Kai Juno goes Lure Coursing

Inspired by Lindsay, Sandra and their team of shibas, I took Reilly and Juno to a lure coursing 'fun run' to see how they liked it.

SInce I was new to this, lots of things left an impression on me, so I'll describe:

Everyone there was friendly- it was sponsored by a Bouvier de Flandres club, so it was heavy on the herding dogs, but Id say of about 25 dogs, half were actual herding breeds. I saw many Bouvs, a briard puppy, a malinois, 2 chinooks, 2 black russian terriers (one of whom ran great!), 3 basenjis (2 were puppies and did not run), a whippet mix that ran awesome, and several small terriers, a saluki, and a few more mixes. Most of the bouvs seemed interested but not sure what to do when the lure got going and after a short chase, balked before the first turn, looking to their handler for direction or just wandering off the field.

Many dogs held on for a few turns but around the third turn gave up. Reilly gave up after the 2nd turn- I knew she;d give chase, but I didn't know for how long. Reilly is a larger dog, and old (9 yo) for her size, as well as a cancer survivor, so it doesnt surprise me that she is probably just too late to get into the sport. She has also had nine years of live-rabbit hunting behind her and she knows when she's got a chance, and what's left in her tank. I think she was in for it till she realized this was a long chase after plastic bags and her effort would not be rewarded with a squeal! and warm juicy crunchings and munchings.

As a 'raw' sport- there's no training involved, its just whatever the dog naturally comes with for enthusiasm and sticktoitivness- I think it favors the independent dog a great deal- if you gotta ask your momma, its too late! I was talking with a trainer about a nosework class she is beginning soon, and she described how some dogs who excel at things like obedience take a while to 'get' nosework because they look to the handler for information, "We dont realize how much our dogs depend on us to tell them what to do." Which reminded me of when I took Sage to agility classes (forever ago) and the trainer asked me if I did a lot of obedience work with him, to which I said yes- he's a reactive dog so we train a lot of attention under distraction. The trainer pointed out that Sage looked to me 'too much' for agility, and since it was much more important to me that he learn to rely on me and look to me rather than act on his own (rather rash..) decisions in moments of high emotion, we rented the ring and played with the agility features for a while and then faded it altogether.

I wonder if certain types of work/sport are best suited to certain personalities of dogs when they are young and not yet 'overtrained' (not the perfect word, but its the best I can come up with just now) and their independence and raw drive are a huge asset and much praiseable (rather than wrestling with their drives, work with them- finding ways to get to YES! so to speak) and as they settle some with age and training, to gradually shape and bring those assets under control and direction by increasing the amount of handler-directed work/sport. An awareness thing for owners, I guess.

Anyway, next up: Juno was a coursing fiend! I ran Rei first because she seemed more composed, but while Rei was having a go, Juno was whining, keening, and popping up on her hind legs- my friend CJ was holding her leash and had to take her behind a truck so she couldn't see the lure and could settle. (the paddock master told us the dogs would get too excited if we let them watch, and...he was right)

So you take your dog near the pulley line and hold their collar. The lure guy pulses the pulley to buck the three plastic bags a little to tempt the dog, who of course lunges and you hold her back a sec and say something encouraging in her ear- reaaaaaaaady?- and when the 'bunnies' go, you release the dog! Boom! Off she goes! Juno ran like hell and became very streamlined- her ears went back flat, her stride reached out, she got really low and just blasted along, her tail streaming behind her and balancing her on her turns- it was a thing of beauty to watch! She was one of the most intense dogs out there today. As she came in for the final approach, the lure guy told me to let her 'get' the bag and she tried to take its head off.

Thus adrenalyzed, she did not come when called, but needed to 'walk it off' and calm down, like a sprinter after a race. In retrospect I think if the lure guy had brought her in closer before killing the lure, or if I had known to be up there for the intercept a little higher Id have gotten her collar right away. So we had a little stroll around the paddock where she found someone's squeaky toy. I think another thing I might do next time is to have a fur tug ready.

I retired Reilly for the day, but bought Juno a second run in the next round. This time they ran the lure in the other direction, and again she did great! running right ON, and punctuating her chase with a kill-shake at the end.



She had a lot of fun, and after she ran she met some new people and dogs and was wonderful- the parting words of many people that meet her go like this "Well, good bye, thank you for letting us meet her- It's "K-A-I-K-what? K-E-N, right?" and "Ive never seen one of those before!" One old lady showed me all the pins she earned with her smooth fox terrier, recited the case for tail docking in terirers and told me her stories of earthdog trials and being a dog-event person was really excited to meet a new breed.

I think I will pursue more coursing with Juno. I am going to keep my ears and eyes out for AKC Coursing Ability Tests within reasonable driving distance and see if I can title her. I have never shown or titled a dog before, but she'd have to complete three full-length runs to title the first level, and that seems a reasonable goal to shoot for. With successive coursing runs completed there are further titles at 10, 25 etc. but I should not get ahead of myself. I live pretty remotely so it may not be easy to find more coursing.

