(no subject)
I can't believe I didn't post about Inari's big lure coursing debut! I felt like I talked that to death over the last two weeks, but somehow made no mention here. Shame on me!
Saturday, May 9th was the Phast Phun Day lure coursing event. The local coursing group held a fun match to get everyone ready for the start of the season. The breeder of the Silken Windhound puppy we are looking at recommended it, since I mentioned some interest in trying to race Inari. So we headed down to Ft. Mott, NJ with the puddin' in tow.
There was probably about 30 different dogs there to race. Mostly sighthounds (whippets, borzois, scottish deerhounds, greyhounds, salukis) but a few Rhodesian Ridgebacks were in attendance. We were 5th in line for practice runs. So we only got to see a few dogs go before us, which we were trying to get Inari focused on so she would understand the concept of what she was supposed to be doing.
So for those of you who don't know what lure coursing is....
- in an open field, there is a nylon line strung between a series of pulleys to create a course for the dogs to follow. The line is at one point run through a pulley with a motor attached to it to pull the line at speeds up to 30 to 40 mph.
- on the nylon line there are 3 white plastic bags taped in succession to a 5 foot section in the line. These are called the lure or the "bunny" (from when the dogs chased rabbits on the tracks).
- the whole point of the race is for the dog to chase the lure around the course without cutting the corners too deeply or stalling out and loosing interest.
Inari didn't seem too focused on the other dogs racing. She was more interested in all the other dogs milling about. And being that this was her first time, I wanted her to be interested enough to run the course. So as we came up to the starting point, I yelled to the woman running the lure that both her and I were first timers. She instructed me to remove her collar and use her leash as a quick release. She also mentioned that I might have to run with her for a bit to give her the idea of what she needs to do. (I laughed to myself since I can't run with the ankle yet.)
So, with Inari standing within 5 feet of the lure, the woman starts the course and jerks the lures around to get the dog's interest. She tells me to release Inari and starts the lures at the same time at a pretty good speed. And with that, you could hear the click come from Inari as she immediately got what she was supposed to do and took off after the lure. She completed the 700 meter course, with what would have been few technical faults. In fact, the woman running the lure congratulated me for her doing so well on her first attempt. She said that she should definitely run again that day and that I should register her to get her started on her lure coursing title.
And Inari.....she was over the moon. Her tongue was lolling out a mile, but she was soon bouncing around again trying to get another turn. She ran the course one more time that day in the opposite direction, completing it almost better than her first time.
It was awesome to see her in action running all out as she was meant to.
She needs a bit more physical conditioning to get her up to speed, but that shouldn't be too difficult. And as a side note, she was one of 12 dogs that finished the course. Most of the beginners tend to charge at the lure for the first 100 meters, then trot off to go sniff flowers or back to their owners. I was so proud of her.
So now we research on how to register her in some of the many coursing organizations. Also have to work on getting her some coursing titles, since she seems to enjoy it so much.
And if we get a second sighthound, like we are planning to do, she'll have someone to train with.
Now just to get that house to start setting up a kick ass doggy racing training camp. I shudder to think that this may mean getting a treadmill for the dogs. :)
Saturday, May 9th was the Phast Phun Day lure coursing event. The local coursing group held a fun match to get everyone ready for the start of the season. The breeder of the Silken Windhound puppy we are looking at recommended it, since I mentioned some interest in trying to race Inari. So we headed down to Ft. Mott, NJ with the puddin' in tow.
There was probably about 30 different dogs there to race. Mostly sighthounds (whippets, borzois, scottish deerhounds, greyhounds, salukis) but a few Rhodesian Ridgebacks were in attendance. We were 5th in line for practice runs. So we only got to see a few dogs go before us, which we were trying to get Inari focused on so she would understand the concept of what she was supposed to be doing.
So for those of you who don't know what lure coursing is....
- in an open field, there is a nylon line strung between a series of pulleys to create a course for the dogs to follow. The line is at one point run through a pulley with a motor attached to it to pull the line at speeds up to 30 to 40 mph.
- on the nylon line there are 3 white plastic bags taped in succession to a 5 foot section in the line. These are called the lure or the "bunny" (from when the dogs chased rabbits on the tracks).
- the whole point of the race is for the dog to chase the lure around the course without cutting the corners too deeply or stalling out and loosing interest.
Inari didn't seem too focused on the other dogs racing. She was more interested in all the other dogs milling about. And being that this was her first time, I wanted her to be interested enough to run the course. So as we came up to the starting point, I yelled to the woman running the lure that both her and I were first timers. She instructed me to remove her collar and use her leash as a quick release. She also mentioned that I might have to run with her for a bit to give her the idea of what she needs to do. (I laughed to myself since I can't run with the ankle yet.)
So, with Inari standing within 5 feet of the lure, the woman starts the course and jerks the lures around to get the dog's interest. She tells me to release Inari and starts the lures at the same time at a pretty good speed. And with that, you could hear the click come from Inari as she immediately got what she was supposed to do and took off after the lure. She completed the 700 meter course, with what would have been few technical faults. In fact, the woman running the lure congratulated me for her doing so well on her first attempt. She said that she should definitely run again that day and that I should register her to get her started on her lure coursing title.
And Inari.....she was over the moon. Her tongue was lolling out a mile, but she was soon bouncing around again trying to get another turn. She ran the course one more time that day in the opposite direction, completing it almost better than her first time.
It was awesome to see her in action running all out as she was meant to.
She needs a bit more physical conditioning to get her up to speed, but that shouldn't be too difficult. And as a side note, she was one of 12 dogs that finished the course. Most of the beginners tend to charge at the lure for the first 100 meters, then trot off to go sniff flowers or back to their owners. I was so proud of her.
So now we research on how to register her in some of the many coursing organizations. Also have to work on getting her some coursing titles, since she seems to enjoy it so much.
And if we get a second sighthound, like we are planning to do, she'll have someone to train with.
Now just to get that house to start setting up a kick ass doggy racing training camp. I shudder to think that this may mean getting a treadmill for the dogs. :)