What are your opinions/experiences on the best dawg breeds for crat getting?
I have seen a few hounds and a couple of labs that were tough on crat. But watching a little fox/rat terrier has opened my eyes. Right before impact a lot of dogs hesitate just a split second. This terrier hits another gear just before impact and you should see the fur fly.

Nothin better than watching a big stud tom try to bluff a true crat getting terrier...



Jamon--its game time boy

Had a rescue greyhound once BoyHowdy!!!!!!If they would have had a crat instead of a damned bunny, that dogs owner would have retired a rich man!

Blue tick,walker,Black + tan,,,Maby a beagle in the mix for brush,Note that most mature hunters are going to be "broke" of such hunts,,If you really get one of these,,pets,,,Remember that they are ruthless,Very happy to be part of the family,,And sociable to strangers generally speaking,ignores them if on a trail,but pure hell on whatever they're trained for,,,,And if they get a sniff of something,,They'll either break the chain,,slip collar,,dig under the dirt floor of a d.i.y kennel,,to get at what ever,,And make some noise to boot,,I had an english setter,,It was my favorite,,silent as night,,and had a great amount of patience,,If you blinked when she made the bag,,,The only thing you saw was the tail swirling around from it's lips,,maby the sound of cracking ribs,,if you were close enough,,,On the other hand ,,she'd follow a buzzard for miles if you let her,,Clay www.birdwatching.com

Lets not forget Lawndart's, German Shorthair Pointer, Magda. She is reported to be a great crat killer.

Hog Killer

My Shitzu has a pretty mean game face and first charge. It is a pretty good bluff. It is fun to watch the little mutts reaction when they don't run.

Jamon--You know what they say a dog is a lot like their owner. The dog must've seen you failing to close the deal on the smokeys" cat so it just thinks that bluffing is normal.


(Big difference between being ruthless and being cruel)

Had an Akita once that done REAL good!!!!!!
It also did a good/bad thing to little dogs that kinda looked like crats. (poodles, pomerainians and similar)
Was able to snap a neck and drop 'em before you could say "N..o D..o..n..'..t d...o... it"
I miss her.

Smedley

Like Lawndart I had a german shorthair pointer for fourteen years. When we first got her we had a
backyard fenced in concrete block with some of the blocks set on their side to let the Santa Ana winds blow through rather than topple the fence. Our neighbor loved cats and fed all the neighborhood strays. Our shorthair would regularly run a patrol along our fence looking for cats that would come through the openings in the fence. Her shortest time from recognition to mission completion was four seconds. She would run under the cat as it poked through the fence and then jump up and crush and that was all. I had to go and get the crats and toss them in the trash. My father couldn't do it because he was laughing so hard. The dog always got a chunk of fresh steak as a reward. Funny thing was that when we were out bird hunting she would ignore cats completely.

I will admit that upon their home turf dogs have intrinsic advantage over other SnackMasters of the Realm. Maneuverability, endurance, and of course the warm fuzzy relationship they share with mankind.

However I have set upon a new endeavor as you all know, and am therefore biased, if not a bit arrogant...my turf not being entirely in favor of the machinations of Canines etc. Their primary disadvantage is found in their pathetic swimming skills, and they tend to be noisy so far as pets go. Hopefully, by the time I am gone, everybody in America will have a pet like my Li'l Bob.

They are quiet, they don't crap very often, and they tend to keep burglars away much better than a couple of yapping snacks, er, dogs. They don't need shots, and don't carry fleas and ticks. It has also been my observation that they climb stairs very well...we're working on the 'going down' trick as I write. So far it is best if nobody is at the foot of the stairs but I remain hopeful.

