"purebred" Lurchers?

[bardmand]

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I am having a discussion on a Norwegian dog forum with a person who claims that there is such a thing as "purebred lurchers". Now, I guess that depends on your definition of "purebred", and I know there are (or perhaps have been in the past?) some distinct strains of lurchers bred in Britain. I think I remember reading something about Smithfield lurchers? Tumblers?

However, you Brits being the experts, would you agree that there is such a thing as purebred lurchers? I thought a lurcher was by definition a cross-bred dog, am I wrong?

 

[lalena]

so did i :blink: thought lurchers were dogs with greyhound or whippet on one side, and a completely different on the other, though a dog with maybe only a quarter of those two can still be classed as a lurcher? oooh, my head hurts :wacko:

 

[doris]

oh dear, I hear a can of worms being opened! :lol:

looking forward to reading the vast amount of replies that will follow this one :thumbsup:

 

[devonmaid]

maybe they ment line breed and there english wasnt good lol ive heard of a norfolk lurcher

 

[bardmand]

oh dear, I hear a can of worms being opened! :lol:
looking forward to reading the vast amount of replies that will follow this one :thumbsup:

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I certainly did not mean to. Has this topic been discussed in here before?

maybe they ment line breed and there english wasnt good lol ive heard of a norfolk lurcher

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Actually, the discussion is in Norwegian, but the Norwegian equivalent to the term "purebred" is usually only applied to a dog with purebred ancestry for a certain number of generations - and usually (though not necessarily) of a breed recognised by the Norwegian Kennel Club.

Still, will breeders of say Norfolk or Smithfield lurchers only breed their dogs to other dogs of the same strain/breed, or will they occasionally outcross to other strains of lurchers, terriers or even purebred sighthounds?

 

[~elizabeth~]

"The Smithfield was in reality the result of a Belgian Cattle Dog import from the continent (a cousin of the Bouvoir De Flanders) so; I suggest you compare that with Taplins description (chap. 4 of Walsh's book)"

more on Smithfield collie/lurcher from the same Earthdog Running dog article

 

[trap1alialiali]

I WAS ALWAYS OF THE OPINION....A LURCHER IS A SIGHTHOUND CROSS.....A LONGDOG IS THE RESULT OF A 2 TYPE SITEHOUND MATING.....IVE NEVER HEARD OF AN OFFICIAL PUREPRED LURCHER....THOUGH PEOPLE NEW TO THE SIGHTHOUND/LURCHER WORLD HAVE SAID SUCH THINGS TO ME...... :teehee:

 

[OEH]

I think that a lucher is a cross between a sighthound and any other working dog and that a longdog is a cross between and sighthounds

 

[BornToHunt]

ive heard people calling a dog with breeding, Lurcher X Lurcher a purebred lurcher, i just think their wrong! a lurcher should be a greyhound X working breed.

so its impossable for a purebred lurcher, or is it?

 

[~elizabeth~]

From my brief research on this it sounds like the original Smithfield was a kind of leggy collie or herding dog in it's own right, and the term is erroneously used today to describe tall, beardy-cross-type lurchers (i.e. hybrids), rather than a race of dogs that breeds true with others of it's kind. Maybe the confusion has arisen from the use of this term to describe hybrid dogs of similar appearance.

" The old-fashioned bloodlines had already been decimated by two world wars- when they were used as messenger carriers, being the only breed clever enough to get the message through to those they trusted whilst avoiding strangers (the enemy) just as they avoided gamekeepers in civy-street.

So, in the 1950's, the old type sagacious rabbitting lurcher neared extinction along with its quarry, the rabbit. Those who did retain running dogs at this time converted their stock from rabbitting to hare-coursing type by outcrossing to deerhound/greyhound erroneously referred to as "staghound".

Fortunately, some relatives however were astute enough to realize that by continually outcrossing to "the gentleman's sighthound" blood the sagacity, hardiness, good feet, trainability, scenting and gamefinding ability with the retrieving instinct would all end up being lost forever...

...So, when about 180 years ago the old timers out crossed their short-legged rabbitting dogs to the leggy Smithfield drovers dog as well as increasing the pastoral brain they were after they inadvertently adapted the anatomy from pure rabbitter to more versatile - capable of catching fen hares as well. So, it was the Smithfield type lurcher that brought the reputation for hare catching, being more up on the leg and the term Norfolk type should only apply to the pure rabbiting stamp with relatively shorter legs."

Very interesting, anyway!

 

[bardmand]

Thank you for your views and info. To me, it seems as if there might have been a time when there were something approaching "purebred" lurchers, but as I suspected, these days it is really the crosses that deserve the name. Very interesting article you linked to, Elizabeth - thank you!