brother fox

Go back and read this thread from start to finish and then see what little knowledge you have contributed to this thread. Then tell me who,s the troll?

I am never going to reveal any of these breeders names, addresses, phone numbers, tax file numbers or bank account details on a public forum because as I have mentioned before these breeders are very "PRIVATE" proud people who have managed to keep Australia,s first breed of dog in it,s original form with its very own breed traits intact for over 150 years just handed down from dedicated breeder to the next. If you go back over 150 years ago there is very little documented information on any type of animal in Australia. You only have to look for information on Australia,s first show breed of poultry the Australian Game Fowl and find out how little is known about this animal today even let alone its predecessor the "colonial"game fowl. People have rarely kept written documentation of any type of working dog breeding during this period. Conformation should always go hand in hand for any breed doing the job they have been bred for from the day dot as the old saying goes,"you can,t dance if your pants dont fit". Most of these breeders have documentation of the breeding of their own farm animals just like your great grandfather but hunting dogs were a work tool not traded or bred for money so their breeding was just passed from breeder to breeder.

I never assume anything as assumption is the mother of all stuff ups. Your uncle may have known his dogs, known his dog people and known his bush telegraph but what he obviously didn,t know was any knowledge about the Staghound and it,s history.

Aaaah, the facts. At least your uncle was knowledgable enough to know that the cross bred dogs they bred on from were not purebred Staghounds but just cross bred Running dogs, Kangaroo dogs or Mongrels for the want of a better name and that he was happy with their performance just like the "type" of dogs that many people still breed today for hunting. It,s a pity he didn,t have the knowledge to actually know what a Staghound was and what traits the breed possessed to pass that knowledge onto yourself and others.....

Oh dear! Just facts based on dates in Australia,s history rather than a fiction and hearsay. The first settlers didn,t have a Macdonald,s or a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet under every 2nd gum tree to survive on and they certainly didn,t rely on their own stock to survive. Priority would of been for a hunting dog to survive rather than a herding dog for the small numbers of animals they possessed. Do a little bit of research on the early newspapers and the journals and diaries of our first explorers and road builders but firstly make that long awaited trip to the medicine cabinet. ;)

The last thing a "WORKING" breed needs is a central registry or KC recognition as all breeds who have been down this path have been ruined forever from their original purpose. Working breeds like the red barb, black barb, other native herding breeds and more recently the Patterdale Terrier have survived in their original form in Australia without a registry because they have always been kept by enthusiasts who work their animals for their original purpose like the Mareetsane and the Boergreyhound has been in South Africa. All anyone needs to do to aquire one of these rare working breeds to show as much enthusiasm as the people who continue to breed these dogs rather than wait for that owl to arrive.

With the Staghound being Australia,s first breed of dog that was well established between the time of first settlement 1788 and 1840, that puts to bed the "theory" that Wolfhound,Borzoi or even Saluki blood was used in it,s creation. Captain Graham( born in 1833), did not start to recreate the long extinct Great Irish Wolfdog untill 1859, the first Borzoi did not reach Australia until 1898 and the first pair of Saluki did not reach England until 1840. So that rules out any other large breeds of sighthound being used in its creation other than the Greyhound and the Deerhound and with the Staghound being no smaller than 28 inches at the shoulder it rules out any other breed of the time period being used. A lurcher has always been a cross of a sighthound and a working breed and a longdog has always been a cross of two different sighthounds but lurchers and sighthounds are "types" rather than a breed which is a group within a species having common characteristics like the Staghound.

so where are these dedicated breeders? Put your money where your mouth is! Mostly in Western Victoria and South Australia.

Anybody who does research on the Staghound in books or internet sites will always be confused as there has never been a book written about them nor has their history been recorded other than by the breeders who use and continue to keep this working breed pure. You need to go to the "coalface" and talk to dedicated breeders or people who are over 90 years of age who have some understanding of working breeds of dogs in Australia to get an insight into this rare breed. You will find most of these dedicated breeders are usually private type people who are leading breeders of livestock with an outstanding knowledge of genetics who live in western Victoria or South Australia. 'Kangaroo'dogs are just a label like "pig dog","rabbit dog","fox dog"or"sheep dog"and should not be confused with the Staghound as a breed.

When the first settlers arrived in Australia and started to branch out to farm virgin country they first and foremost needed a dog to catch and quickly kill,( without damaging), the native game,( kangaroos, wallaroos, wallabys,emu) to put meat on the table,feed their working dogs and to kill the animals,( dingos, native cats,goannas)that preyed on their stock. The hunting/coursing type Greyhound of the late 1700,s early 1800,s that was first bought out to the colony had plenty of speed but was lacking strength, size and toughness for the harsh Australian conditions. The working type Deerhound of the late 1700,s, early 1800,s ,( much different to the modern show type Deerhound), was ideal but lacked the early speed of the Greyhound. They achieved the most success when crossing the Greyhound dog over a Deerhound bitch. The offspring of this cross were bred to each other and began to breed true to type with the all important large and strong rear end and were developed in a way to be hunted in packs out in front of men on horseback running on hot scent at speed rather than sight and to achieve multiple catches which is characteristic of the breed and makes it much different to other sighthound breeds. Coursing bred Greyhounds in Australia started to change when they started mechanical track,(tin hare), racing in the 1920,s creating the modern type track Greyhound we see today and when live hare coursing was banned forever in Australia the coursing type of Greyhound disappeared. The Staghound has never been made up of several breeds nor is the name "Staghound" the same as the word "pigdog" nor is it a type that is comprised of various breeds. The Staghound is the first pure breed of dog developed in Australia with the oldest lines.

I thought what is referred to as a staghound (in Australia) was a deerhound x grey?? Many people now though cross the finer staghounds with bull breeds for pig hunting etc. There is no such thing as a purebred 'Staghound' they are crosses between Irish Wolfhounds, Scottish Deerhounds, Greyhounds & some other breeds. You only have to look on some of the country NSW pound sites to see. No. People use cross bred running type dogs with bull breeds for pig hunting. Staghounds are almost impossible to get hold of these days as breeders are very careful where their dogs go and the chances of one of these pure Staghounds ending up at a pound would be very remote indeed. Staghounds are not crossed up Irish Wolfhounds, Scottish Deerhounds, Greyhounds or any other breeds. These are prized dogs amongst their owners and they are never advertised for sale to the general public. There are "lines" of these dogs that exist today in Australia that have been bred and kept pure for well over 100 years. You cannot simply cross a few dog breeds and create a "Staghound" because the breeds used in it,s creation are extinct today. Most Australians have a false belief that a Staghound is any cross bred type of hairy running dog but if you do a bit of research you will find that it simply isn,t the case.

Pink is about as fake as a 3 dollar note.

I thought what is referred to as a staghound (in Australia) was a deerhound x grey?? The Staghound evolved out of these two breeds over 150 years ago when they were much different types of animals to their modern counterparts. The type of coursing Greyhound used in it,s creation is long extinct in Australia with only the track type of Greyhound remaining here and the Deerhounds used were from working types similar to the ones Landseer liked to paint. The Staghound has a much different conformation,stamina and scenting ability than a Deerhound,Greyhound,Wolfhound or a cross of any of these breeds. It is actually Australia,s first pure breed of dog long before the Kelpie or the Cattle dog

The chance of the dog being a staghound cross is very remote or more likely a poor assumption of it,s breeding. Staghounds were once a very popular breed in Australia but due to cross breeding have became a very rare breed with less than 200 pure types remaining Australia wide kept by a handful of enthusiasts. The most likely breeds involved would be a wolfhound/greyhound or deerhound/greyhound crossed with something.