# Airedale/staghound cross



## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Well I took some flack from certain sectors for crossbreeding my airedale, Geronimo, to a stag hound but sometime you just gotta do what ya gotta do. A lot of those same people that were booing and hissing are pretty quiet now. Here is a picture of one of the pups at 11 mo. The first animal is a coyote, the second the cross pup, the rest are seasoned staghounds bringing up the rear. The fellow that has this dog said that the pup was a straight up kill dog and in in his experience, he has never seen a dog with this much fight that wasn't a real danger to the other dogs....I guess we will have to wait and see when he matures some. Do you know how fast that pup has got to be to be on that coyote and in front of the stags? 










And for your viewing pleasure, this site belongs to the fellow that owns the pup, Larry Bull is his name.

http://www.geneticspecialties.com/articles.html


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Lurchers rock!
The traditional lurcher is a sight hound x collie. The Brits have done it for many a year and originally they were poacher's dogs. Fast, silent and very "efficient".


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Here is the rest of the story to that picture Bob. I contacted Pete up in Wa. last night as he posted the picture and brought the stags to my place to be bred. I asked him why the other three dogs don't appear to have hit a stride abd the darker of the three looks more like it is standing there. I told him it looked like they already caught the coyote and had had enough of it. Pete said that was "exactly what happened. He said those stags are faster than the 11mo old cross and they caught the coyote first for a few seconds.....in which time, every one of the three got cut up so they let it go. That short few seconds put the cross pup on the seen and he blew by them, as is pictured, while they were regaining their composure and the coyote was making good his escape.....almost. The pup did catch him right after the picture was taken and killed him without taking any damage. Larry is planning to cross the pup back for a 1/4 stag I believe to see if he can pickup some of the original stag speed but hang onto the airedale killing ability.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Question...is this analogy right? A staghound is to a Scottish deerhound as an Alaskan husky is to a Siberian husky? I hadn't heard of a staghound before, though Scottish deerhounds are neat dogs.

Edit: oh okay, just looked them up on Google. Kind of like lurchers...cool.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Maren, there are greyhound lurchers and whippet lurchers. They are usually crossed with, say, collies to make them more biddable. The racing varieties, called hot bloods, have to be crossed a number of times [prior just to get rid of the track feet so they can course across natural ground. The American stag hound is any of the sight hounds such as Saluki, Deer hounds and such that is crossed to a greyhound. The cross breed is picked for what trait is desired. The saluki is normally considered the best for endurance if I am not mistaken.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

i've always wondered what a "lurcher" was...thanks for clearing that up


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

To clarify it even further.
A lurcher is a cross between a sight hound and any other non-sight hound breed. Some don't consider them lurchers if they don't resemble a sight hound.
A long dog is a cross between two different sighthound breeds. The Stag hound would be considered a long dog. 
Collies are the most common lurcher cross but, as Don's pic show, many other breeds are used. 
The whippet is often crossed with a Border Colie or a Bedlington terrier. 
At working terrier shows in Great Britian thy are often shown in conjunction with lurcher shows. 
I've seen a few lurcher shows here when I was active in working terrier shows.
As Don said, the Saluki is most often crossed for endurance.
MOST lurchers are used for hunting rabbits or fox, at night, with flashlights. In most states over here, hunting with lights at night is illegal. If the idea is to hunt fox, then a terrier or bull breed will be in the lines.
Greyhound x Airedale sounds like an pretty awesome combo for coyotes.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Bob, while it is hard to tell in the orinal picture, the airedale/staghound cross really favors the greyhound in appearance. All in the litter did. Another stag was brought down from Idaho and the litter came out mixed. Some favored the greyhound and some favored dogs in the stags background. Here is a picture of one of the females at about 7 mo. You can see the deerhound in her.....or maybe it's the airedale? She has the airedale armament as did most, if not all, of them. If I was twenty years younger, I would seriously try to breed this dog for type. Just love the looks and she has the airedale roughness.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Ain't nobody gonna mistake that for no show dog. 
DAMN, I love it! I want one! :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

this is cool info guys--keep it up for those of us that will probably never be personally involved in varmint hunting, but always interested.

i know that in western NE, ppl use some sort of greyhound X to hunt coyotes, and it's pretty big business. but i have no idea as to the crosses...that airdaleXstaghound bitch looks just like she should for the cross.