Right now Juno is working on her CGC award/title/? and will have her test in two weeks, so first things first. Thank you, Lindsay and Farrah for inspiring us to try lure coursing! It was a blast!!

Comments

  • Neat story! I'm probably going to give lure coursing a try with Conker. He loves to chase stuff.
  • Awesome. I have been wanting to do it with Tora. With her drive, I think she would be really good at it. I was going to do it at UKC premier 2 years ago because they have open run times after regular competition is done, but it stormed that night and we were not able to do it.
  • Neat story. Great video. Looks like you've found her "activity".
  • That is so cool! I'm glad Farrah is inspiring more doggies to try non traditional activities. And good luck with the CGC, Juno sounds like she is a true good citizen already and then some. You should be proud of her and all the work you are doing with her.
  • I like this.
  • edited May 2012
    Great write-up, Chrys! I can't say I'm very surprised, I mean she is a Haru daughter. :o) It is safe to say she probably owes all that drive to her mother. We are very proud of Juno!

    ----
  • Yay! Looks like fun! I totally want to try this. I'm trying to find somewhere reasonably close.
  • One of the ideas that I've been kicking around for years is having an Asian spitz lure coursing event as a fund-raiser for rescue. Registry with a kennel club would not necessary.
  • That would be really cool!
  • That is really awesome, Juno is such a good girl :)
  • @WrylyBrindle awesome video! You should totally try the Coursing Ability Test with Juno!
  • thanks, all! :) I have been searching around and found a CAT event in New Jersey in September. I contacted the club in charge and am on the list to receive the "premium" (it might mean schedule or registration?) for the event when it is available- they said to fill it out and return it quickly because they expect the event to fill up. In addition, the club secretary is in Rhode Island and runs an all-breed coursing club (Linea Rossa Lure Coursing) that holds (non-CAT, for fun and practice) coursing events in Mass and Connecticut, which is not too inconvenient to go to. It looks like a path is opening up for us, so we'll continue as long as Juno enjoys doing it. I dont know if dogs get bored of this at some point, so we'll strike while the iron is hot! The CAT events are held over a weekend, with two Trials (?) on Saturday and one on Sunday morning*, so it is possible to title her (3 qualifying runs) in one weekend. I would like to make it to some of the practice runs before the CAT to make sure she still loves it and to establish a habit of easily catching her at the end. :) She's so amped when she comes peeling in to the finish!

    *this is reminiscent of when I used to play hockey and we'd go to tournaments. I find it funny to think of taking Juno basically to a tournament with the "sunday game" being the title match.
  • Take lots and lots of videos!! Juno looked so great out there!! Really loving it!! :o)
  • Yep, premium = registration. I have no idea why.

    And more importantly, that's awesome! Get out there and have some fun! :-)
  • We will! My brother saw Juno's video and may join us with his pointer when i find a practice event in Mass. That'll be fun to do together! Dell (the pointer) is CRAYzee fast!
  • bump! - you should totally do the CAT in september. Where about in NJ is it??
    I am located in NJ with my shiba who has gone to a few CAT practices. I would sign up as well for the actual test and would love to meet Juno! I know it's a ways away, but if you have any details, please let me know!
  • edited July 2012
    Hiya! Its in Colt's Neck, NJ at a polo field. Sept 15/16 Buck's Mill Recreation area...the premium is not available yet. But I am planning to connect with Irene from the shiba side and her shiba Spuddy will come too, so it'd be cool to have a little Nihon Ken team and stick together! :) If you have gone to CAt practices, maybe you have been to this site?

    here's a photo the hosting club (Bouvier Owners of New England) took of Juno
    Photobucket
  • That's an awesome shot! I love how bright red she is. And that tail.
  • Ah!! Yes! We've been to that exact field for the practices. It's great. Super flat!

    I know of Spuddy/Irene from Joe and Beth. But have not met Spuddy yet! I actually meant to go to the meetup they had a while back at Beth's but could not make it. :(

    That's an awesome photo! I should post my video from his first course (I need to create a thread with his nose work/CAT run).

    Glad to see Juno loves it! It would be really cool if she was the first Kai with a CA title
  • Spuddy's a good dog! Irene, Joe & Dawn, Beth and Tom are all fun nice people- Juno and I went to the meetup at Beth's last year (she was just a little pup then.) and had a good time! Let's try to gather around this event- since you know the field and the area and have more coursing experience, it will be really great to meet up, and I can relax my mind and not worry about having to know everything at once in an unfamiliar place (Im from Vermont) and just make sure Juno is having a good time. I'll share out the premium when I get it.

    Id like to see your videos, so get that thread going! :)
  • Yes I meant to go to see Juno! I am interested in a Kai myself. But yes that would be great if we could all get together. My boy is also super friendly (to a fault).

    I'll have to create a thread later, but right now I have his thread on the shiba side (if you want, you can check it out there)
    :)
  • nice! Maybe lure coursing is something i should check out with Mochi too. He loves to chase things, fast.
  • I actually found out that the shiba meet-up group in Calgary goes lure coursing once a month! That's a 2+ hour drive, but that's not so bad.
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