Flint the lurcher

Canicross Team Elmewych member Flint, is a three and a half year old saluki lurcher cross, bought from travelers working stock.  A striking, elegant, tall, and well muscled smooth coated lurcher with more than a hint of saluki heritage in his physique.  Flint is at his finest off the leash - he runs with incredible speed, jumps wide ditches with grace.  It seems incredible that he is submissive to his young whippet team mate, but he certainly is!

In the house:  A fearsome watch dog, constantly looking and listening for intruders.  He can be grouchy, overly defensive, and I don't trust him on the leash with larger dogs.  Smaller dogs on the other hand - he adores and fawns.  Perhaps I should have socialised him as a pup with more friendly big dogs?  He might be tall and muscled, but he never packs a gram of body fat - it all goes into muscle, and however much I feed him, his ridged cheetah-back and ribs still stand out as though he is half starved.  Despite his grouchiness - he still likes a cuddle on the couch.

On the canicross line: certainly not a natural, he needs frequent commanding and shouting, otherwise he wants to sniff every lamppost, piss at every tree.  He can be hard work on a line.  What worries him?  Maybe that he'll run out of urine, otherwise big dogs, wheel hub caps (see the below video), and bits of paper laying on the pavement.

Off lead in the field: This dog lives to run.  A joy to watch, so much speed, moves through long grass with ease, jumps over ditches with ease.

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4 responses
Hilarious video. Great picture, nice shallow DOF
Thanks Ben!
The video is a laugh but the photo at the head of the article is fantastic. I think it really captures your lurcher's personality as you describe it. Quite a character. Fiona says he has a real noble look to him. Our first dog Meg was a lurcher which had been abandoned and was living wild. When I took a photo of her in to school to show the kids, they thought it was a photo of a dead dog as she was in such a state. She was a challenge in many ways but so worth it in the long run. I could fill a book with what she got up to. Like your dog she was a fantastic jumper - she could clear the running rail at Lanark Racecourse without touching the top. I used to take her up the hill and when the pheasants took off she would jump and try to pluck them out of the air (she never succeeded). We were fortunate that she lived to a ripe old age - she died at nearly sixteen. We've had some fantastic dogs since then (all of them greyhounds) but none of them was as special as Meg.
Thanks for that comment Les, and sharing your memories of Meg.