# working your dog without hunting?



## MrDerek

As a working dog, people keep telling me Ella will need/want working when she gets a bit older.

I do know that she'll benefit from it but I really don't like the idea of taking her hunting. Can taking her to agility etc. compensate for this?

what other things is there to give my lurcher the exercise she needs? Only things I can think of are -

Agility
Flyball (she's not very keen on carrying balls...)
Racing (would absolutely love to for fun, but can't seem to find anything locally...)
All forms of hunting other animals (really don't like the idea)

are there any others?

Also does anyone know of any clubs in the North East for the above mentioned activities? I'm wanting to join some sort of club once Ella finishes her doggy classes.


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## Guest

Look up lure coursing, I'm sure there will be several small clubs in your area


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## cinnamontoast

To be honest, I've had working dogs from full on working stock for the past 7 years and they never went crazy from not working. Ella might be high energy, in which case you need to consider mental as well as physical stimulation. Once you're in an established routine and she knows what to expect, then you might find that she is happy with a daily walk.

You can google training classes anywhere and there's no reason you can't do any of the activities you mentioned, all fab ideas! Here's a link to google and lots of trainers/classes.

dog training classes newcastle upon tyne - Google Search

If you haven't been to the park at the top of Lobley Hill in Gateshead, I can thoroughly recommend it!


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## Nicky10

Lurchers do pretty good in agility


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## hawksport

Mary Ray has a lurcher bred by a friend of mine. Mary Ray


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## MrDerek

Thanks for your responses.

I looked up lure coursing and it looks fab! My problem is I can't seem to find any small groups or clubs which does it locally. Not just for lure coursing in fact but for any of the mentioned activities.

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places? Where can I find these groups as they don't seem to appear on the Internet.

There's plenty of general obedience training which I'm already doing with her right now. She's finished a puppy course and is now 3 weeks into the next course. This is all great but I don't think it's giving her the physical exercise she needs. Especially since this second course doesn't allow the dogs to play with each other like they could in the puppy classes, I can see this is getting quite stressful for her.


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## Freyja

If the photo of the lurcher in your signature is the one you are after an activity for and she is 5 months old she is too young yet to do either agility or lure coursing. They have to be at least 12 months old to do either of these activities. I think with agility she could learn to do things such as weaving but she shouldn't be jumping as her bones are still growing and she could damage her joints and give her problems in the future.

Lure coursing is the same because of the twisting and turning following the lure they should not do it until they are 12 months. 

Alternatively go along to a few of the game fairs during the summer months. They often have lurcher shows and racing and there will be people there who would be able to advise you of any clubs near to you. Also join and whippet/lucher forum such as k9 community were there are a lot ofpeople with lurchers that would be able to advise you.


Lurchers don't necessarily need to work as long as if their recall is good enough the have a regular free run or if her recall is not good if you can find an enclosed safe area to allow her to run and burn off her access energy.


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## Phoenix&Charlie'sMum

Lure Coursing shouldnt be started until they are older. Until then If I were you id work on her recall and listening to direction, there is nothing more annoying then a dog that goes off for the lure and then keeps running because it has poor recall 

There is a charity called LurcherLink who meet up near sheffield once a month, they hire out a greyhound track and have fun race days there. There is also sussex long dogs association which hold events all over, then of course there are country fairs which do lure coursing first thing in the morning.

If you let me know where you are I could help you out with some more info 

I have 2 lurchers and a grey, the OH works all three of mine, but i like taking them to the fun days.

Just wanted to sya though, just because you have a lurcher, you dont need to work them, they are perfectly happy as pets and sofa buddies. It is just something else seeing them run at full speed and the smiles on their faces is great.


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## shepherd mush

MrDerek said:


> As a working dog, people keep telling me Ella will need/want working when she gets a bit older.
> 
> I do know that she'll benefit from it but I really don't like the idea of taking her hunting. Can taking her to agility etc. compensate for this?
> 
> what other things is there to give my lurcher the exercise she needs? Only things I can think of are -
> 
> Agility
> Flyball (she's not very keen on carrying balls...)
> Racing (would absolutely love to for fun, but can't seem to find anything locally...)
> All forms of hunting other animals (really don't like the idea)
> 
> are there any others?
> 
> Also does anyone know of any clubs in the North East for the above mentioned activities? I'm wanting to join some sort of club once Ella finishes her doggy classes.


try cycling with her running along side or with a "walky dog" fitted on the seat . . . I take my collies mushing on a scooter but my friend has his staffie running along when we do that as he is too small to pull.


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## lemmsy

Agility is amazing but then I'm biased


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## MrDerek

It's just that she has so much energy, but I guess that could just be down to her being a puppy. 

I live in Northumberland, Cramlington to be exact. Plenty of parks around, but her recall is poor out and about. She's great in the house and in class... Completely different dog outside. There isn't any fenced parks round me either which is a problem... I did however cheekily let her have a good run around In the local kids park when it was completely quiet (no dogs allowed) and she was enjoying herself so much...

Cycling isn't an option as I'm worried she'll hurt herself. I'll go for a little run with her and she deliberately runs in front and cuts me off. Tripped over her a few times... Can't be doing that with a bike.


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## claire & the gang

MrDerek said:


> It's just that she has so much energy, but I guess that could just be down to her being a puppy.
> 
> I live in Northumberland, Cramlington to be exact. Plenty of parks around, but her recall is poor out and about. She's great in the house and in class... Completely different dog outside. There isn't any fenced parks round me either which is a problem... I did however cheekily let her have a good run around In the local kids park when it was completely quiet (no dogs allowed) and she was enjoying herself so much...
> 
> Cycling isn't an option as I'm worried she'll hurt herself. I'll go for a little run with her and she deliberately runs in front and cuts me off. Tripped over her a few times... Can't be doing that with a bike.


I`m just down the road from you in Holystone & am just about the start none competative agility classes with my 1 yr old dog. They do flyball, agility & lots of other classes there suitable for young dogs. Feel free to pm me if u want the details


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