Happy St. Pat's Day- Celtic dog list and "Lurchers"

sukoshi_mom

Here is a listing of "Celtic dogs":

http://www.ncfhg.com/Celtic_Canines.html

And here is some information about a type of dog known as a "lurcher":

http://www.celticlurchers.com/aboutlurchers.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurcher

jellyfish

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0485601/

on the site, the lurchers were mentioned in the book of kells. WHICH the "Secret of Kells" is based off that book, and it is an AWESOME movie

WrylyBrindle

Reilly Cleary is a lurcher-

sukoshi_mom

I forget Reilly's background. Certainly looks like a lurcher.

WrylyBrindle

She's "high-content greyhound" - 70lbs, tiny ears, long nose-legs-tail, all brindle, deep chest, tiny waist, well muscled long legs, long tail, not much undercoat (usually I comb her with only a flea comb), greyhound-typical soft teeth unfortunately, and unstoppable on rabbits and other small-n-furries. She does not love to Sit- default is to stand. She is obviously boxier than pure greyhounds and has a longer coat- real greyhounds are also just short of comic-book superheroes in the tight costume & defined muscles department. Rei is not that refined, and she has a big head and big feet, so we think her other half contains common types such as lab, shepherd. behaviorally she has many gsd traits- droving patterns, a deep big bark, good attention and watchdog duty. Her greyhoundiness covers any hip/joint issues of her mix- she is never sore. She doesnt love water, but enjoys a quick swim on a hot day. When I would walk her with my sister's labrador in the dark on a rainy night, I learned to follow Reilly's path down the road because while the lab would just go straight through puddles, the greyhound cross will go around them People who have had GSDs often tell me she looks very shepherd- her brother Harley (cream with black mask) is shaped exactly like her but has a thicker coat and tail. Reilly is a great friend and just a solid, good dog.

sukoshi_mom

Interesting info on Reilly. She is a really good looking girl. I like her "energy"

Crispy

Lurchers are huuuugely popular in my Irish family. They like to tell me Russell (my mongrel) is a Lurcher--all the time. He certainly does like to chase-chase-kill all the animals he sees and he's damned fast, for sure. He took off after a couple of deer the other day and I thought, for sure, this time I'd have a battered and bloodied dog left somewhere in the woods. Thankfully, he came back after the chase. I've never been so scared for him--this is a dog that takes on woodchucks, turkey and rabbits on the norm. He has NO fear when it comes to the beasts of the earth. People, though? Forget it.








^-- this dog was once a wild beast, look at that ferocity!


And one of the fosters we got--the rescue labeled her a lurcher




Anyway, whenever I think of Ireland's dogs, I think "lurcher" first and "terrier" second.


P.S. : Reilly is gorgeous! Love her stare! She looks very lurcher-y. I'm used to seeing them with thicker or wiry fur.

Kevin

@Crispy,
Your Russell looks almost exactly like our Darcy; it's crazy! Darcy is brindle in color, but otherwise, their faces and builds are almost exactly alike! She's muscle-y with long legs, super fast, HATES critters and is just an all-around badass dog. She's a lover, too. Is Russell a cuddler?

Crispy

@Kevin
Yeah! He's super velcro. He's a total lover when he warms up to people and very socially aware with other dogs. We vall him our adrenaline junkie because he's absolutely wild when he's chasing things down. He was a 'feral' (he was unsocialized/fear-aggressive with people and they caught him running somewhere in the woods) that came to us as a rescue from TN.

He's fearless's around animals. His favorite things to chase are rabbit, woodchuck, turkey and deer.