When is "off topic" non-dog topic?

[chubbypaws]

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It seems they're always with us - of course!

So here's a 60-something year-old mystery created in my mind by a certain gentleman going by the name of "Romany" back in the day, which someone here may be able to answer:

WHAT EXACTLY CONSTITUTES A LURCHER? Is it a recognised category of dog at Scruffts like a Labradoodle? And where does the name "Lurcher" come from?

Just wondering, if there are any Lurcher owner members here ...

Have a good weekend

 

[Biker John]

Don't know where the name came from but a Lurcher is any cross between a sight hound and another dog, eg Greyhound x Collie, also it applies to off springs so it could be 3/4 sight hound and of course 1/4 not. Their are a number of recognised crosses designed to keep most of the sight hounds speed but add stamina. By the way the term Long dogs is also used, this correctly applies to a cross between two sight hounds, eg Greyhound x Saluki. As for being recognised, yes in fact you can come across Lurcher and Terrier shows that hold normal show classes, in different height classes eg 23 inch or less and above 23 inch as well as smooth coat and rough coat. They normally run races also again in height classes.

 

[chubbypaws]

Thank you for this, you seem to be a fountain of knowledge on the subject. Are you a Lurcher owner?

From what you say, Lurchers are bred essentially for racing (and showing apparently), and I have noticed that many members here are involved in Greyhound and Whippet racing.

But after reading the Romany books I had the impression that Lurchers are working dogs i.e. the companions of gamekeepers and/or poachers ... is this an old-fashioned view?

Please forgive my curiosity, I just like the look of these rustic looking dogs.

My own dog, by the way, is a rescue Basset Bleu de Gascogne (Blue Gascony Basset), a low-slung scent hound built for endurance though he gets up an impressive turn of speed when the feed bowl is clattered!

No-one on the site seems to have bassets.

 

[Biker John]

Lurchers are first a working dog, the other aspects showing and racing are just added extras. As for me no I haven't got one but as a sight hound owner and lover, (I have a wonderful Whippet), I do tend to be interested in all sight hounds. I have known quite a few Lurchers over the years and without exception they have been lovely tempered dogs, although if you happen to be a rabbit you would not think so.

 

[chubbypaws]

Yes that's as I thought. Thanks for the info - I've since found something in Wikipedia which may explain "Lurcher" : (quote:) "Many meanings of the word 'lurcher' have been suggested: from the Romany words lur meaning thief and "cur" meaning a mixed dog breed, or from Middle English, from lorchen, to lurk, perhaps from lurken. Indeed the archaic meaning of the word lurcher is a prowler, swindler, or petty thief."

Whippets always remind me of childhood post-war, when all the "grandpa"s on their allotments had at least one whippet - many of them had ferrets too. I suppose they went rabbiting a lot.

I found something about the name Whippet too: "Although the word Whippet (or corruptions of it) was recorded as early as in the sixteenth century, it did not necessarily mean then what it does today. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines a Whippet in 1550 as “a lively young woman; a light wench.” Later the word came to be used for a “nimble, diminutive or puny person,” by 1610 for “a small breed of dog,” and as late as 1841, the Whippet was described as “a dog bred betwixt a greyhound and a spaniel.”

 

[eingana]

One of my friends has a saluki x pointer lurcher, and he's truly beautiful and even more elegant looking than most lurchers, and he's a completely different shape to the whippet x staffy lurcher who lives near here. The saluki lurcher is about the same height as a greyhound and the whippet lurcher is shorter than my GSD.

Neither of these are officially working dogs though, they are family pets who happen to also be very fast when they go out for a run. I don't think that either of them has ever hurt another animal, and one of them shares a house with cats, ferrets, rabbits and guinea pigs

 

[Biker John]

Eingana, Sight hounds can easily live with other animals, I had two cats when my Whippet came here and although they didn't get to be best friends they lived together quite happily. Any strange cat she sees though she thinks is right for chasing, fortunately she's only seen ones when she's on lead.