The use of terriers as working dogs? Discussions

ehem...(looks about sheepishly)

Well, my dog tried to catch a grouse yesterday.. We have Hares running about, saw 5 not even trying to hide yesterday, and the grouse staying low, Ein has gone mad, doesn't know what to go for first, have to remind her..rats...rats first. Then if she gets a grouse and hasn't mauled it..it's mine!!!! LOL

Thought I'd add, before I offend anyone, I'm not intending to hunt the hares, That's not to say the dogs aggree with me. They just live at the top part of our land, other side of the quarry (yes, we have a tiny disused yorkstone quarry, odd hu????), They are jumping about all over the place, mad as march hares..LOL. The grouse though... yum!

Mine tried a seagull this morning ran too fast, slipped over, fell on his side and slid on the wet grass and mud for about 6 feet, one very embarrassed Solli Sod. Still he has an excuse, he is a hound not a terrier.

The seagull sat on the fence with two feathers in the air

LOL, being a hound is a great excuse, Ein's a terrier and still does stupid stuff, like run through my living room, wooden floor, slides on her back and looks like an upturned tortoise... Daft dog. My mum's JRT chased a duck, and fell down a waterfall (not a big one) didn't get the duck, it flew off.

Daft thing with my mob they are good at putting up, tracking, cornering, but at that point they have no idea what to do. We have rescued many a duck, pheasant and rabbit from a circle of confused Elkies.

we have severa working terriers including 2 borders, a fell and a lakeland (working type). They all work for their living, whether its rats or foxes..... they hunt both & infact last night they caught a fox on top with the help of one of the longdogs! they all enjoy their very active natural lives & most of all they love to sit infront of the fire at night!! There are a couple of good working terrier sites if anyone is interested.

Terriers were bred to hunt and to kill. They WILL, given the chance, still do this but, the majority of people do not live in an environment where their terrier could work everyday. Any terrier that lives, say, on a farm will hunt, let's face it, who could stop a terrier from not doing it! The instinct is always there. I've got a friend of a friend that has JRTs and pet rats (not a clever combination hey ;-) ) and, one day, their extremely loving and friendly JR jumped at the rat and, well, you can imagine what happened. Apparently, she was amazed by this . The other rats had to be given away including one with missing claws.

Yes unfortunately these accidents do happen. ;-)
Dawn.