I was looking through my photo's going back years the other day and not one photo could a lead be seen. That would be because they are attached to the belt loop on my jeans and not the dogs.

Nicky Anne - please if you are going to take people to task over traditional British Field Sports then get your facts straight.
The "Sport of Kings" which you seem to think is foxhunting, is in fact Thoroughbred horse racing. Obviously there has been some confusion when things crossed the Atlantic.
Our Parliament passed a law in 2006 which made the hunting of the European Red Fox and the Coursing of the Brown Hare and Blue or Mountain Hare, with dogs.
Hunts still exist - in fact they boast considerably more members than pre-ban - but nowadays follow a scent trail laid for them.
Foxes are virtually endemic in this country - they are everywhere and now with less hunting to keep their numbers under control they are increasing at an alarming rate. Even towns and cities boast ever increasing numbers of "urban" foxes and councils are struggling to control them humanely and effectively. I am lucky to live in an area of high moorland where there are very few people, it is a wild and for much of the year inhospitable landscape. Even here there are so many foxes that by using my dogs to flush them and then shoot them, it is increasingly difficult to keep the numbers under control. My poultry must only be allowed out of their runs if there is someone in the orchard to watch over them, failure to do so means huge losses to foxes. The main agricultural income in these parts is derived by farming hardy upland breeds of sheep and these too suffer fox predation during hard weather and lambing time.
So you can see that there is no shortage of Vulpes Vulpes in the UK.
Twice now in different posts you have eluded to dogs "ripping the heads off foxes" once again you are essentially mistaken. True, foxhounds kill foxes, but the size differential between the two creatures is such that a hound taking a fox is little different from a terrier taking a rat. Usually a hard crunching bite followed by shaking. Foxes are broken up by the following members of the pack but this is their reward for their hard labours and the fox is very dead when this happens ( and so is past caring - I would have thought!).
Just to clarify as you seem to think that foxhunting still goes unchecked on the big estates. Wrong - these were the very first people to adhere to the ban. In case you are one of those "class warriors" who think the British upper classes still ride round on horseback in red coats sneering at the forelock tugging peasants. Wrong again - the majority of foxhound packs in the UK are hunted on foot not horseback and the bulk of the supporters are working class people mainly of country origins. Hunts provide support for rural economies and spend much time fundraising for local charities, hospices etc.
I could go on in this vein for page upon page, but doubt that it would make much difference to you. You seem to be entrenched firmly in your land of supposition and heresay.
Just as a by-word, you will never see an English foxhound in the UK wearing one of your much loved E-collars. No short cuts here we just train correctly and with patience.

Gordon Mac
well written and informative post

Just as an aside, Norma. Would YOU train 'bumblesnout' your GSP puppy, with an e collar Bearing in mind she will become a working dog in the not too far distant future, and you have had this breed working for you and trained by you, for many years now
Excellent post by the way LG, I was a bit lost when she said the fox was virtually extinct, maybe she needs to learn about the urban fox, and visit the hen run after a visit from him

Tw absolutely NOT in 25years of having the privilege of owning and working shorties These type of collars should never have been invented in the first place in my opinion as I have commented previously if I had to resort to using any type of electronic collar I'd have failed in training any of my dogs

Thought that was the case, just thought I'd clarify it. I take it you would not have taken her straight into a forest and walked away from her either, at an age when she should have been with her mother

I imagine that a 600 or so pound tiger taking a human in it's jaws is much like foxhunting, why are you defending such a barbaric sport, when it has been banned even if only cosmetically as you say.

Why the fake ban?

Because it is the sport of Kings, who will not be deprived of their sport.

Think.

No you are wrong, I took him from a breeder, that breeds for money, and gave him freedom, love and the best food that money can buy. This photo was taken perhaps an hour and a half after I liberated him. https://www.flickr.com/photos/136279...7665522956944/ Let a shorthair go, and they will love you so much as to never leave your side, no leash needed.

Photos please?????

You won't find a leash on me when I am with my dogs, because they never ask me to wear one.