whelping, also a place to escape extreme heat or cold. 

Denning.  The act of killing coyote pups when still in their den, usually the pups are dug out, alternatively a poison is used.

Dew-claws.  The fifth digit, found on the inside of the front legs just below the hocks. All running dogs but particularly lurchers,  are prone to tearing dew-claws as they gallop across country. Consequently, some breeders cut the dew-claws off when lurcher pups are only a few days old.

  However, photographs of greyhounds and lurchers turning at the gallop, show dew-claws at almost 90 degrees to the leg, this, I believe indicates that dew-claws play an important part in taking some of the strain from the legs of a lurcher when bending.

  Should a lurcher tear a dew-claw off, bath the area with a saline solution and ensure the wound is kept clean. A lurcher will usually do this by licking. The wound should heal up within two days. If the wound is particularly nasty, and they sometime can be, or you are in any doubt whatsoever, take the dog to the veterinary surgeon immediately.

Diarrhoea.

Digging.  When game has been run to ground some lurchers attempt to dig down to the game. Digging at an earth or warren must be discouraged as it alerts game danger lurks above.

Digging out. A terrier or ferret which has become trapped underground or which refuses to leave its subterranean task often requires digging out by the lurcherman.

Dispatch. Terminating the life of game. With hare or rabbit the quickest and most humane method of dispatch is to hold the back legs with one and place the other hand at the back of the ears. Grip firmly, stretch the animal out and with a firm pull from both arms dislocate the neck.

Dishing.  A circular movement of the front feet which effects the dogs action and gives an overall appearance of an unbalanced dog, dishing is not common in the lurcher but is to be watched for when judging a lurcher show.

Disperse. Fox cubs or coyote pups leaving their parents.

Distemper.

Doing the dog proud.  Also know as ‘doing the dog well’. A culmination of good kennelling and feeding often applied to a dog, which previously has not had the best of homes. 

Dog.  A male canine also applied to male ferrets.

Dogman.  A working lurcher or terrier enthusiast.

Double coat.  A hard, rough or wirery or coat with an undercoat. See undercoat.

Downwind. The importance of noting and using wind direction to best advantage cannot be over emphasised.  To hunt downwind means that the scent of any quarry blows from the quarry to the lurcherman, to walk upwind is the opposite and often alerts game. When hunting downwind one will often see a lurcher pickup or ‘wind’ game from some distance away.

Drop ears. Ears, which are pendant, hanging, flat to the side of the head.

Dropper. A term used to describe a rabbit that is taken live and then put down on land it does not know for a young or inexperience lurcher to chase and kill.  Another use of the dropper is to ferret and net a rabbit, take it some distance, perhaps 100 metres from the warren and allow the rabbit to run for home before releasing a young lurcher. Note. This practice is illegal.  

Drops-in-behind.  See Settle-in.

Dudley nose.  A wholly fleshy coloured nose.

Ears.

Ear Mites.

Early Pace.

Eclampsia.

Elbow.  The joint at the top of the fore-arm.

Electrolyte.

Enforced Rest.   After work most lurchers like nothing more than to have a rub-down, water, feed and then curl up in there kennel and enjoy a well earned rest. There are exceptions such as the dog that will not lie down but pads up and down the kennel run as though lost or when kennelling two lurchers together and one, the dominant animal, will not allow the other onto the bedding in order to rest.

  Under these or similar circumstances it might be necessary to make the dog rest by confining it to a kennel. Often, even when confined to barracks the dog will stand and whine for a while, but eventually most lurchers do settle down to rest.

  Great care must be taken when forcing rest on a lurcher, to make sure the dog has access to clean water and that the lurcher is not confined for so long a period that it soils the bedding.

Enteritis.

Essential Reading.   Where lurchers and there work are concerned there aren’t many book that I could whole heatedly recommend to you as essential reading.  For further reading any information about the greyhound has relevance to the lurcher. The few books I can recommend are:

·         Badgers Digging with Terriers. Dave Harcombe. Fieldfare.

·         Coursing the Pursuit of Game with Gazehounds. Various contributors Standfast Press.

·         Hounds Hares and other Creatures. Steve Copold. (Donald R. Hoflin 1977)

·         Lurchers and Longdogs. E.G. Walsh.  The Boydell Press.

·         Pennine Poacher  Nocturnal exploits in the Yorkshire Dales by ‘Rabbity Dick’ (Richard Fawcett)  A Dalesman publication.

·         The Art of Long netting. Harold Wyman. Dickson Price Publishers.

·         The Brown Hare. Dr Stephen Tapper. Shire Natural History.

·         The English Whippet. E.G. Walsh and Mary Lowe. The Boydell Press.

·         The Scottish Deerhound with notes on its Origin and Characteristics by E. Weston Bell. 

      Edinburgh, 1892.

·         Saluki - Companion of Kings by Vera H. Watkins.

Exercise.  The controlled physical exertion given to a lurcher when the lurcher is fit or not in training.  It is normal to start training an adult lurcher for the coming season, in August. Once full fitness has been reached exercise, a walk of around three miles, twice a day, is all that is required to maintain fitness in a working lurcher. During the summer months light exercise, a walk of a mile, twice a day and the opportunity to have a  playful gallop is enough for a lurcher which is let-down from work and training.

Light exercise. In the course of a season most lurcher’s receive one or two minor bumps and bangs, it goes with the nature of their work. While recovering from a minor injury it might be useful to put a lurcher on light exercise for a while. Light exercise might consist of a slow walk, at the dogs own pace, of no more than half a kilometre followed by grooming. Light exercise does not necessarily mean the lurcher loosing fitness and where the injury is slight, can even be incorporated into maintaining fitness. A useful tool providing a rest period, during a hectic season, where the lurcher can regain and build up its inner reserves of strength. The correct amount of rest is of equal importance to a working lurcher, as the correct amount of exercise.

Eyeing.  Looking at stock with the intention of chasing it. (See Stock breaking.)

Eyes.

Fading.

Fair law.  National Coursing Club rule 20. The Slip. The length of the slip must necessarily very with the nature of the ground, and should not be less than four score yards. Four score yards (80 yards) is considered Fair Law.  

Fast going.

Feathering.  Long fringes of hair seen on the ears, back of legs and tail of a saluki.

Feeding.

Feet.

The Ferret and Ferreting.

 The  ferret is the indispensable tool of the rabbiting man. From Roman times hunters have have used the ferret to drive rabbits from their subterranean refuge.

Albino. A white ferret with pink eyes.

Back-filling. At the end of a dig, replacing the earth and grass and leaving the site of the dig as close to as you found it, as possible. It is always best to back-fill, many farmers will tolerate any amount of digging as a necessary part of ferreting but will not tolerate holes and mounds of soil, left by lazy ferreters, scattered about their land. When back filling try to leave the rabbit hole runable, so that the rabbit can run under the dug area. To do this place a stone over the open rabbit hole, or if there are no stones available, use the sod from the dig to back-fill on top of. Another little tip is whatever type of earth came out last, put back first so that there are no lumps of clay or stones in the field. It all makes for good farmer / ferreter relationships.

Backed-up. When a rabbit finds itself in a stop-end it will often turn its back on the ferret and expand its body to fill the full diameter of the hole. This action prevents the ferret climbing over the rabbit and delivering the killer bite at the back of the rabbits neck.

Bag. A canvas bag, about 10” x  8”, with two half inch diameter metal rings stitched into the middle of either side and secured at the open end by a piece of ch ord is used by ferreters and especially poachers, to carry their ferrets (see sketch).

 A carrying bag has one advantage over the box, in that is easy to slip a ferret-in-a-bag, into a large pocket. The disadvantages of the bag are many. Ferrets always mark their transport with urine and if they are in the bag for any time will defecate in it.. On cold, wet days the ferret and bag not only smells to high heaven but the ferret can get very cold. Another disadvantage is that you can only, being realistic, carry two ferreter, one in each jacket pocket, at once. On large warrens two ferrets might not be enough. Also if the operator takes a tumble, as we all do. A ferret carried in bag can get badly hurt. Also and perhaps most important of all, is that you cannot sit on a bag while waiting at a warren for a bolt.

