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I am looking at the dogs abandoned in the Rescue Centre.. I have my darling Barney who is getting old and am seriously thinking of getting him a companion.
There is a Lurcher six months old, just wondering whether anyone know what kind of temperament they have, and how big they grow!! I look at their faces and really wonder just how people can abandon these animals.. Evidently these centres get full after Christmas. Raised eyebrows by my neighbour when she heard! She lives alone and I can almost bet if I go ahead and take one of these animals she will do the same it would be good for her...And Gus my daughter is thinking of getting her Ruby, an ex rescue centre dog a companion....

Oh Kate, that really would be a lovely thing to do. It broke my heart this time last year when we were looking for a dog and travelling around the various rescue centres in the Midlands.

I know all dogs are different but I had a friend who had a Lurcher when I was growing up and that dog was beautiful with us children, so gentle and placid.
Is Debbie's Millie a Lurcher cross?

The only thing I would say is Lurchers need a lot of exercise, they are hunting dogs. Isn't a lurcher anything crossed with a sight hound?

miasmum wrote:The only thing I would say is Lurchers need a lot of exercise, they are hunting dogs. Isn't a lurcher anything crossed with a sight hound?

Dont know much about the breed Shell, we have plenty of fields around here.. He is evidently small.. I was worrying he might grow to the size of a Greyhound

Kate, we had a lurcher - whippet/terrier cross - and he was called Barney. Great temperament with people and other dogs.... and he was lazy around the home. However, he did need loads of exercise, and once out he would run and run and run forever.

Do ask the centre questions about his parents and then look at their breeds for hints on how things might turn out.

One thing I will say about him.... he was cheap to look after. He was hardy, never got ill, and he was not fussy about food.... as our two cats would testify!

A lurcher can be crossed with any sight hound Kate, so a whippet just as likely as a greyhound

Millie is a lurcher cross Kate and is wonderful. She is only quite a small dog (she is crossed with a Collie). I think they can grow quite big but it depends on what they are crossed with. I understand that they can be as small as a whippet or as large as a deerhound - it pretty much depends on what they are crossed with. The offical definition of a lurcher is a cross between a sight hound and any other breed. I think that Millie is the most common type - crossed with a Collie.

Millie doesn't actually need masses of walking - she does this mad running thing and you could easily just stand in the field and let her run round and round in circles around you!. You let her off her lead in a field and she runs round in a figure of 8 like an absolute lunatic until she completely tires herself out and then just wants to come home to sleep. She is incredibly fast and it is quite amazing to watch her fly round a field. She seems pretty happy with just a couple of walks a day as long as she gets a good run each time.

She is also a sneaky little thief (the "lur" part of Lurcher actually means "thief") and will eat anything left lying around (or, if she can reach it, not left lying around). She was not particularly easy to train and even now will only really do stay and sit. She is also rubbish on a lead and pulls like crazy so we do tend to use a haltie when we walk her.

She likes to leap up and down alot and is very, very licky - a typical Lurcher trait. She is incredibly friendly and good natured and is brilliant with children - she lets L dress her up, paint her nails and drag her around the house.

In fact, if we were ever looking for another dog it would be a Lurcher. I really, really don't think you will go wrong with a Lurcher Kate.

Debih, you have described them perfectly... in my experience, especially the eating anything part.

Workingman wrote:Debih, you have described them perfectly... in my experience, especially the eating anything part.

Actually, I did exaggerate on the not easy to train bit. I should have said she will only do stay and sit (when she wants to).

Millie is so jumpy and so licky that she once jumped up and licked my friends face and licked her contact lens straight out of her eye.

Another thing we find Kate is that she is incredibly nervous and shakes a lot. She doesn't like shouting or loud noises and is absolutely petrified of fireworks.

She also doesn't like:

the moon (she barks at it)
hot air balloons (she runs away with her tail between her legs)
normal balloons (as above)
globe lampshades (as above)
the sun (also, as above)
round road signs (she growls at them as we are driving along)


Do you see a trend here of round things!!!!

But that could just be Millie and not a typical Lurcher trait!!!