How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

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Lauram
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How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by Lauram »

An accidental spot of ratting

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emmabeth
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by emmabeth »

Thats a lot of dogs for just the one rat! I hope they managed to find one each by the end of the night!
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Nettle
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by Nettle »

Heck, I could just hear the panting and the odd clunk and scrabble of a dog/wood interface!
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Lauram
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by Lauram »

They caught one.

It wasn't supposed to be a ratting trip but Toby (14 artheritic and slightly demented) found one and called up the pack- the hunt was on. I think it made the old boys week getting his teeth around a big juicy rat!!!

For proper ratting, the pups, Po and Maya would have been left behind and it would have been mainly a terrier treat :D
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***Melissa***
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by ***Melissa*** »

That's so cool 8)

Don't tell anyone, but since Nettle told me that it's okay for them to catch rats or mice I'm secretly hoping for a rat or mouce to come into our house, so they can catch him...it hasn't happen yet.
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emmabeth
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by emmabeth »

I am absolutely DYING to take Dilly and Rocky up to my dads, (even though my Dad is a nightmare around dogs hes such a child.... grrrrr!).. because right by his house is a big old dutch barn, half full of old straw and it is always absolutely HEAVING with rats..

Last time we were there, during the day we moved some pallets and bales about to reduce escape routes, set up some easily moved bits of wood and more bales.... and then went back at dusk the following evening... Both boys thought it was like all their christmasses come at once! My dad is a total girl and hates it when the rats go flying out but the dogs think it is awesome. They arent the most proficient rat hunters as they dont get to do it all that often (and not in my house at all as i have pet rats!!!!!) but they had three or four each that last time and were happy smiley snorey dogs the day after!

How do you find your smaller lurchers? Dilly loves it but being further off the ground than Rocky (hes 21" bedlington x whippet, rocky is 18" staffyish x ???) and taller on his legs anyway he can get a bit tangled up in his own feet, where Rocky can whip round incredibly fast, having a lower centre of gravity!
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Lauram
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by Lauram »

Wow your dogs will have an amazing time!!!! Have you thought about getting a smoker and flushing the little devils that way? Im sure they'll catch a good few anyway.

The lurchers abilities vary greatly. Alf is extremly intelligent and from his ferreting has learnt to stand back and wait leaving the terriers to pull the rats out and then just get in on the kill. Also him being tall ~2inches is handy at the chicken farm because they run up the walls and along pipes so he can get the higher ones. Meg (23 inches) is incredibly gutsy and will be down with the terriers pulling them out of holes etc. Po Evie and Maya are useless, we dont even bother taking them, Maya will just bugger off looking for rabbits and Po is so stupid he gets bitten alot and doesn't seem to realise and the the excitement sends Evie over the top. Im sure the puppies which are almost a year now will be good, they are pretty bold and incredibly fast.

I think there is something about hunting with dogs that rouses a primeaval urge, something that our evolution has forgotten but is still there, just hidden. There was a rat stuck in the drain of the pub where I work, the pubs on the canal so we get a few around. The chef was a total whimp, wouldn't go outside etc, when i told him the dogs were coming he said he was going to be sick if he saw them catch it etc. But boys being boys had to watch. Tessie bear practically hung by her back legs to grab it, pulled it out of the drain, threw it in the air and her a tag despatched it in seconds. Chef is now trying to catch another one, told everyone how good it is and wishes he had a dog to kill rats with!!!
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Nettle
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by Nettle »

Don't eat the ratatouille :wink:

(someone had to say it :mrgreen: )
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forkin14
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by forkin14 »

wait, do the dogs eat the rats?! :shock:
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Nettle
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by Nettle »

Can't speak for these, but I don't know any that do.

I meant as a chef has become a keen ratter - you know chefs - :wink:
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forkin14
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by forkin14 »

Haha okay because I was worried about how a person could tell if the rat had a disease or anything like that before the dog would eat it!
emmabeth
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by emmabeth »

Nah, dogs are pretty smart and really are highly unlikely to eat a rat.

The exception is probably labradors that are so mmm.... foody... that they might.. but then a labrador is a lot less likely to catch one anyway :lol:
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GllntKnight
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by GllntKnight »

Only one JRT and they eat most of what they kill wether it is a mouse rat, rabbit skunk neighboors cat possum what ever but if you have two like I do then they play tug of war with it until we remove it so they don't eat it. :lol:
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Doglover42
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by Doglover42 »

:lol: :lol: oh my! cute dogs by the way!
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GllntKnight
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Re: How many dogs does it take to catch a rat??

Post by GllntKnight »

Thank you. They are brother and sister different litters. That's actually an older picture when we first got her brother at six months he is the tri rough coat, she is the black and white broken coat. She turned four on 6/28 and he will be three on August 13th. Although they were current on their Rabies shot when they had the tug of war with the skunk we got a booster anyway, you never know. Better safe than sorry. She is the better hunter but he's not to shabby at it, she is so little 12lbs small boned but fierce, she once killed an opposum all by her self that was bigger than her, she climbed the tree to get it about twenty feet up. He's not a climber he waits on the ground. He is larger boned and about 18lbs. The 'possum was at least 12lbs if not more but then that was dead weight when I picked it up to discard.
The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue. ~Author Unknown

I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. ~Gilda Radner
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