Lurcher

A lurcher is a crossbred dog, produced by mating a greyhound or another sighthound with a dog of a different type, such as a herding dog, a terrier or a working dog. It is not a breed, and the word covers a varied group of dogs from Great Britain and Ireland. For hundreds of years lurchers were tied to poaching. Today they are kept as hunting dogs and companions.

History

Lurcher is an old English word for a crossbred dog. It was first used in this sense in 1668 and is thought to come from the verb lurch, a form of lurk, meaning to lurk or steal.

From 1389, English law allowed only people with land or income worth more than ten pounds a year to keep a dog used for hunting, which in practice meant royalty, the nobility, the gentry and the wealthy. The law was changed many times but stayed in force until 1831. Hunters and poachers responded by crossing sighthounds with dogs that would hide the sighthound blood, often under a thick, rough coat, and that would add intelligence, stamina or a quicker turn. The other parent was whatever farm dog was at hand, often a collie or a terrier.

In the nineteenth century the word was also applied to some rough-haired regional greyhounds. Coursing clubs such as Swaffham and Newmarket banned these dogs from competition, because they were thought to cut corners to kill the hare when they should have been working it for points.

Appearance

Because a lurcher can come from many different crosses, there is no fixed size, coat or color.

The usual cross is between a sighthound and a working breed, and the aim is a sighthound with more intelligence. More recently it has become common to cross one sighthound breed with another, such as a greyhound with a saluki. These dogs were traditionally called longdogs, but they are now called lurchers too.

Temperament

Lurchers are known for being loyal, fast and versatile. The traditional lurcher was a canny dog, bred in England to help poachers take rabbits, hares and game birds.

Around the world lurchers are kept as sporting dogs and family pets and run in lure coursing and dog racing. In the United States they may enter lure coursing events held by the American Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club. No major kennel club registers them. In the United States they can be registered with the North American Lurcher and Longdog Association.

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