What is my lurcher ???

Breed specific discussion of your favorite breed.

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Dominika
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What is my lurcher ???

Post by Dominika »

Hi.

Two months ago me and my boyfriend adopted a beautiful lurcher who is about 11-12 months at the moment. He was found as a stray and is being amazingly obedient, at least compared to what I expected this to be like. It's like a walk in the park (except for a chewed up bottom step and a bit of wallpaper). It feels as if we've had him for years because he has settled in extremely well. He has some issues (afraid of older men, started barking at people outside the window) but I'm working on that. He knows the basic commands, although seems to forget everything when he gets too excited and mixes up sits and downs etc ( he loves chasing balls and sometimes the ball is all he can see and 'hear' :D ) Aaaand he lives happily with our 3 rats in the same room (in a cage obviously) :)
Anyway.....what I can't seem to work out is what he could be a cross of ???? I suppose the first thing one would think is that he's a whippet/greyhound because he is quite sleek but his head is a bit different and the colour + the big 8 ginger mark on his bum :D
Any ideas????
Thanks for your suggestions!
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Fly the lurcher :)
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Noobs
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by Noobs »

Oh my gosh, THAT FACE! I would say greyhound. Some of the members here have lurchers and they'd probably give you a more definitive answer.
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Nettle
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by Nettle »

Those photos don't tell a lot but he is beautiful and I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with him.

Don't ask for too much Sit and Down as both are uncomfortable - Sit because of his long back and Down because of his deep chest.

Can you show another side-on shot? How big is he?
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Labsrule
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by Labsrule »

Handsome boy, looks like a Greyhound to me, be careful with him around cats and small furry animals, he may chase and kill them, hope not but their prey drive is very high. Sue.
emmabeth
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by emmabeth »

Ill have a guess.... im going with grey x collie, with (some way back....) a dash of bull & terrier type (note the chunky limbs, and the pump handle tail and the fairly 'thick' waist).

Would be interesting to see his head side on - i dont think teh bull & terrier influence is close because he doesnt have that typically 'bull' head, though side on pictures may show otherwise.

I would expect his chest to drop deeper as he matures and his waist to look a little 'waspier' too but not much...

If he is under 24 inches, then I amend my guess to include some whippet blood... but without a size reference, hes not shouting 'whippety' to me..

I do of course defer to Nettles superior knowledge of all things lurchery...:lol:
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wvvdiup1
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by wvvdiup1 »

My guess would be greyhound and possibly wippet! :D You know, I'm wondering by any chance does he have Great Dane in him, too! Hummm! :D
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Dominika
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by Dominika »

Very interesting ideas :D

He's only about 23 inches in shoulder so he's not a greyhound-size dog. But i should think he's a little taller than a whippet. The nose is fairly long but his eyes don't pop out as much.
I do agree that he's got a wider chest than a greyhound/whippet but I don't think his body flows the same way as sighthounds. The waist/bum doesn't come up higher so much and is not as thin compared to his chest. His head from behind is kind of square which reminds me of a jack russel. Colour of his eyes is strange as well.
So sizewise you should think he comes from a whippet....He must be part sighthound. But the spottines confuses me. I don't know how spotty greyhounds'/whippets' skin gets.
And his feet are nice and chunky, I think greyhounds have more slender legs, but he does have their muscles. He holds his tail quite low most of the time, slightly between his legs like sighthounds(?). Also some black nails. Does that matter?
Plus he loves balls! Do sighthounds care for those much??
He has started chasing things outside but I'd say not more than any other dog. I used to have an Alaskan Malamute and he'd chase much more than Fly (although he's not matured yet) and kill anything in reach. We have 3 rats as well and he couldn't care less (From day 1. And I was expecting us moving the cage into our room or elsewhere out of our reach). He sniffes them occasionaly but is not particularly interesed in their existence. If we have them out of the cage, he shows interest but doesn't approach much, he's only been nipped in the nose once (through the bars) :)
He doesn't bark, except when he's uneasy and barks at people in the street or out of extreme excitement when he plays/chases other dogs he can't catch up with :D
About the sits/downs. That's interesting, I didn't know that. But he's known how to sit since we've got him and has now got the habbit to sit and wait for things he wants. Although I have never seen a dog sitting without its bum on the floor either and that is a whippet thing? Or sighthound thing? I don't know much about sighthounds. I used to not like them very much because they're so thin :D but I'm falling in love with them, I find them more and more beautiful now :)
So yeah, I don't know what to take into account but I would really love to know what's in him.
He is amazing though quite a novelty for me, he's responding really well to basic training although not extremely quick witted :) Or I just can't get his attention enough when teaching him new things or I'm too excited :)
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forkin14
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by forkin14 »

oooooo I love those eyes!!! Such a sweet looking face :D
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Nettle
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by Nettle »

Well, with the extra information:

Whippet yes
Greyhound probably
Border collie probably

Where do those big ears come from? Two usual sources - saluki and bedlington. I reckon there's a dash of saluki in this one. But that is only going from photos - if I saw him in the flesh I could make a much better guess. Are his hip bones prominent at the top of his back (pin bones)?
Does he have big or small teeth for his size (check out my avatar - bigger or smaller than those?)


The spottiness is normal, as is the lack-of-hair-underneath-ness, and the eye colour could come from anywhere.

Sitting without bum on ground is how some of them cope with "sitting" and the long back.
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Dominika
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by Dominika »

His hip bones come out only a little, if you look at his lower back you can see something there and you can feel the 'edges' but as you can see in the middle picture of the three, you don't notice. So probably no :D He's chunkier than whippets.
And teeth - the avatars are really small but I'd say as big as or a bit bigger. He definitely hasn't got small teeth.
And why do you reckon there's border collie there?
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***Melissa***
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by ***Melissa*** »

He's beautiful!! Love his face
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Noobs
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by Noobs »

Aw, that face. Where are you located again? I'm about to kidnap him. :D
Dominika
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by Dominika »

Noobs wrote:Aw, that face. Where are you located again? I'm about to kidnap him. :D
Luckily I live in Bristol UK :D
But yeah, he caught my eye straight away when I saw him on the internets :)
Dominika
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by Dominika »

I took some more pictures this morning....... O:-) Hopefully will tell some more.
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Nettle
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Re: What is my lurcher ???

Post by Nettle »

Border collie suspicions:

Border collie is in a great many lurchers
He is playing with a ball - relatively few sighthound types are interested in balls - obviously some will be.
He has a shortish tail with a bit of feather. That didn't come from any sighthound so therefore came from - something else.

Of course I could be way off beam - hard to tell from photos.
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