Lure Coursing - Saturday August 11, 2007
Ft. Mott, NJ was the location for the Jersey Rag Racers AKC lure coursing trials this weekend. I had four dogs entered each day (after Zuli was pulled for being in season!) Saturday I had Greyhound Ruby entered, Aren in the Special stake, and Derby & Sunny in the Open stake. I was very lucky that Shannon Lyons was able to stop in Richmond on Friday and pick up Sunny on her way north as it saved David, Jennifer and me a couple of hours of driving. The weather couldn't have been better - the cold front had gone through on Friday night and the sky was overcast and in the 60s for the start of the trial. After the heat wave that we'd been going through the previous couple of weeks, it was like someone had turned on the air conditioning!
The way the course was laid out the Whippets went over a small rise at the far end of the course where I couldn't see them, so it made it very difficult for me to judge what kind of run any of them had. Aren and Sonny both finished out of the points, but Derby ended up in a three way tie for 2nd place in a full Open stake of 15 Whippets. Since there were points at stake I let him run for it, and he managed to finish 3rd in the stake and picked up his first two points towards his Field Championship. Ruby won Best of Breed with an entry of three Greyhounds, so she picked up 2 points towards her LCX2. However she blew part of a pad on her Best in Field run and we could all tell exactly where it happened too, as up until then she was running great.
After the trial, and after all the JC runs, I tried practicing Kate. Shannon walked her out about 70 yards & Kate struggled to get loose and as soon as Shannon released her, she made a rocket powered run for the van! She jumped up into the van and was not going anywhere! My heart was in my mouth the entire time she was running, as I didn't know where she was headed! After recovering from that one, Leslie Carroll & I gave Tomi a try also. I walked her out & released her from about 50 yards & after a little encouragement to get started, she DID run the entire way to Leslie and was still interested in grabbing at the lure at the end. One baby step in the right direction. A long day by the time I got back home, but well worth it.
~~Joanne
The way the course was laid out the Whippets went over a small rise at the far end of the course where I couldn't see them, so it made it very difficult for me to judge what kind of run any of them had. Aren and Sonny both finished out of the points, but Derby ended up in a three way tie for 2nd place in a full Open stake of 15 Whippets. Since there were points at stake I let him run for it, and he managed to finish 3rd in the stake and picked up his first two points towards his Field Championship. Ruby won Best of Breed with an entry of three Greyhounds, so she picked up 2 points towards her LCX2. However she blew part of a pad on her Best in Field run and we could all tell exactly where it happened too, as up until then she was running great.
After the trial, and after all the JC runs, I tried practicing Kate. Shannon walked her out about 70 yards & Kate struggled to get loose and as soon as Shannon released her, she made a rocket powered run for the van! She jumped up into the van and was not going anywhere! My heart was in my mouth the entire time she was running, as I didn't know where she was headed! After recovering from that one, Leslie Carroll & I gave Tomi a try also. I walked her out & released her from about 50 yards & after a little encouragement to get started, she DID run the entire way to Leslie and was still interested in grabbing at the lure at the end. One baby step in the right direction. A long day by the time I got back home, but well worth it.
~~Joanne
2007-08-13 18:20:31 GMT
