LURCHER DOGS: RARELY SEEN OUTSIDE IRELAND AND GREAT BRITAIN
65GENTLE COMPANION
LURCHER
According to Bruce Fogle, DVM, this extremely common dog in Ireland and Great Britain, is rarely seen anywhere else. The dog is rarely bred to a specific standard, and was historically originally a cross breed of the greyhounds and either collies or terriers.
The Lurcher is only bred to other Lurchers in a more systematic manner today, in order to perpetuate the dog's prowess at rabbit and hare coursing. These dogs come in both long and short hair varieties, and are gentle with people, are extremely high energy animals that are not well suited to city life. Lurchers are natural racers and will chase and kill any small game (Bruce Fogle, DVM, Dogalog).
APPEARANCE
Lurchers come in a variety of colors. Their ears are small, wire-haired and high set. Their coat is smooth on short-haired dogs, and the undercoat thickens in winter. The dog has a deep chest that provides lung capacity for endurance, and its legs are long and straight. The dogs weigh from 60 to 70 pounds (27-32 kg), and stand from 27 to 30 inches high (69-76 cm).
BREED HISTORY
The breed name comes from the Romany word lur, meaning thief. This is probably due to its history as being bred in Ireland and Great Britain by Irish gypsies and tinkers. The short haired Lurcher was most prized, and descended mainly from greyhounds. The breed was used mainly for poaching rabbits and hares (Fogle, Dogalog).
BREED CHARACTERISTICS
Very good with children, the Lurcher is not well suited to urban living due to its high energy level and need for physical exercise. The dog requires no grooming and does well as an outside dog under proper conditions. It gets along well with other dogs, but might be problem for cats or smaller pets due to its high prey drive. Its life expectancy is around 13 years.
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Thanks Sambo. Apparantly not many people have heard of this breed unless they happen to live in Ireland or Great Britain. (:v
Those Lurhers look fast! I had a friend named Lurch once but he was slow. I should have asked him how he came about that name. Great write!
Thanks Micy Dee (Joe, lol). Obviously, your friend's name was not related to any resemblance to these dogs. (:v
As I live in England, we see them all the time. Our dog has a few Lurcher playmates who give her a good run for her money as they are very fast. She's a Doberman, which apparently has some Greyhound that went into their breeding. So, she is quite fast but is left in the dust by Greyhounds, Lurchers and Whippets when they go running around the fields. I did not realize that the Lurcher was not in the USA. They are exactly as you describe, very sweet with people. I think they would do well in USA but they do need lots of space to run.
Hello again, m Selvey. Who knows but what Lurchers will eventually end up over here; most things do. They seem like an interesting breed of dog, and would do well living on a large enough amount of land. How interesting to hear from someone who is actually familiar with them on a personal basis. Thanks for responding to my site. (:v
Fascinating. I used to work in the archaeology field and remember seeing a Bronze Age statue from Ireland that looked just like the Lurcher. They do resemble a greyhound in their sleekness, don't they?
Yes, and one of my fan friends from England says they are all over the place over there, and that she didn't even realize they weren't just as common in the U.S. Thanks for commenting on my site. (:v
Valerie,
I will try to get a photograph of one of our dog's Lurcher pals. He is probably the most interesting looking of all of them as he is quite shaggy with very unique coloring but still has the greyhound physique and speed. We don't really have scheduled play times for the dogs, just leave it to chance most times but I will keep my phone with me so I can snap a picture next time we see him :-)
Thanks. That would be very interesting. (:v
The first thing to understand that the Lurcher is NOT a breed they are F1 crosses and as such are an unrepeatable exercise. They are a cross between any Sight Hound, Saluki. Sloughi, Deer Hound etc and another breed including another Sight Hound for example the Greyhound They came about because of the difficult of some to either obtain a purebred Sight Hound or because of the some times difficult temprement of some sight hounds (Not many Salukis will come back when called!!) They were bred to hunt and like all sight hound breeders world wide one tends to breeds for what one want, you hope!
They are lure coursed, raced and shown. In UK there is a lot of showing activity. There is no Kennel Club connection nor is there in Ireland. Showing is commercially sponsored. Prizes unlike pure breds can be quite sustantian.
Sharjar Sight Hounds are an amalgamation of a Pure Bred show team of Salukis and Slougis and a very good Lurcher team run by my friend James Whiteman who is also a breeder. You do not have to know who your great grandfather was to be good at your job!
Very interesting Paul. Thanks for your insight. (:v
Interesting comments about the Lurchers. I live in the U.S. and have a Lurcher laying on my bed sleeping as I write this comment. I guess they got to the states faster than you thought.
samboiam 23 months ago
Valerie, I have never heard of this breed. Thanks for sharing this informative and interesting hub with us.