Re-homing a lurcher - advice needed

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Ditto

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Hi

I'm looking for some advice regarding the feasibility of re-homing a small working lurcher.

The dog belongs to a family member. A while ago he sustained an injury which resulted in him having to have a toe removed. He has now come back into work but every time he is worked the next day he comes up lame so the decision has been taken that he needs to be retired.

This is a young dog who loves to work. He is fully house trained but currently lives out in kennels. He has a very loving nature, loves being around people and is well trained but as a working dog he is not safe around small furry animals like cats. We have tried to re home him within the family but sadly everyone has cats.

So
1. is it possible to retrain a sight hound not to go after the cats?
2. is it fair to ask an active working dog to become a pet?
3. He is lame after normal exercise but he needs to run every day - is it fair for him to live like that?
4. How do we go about finding a suitable home?

I have looked at lurcher rescues but haven't contacted one yet as they seem to deal with abandoned, abused and/or neglected dogs and he is none of the above and we don't want to burden a charity with our problem.

Any constructive advice or contacts for a lurcher specialist that I can talk to would be greatly appreciated.
 
Would it be possible to ask the breeder for help? I would suggest the best kind of home might be one where he can self-exercise to a certain extent (a farm perhaps) as he would probably go mad if confined to a lead. Also, total freedom of exrecise would mean less hooning and more pottering and sniffing etc!

I would guess that a charity may be willing to help with homechecking etc if you offered a decent donation....

It is possible to retrain a lurcher not to chase cats but it usually needs the help of a grumpy cat who won't run! We don't have cats but have trained my whippet not to chase the sheep yet he still knows bunnies are fair game. He has free run of the farm and I am totally confident he is safe with the stock.

As for welfare considerations in his particular situation - only you can judge that. Is he happy in himself? is it a mechanical lameness or is there pain? Is it getting better or worse? What has the vet said?

Good luck x
 
I rescued a lurcher who I know had been trained to catch and kill cats. We had 2 cats at the time and a dog who didn't chase cats.we started by just bringing him in the house in the day, being 100 percent alert when the cats were in. We used to have to have him on a lead when the cats were in coz he would go mad barking etc.. it took 2 years and he eventually tolerated the cats in the house without chasing them
 
Contact Kaye at Lurcher Link, they can help with advice and sometimes rehoming and do deal with owners not just the pound dogs. They have a forum too so can also get advice there or advertise in 'other homeless hounds' section (not dogs for sale).
http://www.lurcher.org/llink/forum/index.php?sid=f06f073759e947ccb101a02b409ee4c6
I imagine some ex-workers can live with cats but probably depends on the dog. Some dogs living with cats would hunt other cats outdoors.
 
Thank you for the replies. We are getting the lameness issue checked by the vet as we need to know exactly what is causing that before moving on.
 
Most dogs will get used to 'their' cats but you can never be sure that they will not chase if any cat runs. The answer is to muzzle them during exercise. Introduced properly a light basket muzzle is well accepted and eventually ignored. I agree with contacting Lurcher Link, they are one of the few rescues who are not prejudiced against owners working their dogs as well as being very knowledgeable.
 
I would personally not trust him with cats, but otherwise he should be 100% to be rehomed assuming that he does not pull up lame after normal exercise. He will adapt to being slightly less fit and doing less 'work'. Lurcher rescuses are probably the way forward-get in touch with them.
 
My dog is working bred and while he doesnt work as in hunt properly he does work as in hunt himself, lure race and all sorts of other things I do to keep his brain and legs occupied. Hes currently got a cut pad and I'm trying to rest him to heal it and he is driving me up the wall. He cant settle. He NEEDS to run every day and be "worked" hard. If anything ever happened to him where he couldnt do that every day then I would have no option other than to PTS as hes utterly miserable at the minute and it wouldnt be fair. All dogs are different though :)

Mine also lives with a cat, but my cat is very dog savvy and Dylan has grown up with him since being a puppy. He will still chase if the cat runs, but theres no intent. I wouldnt trust him with a cat he didnt know outside of the house though! But with my cat hes fine, he knows hes part of our household.

The person who said about muzzles has obviously never seen a dog use a muzzle to bludgeon a small animal! If the prey drive is high enough and their bloods up a muzzle wont stop them doing serious harm. Most cats dont pop up in the middle of a huge field though, and while mine has chased a couple hes never caught one as they go up trees or walls etc. Its not something I particuarly like, but its part of having lurcher type dogs
 
I know all about the damage that can be done with a muzzle but prey has a better chance of escaping if not held in the jaws of the dog. I have experience of ex-racing greyhounds and have two young lurchers. The muzzle also demonstrates when you are out and about that you are taking a responsible attitude and are not intent on poaching!
 
Ditto said:
Thank you for the replies. We are getting the lameness issue checked by the vet as we need to know exactly what is causing that before moving on.
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Definately find out what's going on because loosing a toe shouldn't make the dog lame. My sister's lurcher lost a toe on her hind leg after being stood on by my mare (daft dog ran full tilt into the horse's back legs, good horse didn't kick) and once she adapted to not having it there has had no other affects at all.
 
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