Bitch. A term for a female ferret, often used in the North of England.

Biter.  Ferrets which bite are of no use to the rabbiting man. Regular handling and fingering often cures this intolerable and painful habit. If after regular handling and fingering the ferret persist in biting, it must be destroyed as no ferreter can have complete confidence in a ferret he feels may bite him at any moment.

Box.  A weatherproof box, filled with clean hay, is the best way to carry ferrets.

Boxing Gloves.  When a rabbit is backed-up  a ferret often scratches at the rabbit in an attempt to get the rabbit on the move. Rabbit fur gathers on the ferret’s claws and this accumulation of fur is commonly known as boxing-gloves.

Digging. Ferrets can be inconsiderate little animals and sometimes kill the very creature they are supposed to bolt, below ground; and when they do, it is often deep or under tree roots or in a stone drain - yes great fun can be had from digging to a ferret. Other than when ratting it is always best to work a ferret with a locator collar on and working (i.e. do not forget to check the batteries and screw the battery cap tight), at least then, if the ferret is in the most inaccessible of inaccessible places, you have the reassurance of knowing where the ferret is.

  If you are not using a collar it may be that you can locate the ferret either by using a linner or by getting on all-fours and placing your ear as close to the ground as you can. The secret with the latter method is to have some idea where the ferret and kill, might be, otherwise you can spend  a long and very uncomfortable tome searching and I know because I have done it. Still it serves you right for not investing in a locator.

 When the ferret is located dig out a circle of turf, a good rule of thumb is one foot diameter for every foot of depth. Now before you remove the turf, check to see if the ferret and rabbit are still in the same place. Often a rabbit that has been stationary for quite a while, giving the impression to those above ground of a kill-in, will move when it hears the disturbance made by digging. So always check.

 Remove the turf and place it alongside the dig. That way you can put the soil from the dig on top of the turf and so reduce the amount of clearing up to be done. It is always best even on relatively shallow digs to use the locator regularly. The closer you get to the ferret the more I would advise you to use the locator. Using a probe reduces the number of times you will need to use the locator and when you feel you are about to break through, clear all the excess soil from the hole. This is ‘easier said than done’.

  When you break though to the ferret, place the spade in the hole so it holds the soil back, preventing it falling in on the ferret and remove as much earth as you can by hand. Again, especially on deep digs, this may be easier said than done but take whatever precautions you can to prevent soil from falling in on the ferret. 

  The ferret should readily come to daylight and when it pops its head out of the hole show it the back of your hand, let the ferret have a smell, then pick it up. Some ferrets are proper little cautions at the end of a dig and dart back and forwards so that it takes an age to get hold of them. This adds to the fun. In this situation block the ferret off with the spade and remove the rabbit.

  If you are working a large warren and for some reason you have had to dig while other ferrets are still working (let’s say you have four ferrets in a warren and you know by the locator signal that three are on one rabbit). I would leave the dig open until all the ferrets are picked up. Time and time again I have back filled, manicured the ground, leaving little evidence of the dig, only to find that I have had to open up the same spot.

Cleaning-out.

Culling.

Dog.   In the North of England the male ferret is often known as a dog ferret.

Fingering.  Fingering is a simple and often effective method of dissuading a ferret from biting. Take your forefinger only and make a knuckle.

Feeding.

Ferret.

Ferreter.

Fleas.

Greyhound Ferret.  Thin, long bodied, white ferret’s are often called greyhound ferrets. 

Hob.  Male ferret.

Holed-up.

Hutch.

Handling.

Jill.  Female ferret.

Killer.  Killer’s are ferrets (often dog ferret’s) which kill every rabbit they come in contact with.

Killed-in.

Linner.

Lie-up. Know your ferret, use soft.

Locator.

Muzzle.

Operator. Another term for ferreter.

Peeping.  Coming to the hole entrance then darting back when the ferreter goes to pick it up. Peeping often is a result of snatching at a  young ferret. There is no cure for peeping other than letting the ferret grab hold of a dead rabbit, when the peeper has a firm grip, extract the animal. Unless the peeper is an exceptional worker it is best to find pet homes for them.

Play.  Play is as important to the ferret as it is to any animal.

Polecat.  Dark drown or black ferret with lighter coloured points.

Season.

Stayer.  A ferret which stays with its kill long enough to be dug to.

Stabled-up. A ferret which refuses to leave a dead rabbit is said to be stabled-up.

Stop-end.  Often rabbits hide from hunting ferrets in the extreme parts of a warren, when a rabbit can go no further they have reached a stop-end.

Teeth.  A ferret’s teeth along with its nose are its most important assets.

Vasectomy.

Fighting. Like the greyhound, the engine behind the lurcher is jealousy. Some lurchers become jealous when game has been caught and will fight over the carcass, others will protect a mark and will fight in order to guard the mark. It is best not to work any young or inexperienced lurcher with a dog of this ilk.

Fit to run but not running fit.

Flapping Track. A greyhound track with is not registered with the National Greyhound Racing Association.

Fleas.

Fleck.

Flews.  Another term for the chops.

Fly-ears.  Semi erect ears.

Form.

Folic acid. (Also see vitamins.)  Any of a group of vitamins of the B complex, also know as folacia  because it may be obtained from green leafy vegetables. Folic acid can be bought in tablet form and in moderation is a useful addition to the diet of a young lurcher.

Frigging. The death throws of an animal.

Fringes.  Another term for feathering.

Follow up.   After a lurcher has made a mark it is important to follow the mark up and ferret or enter a terrier. To follow a mark up is important to the confidence of a lurcher. Lurchers quickly become disillusioned with marking if there is no bolt as a reward for the mark.

Fox.

Gate Netting.

Gay Tail.  A tail is described as gay when it is curled over the back, not desirable in a lurcher.

Genetics.  The scientific study of how physical and behavioural traits are transmitted from parents to their offspring.  While basic genetics such as using a deerhound to improve jacket and gain height 

Genitals.

German Shepherd Greyhound.

Giving mouth. (See opening-up)

Glucose.

Go-bye.

Going.

Going to Him. (USA)  The run-up to a coyote.

Green. A young or inexperienced lurcher.

Green Pelt.  Any hide that has not been tanned.

Greyhound.

Grip.  The bite of a dog when holding or carrying game. Also see badger, carry, hard mouth, soft mouth and throat dog.

Grit.

Grizzle.  A term for an iron-grey colour.

Grooming.  Grooming is one of the most important aspects of lurcher ownership and good stockmanship.  Not only does grooming improve the lurcher’s coat it also helps in keeping fleas at bay. Grooming also helps form the bond between lurcherman and lurcher

 method, tools brushes, hacksaw blade, human bushes better and less expensive, stripping out, hands over dog lets you know of any hot spots and injuries.

Ground. Run to ground. Quarry that has been hunted often goes to ground, seeks refuge in an earth, warren, sett or den.

Grueller.

Gutting.

Half Cross.  Half -cross usually refers a  greyhound cross other any other breed of dog to produce a lurcher, i.e. greyhound cross saluki, greyhound  cross collie. Interestingly, in pure breeds it’s usual to prefix the Sire  and  affix the Dam.

Hand Signals.

Hanging Game.

Hard Mouth.

Hard Pad.

Hare.

Head Dog. In coyote hunting.  A dog that goes in and grips the coyote by the throat, restraining the coyote and keeping it from utilising his only weapon on other dogs. An important dog and one which ensure the process of dispatch is not prolonged.

Heading Off.

Heat Lamp.

H.J.K.C.   Hunt, jump. kill and carry. An abbreviation often used when advertising a lurcher for sale. Often the advertisement will carry a  further abbreviation for the game the dog is said to catch, such as: R.H.F.  Rabbit, hare and fox.

Hob. (See ferreting)

Hotblood.   Sometimes used to describe a registered track greyhound.

Hot scent. The fresh scent of a hunted animal.

Hung up. Entangled on a barbed wire fence. When chasing game across country a lurcher has to negotiate many obstacles the most dangerous of which is the barbed wire fence. Occasionally, a lurcher will misjudge its jump and become hung-up.