Dan

POTYHC

www.TheyllHelpYouGetToThe.OtherSideOfTheRiverToo

For pure-D cat-killin' versus cat-chasin' I think there is nothing on the face of the planet like an Australian Shepherd. Medium-sized, super-high intelligence (thus their hatred for anything "cat") and terrific dash speed, their one true gift is their leaping ability. When Aunt Zelda's "Fluffy" jumps out of the 1982 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, and thinks it can avoid the Australian cat-seeking missile by climbing a tree, if "Fluffy" don't make 25 feet real, real quick, it is a short dance with only one ending. I've seen Aussie Shepherds take cats out of trees, out of open hay-mows, off the tops of cars, and even once off the side of a building, up to 25 feet altitude.

Plus, I know people who are dumber than your typical Aussie Shepherd. Plus, their bi-colored eyes and aggressiveness deter folks from invading your domicile.

I never had a really good crat killer of a dog. But I had a darn good marlin that got a cat nearly every time it barked in the back yard with cb caps.

Sandy:


She was, we think, a lab/greyhound mix. She had a greyhounds velocity(only slightly slower than a cruise missile)and the Labrador's hallmark "OCD" She liked to chase squirrels(and scared them shitless, a couple of times she almost caught them), but most of all, she hated, and boys I mean HATED crats. When she was mere puppy, she got swiped on the nose, both insult and injury from a neighborhood porchpanther. From then on, they were the sworn enemy!

I miss her. She was a good dog.


HTRN

quote:

Originally posted by N. S. Sherlock:
I never had a really good crat killer of a dog. But I had a darn good marlin that got a cat nearly every time it barked in the back yard with cb caps.

Ah yes, Dr. Marlin! He always has the perfect cure for all their ills. derf

The best crat croakers that I have had any experience with are female Weimaraners. I got my first Wimey when I was 13, and the day she came home from getting spayed, she hopped out of the car and ran under the front porch. A few growls and hisses later, she came proudly out with a 12 pound tomcat (we weighed it). She put it at our feet, was praised for her actions, and promptly began to "knead" the crat from head to tail. When she was done, you could literally pour the cat. Every bone was broken, from the tip of the tail to the end of the nose, skull included. She didn't break any skin, nor draw any blood. She killed 34 cats this way before she died at a ripe old age of 18. A few years later I got another female Wimey and she did the same thing. Must be a Wimey trait.

Flutedchamber,

I'll second your motion to declare Wimeys as good
cat dogs. Before I had GSP's I had a Wimey who
had a litter of 6 normal Wimeys and one that was
cobalt blue. It happens once in a while. When
he saw a cat, it was a blue streak until the cat
quit moving. Once he had crunched their skull he
left them alone. One neighbor tried to convice a
police officer that a bright blue dog had killed
her cat. He didn't buy it luckily.

I'm partial to terriers. They tend to jump in and take care of business. The first time they get swatted sometimes sets them back just a little, but when they get over it they are born-again-pissed. I thought mine had lost his nerve after the first time, but the next target was whiplashed pronto.

my old setter wouldn't kill them, but just chase them up a tree & let me have my fun. The new one is learning fast

Lab/Shep mix 50/50.

Have had three, all pure crat krillers. No hesitation, no manuvering--a blur of fur and then just the sound of machinery...crunching crat.

Great dogs, great mix.

Gentlemen,
Over here in Limey land our experience is similar. An amusing story of teamwork:
A friend has several working terriers and lurchers (greyhound crosses) and lives in a built up area. One afternoon while two Jack Russell terriers and two biggish greyhound/deerhound lurchers are out in the yard next doors moggy decides to scale the fence into the yard. The terriers propmptly chase it underneath a shed from which it is promptly expelled into the waiting jaws of both Lurchers. Crat loving neighbours have a grandstand view of this as they were upstairs and heard the commotion. Friend is forced to retrieve whats left and (stifling laughter) return it to said owners. Relations were rather frosty at this point.
Two weeks later the neighbours other crat scales the fence and the exact same thing happens as the dogs have the hang of this now, and the neighbours again have a grandstand view!
What are the chances of that?

