LURE COURSING
AFGHAN HOUNDS
– Julie David, Secretary Dogs Queensland (Lure Coursing Subcommittee) Man has been hunting game with the help of his dogs throughout history and coursing has a long history. Paintings in 4,000 year old Egyptian tombs depict coursing with long-legged hounds. Lure Coursing is currently one of the fastest growing ANKC dog sports, with dogs of all breeds competing in trials. The modern version of Lure Coursing was developed in the early 1970’s by Lyle Gillette and other California Sighthound fanciers whose dogs hunted jackrabbits in open fields. They developed coursing with a mechanised lure as a safer, more controlled sport, recreating the physical requirements of open field coursing, and allowing them to continue testing the functional capabilities of their dogs. Lure Coursing in most countries is limited to Sighthounds – dogs that traditionally hunt by sight. In Australia, Lure Coursing is not restricted to Sighthounds only and allows for all breeds to compete (including mixed breeds).
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DOG WORLD June 2020
The lure used in Australia is made of strips of white plastic bags tied to a rope which is run around spindles and pulleys on a mechanised loop, especially designed for this task. It is a continuous loop which travels in a pattern, imitating the zig zag movement of a rabbit or hare being chased over an open field and ends up back at the starting point. A course is usually run over 600 metres – 1,000 metres and the dogs are judged against five scoring criteria, to give a total score out of 100:
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Enthusiasm (15 points);
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Follow ( 15 points);
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Agility (25 points);
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Speed (25 points); and
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Endurance (20 points).
Lure Coursing is a wonderful sport for fit, healthy dogs that have a love of running and the ability to sight and follow a lure.