Hybrid. A hybrid is the offspring from a cross between individuals of two different species, or as with the lurcher two inbred lines within a species.

Hybrid Vigour. This is the general principle that the offspring resulting from a cross between two genetically dissimilar lines often possesses beneficial characteristics not shown by either parent. When we initially produce a lurcher by crossing two inbred lines, let’s say a collie dog to a greyhound bitch, the resulting pups will posses hybrid vigour i.e. the pups will be more fertile, have better disease resistance than their pure bred parents, be physically stronger and hopefully have an heightened hunting instinct.

Where inbreeding (such as in pedigree dogs) frequently produces reduced vigour and poor survival, outbreeding (as in the breeding of a lurcher) often results in the litter being tougher, more fertile and having a greater chance of survival. Hybrid Vigour is often particularly pronounced in the offspring’s of parents, which have been made inferior by previous inbreeding.

Gregor Mendel, a monk studying the crossing of pea plants in 1860’s, described two fundamental laws of inheritance. These are now given in terms of genes that are the hereditary units of the chromosome.

1.The law of segregation of genes. The characteristics of an organism are controlled by genes occurring in pairs. Of a pair of such genes, only one can be carried in a single egg or sperm. 1.The law of independent assortment of genes. Each member of a pair of genes may combine randomly with either of another pair of genes during fertilisation of the egg by the sperm.

An allele is one of two (or more) forms of a gene for a given trait that occurs in a specific position on each homozygous chromosome. All characteristics of an individual animal are controlled by two alleles of a gene, one inherited from the father and one from the mother. Alleles are different versions of the same gene, which have been produced by mutation or evolution. The genetic makeup of an animal is known as genotype, whereas the outward appearance of the animal is known as phenotype.

If in an individual, the two alleles of a certain gene are identical then the animal is homozygous for that gene. If, however, the alleles are in a different form then the animal is heterozygous for that gene. Alleles are said to be dominant if the effect of the gene is seen whether the individual is homozygous or heterozygous. Alleles are said to be recessive if the effect is seen only if the individual is homozygous for that recessive gene that is double recessive. Sometimes there is no dominance in a pair of alleles and the two genes concerned are expressed equally and are called co.-dominant.

If a gene possesses two alleles; the normal dominant allele and a recessive mutant allele, then three possible conditions can arise when these are combined during breeding.

1.Homozygous normal alleles - this gives a normal phenotype (sometimes called the wild type). 1.Heterozygous alleles - one mutant recessive allele is masked by the normal dominant allele giving a normal phenotype. 1.Homozygous mutual alleles - this gives rise to an abnormal phenotype, depending on the gene involved.

If the breeding is the result of a cross between two heterozygotes (sometimes called carriers for a mutant gene) then the ratio of the offspring will be 1:2:1 (homoz norm: heteroz: homoz: homoz mut). Thus a cross between two carriers of a mutant gene will have a one in four chance of having an affected offspring.

The effect of some genes can be modified by the surrounding genetic environment which gives rise to the concept of variable penetrance of a gene. Allied to penetrance is the term expressivity. Genes which are fully penetrant are usually expressed phenotypically in a fairly constant way. Genes which show lower degrees of penetrance may vary in their phenotypic effects. They are said to have variable expressivity.

There are large numbers of characters in which animal populations vary continuously rather than discreetly. Such characters can be explained by the action of not just one but a number of different pairs of genes. This is known as multifactoral or polygenic inheritance. The individual genes may act on the character in one direction or another, but the net result of the total effect of the genes is additive.

The genetic explanation of hybrid vigour is thought to be as follows. In any population there will be a certain number of ‘bad’ recessive genes (copper toxicosis in the bedlington terrier for example). Inbreeding results in a high proportion of the offspring having two copies of these bad genes (that is being homozygous for these recessive genes). Outbreeding on the other hand results in many of the offspring having only one copy of a bad gene (that is being heterozygous), so the normal bad recessive genes are masked by their normal dominant alleles, so when they are inbred heterozygosty is re-established and their vigour is restored.

It is unclear how many lurchers to lurcher generation's hybrid vigour last. The two areas where hybrid vigour has proved most successful are in pigs and poultry breeding, neither pigs or poultry are bred for the same purpose as a lurcher. I would suggest, though I have no scientific proof, that hybrid vigour lasts no more than five lurcher-to-lurcher generations at the outside.

Hybrid vigour is heightened at the first cross i.e. pure to pure and not as evident in future out-crossing. To cross a fifth generation lurcher to lurcher back to a greyhound will not produce the same heightened hybrid vigour as a first cross. Do not however, confuse hybrid vigour with working ability; rather look upon it as an aid to ability.

This is the general principle that the offspring resulting from a cross between two genetically dissimilar lines often possesses beneficial characteristics not shown by either parent. When we initially produce a lurcher by crossing two inbred lines, let’s say a collie dog to a greyhound bitch, the resulting pups will posses hybrid vigour i.e. the pups will have better disease resistance than their pure bred parents, be physically stronger and hopefully have an heightened hunting instinct.

 Where inbreeding (such as in pedigree dogs) frequently produces reduced vigour and poor survival, outbreeding (as in the breeding of a lurcher) often results in the litter being tougher, more fertile and having a greater chance of survival. Hybrid Vigour is often particularly pronounced in the offspring’s of parents, which have been made inferior by previous inbreeding.

Hung-up.

Hunt.

Ibizan Hound.

Inbred.

In-Breeding.

Inoculation.

Jaw-not-law.  On the great agricultural planes of  Britain, hares abound in such numbers that they are considered a pest. Under these circumstances a farmer might ask a lurcher owner to control the hare population, the alternative being the hares are shot. If pest control is the object there is little point giving a hare fair law, in fact it is far better to kick-a-hare-up from its seat and catch it as quickly as possible. Give the hare jaw-not-law.   

Jill.  A female ferret (see ferreting).

Jink. A rabbit but usually a hare would jink. That is, through its scut first to one side then to the other in order to faint a turn and so throw the dog of balance.

Judge. (See coursing and showing).

Jump (The). While hunting, to take game completely by surprise. (USA)  Releasing the dogs while the coyote is within a favourable coursing distance.

Jumping.  When I started the sometimes-hazardous journey into lurcher ownership all those years ago, I quickly came to appreciate the importance of two lurchering imponderables.  The answers to these imponderables come naturally to me now.  However, as a youngster my mind was forever racing over these two seemingly unanswerable questions, at what age, and by which method should I teach a lurcher to jump? Once the answer to these questions have been found and for me it took the best part of forty years, a man can truly say he has taken the first step along the path to understanding lurchers. I can think of no other section of lurcher training that requires the eye of understanding or stockmanship as it is better known, more than that of training a lurcher to jump.

  Straight out of the slips may I say, do not expect a young lurcher dog, of seven months, who looks for all the world as though he is going to grow into a strapping, rough coated twenty-seven inch lurcher, to be at the same stage of development, as a seven month old bitch who will in all probability only make nineteen inches, it will not. So far as jumping is concerned it is important that we treat each dog as an individual, do not, as I have done in the past, chart the progress of one dog then compare the results against the progress of another.

  As with so many aspects of lurcher training, feeding and playtime can be put to great use.  At roughly thirteen weeks, when a lurcher has had his first vaccination, place a small jump no higher than a 75 cm, some way between your lurcher and his food.  Have the young lurcher sit for an instant, then when his eager little eyes seem fit to burst, but long before his interest has wondered, give the command ‘go-on’ and release your charge.  The intention of the jump is not to provide an insurmountable obstacle to the youngster but a confidence booster.

  This is also a good example of dual purpose training, on the one hand you are teaching the pup to sit and stay, albeit at a basic level, on the other hand the pup is finding his hurdling legs. After only a short while your lurcher pup will sit and stay automatically when food is put down, he will then wait for a moment and gallop over the obstacle, Shadofax fashion, as if it were not there. Showing all the freedom of leg and grace of movement, so typical of a fully developed lurcher.