i personally love a varmintdog; my old labX bitch is one of the best i've had ( :wink: ), and my Dobe hates a coyote, and between the 2 of them, i have no coyote problems out here, where i can hear them singing in the spring/summer within 1/4 mi. but they never bother my property/livestock. the Dobe will plumb run them clear out of the county (almost--it's a pretty big county 8) ); the labX'll kill them if she catches them. in this part of the country, that's a blessing--they aren't romanticized 'cause we are still part of the wild, wild west. 8)


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

ann freier said:


> this is cool info guys--keep it up for those of us that will probably never be personally involved in varmint hunting, but always interested.
> 
> i know that in western NE, ppl use some sort of greyhound X to hunt coyotes, and it's pretty big business. but i have no idea as to the crosses...that airdaleXstaghound bitch looks just like she should for the cross.
> 
> i personally love a varmintdog; my old labX bitch is one of the best i've had ( :wink: ), and my Dobe hates a coyote, and between the 2 of them, i have no coyote problems out here, where i can hear them singing in the spring/summer within 1/4 mi. but they never bother my property/livestock. the Dobe will plumb run them clear out of the county (almost--it's a pretty big county 8) ); the labX'll kill them if she catches them. in this part of the country, that's a blessing--they aren't romanticized 'cause we are still part of the wild, wild west. 8)


Ann, be very careful about letting your dogs run coyotes. The'll bait a dog off it's property and double up on them.
My buddie's Dalmation used to go crazy and chase every coyote it saw. 
Hardly leaves the porch anymore. No tail, no nuts! Ugly, ugly dog. Whimpers like a puppy when it hears coyotes howling now.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Bob is right there
. You can rest assured, if they willingly stand and fight, the advantage is all theirs and heavily so. They rarely enter into a fight, willingly, where the stand a chance of getting hurt. They can size up an opponent quickly. If they stick, your dog is in trouble unless he can run and fight to the house. If he doesn't cut n run for home, he won't be coming home. Coyotes are two fast for most dogs to fight effectively.....and the dang things can open their mouths to where the upper an lower jaw line up vertically just about.


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## Terence Wright (Mar 5, 2009)

Many years ago back in the UK my 14yr old whippet cleared two eight foot fences to mate with a airdale dog.The pups from this litter were deadly. The best of the litter killed 100 foxes her first season and went on to become a notorious deer killer.
As to lurchers heres a pic of one of mine a Austrailian shepherd/greyhound











I will have a litter sired by him in May. The bitch is a 1/2tazi 1/4greyhound 1/4bordercollie.

All the best Terence


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Terence, nice looking dog!
The falcons are also used with terriers for hare hunting. The little terriers can easily get in the heavy brush and flush them.
Seems the Lurcher would be awfully close on the hare's tail in order for the falcon to do it's job.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Yes, what Bob said. Seems to be pretty relaxed with the bird.


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## Terence Wright (Mar 5, 2009)

Bob Scott said:


> Terence, nice looking dog!
> The falcons are also used with terriers for hare hunting. The little terriers can easily get in the heavy brush and flush them.
> Seems the Lurcher would be awfully close on the hare's tail in order for the falcon to do it's job.


Actually rabbits(not hares) are flushed with terriers for hawks(not falcons), a lot of eastcoast falconers hunt this way.
As to the lurcher being too close to the hare for the falcon to get in a shot, let me post a vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVuPK8e49IA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmUqZ4H7i28

I hope you like. Terence


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## Guest (Mar 12, 2009)

That is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Thanks Terence!
I'm amazed at how the dogs respect the falcon.
I reciently saw a video on youtube about wolf hunting with Golden Eagles in Mongolia. Freakin unreal!
The eagles were actually taking out the wolves. :-o


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## Terence Wright (Mar 5, 2009)

Bob Scott said:


> Thanks Terence!
> I'm amazed at how the dogs respect the falcon.
> I reciently saw a video on youtube about wolf hunting with Golden Eagles in Mongolia. Freakin unreal!
> The eagles were actually taking out the wolves. :-o


A serious golden eagle is a sight to behold. I have seen them catch deer in the Czech republic. Here in the US wild can and do kill coyotes and antelope. I have had them come in on my falcon on kills but my lurcher bluffed it out standin g and barking at it. The eagle left to find something easier i'm sure it saved my birds life. Had the same situation with coyotes too, the desert can be a dangerous place.

all the best Terence


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## Emilio Rodriguez (Jan 16, 2009)

Terence, that's some interesting stuff you do. It's amazing to see the dogs and the bird "cooperate" like that. Question; from what I've seen of falconry the handler doesn't let the bird feed on its own rather he feeds it. Why do you let the bird feed on its own?

