Welcome to my lurcher and longdog site. I intend to make this site as comprehensive as possible. If you are looking for more information about lurchers, whether you are interested pet dogs or working dogs then I hope this site will help you.
I currently own two dogs, a lurcher called Dill who is 1 year old, and a crossbreed called Rocky who is 3. In the near future I hope to add another lurcher to my household.
A lurcher is a crossbreed of a certain 'type'. There are a selection of dogs that when crossed may make
a lurcher. In general, a lurcher is a sighthound crossed with a pastoral breed. Check the list below to
see the sighthound breeds and pastoral breeds that can found in a lurchers history.
There are some exception to the rule, some breeds of terrier can be used. See the list below for the most commonly
used terrier breeds.
These lists do not include all the breeds that can make up a lurcher, just those that are most commonly used. I'll go into detail as to why other sight hounds, terriers and pastoral breeds are not used later.
There are exceptions to the rule, and in general if a dog looks like a sighthound, then it can be called
a lurcher (unless its a longdog but I'll get to that bit in a minute). However, if a dog is of the correct breeding
but does not look like a sighthound then it is wrong to refer to it as being a lurcher.
Lurchers are a working dog, bred to hunt various types of quarry and over varying types of terrain. This is what accounts
for the different kinds of lurcher out there. For that reason, the types of lurcher found most commonly in Lancashire
will not be the same as lurchers found in Scotland. This is also why, despite such breeds as German Shepherd and English Pointer
not being on the above list, they can be used to create a lurcher. A lot of it is down to personal preference and individual
dogs working abilities.