  Once this stage of development and confidence has been reached don’t immediately raise the obstacle, develop the youngster’s confidence further, let him dart about and enjoy his newfound ability. Play with him by tossing a toy or rubber ball over the jump, watch the pup mature as he starts to retrieve the toy, as he will hare and rabbit in only a few short months time.

  Once again we see a multi-purpose to our training method.  First, we are developing the all important confidence, second he is retrieving in order to continue to play, third the pup is developing eye, mouth, leg co-ordination and forth he is gaining experience in the object of the exercise, jumping.  It is important at this stage of training not to over-match the young fellow or continue to play when the puppy is bored. Remember; do not over-match the young animal by making the obstacle too high.  It would be totally wrong and a step backwards to over face, and therefore challenge any confidence that may have developed.

 And, don’t forget, the bones and joints of a lurcher pup’s legs’ are delicate, they will not absorb the impact placed on them when landing from a high jump and second, should the pup lose interest even for a fraction of a second, stop training immediately.

  Even if you  know within yourself that the pup is capable of making a strong leap, you must restrain yourself from allowing  the animal to make the it. Content yourself in the knowledge that if he can jump well at this tender age, he will jump all the better in a few short months time. Whatever happens to a lurcher at the start  of its life, be it negative or positive, no matter how small or insignificant the event may appear at the time, all events have a direct bearing on the animal for the rest of its working life.  For example, should a dog sustain a strain or sprain as a youngster, the ramifications both mentally and physically may not become apparent until the animal is older. Often lurchermen fail to appreciate this important point.

  Up to 6 or 7 months old, I do little more with a young lurcher than I have mentioned. The reason I am so vague in my appraisal of when a pup is ready to progress onto the next stage of training, is that so much depends on the individual lurcher, as a lurchermen you must use your developed eye of stockmanship.

  Any obstacles I may ask a young lurcher of 6 or 7 months old to leap would never be over a metre and I would always check the takeoff and landing areas for any sign of danger such as stones or sharp objects that might be hidden under grass. I once saw a lurcher jump a dry stone wall and land on an ancient, grassed-over chain harrow. After checking the obstacle, takeoff and landing areas I would precede a leap with the command ‘get-up’ or as I tend to pronounce it ‘gerup’.

  Obviously, as I mentioned at the start of this chapter a large dog pup will, more than likely, be a late developer whereas a small bitch could very well be all but working at this age.  As a rough rule of thumb, if the pup looks cloddy or gangly, or hasn’t a full set of teeth, don’t train it on. Wait until the obvious signs of puppy hood have disappeared.    So, having used our eye, guided by common sense and our innate understanding of lurchers, we pass judgement and feel our lurcher is ready for the next stage in its training.

  This part of training, around the 8 month mark, is for me both rewarding, as all lurcher training is, and immensely enjoyable.  With a dog of this age I hold great expectations for the youngster. I know full well and good from past experiences as a lurcherman and from watching the young dog develop that he is going to make an average lurcher. As game as any healed and dubbed fighting cock, a dog that I will be able to take for a walk with anyone. Also hope springs eternal, there is always the slender chance he will grasp the strands of opportunity I have presented to him, and make a top flight lurcher.

  From now on, my every outing with the animal, more than ever before will mould him and it’s my job to help him through the difficult transitional stage from mere pup, to a master in the art of lurcher work. After all we have developed the confidence within    him, it’s there to build on.

  Taking him out in the fields, broadening his experience, I would purposely look for walls and fences at around a metre mark for him to leap. When I found a suitable obstacle and having quickly cast an eye over the takeoff and landing areas (important that) I would encourage my youngster to jump, again with the command ‘Get-up’.  If  I encountered a wire fence at the right height, I’d  think no more about it than take off my standard issue, wax-proof coat for the use off and place it over the top strand of the fence.

 Half the battle with fences is that a pup or indeed any inexperienced lurcher is able to see straight through the obstacle we are asking him to leap.  By putting a jacket over the top of the fence, we are, so far as the lurcher is concerned, making that fence into a solid object he can climb, or leap onto and push off from. Gradually, again as confidence increases, we can show more of the fence to the lurcher until the jacket is eliminated completely.

  Almost  a contradiction to fences and walls are hedges. Lurchers know instinctively that hedges are not solid objects, like walls or fences but thorny, flexible objects that hide a thousand dangers.  Hedges present a unique problem for a lurcher. With a fence a lurcher can see through the fence to the other side, to the landing area. Walls are solid and so a lurcher can jump on top, pause for the briefest of moments, survey the landing area then leap off. With a hedge a lurcher can either see through or have the opportunity to change its mind, once committed to the jump the lurchers fate is largely in the hands of God. It takes a courageous lurcher to leap a hedge and not all lurchers will tackle them.  

   Fences higher than a yard, I would always show the greatest respect and lift a youngster over, regardless of whether I felt the dog was capable of leaping the obstacle or not. Some years ago I was out ‘dogging’ with a friend, During our walk, and after galloping a couple of hares, we arrived with our two young lurchers at a particularly nasty looking wire fence. Now both animals were more than capable jumpers but this particular fence ran down a hillside and had one of those menacing strands of loose barbed wire waving from the uprights.  I decided not to tempt fate, and lifted my seventy pound, twenty-seven inches high saluki, greyhound, saluki lurcher over the fence.

 Unfortunately my friend saw no difficulty, or should I say he appreciated no difficulty for his lurcher and asked his bitch to jump.  She produced a tremendous leap but the loose strand of wire moved in the breeze at the exact moment she sprang. The poor bitch received thirty-eight stitches from the veterinary surgeon. This is not a tale of ‘I told you so’ but a warning to all; show great caution where young or inexperienced lurchers are concerned.  

  You see, I am of the opinion that when a lurcher is galloping across land in pursuit of his quarry, we lurchermen have no real control over the lurcher or indeed what he chooses to jump. If the lurcher comes a cropper during a course and takes Blighty, it can be looked upon as an active service wound, all in a day’s lurchering. So never risk a dog needlessly?

  As your lurcher matures it will gain strength and confidence, so you can increase the height of the obstacles you allow the lurcher to tackle, again without overmatching him. It’s a foolish lurcherman that walks away from one side of a fence, gate or hedge while his lurcher pines or yips, defeated or lacking in the confidence to jump at the other.  To overmatch a lurcher for one moment cancels out many long hours of training.

  Many lurchers will jump from a stand but a different story unfolds when a lurcher is asked to leap at the gallop. Some years ago I found myself negotiating the price of a fourteen-month-old lurcher bitch I particularly fancied.  The bitch was an absolute picture of a lurcher; largely brown with white socks and the tip of her tail, at twenty-five inches she would have walked any lurcher show. Time erodes many details, although I specifically remember seeing the bitch jump a five-barred gate, some time during the negotiations, and in some fine style I might add.  I paid six pounds for the bitch with ten shillings back as luck money.  All the chaps saying how I must think her something special to pay such a large amount of money for a lurcher and if I could afford to spend six pounds on a dog it must be my round at the bar.  Of course I gave the animal a good few days to settle in to her new home and took advantage of the time to worm and flea her and I made sure she was fit to course a hare before taking her out galloping the following Saturday morning.

  In those days one of my regular galloping grounds was a field known as ‘Todds rough’, a large field of about 200 acres and always a good spot for finding a hare or two.  The field rose gradually from the back of the farm before levelling out after several hundred yards.  I hadn’t worked the rough long before a grand hare got up. Our hare broke forty yards to my left and I shouted the bitch, whose name for the life of me I cannot remember, onto the hare with a great ‘here lass’.  She powered up to the hare and put her back into the coarse, in such a fashion as to have my very blood boiling.  Snap, strike, twist, jink, bend, in only a few short seconds the hare spun in ever-decreasing circles.

  Then, just as all seemed lost, the hare made one last dash at a temporary sheep fence made from 100 cm square mesh, the fence couldn’t have been higher than a metre.  As the hare spun on its own axis and fumbled through the fence leaving a tell-tail clump of fur entwined in a, wire knot, the bitch, as if she was breaking in order to stop herself falling over a cliff, anchored up.

