Jonneth -- it was really great to meet you! Sorry we had so little time to talk... running the coursing with that many dogs was really a full time job and a half. I'm so lucky Duke John has become quite the lure operator!! Anyway, your family was wonderful and your girls are just gorgeous.
As far as coursing goes with them, I wonder if going back to "basics" wouldn't be helpful... when we got Ludwig as a puppy the breeder went to great lengths to play with the puppies every day with a sock or bag attached to string on the end of a pole. They'd run it around the yard and the puppies would go mad for it, strengthening that "chase" instinct with much repitition and fun. I wonder if you went back to that game with your girls to see if you could get them to chase on a small scale, and then work your way up, it might be helpful. As far as the idea of sacrificing instinct for behavior... I'm certainly not a specialist, but I do know Ludwig's breeder stopped just short of telling us not to do obedience with him. You could tell she struggled with out-and-out saying "don't do it", but suggested they keep the obedience work to a minimum with their dogs that course and race. I'm sure they'll be people here who's dogs have AKC good citizen awards PLUS are perfect coursers -- I'm defnitely not saying you can't do both. Just relating back what the breeder suggested to me... Ludwig can sit and do a down stay (if the planets are aligned, and his mood to do so coinsides with our asking) but we haven't gone much further than that. Estrella was great, wasn't it!?! Hope you had tons of fun and managed to stay mostly dry. :) Christiaen --- In [email protected], [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > 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 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/S.QlOD/3MnJAA/Zx0JAA/PJ_qlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCA_Coursing/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
