Kylah’s Page
A beautiful lurcher girl, bred in Wales by Claudine Reynolds. Half greyhound, quarter collie and quarter terrier with the best of each breed. Stunning, entertaining and a joy to have.
Size: Medium. 24 inches (60cm) to the shoulder
Weight: 19-20 kilos (44lbs)
Colour: Black, white, smoky brown and merle (a kind of patchy!)
Town or Country: Definitely country. Kylah is active, athletic and outdoorsy. She loves to run and adores wide open spaces such as the beach or fields of long grass or wheat. She gets cabin fever without at least 2 hours a day. She is my long distance dog - and will happily do 8-10 miles every day.
Low Allergy: No. Though she is 50% greyhound, she also has terrier and collie in her breed lines. She is also always shedding hair.
Best Suited for: Long outdoor walks in all terrains. Definitely a country girl.
Group: None. Lurchers are not pure breeds. A lurcher normally has one or more sighthounds in its breeding, plus one or more other breeds to add into the mix what the breeder wants. The classic English lurcher is greyhound for speed, crossed with collie for agility, brains and stamina.
Originally From: Wales, near Lampeter. Bred by Claudine Reynolds from 'her' Bonnie, a lovely brindle girl, and a local working lurcher originally from David Hancock. David breeds mainly greyhound/collie mixes.
Original Purpose: Bred to be a pet only.
Exercise: High. Over 2 hours per day in all terrains. Kylah simply eats up the miles and comes back for more - which is what I wanted when I chose her.
Living Space: Moderate. Kylah's a medium sized girl but her activity level means she can sometimes seem to take up far more space than she should!
Coat: Short, smooth, sleek, and constantly shedding
Grooming: Low. She needs more bathing and brushing than the boys because of her love of racing around, which means she ends up muddier than they do.
Children: Good. Kylah's more at ease with kids than she is with adults. She spent a lot of time with Claudine's children Mia and Mikey as a puppy before she came to me.
Sociability with strangers: Moderate. Some she likes, some she doesn't. That's the working collie in her background. She would never harm a person and does come round pretty quickly when she realises they're not a threat. Fast moves from strangers make her jump, but when she sees the others being fussed, jealousy takes over!
Sociability with animals or other dogs: Good with dogs that hold their ground. However she's charming but dominant, so if any dog shows weakness she'll try and boss them. That's the terrier coming out. And she's also very protective, so if she thinks the pack is being threatened she will defend us.
Trainability: Good, but she's got her own mind and selective deafness so some you win, some you lose!
Noise Level: Moderate. She does bark at strangers who come to the house, and she will also bark when playing.
Known Health Issues: A grade 3 heart murmur when younger, which now seems to have disappeared with maturity. But something to keep a watch on.
Lifespan: With the breeds in her mix all being long lived, we expect her to be around until she's about 20!
Special Needs: Long walks. Lots of playtime. Being the centre of attention.
More about Kylah
Kylah – my mad lurcher girl
Kylah’s my mad bird. She’s a stunning lurcher. She is half greyhound, quarter collie, quarter terrier. She’s a mixture of black, white, merle (a patchy black/white mix) and smoky brown.
I chose Kylah as a puppy. When I lost Jess, my old lurcher, I knew I wanted a mainly greyhound x collie mix. But I wanted something I could train to be fine with livestock and there just wasn’t anything in rescue which worked. I looked for 9 months before deciding to buy.
Initially I contacted a very well known lurcher breeder but he homed his puppies too young for me. I was then in full time employment so even with a dog sitter this wasn’t going to work out.
So I went onto an internet site which prides itself in only giving information from good breeders. I saw her picture and ‘pedigree’ and it was just what I wanted.
Now after 20 years of dog ownership I know what kind of dogs suit me, and what to do when choosing a puppy. So going via the internet wasn’t a risk for me. However I would never advise this as a strategy for a first time dog owner. The only problem was the 600 mile round trip to see her!
When I got to Claudine’s she was everything I could have hoped for and more. She made herself at home, snuggled in between my crossed legs on the kitchen floor. She was the quiet one of the litter which was good – I do well with quiet and shy types. So she came home and immediately set about turning the place on its head!
She grew so fast in the first month that she developed a grade 3 heart murmur. Puppies sometimes do that because the growth rate puts so much stress on their systems. As she matured, this gradually went away. But I soon realised I had a minor tornado on my hands, heart murmur or not! I don’t know how many DVDs, pairs of shoes and other reachable items were chewed during her early months but it was quite a few. And she ran like the wind!
This girl is my doggy soul mate. She’s lively, outgoing, dominant, opinionated, athletic and extremely intelligent. She’s got all the best bits of each breed. She’s got greyhound speed, collie brains, stamina and agility, and terrier determination and sense of fun. With Kylah around there is never a dull moment.
She’s very clear on what she wants – and will pull out all the stops to get it. For example when she wants space on the sofa she will simply stand on the boys to make them move. And they’re such gentle souls that they do!
Kylah’s favourite pastimes are running flat out through long grass, chasing shadows (I swear half the time there really is nothing there) and making her super ‘Alien Face’. It really does look like the alien from the Alien films! It’s what she does when she wants to play.
Kylah’s nicknames include Baggage, Kylah Smiler, Mad Bird and Pigpen after the character in Charlie Brown, because she seems to walk around in a constant cloud of muck and hair!
Follow the links for my other dogs.
My dog pages
Blue Vinnie Kylah Arwen Ma’aloo
Vanna Missy JJ Jess Holly Jamal
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