  The hare ran down the field, ears back totally bewildered, no doubt wondering why she wasn’t under a crust.  My bitch ran, ears pricked, tail in the air up and down the fence, not chancing a mighty leap at this uncommonly high obstacle.  I stood in the field watching this comedy of errors. Almost in tears, mumbling to myself such things as, ‘oh dear what a pity’ and ‘better luck next time old chap.’ The bitch, well I found her a place as an old ladies companion, the best place for her.

  So, the importance of a lurcher being able to conduct itself properly across all terrain is self-evident and cannot be over stressed.  The ability of a lurcher to jump at the gallop lies with the animal pacing itself up to the obstacle, that is, the dog must possess the perception to look not only at the game in front of its nose but also at any obstacle game may use in order to avoid capture. Some lurchers appear to panic when confronted with a fence, missing their strides completely; this is good to see when a lurcher runs to one side of its quarry before jumping, or in extreme cases, halt, turns and then jump.

  Prevention is as always better than cure, and time spent tossing a ball over a fence will always help the leg, eye, mouth co-ordination so crucial to successful lurcher work.  However, there is no substitute for actual dogging.  The more you go out into the fields with your lurcher, the better in every respect of lurcher work both you and your dog will become.

  Without question the chance to learn lurcher work only present themselves in the field.  Possibly not this walk or even the next, but eventually you will see a rabbit or hare on one side of a handy fence while you are on the other. With game in sight, run the soothing hand of calm down your lurcher’s back, walk to the fence in an orderly fashion, do not run.  Should the young lurcher start to panic, possibly by darting up and down the fence, take control of the situation by giving the much-practised command ‘get-up’.

  A common error among young lurcherman is that they are so preoccupied with actually catching game that they miss the object of the exercise, successfully breaking the lurcher.

  Now when game and fences are afoot keep your composure; if game gets away, be philosophical about it, after all is said and done, it’s there to gallop another day (usually for someone else though).

Kill.

Kill Dog.  (USA) In coyote hunting, a dog that can be depended upon to kill the coyote outright, usually a larger dog that grips the throat.

Kennel.

Kennel Blindness.

Kennel Cough.

Kennel Sickness.

Knock-ups.

Lamping.

Lamp shy.

Law.

Lead.  I have always said that you can judge the stamp of a lurcherman not by the dog he has on the lead but by the lead he has on the dog, and many a lurchermen has started his lurchering career with a  brand new, purpose made, finest leather slip lead. However, after countless forays into the countryside in the dead of night or early morning, where he inevitably mislays or looses each and every expensive shop-bought lead, the standard of tether gradually degenerates down to a piece of string. And lurchermen do develop an eye for the right piece of chord.

 The best chord is usually deemed to be nylon (because nylon doesn’t rot), four foot long and a 1/4” diameter, colour to taste but largely irrelevant. At one end of the chord a loop is tied, at the other a knot, the knot gives something to hold onto, useful if the dog sees a hare you don’t and  sets off.

  To make a lead out of the chord simply pass the knot end through the loop and hey-presto you have a dog lead. One you won’t mind loosing or feel you have to go back onto the land and search high and low for if you do.

  Making the chord into a slip lead is a little more complex but nevertheless well within the bounds of even the most junior lurcherman. Fold the chord in half to make a second loop. Take the end of the chord with the original loop and place around the dog's neck. Now pass the second loop through the first, hold onto the knot end of the lead and slip the loop, you have a slip lead. (See sketch.)

Lead Training.  Teaching a lurcher to walk on the lead correctly is as important as any other aspect of its training.

 A lurcher that pulls on the lead is asserting its dominance over the lurcherman don’t drag.

Legging. The best way to carry a quantity of rabbits, six is the number I usually start at, is to leg and sling them. Similarly with hares, a couple of hares are easier to carry when legged that clenched in the hand. At home it is a simple matter to hang legged game until it is ready to be sold or eaten.

Letting Down.  At the end of a long, hard season where the dog has taken countless, unseen bumps and bangs and has delved deep into his reserves of energy, it is best to rest a lurcher  through the summer months. This rest is know as ‘letting down’.

  Letting a lurcher down for the summer isn’t just a matter of reducing the protein level of food or amount of exercise you give the dog, there is an art to it.

Leveret.  A young hare usually under 12 months old. Leverets are born  from May to September, although the hare will breed throughout the year if the weather is mild and feeding good. A warm spring or an Indian summer will considerably extend the breeding season. In Scotland, over a 13 year period the breeding season was found to vary between 176 and 344 days.

  A doe produces up to four litters a year though three litters a year is more normal. Each litter having up to four young. Leverets are born open eyed, fully furred, without scent and weigh about 100 grams (3 1/2 ounce) at birth. Born in the open leverets are initially hidden together in cover. After a few days the leverets are dispersed about the breeding field in order to increase their chances of survival from predation. They sit tight in their forms’ during the day light hours and are visited only once every twenty four hours by the doe. The doe keeps the visits down to the shortest possible time to avoid detection and lactation is normally a five-minute period an hour after sunset.

  A doe will nurse here young for a period between 20 and 30 days. This lactation is normally terminated by the arrival of the next litter, but at the end of the breeding season the last remaining leverets may continue to be nursed for several more weeks.

   Other than man and the occasional owl the only real predator the leveret has to face is the fox. On land where fox numbers are kept under control the hare often thrives. A leveret is no match for a lurcher and the individuals who course them during the summer months usually own mange ridden, flea infested , third rate lurchers. 

 Recommended reading. The Brown Hare. Dr Stephen Tapper. Shire Natural History.

Licking.

Line.

Line-Breeding.

Litter.

Litter Brother-Sister.

Live to Hand. Live to hand is a rather ambiguous statement and one which I am not entirely comfortable.

Load.  Putting the dogs in the car, van, truck or travelling box.

Locator. (See ferreting)

Longdog.   In his book ‘Lurchers and Longdogs’ Ted Walsh  (Lt. Col. E. G. Walsh) popularised the term longdog. I can do no better than to quote from another book by Ted Walsh,  Longdogs By Day, where he defines a longdog as: “A dog that is long, everywhere; long head, long neck, long back, long legs and long tail, be it pure-bred or cross cross-bred. It is tempting to carry on and say that a longdog can be a lurcher but a lurcher is not necessarily a longdog but what is the point?”

Longnet.  A net usually three foot high or 18 to 22 mesh deep and from 25 to 100 yards long. Used to catch rabbits at night by cutting them of from their warrens or in daytime by surrounding a ferreted warren.

Lurcher.  Usually a cross between a greyhound or whippet and other breeds mentioned in this book. A lurcher is not a breed of dog but a type. Stonehenge writing in the 1850s  said of the lurcher: “He partakes of the points of a greyhound in shape, combined with the stouter frame, larger ears and rougher coat of the sheepdog, but varying with according to the breed of each employed in producing the cross. When the lurcher is bred from the rough Scotch greyhound and the collie, or even the English sheepdog, he is a vey handsome dog, and even more so than his progenitors when pure. He is also a most destructive animal, showing speed, sagacity and nose in extraordinary degree, from which causes the breed is discouraged, as he would exterminate all the furred game in a very short time, A poacher possessing such an animal seldom keeps him long, every keeper being the look-out, and putting a charge of shot into him at the first opportunity; and as these must occur of necessity, the poacher does not often attempt to rear the dog which would suit him best, but contents himself with one that will not so much attract the notice of those who watch him.”

  For more information about the lurcher and its work please read this book.

Lurcher to lurcher. No one has any real notion, which is the most popular type of lurcher in the country, it varies from county to county, town to town and even village to village. And perhaps in these days of mass personal transport, it might be accurate to say that topography is more of a guilder to type than kennel. A lurcher that is bred for galloping twice a week in Lincolnshire could very well come from London, Manchester or Newcastle.  What is certain though, regardless of location or conditions, wherever you roam, you will always come across the lurcher-to-lurcher. 

  My thinking about the breeding of a lurcher has changed over the years, gone full circle in fact and is currently on its second orbit. When I was young I swore by the lurcher-to-lurcher cross, naively thinking that anything with a minimum of half greyhound would have too much pace for practical, open field lurcher work. Then, some time later, it was the three-quarter cross that would conquer the world. The half-cross had its day too. All these crosses had one thing in common, they were the type of lurcher I was galloping at the time.

