Longdog

A longdog with the long body appearance

Source: www.vetstreet.com

The outbreak of a viral disease, myxomatosis, in the 1950s took the lives of the majority of the rabbit population in Western Europe. Lurchers caught these rabbits, but they were not fast enough to catch the hares. As a result, these were made through breeding to deliver faster dogs to hunt hares. Thus, it is a crossbreed of two sighthounds especially made to chase and kill. 

This breed is known for its speed, even though it can’t be matched for Lurcher’s working ability. 

They are usually calm, lovable, and like to chase. It can’t be considered as a guard or watchdog. It has a scary appearance which the intruders never attempt for a robbery. If the owner can implement optimistic reinforcement procedures, they can quickly learn good behavior too.

Breed information

They are bred with crossing Greyhounds with sighthounds like Deerhounds, Salukis, or Whippets. 

Here is the general information of this breed:

Key Points

• It can’t be kept alone 
• It is apartment-friendly
• This is a great choice for a busy family
• It is also an apt choice for new owners
• It is quite intelligent

Appearance

Even though these are sighthound crosses, the appearance mainly depends on the coat color, coat type, and overall size. Whatever the parents may be like big Scottish Deerhounds or small Whippets, all have similar designs for their bodies and are designed for particular purposes. 

Coming to their body structure, they have lean legs and quite long thin shapes. This body structure makes them good enough to chase at high speed. The ears are shorter with flat and long heads. It is quite easy to differentiate between bloodhound and Greyhound with their pendulous and small triangular ears. 

The appearance also varies depending upon the breeds of parents in the cross too. Salukis has feathering coats, Whippet coats, and Greyhound has short layers, and Deerhounds have medium to long broken coats.

Price

Owning a pet and lifetime expenses include acquisition costs, medical costs, grooming costs, food costs, training costs, etc. The price can go up to USD 2500.

Types

Compared to their purebred parents, they vary a lot. The hybrids show the genetic variations and have lots of types already in this whole category. Hair or coast is one such factor that decides the type of pet you need to keep with. 

The next factor that decides the hybrid variation is the size of parent breeds. If you wish to have small, mini or toy long dogs, it’s good to choose Italian Greyhound crosses. Anyways there is none with short legs. The largest longdog is Scottish Deerhound cross × Irish Wolfhound, and the smallest is Miniature Greyhound × Whippet mix.

Temperament/ Behavior

• These are faithful companions for any family. They are loving, gentle, and friendly and are not aggressive. These characteristics make them a perfect choice for even apartments. 
• They attract family members and become sad if they don’t get it in the right way. 
• They can easily mingle with kids and can be kept along with other dogs too. But, extreme care should be taken when a cat approaches or other toy dog breeds.
• It has a mighty size that keeps away intruders, making them look like a watchdog or guard dog.

Feed

Food intake depends on age, activity level, and build. Usually, they need dry food of 2.5-4 cups, and a female needs 1.5-3 cups a day.

Health & Care

The longdog is already a hunter, so it doesn’t require much exercise. Still, you can make your pup regularly walk to avoid getting bored. Engage your dog with flinging, tossing, and pouncing activities using a ball. It is essential to keep your backyard fenced as it may chase cats and rodents outside. 

Grooming care is quite essential to manage to shed. Brush the coat daily, and when it’s dirty, make use of a dog shampoo too. Other grooming needs brushing its teeth, trimming the nails and cleaning the external ear, etc. Some of these may get affected like liver cancer, achalasia, anesthetic intolerance, dermatitis, and cardiomyopathy.

Training provided

They are independent thinkers, but some positive methods help to improve their personality in a quite positive way. Training includes leash training and obedience training. Leash training is nothing but making your new pet to walk, play, and run as much as it can for a month. It is essential to use a standard leash of 6 ft while walking, and the owner must be in the alpha position to earn its respect. 

Obedience training can be done quickly by them as they have excellent eyesight and can spot each and everything from a great distance. But the owner must train it indoors first in order not to get distracted. Once they learn to be obedient, the owners can take them outdoors to learn more. 

Interesting facts

Many breeders work for a million years to get the best look, temperament, or which has a high ability. This is how various purebreds have started to take their birth. These include Leonberger, Affenpinscher, Black Russian Terrier, Doberman Pinscher, and many more. 

A breed is an animal group that will be similar in characteristics and related to common ancestors. To attain a specific size, appearance, and behavior, it is advisable to choose the puppies to switch traits they require and breed over many generations to get the right hybrid. 

These were popular for the past two decades as the owners wanted a bit different traits with specific characteristics. It is a fact that crossbreeds won’t have many health issues, or they are hypoallergenic and are the best choice of all the time. These are special, unique, and loving friends, for sure.