Don, what is a staghound?

BTW here's the vid of the eagles hunting wolves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmUqZ4H7i28


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Emilio, A stag hound is a sighthound x sighthound cross. A Lurcher is a greyhound x colie(or some other breed) cross Can also be a whippet cross.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Emilio, you reposted Terences video. 
I started a new post.


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## Sheena Tarrant (Sep 21, 2008)

Terence Wright said:


> A serious golden eagle is a sight to behold.


Evil buggers, too! Had an unfortunate encounter w/ a golden eagle once and have a scar to accompany the memory, so I might be a bit biased against them. :lol: 

Very interesting videos, thanks for posting them. Your saluki/greyhound is an interesting looking dog in the picture you posted - looks how I would think a malinois/greyhound might look.


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## Terence Wright (Mar 5, 2009)

Sheena Tarrant said:


> Very interesting videos, thanks for posting them. Your saluki/greyhound is an interesting looking dog in the picture you posted - looks how I would think a malinois/greyhound might look.


The brindle and white dog is australian shepherd x greyhound the black dog is 1/4bordercollie, 1/4greyhound and 1/2 Tazi


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## Sheena Tarrant (Sep 21, 2008)

Terence Wright said:


> The brindle and white dog is australian shepherd x greyhound the black dog is 1/4bordercollie, 1/4greyhound and 1/2 Tazi


Sorry - thought you had posted photos of a third dog in a different thread. That was the one I was thinking of, although these two are certainly impressive to watch work.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

I was rooting for the wolf, and then they threw another bird in. Cheaters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re644qgnCtw

Is this it ??


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

do golden eagles really hunt wolves in the wild? seems like there'd be easier game...i didn't like watching that video, didn't even watch it to the end. there's something "ok" with a rabbit or some other varmint in my mind, but a wolf isn't. though intellectually i can understand why they might hunt them....(even a coyote's ok, but wolves...uh-uh).

it WAS cool in a way--to hunt w/an eagle!! and those guys can ride, too.


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## David Scholes (Jul 12, 2008)

I have much more respect for eagles now! Had no clue they could take on even a large predator. Maybe the old tales of them carrying off children is not so far fetched.

I actually climbed up a large fir tree with an eagles nest once when I was a teenager. Looked in eye to eye with a large golden eagle gorging on ground squirrels. Kinda dumb now that I've seen that.


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## Terence Wright (Mar 5, 2009)

ann freier said:


> do golden eagles really hunt wolves in the wild? seems like there'd be easier game...i didn't like watching that video, didn't even watch it to the end. there's something "ok" with a rabbit or some other varmint in my mind, but a wolf isn't. though intellectually i can understand why they might hunt them....(even a coyote's ok, but wolves...uh-uh).
> 
> it WAS cool in a way--to hunt w/an eagle!! and those guys can ride, too.


Golden eagles do hunt wild canids, foxes and coyotes being the prime example.Young wolves are probably taken by wild eagles but the adults are usually left alone. Trained eagles like all trained raptors tend to take on larger prey because they know they have human backup.
There are many species of wild eagle and goldens in some ways are one of the less dangerous. I know a South african falconer that has a crowned eagle given to him after being removed from the wild.The reason, she was killing children!!!. There are several species of primate killing eagles notably harpy and crowned eagles. They have evolved to consider primates that means US, are prey. It is very rare but some eagles can go all jurassic park on your ass!


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

i can see how some could generalize from monkeys/chimps/etc to kids (tho i don't like that thought either--am i just a pu$$y american? never thought so....), and harpys are BIG. i'll have to google crowned eagles to see what they are like.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> I was rooting for the wolf, and then they threw another bird in. Cheaters.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re644qgnCtw
> 
> Is this it ??


 
That's it! 
A few other good ones on the same page.
One very quick one where the bird takes a deer. Another where the bird takes a couple of Dall type sheep.


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## Jason Hammel (Aug 13, 2009)

Thats amazing. I never would have thought it. I mean yea they have some big ol claws and beaks. They must go straight for the throat cause those 'smaller' wolves are dead when they men get there. However those wolves are about the size of my DS. Crazy. 

Quote: " It is very rare but some eagles can go all jurassic park on your ass! " 

now that is funny right there I don't care who you are.


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## Jason Hammel (Aug 13, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GoEalfyMqM&NR=1&feature=fvwp

this one is pretty good for the pics


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## Jason Hammel (Aug 13, 2009)

no wonder the hobbits were afraid of them hahaha


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