Corey Beale Webboard User Reg: 09-24-2004
Posts: 209
Loc: beeYOOtiful British Columbia
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Flyball and agility people are crossing JRTs with Border Collies. Talk about the ultimate ADHD/OCD dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />
It's a totally ridiculous stunt thought up by ultracompetitive flyball fanatics who are looking for a hyperfast height dog. And now they are all ending up in rescue because gee golly gosh, now these folks can't handle the little headcases. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />
Lurchers are a bit different from the whole Borderjack/Labradoodle designer dog fiasco, though- they were/are greyhounds mixed with whatever is needed for the task at hand. Lurchermen traditionally were looking for a dog with the speed of a sighthound with, say, retrieving instincts to work on farms in Britain- not for profit. If you are looking for a sighthound sort of dog then my advice would be to check out greyhound rescue. I have seen both greyhounds and whippets do quite well in agility.
I'm looking at some of the greyhound rescues in the area, but most have a clause in their contract that their dogs cannot be allowed off leash in an unsecured area. This, IMO, too severely restricts what can be done agility wise with the dog. There has been some discussion on this board already about how important getting a dog with no strings attached is. I'm really beginning to understand this. I looked at a dog earlier this week that had the phrase "no inhumane collars" under adoption responsibilities. I asked for clarification and got the reply "most collars you can buy at a pet store." I knew a greyhound rescue that put together special greyhound only classes because they felt a normal obedience class didn't address greyhounds’ special needs. One of the things this rescue told me was that I shouldn't expect a greyhound to sit because they aren't built to. I'm a bit disenchanted with greyhound rescues.
Australian Cattle Dogs (aka blue heelers,red heelers, Queensland heelers) also make good agility dogs. You don't see a lot of them out there, not really sure why, but as far as I can tell, structurally they're perfect--medium sized, bred for fast runs and quick turns, and extremely intelligent without the Border Collie's OCD nature.
My agility dog is an ACD, if you couldn't tell *grin*
Actually, I have a dog I've been running in agliliy for about a year now and he is a heeler mix. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> He is an outstanding dog and would probably be better if I were not such a green handler.
I've got racing bred whippets and started one in agility, she took to it like she'd been doing it all her life. I don't know of anyone breeding lurchers (show breeders will tell you all the race bred ones are crossbred, they are "too fast") in the US other than the coyote hunters. There's a big race in loomis nebraska every year where they all turn up to trade dogs and race, but those are generally some big dogs. If you look in petfinder ads there are quite a few whippet-mix dogs across the country.
Some of the greyhound re-homing organizations can be quite off the wall- they'll tell you things like they can't sit, they cant wear leather collars (the sharp edge of the leather will "cut their throat") etc. Really, it's only the people who are neurotic, the dogs tend to be mellow, tough individuals.
vickie
What I've noticed about Aussie though is that he's not as stocky as the ACDs you see in the show ring, but he's about the same height and weight, so I don't know where he puts it. He's a cool looking dog--blue speckle instead of mottle. People say he looks like either a dingo or a hyena. *rolls eyes*
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