  Now, I’ve reached a compromise. I tend to think that a good lurcher-to lurcher bitch crossed to a lurcher dog that can stride out is - well more of that later.

  The lurcher-to-lurcher is often bred for no other reason than it is the easiest and in many cases the least expensive method of producing a working animal. One lurcherman may have a bitch and his friend a dog, both considered useful animals and both doing the job, so the pairing is made.  I’m sure that a number of lurcher to lurcher crosses come about by pure accident, particularly when a lurcherman owns both the dog and the bitch. Often, it’s more a case of  ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’ than planning.

  There are problems connected with the lurcher-to-lurcher, especially if there are quite a few breeds involved and if the breeding is, should we say, a little uncertain and the breeder a bit of a character. It’s not uncommon to read an advertisement advertising: Lurcher pups for sale, greyhound, deerhound, whippet, saluki cross bedlington, greyhound, saluki, collie, an interesting cross and no error but how anyone might have the faintest idea how such pups would turn out, beggars belief and that is assuming the crosses were genuine. So often with the lurcher-to-lurcher cross it is a case of: “Well, what do you think they look like?”

  Remember the days when all we lurchermen had to read was the Exchange and Mart, no on second thoughts, don’t. They were horrid days, when lurchers were taken to the nearest railway station, put in a box and railed around the country on a months trial.  I knew a chap who could find and sell any cross you wanted. Old Cyl, no matter what your requirements Cyl would fulfil them. Naturally, given a day or two to find the right dog, you understand.

  Trouble was he might only have one dog for sale. Hey, the dogs were no worse for their particular label but that’s what the breeding was, a label, not an actual bona fide cross.  Curiously, I don’t believe Old Syl had many dogs returned to him.

  There are a few points, which should be taken into consideration when purchasing a lurcher-to-lurcher pup. Oh, I know you’ve heard them all before from every columnist that has ever strung together a hundred words about the lurcher, but it’s worth repeating nevertheless.  Make sure you see a least the bitch with the pups and if possible the sire. If the dam is not with the pups ask the breeder to put them together or better still walk away. It is not unknown for an unscrupulous breeder to invent a cross or show a good, stylish bitch in place of the rather ordinary. Even to buy-in pups and sell them as the offspring’s of a popular dog or bitch.  And let’s be fair,  if you don’t you see the bitch you cannot have the slightest idea what the pups make. Obvious really.

  There is nothing on this earth wrong with the lurcher-to-lurcher cross. However, I am always wary when I hear a breeder say: The pups ‘might make’ so many inches, or the pups ‘could be’ rough coated.  If the pups are breed with a purpose (surely the basis of all thoughtful breeding) then the breeder should have an inkling what he has bred for and  how the pups will make. 

  Another point to bare in mind is how far down road do you go before another important aspect of lurcher breeding, hybrid vigour is lost? Now there are people who understand hybrid vigour and there are those like myself who accept rather than understand it. Such terms as hereditary units of the chromosome and the law of segregation of genes, have me flummoxed.

  It’s unclear  how many lurcher to lurcher generations hybrid vigour last. The two areas where hybrid vigour have proved most successful are in pigs and poultry breeding, neither pigs or poultry are bred for the same purpose as a lurcher. Hybrid vigour is heightened at the first cross i.e. pure to pure and not as evident in future out-crossing.

  Those in the know suggest that five generations is the absolute maximum a breeder should out-cross lurcher to lurcher. If not before then certainly at the fifth generation a pure bred or at least a first cross greyhound should be introduced. I was once told not to confuse hybrid vigour with working ability, rather look upon it as an aid to ability.

  With any type of lurcher (and lurcher’s are a type not a breed) I prefer to buy a pup from a good bitch, especially if the pup is a lurcher-to-lurcher. Given the choice mediocre bitch crossed to good dog, against good bitch, mediocre dog, I’d plummet for the latter.

  Crossing a greyhound to a lurcher-to-lurcher often produces top class lurchers. However, even better results for an all-round lurcher, can be achieved by crossing saluki greyhound dog with a good turn of foot to the right lurcher-to-lurcher bitch, one with a good temperament.  For some reason, possibly because two of the oldest breeds of hounds are involved, the greyhound saluki to lurcher-to-lurcher produces some fantastic quality pups.

  I’ve seen every one of the popular crosses run and a few of the not so popular and I’ll tell you straight, there are good and bad in all of them. Something else, if you are desperately, fanatically, passionately keen on a particular dog from a certain cross, that’s what counts. You are three quarters of the way to owning a decent lurcher - the other quarter, well now - that’s down to breeding.  

Lurchering.  A word that embraces every aspect of the modern lurcher scene from the show and pet lurcher to the worker, lurchering covers the whole spectrum. Also,  lurchering is supporting the principle that a person has the freedom to work a lurcher to live quarry.

Lurcherman.  Someone who in any capacity is involved with the lurcher, a word which embraces everyone who owns, or has an interest in lurchers, from those who are fortunate enough to work a lurcher every day / night of the week to the every-other-Sunday,  providing it’s not raining lurcherman.

Mask.  The fore face and muzzle. 

Match.

Match Coursing.

Match Dog.

Mark.  Any action made by a lurcher that indicates the presence of game in a set or warren.  The classic set or stance for a lurcher is, stood over and looking at the hole, head cocked to one side, tail wagging and a paw in the air.  However, the set can differ. From a casual glance out of the corner of an eye, to sitting or laying down by the hole. Many lurchers, especially those that are regularly run at bolted rabbits, smell the hole then walk to a position away from the hole, waiting for the ferret to be entered.

Marking. A lurcher that marks - indicates that game is at home in a warren - is unquestionably the best ally a lurcherman has. Show me an all-round lurcherman who doesn’t own a marking dog and I’ll show you a man who isn’t an all-round lurcherman.

  Marking is a complex affair consisting predominantly of scent with an element of sound. A lurcher will first use his nose at the entrance to a hole in order to detect game, then listen; with head at a tilt and ears cocked a lurcher is able to detect the slightest subterranean disturbance.

  But scent is the dominant factor and scent is a curious curiosity.  There are books dedicated to the subject and it would be quite wrong for me to try and quantify scent in this short paragraph.  Greater authorities than I have tried and failed. The intricacies of scent and scenting conditions are such that there is a continuous debate within the hunting fraternity as to how the time of day effects scent, if it hangs on or just above the ground, how scent is effected by temperature and crops. The debate is likely to rage for some while without any definite conclusions ever being reached.  Scent truly is a fascinating subject.

  To get some idea of just how complex scent is, have a day out and with your local hunt and listen to the huntsmen talk: ‘A bit windy’ one might say. ‘A touch warm’ another. Hunting folk do appear to have a deep appreciation of scent and scenting conditions. Deeper perhaps than the average lurcherman.  Small wonder really for scent is everything to the hound but only one facet, albeit an important one, of the lurcher’s armoury. Bare  one point in mind when your lurcher is struggling to find scent or make a mark, scent is very complex.

  I believe all lurchers possess the ability to mark. They know whether or not game is at home and therefore are capable of marking. The difference between a marker and a non-marking lurcher is that  some lurchers give a strong indication that rabbit, rat or fox is in residence, while others do not.  It is the willingness of the lurcher to transmit, and the competence a lurcherman to receive the relevant information, that we call: ‘The mark’.

  Teaching some lurchers to mark can be a bit of an uphill struggle.  Yet, it should be possible to get the majority of lurchers marking with little difficulty. A point well worth remembering when considering a lurcher and its ability to mark, is that it really doesn’t matter whether or not a dog marks every rabbit in the parish (what you don’t have, you don’t miss) just so long as when a lurcher does present a mark,  the mark is true.  Better for a lurcher to miss a rabbit or two than commit the most unforgivable of sins,  false mark.

  I have seen false markers at work and for those who haven’t, let me tell you it isn’t a pleasant sight. You put the purse nets on the warren (and it’s a pound to a penny when a lurcher does false mark, it’s not at a three-hole warren but a massive take-all-day to net affair), enter a ferret, all to no avail. Terribly disappointing.

