:? Hi All, I've always thought Tashi is a Lurcher. About 2 weeks ago I had a conversation online with someone who, through asking a few questions about her, told me she was in fact a Tumbler (apparently the difference is in the way they hunt/catch something and whether it's killed afterwards or not). Today I've been told by the same person that because she's half Afghan and half Whippet that she is in fact a Longdog. When I asked the difference I was told that a Lurcher/Tumbler is a crossbreed between a sighthound and any other breed whereas a Longdog is a crossbreed between 2 sighthound breeds. Can anyone shed any light please on what she is? I know her sire is a Whippet and her dam is an Afghan. She doesn't hunt but will chase something if she's encouraged to do so. She doesn't see something in the distance and go running off after it. She's incredibly easy to train and spends as much of her day playing as possible - everything is a game to her (including getting under Zane's feet which is amusing to watch). Any ideas? It's not going to make a scrap of difference - at the end of the day she's still my Tashi and she drives me nuts but I think it would be interesting to know for sure. Thanks in advance. Laura xx
Well I know about longdogs and lurchers but I have never heard of a Tumbler before now, so that is a new one on me. You learn something every day. So are there any websites on Tumblers do we know?
Does that make Sadie - geryhound x deerhound a longdog??? But if there is any truth to the " they mixed a bit of collie in for intelligence" (can't say I've seen any indication of it and it does sound like they were making cake batter!!!) she would be a lurcher??! Gorgeous either way of course!
As a rule I'm a GSD person through and through. But Tashi has opened my eyes to Lurchers (if that's what she is). This is the only place I've found an explanantion fo the difference between the two. http://www.lurchers.org.uk/tumblers.htm
A sighthound crossed with a sighthound is a longdog, a sighthound crossed with any other breed is a lurcher. That's how I've always understood it.
In that case I was given correct info and I've been wrong all along. Tashi is not a Lurcher but is, in fact, a Longdog.
That is what I have always understood too. Having looked around the net it looks to me a bit as if someone is cashing in on "Tumblers" .... a bit like "Doodles"
people will exploit anything. I don't see how with lurchers & tumblers if the end result is ultimately the same. Tashi is from a local rescue (failed foster) so won't make any difference to her or us. She's still our loopy Tashi. ;-)
From what I know a longdog is like my Honey and what your baby is, mix of two or more sighthounds, a lurcher or tumbler can be the same crosses, basically a sighthound cross, but the name is to do with the way they hunt, a lurcher 'lurches' at its prey, whereas a tumbler 'tumbles' with it, basically from what I remember runs into it causing both itself and iys quarry to tumble, and although I've been told you can get both in the same litter a tumbler has to be more robust, but tumblers aren't really popular because of the injuries they can get if they misjudge their prey, they shouldn't be like doodles with the nane bringing in more cash, but are another type of sighthoung hunting type. I asked a while ago and have tried looking into it but there doesn't seem to be a lot of info on them, probally because of their hunting style and thd problems that can come of it but who knows.
I've never heard of tumblers either, including from the older lurcher enthusiasts such as Drabble and Plummer. Looking at the link provided it seems to relate to working style, with a nod to form-fitting-function (i.e. slightly stockier, lower on the leg dogs with less speed and more robustness), I suspect it may be new departure. I can't get the history of lurchers link to open but as I understand it, lurchers are a sighthound crossed with something else to add another quality: brains, hardiness, robustness etc but speed and/or style may be sacrificed for this. If I recall correctly the lurcher name comes from a dog who catches for the pot, without style coming into it, and thus it is desirable to "lurch" across the line of the prey to intercept and catch it. In sighthound coursing competitions (lure coursing or live coursing) the dogs were judged, not automatically on the winner being the dog that caught the prey, but on which dog showed best style and most faithfully followed the line of the prey, so the dog that catches the prey may lose if it "cheated" by taking a shortcut and "lurching". Most sighthounds are build on similar lines, long legs, longish back, giving a long dog with a very flexible back and a very long, ground-covering bound (like a cheetah runs, although they trip their prey), so sighthound x sighthound will always result in a physically long dog. Lurchers may fit this shape, or may be a little shorter legged and/or slightly shorter backed, depending what cross was used. Although I have hear a different definition that lurchers had to be a greyhound cross, whereas longdogs could be any sighthound cross. Or at least that is how I remember it
I think to add more confusion at one point any running dog was called a longdog, hense sussex longdogs, which if I remember are a lure coursing group for pedigree dogs, I don't know when the definition changed, or if some still use longdog to define all running dogs, but generally now its longdog for sighthound X sighthound and lurcher/tumbler for a sighthound cross, depending on their huhting style, I suppose a longdog could be a tumbler, but tbh I don't really see any being able to cope with that hunting style and as their only sighthounds I can't see them carrying the trait to do it either, but I might be wrobg.
Just to add although its nothing to do with this thread I've just looked on the sussex longdogs site and crosses can compete, shame I couldn't afford to do it with mine, even if I had the time to get there and back and a car
