luring

[Hillscreek]

Angus went to a proper luring class today. Too bad I didn't get any pics of him chasing the lure. I was too busy working with him.

He was fantastic. He was sent out on the puppy run as he is only 12 months old. He took to it like a duck to water - wow. We flapped the bags back and forth on the line a couple of times and he just kinda looked at them.

Then all of a sudden the prey drive kicked in and he was away. One small run and then another long one though still straight - no corners. Our trainer wanted to take it easy the first time. He was amazingly focused and fast.

When he came back after the second longer run he got a hold on one of the knots on a bag and gave it a quick death shake before trotting off to praise from everyone. He was the only beginner there.

If you guys get a chance to do this anywhere give it a go. I was inspired by Brad's video of cairns luring coursing.

A bunch of dogs including a border terrier, bull terrier, collie, malinois and assorted others.

Two pics one he is watching how to do the luring, the other set up the machinery and laying out the lure line.

[Lynn in TN]

That's great! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[kjwarnold]

They do a form of lure coursing at the All Terrier Fun Days at Purina Farms. They start the dogs in kennels and the doors open, the dogs take off after the lure all the way up the course and are caught at the end by several volunteers. The wanted all of the dogs to wear muzzles since they didn't know the dogs and didn't want them to possibly bite the people catching them. We ran Packy with a couple of other Cairns (we left the JRT's out) and he hated the kennel to start in and he hated the muzzle even more! He turned himself around in the kennel so he wasn't facing the exit door, so when the door opened, his butt was sticking out. He turned back around and went out, but stopped to get the muzzle off. After that, he was great and took off like a shot after the lure. Of course, he was way behind all the other dogs. It was really funny to watch and they get themselves so streamlines, ears flat back, tail streaming out behind them! And they move so low to the ground. After that try, we talked them into letting us run him without the muzzle and I just dropped him into the starting area instead of the kennel. He did really well.

We haven't been back to try it again, but I would love to get Kirby there. He is really fast and his prey drive is huge! People who see him at one of the dog parks we go to can't believe how fast he is, and call him "Rocket."

[hheldorfer]

Sounds like Angus had a grand time.

I think Buffy would do the same thing as Packy with the muzzle. It's just not natural, even though I understand the reason for it. They *do* look amazing when they run, don't they? It always surprises me when Buffy takes off at the dog park. You wouldn't believe she's the same dog that spends most of her time lying flat on her back on the couch.

[bradl]

We have a bag of muzzles for anyone who wants them, but no one ever bothers. Some JRT people told me that given some practice most dogs will eventually accept the muzzle for the chance to run. Some really do fight it though - stopping to paw it off or in some cases hilariously trying to run and scrape it off at the same time.

While we have the occasional scuffle we've adopted some practices that cut them way down: one is using hay bales with a narrow entry into the finish area seems to help, and has the added benefit of making it easier to catch them.

The most effective thing seems to be to have at least n-1 catchers at the finish, directed to pick up the first dog they can reach. People have a tendency to want to pick up their own dog but that's not helpful. Pick up the first dog you can reach. Sort them out to their owners after everyone's off the ground. I prefer to have 'dedicated catchers' for this reason. Also I hate making the dogs wait in the box while their owners walk the length of the course (and I don't want anyone hurt or stumbling by rushing).

We used to have a long list of "rules" we'd read before bracket racing. One was that there were no "do-overs" for dogs who scuffle at the start, as a dog who would rather fight than run isn't going to win anyway, and a fast focused dog isn't going to be caught in the first place.

[Hillscreek]

At the Jack Russell races I've been to all the dogs have to wear muzzles. (PA law perhaps?) They all end up through the narrow hay bale exit and a group of catchers grab the nearest one and return to owners as they arrive.

The dogs all accept the muzzles so I'm guessing they are conditioned to wearing them before racing. About six dogs are released in a row from starting hutches - not sure what the proper name is. Like starting a horse race.

[Tessie's Mom]

That sounds like so much fun. I don't think there is anything like that around this area. Augusta GA