GRIMNER GREYHOUNDS

LURE COURSING.

If you have not attended a lure course before please check out AKC's website for an event local to you.  You can also compete in ASFA which is the original lure coursing sanctioning body.  You will be amazed what people will do to run their dogs. 7 am roll calls , rain, sleet or snow , there will be hardy souls out there competing with their dogs. All sight hound breeds are eligible  to lure course. 

Coursing in its current form was started around 1972 (asfa).  AKC has fairly recently adopted lure coursing as an official performance event, and now dogs compete for points, titles and honors across the country.  Of course it has evolved into the structured events we do today where sportsmanship along with the utmost safety for the animals are the ruling factors.

The mechanical lure

Pulleys are the corners where the lure will make a turn, they are usually aluminum and run in high speed ball bearings. Pulleys are fastened to the ground using nails or screws.  Once the course plan has been established the lure operator strings the course which makes one loop.  The end of the lines are spliced together and hooked onto the drive wheel.  Operator can now control the speed of the line by intermittently "clicking" the switch attached to the starter motor.  3 plastic bags are fastened to the line and you are ready to go.

Course layouts.

as you can imagine you can produce elaborate designs which will make your dogs head spin when running them. It seems lure operators/field chairman like to replicate shapes of  mathematical formulas or ancient symbols.  Truth is that simple layouts with "soft corners" are the best to test , speed, endurance, agility, follow and overall ability.  This is how hares run to elude their prey, after all this is what we are trying to simulate.  This is also the safest for the competing dogs. Sharp turns will cause injuries.  Under no circumstance should a corner exhibit a sharper angle than 90 degrees.   Loose soil, such as sand  can also cause injuries if course design is incorrect. 

 

Conditioning.

In my opinion , conditioning is the best way to prevent injuries along with proper warm up and cool down. If you were a 800 M runner , wouldn't you warm up?  To bring a cold dog , which sleeps on the couch all day, is asking for trouble.  at minimum you will be embarrassed when your dog quits after half the run.  In our region space is at a premium and real estate is very costly and finding "dog friendly" areas where you can exercise your dog is hard .  All of my dogs are being  conditioned by long walks/ bicycle and roller blading  for stamina and for speed I use GRIMNER'S BLACK BOX.  This system will work for any dog that is interested in chasing things. We have used it for "bulking" up standard Schnauzers among other things. Any breed will benefit from use of this machine..

The Actual Trial and course

Before you can participate in an actual trial your dog has to be "jc'd"  this means he or she has to show that they display the ability and the desire to chase the petroleum bunnies. The hound will run by itself for evaluation purposes and will be handed a ribbon upon completion of minimum 6oo yard course and 4 turns.  This has to happen twice and under 2 different judges to be official. You are then ready to enter in trial with competition and your dog has earned a Junior courser title.

We do recommend that you will "fun run" your young hound with other experienced dogs prior to entering trial, You never know how your hound will interact with other hounds when they are chasing the bags. Some are no problem and stay totally focused , some get very competitive and even aggressive.  If aggression is displayed during a trial the dog will be disqualified which means you have to reinstate your hound. It is much better to "practice" run your hound to make sure he is doing what he is supposed to do.  You can also temperament test some of your young dogs so that you don't spend the money on trial entries for a dog that will not run. We have successfully retrained hounds who do not run "clean" with GRIMNER'S BLACK BOX.

Dogs compete in 3 classes, Open, Special and veteran. This is very similar to conformation but since no dogs under 12 month of age are allowed there is no need for "puppy" classes.  Dogs and bitches compete against each other.  Depending upon how many hounds are entered in your breed, there can be multiple stakes and each stake can have multiple courses. The stakes will "run off" against each other to produce the best of breed winner. Read more about the actual rules at AKC's website.  Each course consists of 2 runs , a preliminary and a final, course is reversed when running final .  In case of ties (points) placement run offs are done prior to running for best in breed.  I have personally attended events where my dog had to run , prelim, final, breed runoff, best in field (tied)  and one more best in field.  This is why your dog needs to be in condition. 

 

No more than 3 dogs compete in a course, a brace can also be run ( 2 dogs) or a dog can run single .  In order for the judge to separate the dogs they wear colored "blankets" , yellow, pink  and blue.  colors are randomly selected by draw prior to trial and posted in advance.  Slip leads are used for releasing the dogs as they are not allowed to run with any collars or chains, see our slip leads. 

Judging is based on 5 criteria , speed , agility, follow , endurance and overall ability.  Maximum points earned in a run is 50. 10 points in each category.  penalties can be assessed if the dog is not retrieved promptly or "pre slipped".  Scores are then tallied up for both the preliminary and final run and the dog with the highest score will win its class.  he then will compete against the other classes in order to select the best of breed.  Breed winner has now earned the right to compete for Best In Field.  Best in field is basically like your Best in Show where you compete against all other breeds , with exception for Italian greyhounds.  In akc coursing you will be awarded points based on how many dogs you beat. In similar fashion to conformation you need 15 points with 2 majors to call your dog a "field Champion" .  Beyond this there are many "progression" titles such as Master courser, Lure courser excellent (LCX) which  can be earned. See the AKC's website.

Now get your hound exercised and get yourself to a coursing event!

Watch Phantoms first JC run! (quick time media player)

If you have any additional questions please email us.

 

Copy right Grimner Greyhounds 2007.