general question about lure coursing

[fomorii56]

Hi, I was watching animal planet today and they had a little special on lure coursing. Soooooo awesome!!! I'm not planning on doing this anytime soon, or with the dogs i have now (Shadow would just stand there like, "ummmm, im sooo not running after that. Mom, go get it for me." and the pup, well, i dont think shed be very good at it) but one day I would love to work up to it. I just wanted to generally know about it, from people who do it, or have gone to see it, etc. There were sighthounds doing it on the program, whippets and borzoi (incredible dogs, i would kill to have one ) but I was planning on getting a dobe as my next dog. I see no reason they couldnt do it and its not like I need to be winning any national titles or anything. I honestly just saw it on tv and got super excited and thought id jump on here and ask for opinions/experinces. Thanks!

 

[Jynx]

I have friends with JRT's, that have the lure coursing "rig",,we've set it up numerous times at matches and such, and let whomever participate if they wish. My herding dogs go bonkers over it,,. It's not just the sighthounds and /or hunting type dogs that love it, any dog who likes the "chase" will love it..

The person controling the "rag", can speed it up, slow it down, whatever, it keeps the dogs on their toes *vbg*..

If you ever see it 'offered' at a match or something, hey try it out! You never know, your dogs may surprise you and really like the "chase"
diane

 

[MafiaPrincess]

I'd love to try coursing, but I own a breed that can't competitively do it. I'm waiting to maybe attend a jrt fun day and see if she likes it. To my knowledge there's possibly one all breed coursing association, they didn't offer anything up my way so I've misplaced the link.. To be able to do it competitively you'd have to have a sighthound or a jrt as they have their own event days.

 

[Dekka]

We have all the coursing stuff, and put on fun matches, and trials etc. My hubby is judging the lure coursing at our national specialty, and I have co judged the LC at the longhaired whippet national specialty.

Different breeds have different judging. The sight hounds it is really judged. In the JRTs it based on speed. In most cases you need to have a sight hound to be able to play. But there are starting to be more all breed LC options

 

[Xerxes]

LC is becoming more and more popular, and rightly so-it's amazing to watch these dogs use all their instincts and their abilities-and meanwhile keeping it G rated with no blood.

I have seen other than sighthounds run practice runs or "fun runs" but never have seen them judged in the same way that a sighthound would be judged. It wouldn't be fair to do so anyways, most dogs would peter out after 3 or 4 runs, while alot of the endurance sighthounds (beezers, phs, salukis, etc) are running at almost the same speed, and in some cases faster at the end of the day.

 

[Dekka]

LC is becoming more and more popular, and rightly so-it's amazing to watch these dogs use all their instincts and their abilities-and meanwhile keeping it G rated with no blood.

I have seen other than sighthounds run practice runs or "fun runs" but never have seen them judged in the same way that a sighthound would be judged. It wouldn't be fair to do so anyways, most dogs would peter out after 3 or 4 runs, while alot of the endurance sighthounds (beezers, phs, salukis, etc) are running at almost the same speed, and in some cases faster at the end of the day.

We have coursed many sight hound breeds, lots of whippets, some greyhounds, a few Borzoi, Basenjis and others. But its more fitness of the dogs, that the breed. BCs keep going, even better than the sight hounds. My JRTs would run till they drop. Even most over weight unfit JRTs will keep going till my hubby has to suggest to the owners that they should stop (5 runs on top of racing and gtg is a bit much)

 

[Xerxes]

I'd love to see a BC keep on going. That would be something. I know that the pharaohs, beezers, salukis, azawakhs and a bunch of other sighthound breeds will run for long, long periods of time at top speed. That's what they were bred to do-endure sprinting after prey all night long, or all day long over vast areas.

I've seen smaller courses set up where other dogs have run, but never seen any dog keep up for the long haul with a SH.

 

[Dekka]

I guess here in Canada I have never see a course take longer than a min or so. It all seems to be sprinting. Though they do it more than once. And if you have a dog running full tilt (for that dog) for one min, its impressive, regardless of the breed. More than straight speed, I love to see a dog really following the lure.

 

[Xerxes]

I've never seen a course take more than 50 seconds. I calculated the speed of the PHs running the 680yard course though and it came out to between 34 and 39 MPH. Which is fast no matter what breed you are. I think the Aussie came out of the gate going that fast, but petered out to about 20mph at the end.

It's just great to see dogs doing something that they absolutely love, and to know that at the end of the day, no matter the scores, everyone with either 2 or 4 legs had a great time.

 

[fomorii56]

How would you rig up something in your backyard, to do just for fun? I mean, the pup will obviously chase things that move, its a fantastic game but how would you actually go about setting up something a little more challenging? My yard is in a kind of weird shape with a deck right in the middle, so a long straight line wouldnt work. I wonder if i could con my stepdad into setting up some kind of pulley system . . . hmmm, let the sucking up begin! :lol-sign: