Leo went lure coursing at an Earth Dog event
Today we went to an earth dog fun day, organized by my friend's Border Terrier breeder. It was super fun--I'd never even seen the earth dog stuff, so that was pretty interesting. (They set up "tunnels" made of wood for terriers to run through, and there is a (caged) rat at the end for the to go after). It was actually pretty interesting to see the drive of those terriers--I mean one, who has whatever the highest title in earth dog is, slipped out of his collar to try to run the tunnel when it wasn't his turn! Also, my friend's BT had never even seen a rat before, or done this sport, and he was crazy for it immediately!
Leo was too big to run the tunnels, of course, but they also had lure coursing and what they called a "field hunt" in which there were stations set up with different piles of stuff, and a rat scented object was hidden them. The dogs had to indicate where the hidden object was. Again, my friend's border terrier took to it right away, and found things pretty quick. The first time we did it, Leo thought he was supposed to jump over the piles of stuff, which was pretty funny, but he did find the "rat" fairly quickly the second time around, and I did learn to read when he found it....he stopped, stock still, tail vibrating. He "won" fifth place (which means, he was last!) but he still got a prize.
But the lure coursing was super fun for him. I was a little worried about the set up because the park was not entirely fenced in, and though the course is fenced in, I though he might be able to jump out at the end, so I sent my friend down to catch him. We ran him with her border terrier the first time so he would get the hang of it, and the first time around he got distracted by a watching dog, and stopped, but when he saw Truman was still running, he went after him.
After that, though, he couldn't get enough of it, and everytime another dog ran it, he tried to run too. When we ran him again, he never took his eyes off the lure and was very fast (though we didn't time him). We only did a few times because on the last time he jumped out at the end (luckily my friend was there to catch him) but it was clear he really liked it!
And it was so interesting to go to a terrier event! I will never feel bad about snarky Shibas again, because these terriers were the kings of snark. A lot of them were muzzled, in fact (not when they ran, obviously, but in between), and they were noisy and apparently a lot of them had only partial recalls too, so overall, I did not feel like any of my dogs are that bad!
A lot of people were really interested in Leo, too and asked a lot about him. I hope we'll be able to do it some more--it was really fun.
Leo was too big to run the tunnels, of course, but they also had lure coursing and what they called a "field hunt" in which there were stations set up with different piles of stuff, and a rat scented object was hidden them. The dogs had to indicate where the hidden object was. Again, my friend's border terrier took to it right away, and found things pretty quick. The first time we did it, Leo thought he was supposed to jump over the piles of stuff, which was pretty funny, but he did find the "rat" fairly quickly the second time around, and I did learn to read when he found it....he stopped, stock still, tail vibrating. He "won" fifth place (which means, he was last!) but he still got a prize.
But the lure coursing was super fun for him. I was a little worried about the set up because the park was not entirely fenced in, and though the course is fenced in, I though he might be able to jump out at the end, so I sent my friend down to catch him. We ran him with her border terrier the first time so he would get the hang of it, and the first time around he got distracted by a watching dog, and stopped, but when he saw Truman was still running, he went after him.
After that, though, he couldn't get enough of it, and everytime another dog ran it, he tried to run too. When we ran him again, he never took his eyes off the lure and was very fast (though we didn't time him). We only did a few times because on the last time he jumped out at the end (luckily my friend was there to catch him) but it was clear he really liked it!
And it was so interesting to go to a terrier event! I will never feel bad about snarky Shibas again, because these terriers were the kings of snark. A lot of them were muzzled, in fact (not when they ran, obviously, but in between), and they were noisy and apparently a lot of them had only partial recalls too, so overall, I did not feel like any of my dogs are that bad!
A lot of people were really interested in Leo, too and asked a lot about him. I hope we'll be able to do it some more--it was really fun.
Comments
Terriers are the king of snark. Working with them at the vet prepared me well for my short-term Shiba, as a matter of fact I never really thought he was snarky at all even though others laughed that he was a bit bratty in their opinion. But to me it just seemed like normal Shiba mischief. Was it some sort of low fence that was set up just around the coursing area that he hopped over and your friend caught him?
I bet Toki would do it....I think most dogs with any sort of prey drive at all would do it, because it's something moving super fast in front of them. (It was just one of those toys with no stuffing dragged on the lure thread, but super fast). We were worried Leo wouldn't get it at first, which is why we let him run with his terrier friend (we figured he'd chase Truman if nothing else), but he got it right away!