Why Adopt a Lurcher?
What an incredible and original dog the lurcher is! Uniquely different from other lurchers in appearance and not accepted as any one breed, the lurcher stands tall among them all. What is a lurcher? It’s certainly not a breed of dog, but a sight hound that has been crossbred with another breed of dog to increase the inherent abilities of both. Because a lurcher has sight hound in his blood, he has been bred and raised from the 1600’s to hunt down small animals such as rabbits and foxes who are considered nuisances in some areas. Also, lurchers have been crossbred with greyhounds when the objective is to race the dog or when hunting isn’t an option for the owner. Sadly, because of their hunting instincts, lurchers often find themselves in lurcher rescue or animal shelters. Before adopting a lurcher, there are some interesting facts to discover first.
The Lurcher usually has a short coat and long legs. Lurchers are deep chested dogs because they need enough lung capacity to utilize their instincts to run and chase prey. Their ears are set high and a little wiry and their eyes are round and sometime mischievous appearing. The lurcher can be a fun dog to have as his alertness and keen eye make lurcher adoption a fun and permanent reward for active families. Lurchers are usually 27-30 inches tall and weigh between sixty and eighty pounds. Lurchers can be bred with almost any other dog, but are usually bred with a greyhound, collie or whippet. Most of the time, a collie is the choice to crossbreed with a sight hound to produce a lurcher. If a sight hound is bred with a terrier breed, it may have herding instincts.
Because lurchers are know to chase and kill small animals as prey, some families who have other pets, may not want to consider lurcher adoption, but the instinct to hunt prey can be redirected into fun activities for a lurcher instead, such as, dog racing, lure chasing and obedience and agility obstacles. A lurcher wants nothing more than to please his owner and he has so much love and affection to give that he is rapidly becoming popular as a family oriented dog, especially in active families who love to go for runs or have lots of room for a lurcher to run. A lurcher is a highly active dog and should be walked twice daily to burn off excess energy.
If you want a dog that wears his heart on his sleeve, who will love you unconditionally, learns quickly, loves affection and strives to be your family’s best friend, and desires to be a part of your family, not a part of your property, then a lurcher adoption is waiting just for you.
