I have to share our lure coursing experience from this past weekend -- and to
thank Christean etal so so much for running the coursing event at Estrella!
This story actually begs the question -- can a Saluki be too well obedience
trained that the course is out of them?
I took both my Anoush (2 year-old bred by Elaine Yerty, aka Springmeadow Hearts
and Lace), and my db Na'amah (7-month-old ex-Saudi bred by Randa
Owens-Williams) out to lure course this weekend. The field was well set away
from roads, and though there were lots of people and mixed breeds of dogs
present, I wasn't sure I wanted to try both pups at the course. Anoush was
nervous, so I just watched her for a bit to make sure she was ok to go. And I
wasn't sure Naya would come back, but the site was really pretty good for
safety.
The girls started pulling at the leads after a bit, quite interested in the
lure, so I was excited to see them leap forth in the chase. I imagined them
showing off their lovely running lines and graceful agile turns...
Anoush went first. My husband and I have obedience trained her, mostly
ourselves, and she is very well behaved and great at the recall. When my
husband flipped the coursing trigger lock on the lead, there was a bit of
technical difficulty and it took a second for Micael to realize he had locked
the lead instead of freeing it. When he got it taken care of, Anoush took 2
steps towards the lure and then turned around -- trotted back to Dad, and sat
down. We thought she needed another try, so we let her rest a bit and watch
some of the other dogs. After a good wait, and renewed interest in the lure,
we set her up to go again. We set the lure behind her this time and toyed with
having her go with a whippet to see if it would spark her competitive spirit
(and maybe show her what to do), but ended up having her go alone. At the
*Tally-ho*, the lead flew free, and Anoush sat down without a single step. She
looked up at Michael lovingly and waited for him to praise her. Which he did,
while laughing over the loss of a course.
We then decided to run Na'amah because the site was pretty well setup to catch
her, even if she did get a mind to run. After a bit of encouragement from my
husband, he took her to the lure and I went to the opposite side of the field
and waited. At the "Tally-ho!" the leash went off, Na'amah went forward, and
then stopped. She looked around, realizing she was not tethered, and did what
I thought she would. She ran the other way. You could almost hear her cry out
"Freedom!!!" But she didn't just run away madly -- Michael called her back --
and she did stop and come back! However, her idea was not to go back to Dad.
Her idea was to dive-bomb the dogs waiting on the sidelines. She was free and
ready to play! She wove in and out among them until a kind soul wrapped her in
a hug and waited for us to get back with the leads. I am sure there were a few
owners cursing my dog, but Naya looked for all the world like she'd just done
something so fun there would be no topping it.
I was complimented on the well-behaved Anoush, and Na'amah was showered with
the affection she feels she deserves, and we've decided we really do need to
build a lure machine to practice. Though coursing might not be the thing with
my girls, we all had fun. We're starting agility classes too, and we're doing
obedience with Naya so she won't continue to pick on dogs twice her size. So,
I guess we'll see. I just hope we didn't really sacrifice the instinct for the
behavior! Although Anoush is living proof that Saluki can be well trained.
Jonneth/ Jami'a
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