OVER the years I've often been asked what the best type of dog is for ferreting or whether I should just have a terrier or lurcher for the task. Well, I think there is no simple answer and that it can often be a matter of personal preference.

Perhaps I could ask a question in return which is what other tasks do you require your dog to do so in this short article I will look at the pros and cons of the ferreting terrier and lurcher. I won't talk about different breeds within each group as I have my own preference and it’s been talked about many times before anyway.

The first consideration must be the type of terrain that the majority of your ferreting permission covers. If you are working buries on open moorland or open grassland then without doubt a lurcher would be the better choice because if the rabbit kicks out of the nets it will be up to full speed very quickly.

Even with the most lanky-legged specimen behind it, a speeding rabbit that has just had its bum bitten by a ferret and has an obstacle-free run ahead will outrun a terrier.

ENVIRONMENT

Tight hedgerows and woodlands are ideal terrier country as a speeding lurcher in woodland would be a recipe for disaster. A rabbit will run the heart of a wide hedgerow and if it doesn’t find another bury the rabbit will squat.

Another advantage of a terrier in this kind of environment is when you’re dealing with those difficult to net holes or those hedges that contain all the trash that catches the nets. This is where a tough terrier which will face the thorns, crawl in to cover a hole, or dive in to grab the rabbit is a godsend.

My old Border Terrier was great for doing this and on one occasion, when working heavy woodland, a rabbit bolted with my ferret acting as a jockey and they disappeared. My Border gave chase and he retrieved both the rabbit and the ferret – much too my relief!

SOFT MOUTH

The next issue is whether you want saleable rabbits? If yes get a lurcher as you have more chance of a soft mouth with it than you have with a terrier.

Again, though, there are always exceptions to any rule in the hunting field and my current lurcher has anything but a soft mouth. In fact he's a late starter to ferreting. My late terrier was a very tough dog but was quite soft with rabbits when on his own.

Retrieving is the next issue. You can buy certain lurcher crosses which either learn or are natural retrievers. Terriers can be taught to retrieve, but only one breed of terrier is a natural retriever, and terriers and terrier cross lurchers can be a right so-and-so to train.

Ferreting requires a lot of skills so you need a dog that is intelligent. Terriers are intelligent but they can lack patience. Certain terrier breeds are ‘hyper’ and don't have the required patience for the game.

Staying with the training issue, stock-breaking lurchers to ferrets is, in my opinion, a lot easier than with terriers. Terriers in general have an inbuilt aggression to anything small and furry so stock breaking at a very young age is essential.

I have found by accident that, if your ferret starts bolting rats instead of rabbits on your trip, a lurcher can't hold a candle to a terrier for killing rats! A good broken ferreting dog will not retaliate to being bitten by a ferret.

This can be a problem with a terrier, although my old terrier has at times crawled into a bury and retrieved a rabbit with the ferret attached to his nose! That's what I call well stock broken. The trouble with him, though, was if another male dog looked at him there would be trouble.

In this article I've highlighted a few different things about terriers and lurchers that are used for ferreting.

I have no preference as I've used both types of dog but there is another possibility and that is the Whippet/Bedlington, which has speed of the running dog and the tenacity of the terrier in theory. I've never owned one but it could offer the potential of covering both bases.

My granddad always used Whippets which were great at ferreting but the downside was that if the weather turned bitter or the action went quiet they suffered badly from the cold.

However, the decision is yours and there is no right answer. I’ve just offered a few thoughts.

I would like to dedicate this article to my late great dog ‘Tangle,’ who died recently. My best mate and the best ferreting dog I ever owned.