The most efficent crat and fox killing machine I ever saw was a 1/2 cross greyhound, german shepherd. That thing was a shark in dogs clothing, one crunch and a flick and it was goodnight vienna. Marvellous.

Regards to all with felicidal tendencies. We limeys salute you.

quote:

Regards to all with felicidal tendencies. We limeys salute you.

Nice to see that not all of you blokes have strayed from the true path.

I have to vote for the GSP also. My Jake also kicks it into hyper drive just before contact. Its funny as hell to see neighborhood cats who think they are protected by some home owners' covenent sit motionless and watch as death approaches them at Mach 2. The look on their faces just before he slams them is priceless.

quote:

Originally posted by panzerguy:
For pure-D cat-killin' versus cat-chasin' I think there is nothing on the face of the planet like an Australian Shepherd. Medium-sized, super-high intelligence (thus their hatred for anything "cat") and terrific dash speed, their one true gift is their leaping ability. When Aunt Zelda's "Fluffy" jumps out of the 1982 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, and thinks it can avoid the Australian cat-seeking missile by climbing a tree, if "Fluffy" don't make 25 feet real, real quick, it is a short dance with only one ending. I've seen Aussie Shepherds take cats out of trees, out of open hay-mows, off the tops of cars, and even once off the side of a building, up to 25 feet altitude.

Plus, I know people who are dumber than your typical Aussie Shepherd. Plus, their bi-colored eyes and aggressiveness deter folks from invading your domicile.

My first Aussie was a cat crunching wonder dog.Mr.Bill would grab em, crunch em, then toss then in the air to crunch em some more.I swear you could hear bones breaking.In and out the car window at stop signs to lunch cats and little rat-like dogs.

He would lay on the 3rd step of the basement stairs watching out the basement windows for the cats and poodles.When he seen them he would just bust through the storm/screen door and lunch intruders.

I lived in the hood for awhile it was even more entertaining!Best damm dog I ever owned!

Unfortunately, I cannot with good conscience keep an Aussie any more. We live in town, and there is not a fence built that will keep one from wandering, and I don't have the heart to stake one out. Not that it couldn't figure out how to undo the collar, anyway....

quote:

Originally posted by panzerguy:
Unfortunately, I cannot with good conscience keep an Aussie any more. We live in town, and there is not a fence built that will keep one from wandering, and I don't have the heart to stake one out. Not that it couldn't figure out how to undo the collar, anyway....

panzerguy,Aussie are very adaptable.They aint all jumpers.And with their super intelligence more then eager to please their master.I'm on my second one now and both have been rescued dogs.

As soon as we take a giant oak down in our back yard, we are going to build a fence and get a dog. A "rescued" Aussie would be just the ticket.

Our work dogs were truly world-class athletes. And smart, too.

I mentioned some years back that I had a couple of Vizslas...Helen across the street with 17 crats(to start with) said that one in particular was not afraid of dogs. Not long after that in learned fear or respect. I rather admired its tree climbing ability...all the way to the top of a 50' silver oak..in a stiff breeze. Helen said "I will be damned!" Ginger was proud too, got her state certificate as a crat teacher in the mail a week later.

Weimeys...? Never heard that name...well, an uncle used to quail hunt with them, operative word being hunt. Nonetheless, the bigger of the two was a crat rustler from 'go!' and that was its saving grace. Unfortunately it developed a taste for toy poodles one morning. Tris was a very large specimen, the poodle was quite small. Uncle was somewhat perplexed by the rhinestone studded leash hangin' out of Tris' mouth until the shriekin' blue hair in curlers came up the drive. Guess he went both ways.

Dan

POTYHC

www.Country.LivingInTallahassee

Growing up i had a German Shepard that went over
100lbs on the vets scale. This dog had such a
Reputation that at my 20 year HS reunion I was
asked what happened to that dog,over and over.
Saw him run down a crat, dive, catch crat, 1 roll then up and drop dead crat. I mean crat never got off so much as a hiss. He was a great
dog. Miss Him.

My little crat killer..