BackInBlack

I am excited, we are going lure coursing for the first time ever tomorrow. Piper is going to LOVE it! She is fast, and she has tons of prey drive. She loves to flat out RUN, so I am sure she is going to have a blast. I am also taking Rommel, I am not sure what he will do.....but I am sure he will have fun. Brownie gets to go for socialization, they asked me to bring him

Ziris has to stay home because we have training tomorrow night and I don't want her too worn out.

Anyone who has done it before, any tips for me?

I am bringing tons of water, my big battery operated fans, cooling jackets, cooling collars, my camera....x-pens.....crates, that are already in my car.....a chair.

Am I missing anything? Is there anything else that I need? I have never been before, but I think the dogs will love it.

There will be photos tomorrow night, I promise....

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doberkim

Secure crates. Rah loved it, as did Berlin. I didn't get pictures of my own dogs, but I had a professional photographer there who should have pics of my dogs available soon (hopefully!), but both of my dogs were able to course 5-6 times and loved it.

However, it was stop and go - the lure can break often, come off the track (this was the first time in three attempts that Rah got to course!) and Rah was subsequently pushed to last each time- because he caught the lure EVERY TIME - no matter what they did, Rah kept catching it!

Rah killed a crate in my car when he was put back in the car to let Berlin course. I learned my lesson then Would never have lasted in an Xpen - once he saw the lure or heard the motor run, he would bark his head off and flip out, he had to be removed from the area and he would have jumped out of anything to get to it.

Rah has coursed three times and he adores it! Then again, he's built like a greyhound...

I had with me water, a slip lead, and tennis balls - I needed something to call Rah off the lure when he caught it

Have fun, I'm so jealous!!! I need to find a place to course Rah...

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BackInBlack

Thanks Kim. I am bringing the x-pens for Mr. Brownie. They are the tall ones, so I don't think he could get out. (I say that now....)

I am excited. They do it once a month down in Wilmington. We have to be there by 8am and it is at least an hour and a half away.....ugh, I am not a morning person....

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Julie W

Don't feed them breakfast and as you already know I'm sure be sure to walk them out well both before and after each run. Have secure collars that they can't slip out of, but are gentle on their necks because they turn into rodeo monsters when the lure goes. Either that or prong collars (which is what I use on Cher at race practice) but be sure to remove the prong collar before they run. I would hate to seem them tumble, crash and burn wearing a prong collar. When I run Cher I have them speed the lure up to get it way ahead of them at the very end so I can quickly pick it up and put it under my shirt (yuck) to keep away from her. Once in her mouth you need the jaws of life to get it back. Oh, and aus doesn't work on a lure btw.

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doberkim

Ha ha - actually, funny story - you know the videos Tori has of Cosmo's spin when she is going after the helper? That is what Rah turned into when lure coursing!!! I used a Mendota lead on Rah for coursing, it was as gentle I could be on him.

They wouldn't let anyone course with anything hanging off their dogs - no collars with tags, no bandanas, nothing that hangs that could possibly get stuck on the lure or the line.

And like Julie said, Aus/Out/Drop it definitely doesn't work on the line. Rah got to take home a bunch of ugly ripped up bags - I think it would depend on what type of coursing you are doing. JUlie knows more about what types there are (oval, straight, and all the turns, etc) - Rah's courses had a bunch of turns, and the problems were is that despite his size, Rah can turn really tightly and he was able to catch the lures on all the turns when he accelerated out of them faster than they expected.

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Santa

I would LOVE to let Zac have a go at this! Going to look around, see if there's anything in the area.