   A question often asked is ‘What type of lurcher makes the best marker?’ Reasonable enough, but I’m damned if I know the answer.  I do know that working bedlington crosses  have a fair nose and I don’t think you could go far wrong with a gundog cross.  The best marking lurcher I ever had the good fortune to see work was a whippet Greyhound that missed nothing.  I’ll tell you straight one of the best marking lurchers I ever owned was a greyhound-saluki-greyhound.  I've worked a couple of ex-track greyhounds, whippets, salukis, collie dogs. They all marked.

 So how do you teach a lurcher to mark?  Certainly not by seeing a likely hole and then calling the dog over to have a smell (and if you haven’t already done it, you will). When you show a warren to a lurcher it encourages the dog to false mark. This is particularly true with young lurchers. Young lurchers often mistake the lurcherman asking for a mark with being told to mark. If you show a warren to a young lurcher there is a better than even chance of the youngster marking to oblige, the first step along the slippery slope to false marking.  It is always best, wherever possible, to let a lurcher find its own mark.

 Now if you do you fancy a particular warren take yourself down wind of the warren and call the dog into the general area, without pointing or giving any indication to the dog of the whereabouts of the warren, manoeuvre yourself into a position where the dog has to pass over  the warren in order to respond to your call. Being down wind of the warren is essential because any scent will blow from the warren onto the dog and also, when ferreting your scent is not blown into the warren.  If there is any detectable scent  your lurcher aided by the wind should find it.  Don’t be disappointed if  the lurcher doesn’t, accept the dog’s judgement as final and carry on hunting.

 Scratched or padded-out holes are often mistaken for living quarters when in fact, they are no more than play holes. Inexperienced lurchermen often fall into the trap of fancying a warren just because it is scratched or padded out. Not until they have netted up and ferreted a hundred empty play holes do they realise it really is best to rely on the dog’s judgement. Rabbits are territorial animals and because of this play holes are dug on neutral territory, in communal areas shared by many rabbits from different warrens, usually well away from feeding grounds and living quarters. Playing all night in and around these holes gives the false impression that there must be rabbits at home.

  Play holes often show more signs of activity than warrens and have more runs leading to and away from them. Quite often an occupied hole or small warren will not have a detectable run to it, while the adjacent  empty set of play holes has literally dozens of runs.  This leads me to assume  that play holes are communal while warrens are territorial.

  The best and most obvious  way of teaching a lurcher to mark is to take it out with a reliable, established marking dog.  Simply let the novice lurcher work with the more experienced dog rooting and marking. After a while, when the novice has watched the more experienced dog mark, the operator setting nets, ferreting and rabbits bolting, it will begin to mark.  I would issue only one word of caution for this method of training and that is while a novice does pick up the experienced dogs good points, it also learns the bad points, invariably quicker.

  It is slightly more difficult to teach an unaccompanied lurcher to mark especially if the dog isn’t a natural marker. However, there is a plus side. There  is no danger of the dog picking up undesirable traits from the experienced lurcher. The easiest way to train an unaccompanied lurcher is to know rabbits are at home,  you either know the warren is occupied or you see rabbits drop into the warren.

  When you do see a rabbit pop into a hole or warren don’t in your eagerness to ferret, go straight to the warren or even the general area. Let the scent settle for five minutes, lurchers are able to pick-up a scent more efficiently when the scent has been down for a short while.  Now take the lurcher to the general area where you saw the rabbit and let the dog pick-up and work the scent in his own time. The hunt doesn’t have to be any great distance, a metre will do, just so long as the dog is able to work quarry. If the conditions are favourable the lurcher will mark but don’t, whatever you do, encourage the lurcher to mark. When the lurcher does mark, make much of him, make him feel special, as if he had done all the work himself and  without his assistance, there would be no sport. Which isn’t far from the truth.

  Should the dog fail to pick-up the scent and there are a thousand reasons why this might be, walk the lurcher away from the warren, wait 5 minutes and try again. If this fails take the dog completely away from the warren but for no longer than a quarter-an-hour. The reason for this is that the rabbit might only have been in transit when you took it by surprise, forcing it to take cover. If you wait too long before returning to the warren, the rabbit might very well have sensed the coast was clear and continued on its journey.

 This time, if  there is no mark but you are certain the warren is occupied, take the dog to a suitable position where he can see everything that is going on and tell him to sit and stay.  Now  ferret the warren and where possible, allow the lurcher to run the rabbit. Bolted rabbits, along with lamped rabbits are a great confidence booster for any lurcher. However, if you feel the odds are stacked more in the rabbits favour than the dog’s, place nets over the warren. The object of the exercise is to take a rabbit and so  teach the lurcher to associate three things with a mark; the ferret, bolt and reward. When the rabbit is captured either by net or dog, dispatch the rabbit immediately and paunch it. Now feed the hot liver, kidneys and heart to the dog, this is the dogs reward for marking.

 Before very long your lurcher will mark freely. I have broken dozens of young lurchers to marking and I know one moment very well. The moment when you are out with the dog, disillusioned with his inability to mark then, quite out of the blue there he is, head cocked to one side, paw in the air, tail wagging - marking.

  When a lurcher finds a rabbit and marks solo for the first time make sure you follow the mark up by ferreting the warren. Following up is one of the most important parts of ferreting with a young or inexperienced lurcher. Put yourself in the dog’s position and imagine how disillusioned you would feel, if after all your best efforts, you are asked to leave a hard won mark. Following up also helps to teach a lurcher to hold a mark. It’s surprising how many lurcher’s run a rabbit into a warren, mark for a second or two then leave the warren and resume working. All very well if there is only one warren on the field but when there are quite a few warrens this can present problems.

  There is a certain satisfaction when a lurcher marks for the first time unaided but don’t in your excitement to ferret the warren,  rush up to the dog, grab him by the scruff of the neck and throw him to one side in a ‘you’ve done your job, now let me get down to ferreting’ fashion. Approach him slowly, take him by the chest and speak your well-done’s  quietly into his ear, reward him. 

  Once again, take the dog to a position of best advantage. Give the command sit-and-stay, make sure the dog can see all that is going on around him. Alternatively you may wish to run the lurcher at the bolting rabbits, whichever way, show the dog the ferret and let him watch you put the locator collar on and make sure he sees the ferret being entered  into the warren.  These points may appear small and insignificant but  lurcher’s broken by enthusiasts who pay the greatest attention to detail are often the best lurchers.

   If you do decide to net the warren rather than allow the dog to run the bolted rabbits, stand well back with a spare net at the ready, when a rabbit bolts and is in the net, quickly dispatch the rabbit and replace the net, then rather than paunch the rabbit give the dead but still kicking rabbit to the lurcher so he can mouth it. I appreciate that letting a lurcher mouth a rabbit, is to a purist, tantamount to treason but I only ask you to do this once or twice in order to give the lurcher some satisfaction for actually making the mark.

  Once your lurcher is marking and you have confidence in the dog, resist the temptation to ferret unless the dog marks. Learn to trust your dog and now is a good time to rectify any faults that may have developed, such as blowing or snorting down the hole, scratching at the ground in front of the hole or actually trying to dig down to game and error of errors,  yipping or barking at the entrance to a warren or earth.  All these faults can be rectified with a firm word, failing that a short, sharp slap usually does the trick but do keep on top of these faults. Failure to rectify a minor fault the moment it is recognised can lead to a dramatic fault later in life.

  It is also essential to be able to read a lurcher’s, that is, know when the dog is marking. Some dogs give a classic mark, with others it’s no more than a quick glance at the hole and away the lurcher trots. It’s up to the lurcherman to recognise and appreciate each individual lurcher’s mark, make a conscious effort to understand exactly what the dog is doing. Remember, always trust your lurcher. If the dog doesn't mark, don’t net-up on the off-chance, pass on by. Have confidence in  your own ability as a lurcherman and the dog's ability to work well for you. Take this advice and your lurcher will mark.

Mark (False). False marker, an unreliable marking dog. The most irritating of bad habits causing endless hours to be wasted putting nets down, ferreting and re-ferreting empty warrens. False marking is often the result of poor training and handling. For example, an in-experienced lurcherman might call a lurcher over to inspect what he feels is likely to hold game. If the lurcher is repeatedly called to a warren on the instincts of the lurcherman a dog will eventually false mark, often in an attempt to please the owner, marking to oblige. Once a lurcher has taken this step down the slippery slope of false marking there is no cure. False marking is also highly contagious and young or inexperienced lurchers are especially prone to picking-up the habit and should never be worked with a dog that false marks.

Mark (Hold the mark).  Staying with the mark until the lurcherman arrives is a definite bonus especially on hedge rows and warren infested land.

Marker.   A dog that marks.

Marking to Oblige.  Some lurchers will mark simply to please an over enthusiastic owner. This often happens with young or inexperienced lurchermen on days when game is scarce. The inexperienced lurcherman might ask his dog to check out a well-run hole or warren. Believing game is in residence his enthusiasm is transmitted to the dog, which reacts accordingly. Marking to oblige is often the forerunner to false marking. Also see false marking.

Marking On.  It is difficult for a ferret or ferrets to locate every rabbit in a large warren.  After the ferrets have finished work and been picked up it is usual to cast a dog over the warren in an attempt to located any rabbits the ferret may have missed. If rabbits are found a fresh ferret is entered at the exact spot the mark has been made. Unfortunately, very few lurchers are capable of marking-on. However, it is best not to ‘take-um-all’ and to leave a nucleus of rabbits in an area to breed-up. To see a lurcher mark-on is an impressive sight but unless the aim is at total pest control I would question whether it is necessary for a lurcher to mark-on at all.  

Marking True.   An accurate mark.

Mating. The act of copulation, breeding.

Merle.   The term applied to a blue-grey mixture flecked or streaked with black, common in sheep dogs. Merle coloured dogs often have a Wall-eye. There is a fad, among some collie lurcher enthusiast for merle coloured lurchers. Other than for vanity I do not know why the merle gene was introduced into the lurcher. While it is true to say there is no good lurcher which is a bad colour, and there  are genetic problems associated with the colour.

 Hilary Harmar author of ‘Dogs And How To Breed Them’, says of merle colouring: ‘ The merle colouring is interesting, because it is connected to a semi-lethal gene, and, when it occurs in a double dose, the offspring may be blind, deaf or sterile. For obvious reasons, therefore, two merle dogs should on no account ever be mated together. In fact, it would be better for the merle to be a disqualified colour in all breeds.

  Merle colouring offers the lurcher nothing. It should not have been introduced into the lurcher and the soundest advice anyone could offer would be to keep well away from it.

Monoesterus.

Mute.   Not to give-mouth while working game. A lurcher is expected to be mute when running a rabbit or coursing a hare, consequently the term is more often applied to a terrier such as the bedlington than the lurcher.

Muzzle. The projecting part of the head, including the mouth and nose. A wire box fitted over the muzzle of the dog to stop it biting another. Muzzles are usually worn during lurcher racing.

Nails. The correct length of a dog’s nails is level with the pad. The nails of a lurcher do need special attention to ensure they are never long. A lurcher with long nails cannot exercise or run properly and may result in cramped feet, knocked-up or dislocated toes. A lurcher must have its nail clipped so that it feels comfortable on its feet. Clipping should only be done by an experience or competent person because of the danger of cutting into the quick. If the quick is ever cut the lurcher will never forget the painful experience and trimming from then on will be all the more difficult. If you are in any doubt about trimming nails using clipper’s, especially on black nails, use a file to gently remove the excess nail. So far as a lurcher’s nails are concerned, ten minutes of clipping is worth twenty miles of road walking.

Name.  Some lurchermen place little value on the name of a lurcher and call the dog by the first name that comes into their mind Bryah, Pockets, Spud, Tommy and the like. But I prefer to give each lurcher I own an individual name and go so far as to never use the same name twice. The exception being the son of a good Greyhound Saluki Greyhound lurcher I owned called Pockets. If you are fortunate and the dog to makes a name for itself, then what a feeling, an individual name always sticks in the mind of other lurchermen.

National Coursing Club.

Nervousness.

Norfolk lurcher.  The Norfolk is a medium sized, rough haired lurcher also known as the Smithfield Lurcher. Said originally to have been owned by the sheep and cattle drovers who took their animals to Smithfield Market. This might be so. However, many of the stories attributed to the cunning of the Smithfield

have to be treated with caution, the modern lurcher is a better dog than it forbears and while it is true to say that the characters of old don’t exist today – neither to do their dogs.

Nose.  The ability to follow scent, to track down game, to mark, to scent the air. A lurcher is said to have `nose`  or  `a good nose`  when it achieves the above.

Opening up.  Often a high-pitched yip or muffled bark made while chasing game, some lurchers that get excited will even open-up while hunting a hot sent. On one knows exactly why a lurcher opens up, however, lurchers that are run hard on game at a young age and terrier crosses are prone to opening-up. Once a lurcher starts to open-up there is no cure and the fault has to be lived with or the lurcher disposed of, that said, if I owned a lurcher, which could catch game proficiently, I could easily live with the odd yip. Also known as: Crying, giving mouth, howling, singing, yipping, yelp, yodel,  vocal.

Open field Coursing.  Basically there are three types of lurcher work. Slipping, lamping and open field. In open field lurcher work the lurcher is worked off the slips so that it can hunts-up, course and catch its own game. Open field lurcher work is the traditional method of working a lurcher.

Outcross.

Over matched.  An over matched lurcher usually refers to a lurcher that is being run too often, too young and  has neither the speed, stamina, ability or confidence to catch anything. Young or inexperienced lurchermen often over match their lurchers, working on the principle that if the lurcher is big enough it is old enough. Young lurchers that are over matched often end up blown or giving mouth or both. Stay well clear of any young lurcher whose owner tells you that the dog killed its first hare at eight months, it might well have done but one thing is for certain, it wont be killing hares at three years. 

Over running.  When coursing a lurcher that over shoots a turning hare or rabbit by a mile. Most often seen on the first turn after the run-up and when coursing a hare downhill. On hill land the hare will charge down hill and turn, making the lurcher over run. Experienced  lurchers’ learn to pace themselves up to a hare and thereby stop themselves from over running.

 Over running is a term also applied to a lurcher that has had one run too many  runs on a days coursing: “He (the lurcherman) has over run his dog.”

Over shot.  Having the upper incisors projecting beyond the lower. Considered to be the lesser of jaw malformations. Unless a lurcher is seriously over shot, the defect should not effect the animals ability to strike and pick-up.

Over working.  You cannot over work a bad dog, only a good one.

Pacing.

Pack.  (USA) Often used incorrectly, but refers to more than a pair of coyote. Usually, a ‘pack’ is a family unit, which has not dispersed.

Pads.

Parasites.

Particolour.  Two colours in equal proportions. Usually red and white or black and white.

Parvovirous.

Pastern. The lower part of the leg, below the knee or hock.

Paunch.

Pharaoh Hound.

Pig-jawed.  The expression for an exaggerated over shot jaw.

Pile In. (USA) Coyote hunting. When three or more dogs jump-in during the fight with a coyote.

Plodder. A lurcher without a great deal of speed but which is capable of staying the course.

Plucker.  (USA) A dog which pulls out the fur of a coyote after the kill is made, so ruining the commercial value of the hide. 

Prior work. The day before and the morning of work are important.

Poachers’ pocket.

Prime.  A lurcher is said to be in its prime at two and a half years old or in its second full season. When a combination of experience and youthful vigour blend. A lurcher is at its most effective when in its prime.

Prime.  Fur that is in its best condition for selling.

Protein.

Purchasing a lurcher.

Pulling Up.

Puppy.  In law a dog not over six months of age, but in fact a lurcher, depending on the cross a deerhound greyhound for instance, might be considered a puppy up to fifteen months.

Purse nets.  (See nets)

Quartering.

Rabbit.

Breading hole.

Buck.

Doe.

Fleck.

Kit.

Play hole.

Warren.

Young.

Rabbit mad.