This year has been a big year in our basenji household.
First of all, Lola earned not only her ASFA lure coursing title, but also earned her first ever AKC lure coursing point. These are huge because, while she loves chasing the bunny, she is just not quite as fast as the competition. Also, late last year she learned that the bunny comes right back to the beginning. She would run to the first turn, stop, crouch down & stalk & wait until the bunny came back, watching it & wagging her tail the entire time. Cute, smart, doesn't count.
Callie has had a very big year. Between January & April of this year, Callie was the #1 ASFA basenji, and despite not coursing since, is still ranked #3. In addition, she earned her ASFA lure coursing title as well as her AKC lure coursing title this year, racking up 5 ASFA BOBs, 1 ASFA Best in Field, 1 ASFA Best in Event, and 1 AKC Best in Field.
September 18th, despite feeling very under the weather, Callie aced her Temperament test to earn her Temperament Title. The judge was very complimentary, and her scores were almost perfect.
When Callie came to me, she already had 1 point towards her comformation championship. I started showing her as a novice 13 months ago, and in those intervening months, she received 2 additional points while being handled by her breeder, Chris Cooper. On September 25 in St Louis, MO, Callie took Winner's Bitch & Best Opposite Sex to earn our first point together as a team! I just got the picture in the mail today! Thank you yodeldogs for cropping & resizing them for me 
Lola is now Griffin's Lola Rennt SC FCh
Callie is now FC Lothlorien's Kahlua N Cream SC TT FCh
CONGRATS!!! What a great year you're having.
I think Callie deserves a few extra points for figuring out where the bunny winds up going. That is incredibly clever.
What a wonderful year! Congrats with all your achievements! Love the pics
Congratulations, you are having a good year!
YAY, Congrats!!!!!!!
The first point you earn with your own dog is a memory you will cherish forever.
I am glad that you got the photo of the win also. Now you can look back anytime you want and relive the moment. I didn't get a photo of my first win and I always regretted it. I'll never forget it though. It was special.
Congrats!!! Woohoo!!! Way to go Callie and Lola!!! :D:D:D
Thanks everybody!! Its been a good year. And of course the best part of it all is, I have the absolute two best dogs a person could ever hope for 
Congrats!!! My dogs absolutely LOVE coursing and showing, they get so much attention and can't wait to go out and chase that bunny!!!
As a fellow newbie I send you a big 'high five!' AWESOME!!!
Congrats, Carrie! Awesome job.
Basenjis are smart! I love her stalking the bunny back to the first turn. What a thinker she is. And she's gorgeous. Thank you for sharing those pictures.
Basenjis are smart! I love her stalking the bunny back to the first turn. What a thinker she is. And she's gorgeous. Thank you for sharing those pictures.
Oh gosh. It was so stinking cute & funny, but so frustrating at the same time. She would literally go to the first turn, crouch in the grass, tail wagging. You could see her head following the bunny for the entire course. Then, as the bunny came down the last straightaway, she'd take off after it, finishing with a glorious leap. Only problem? She wouldn't qualify.
At the end of last December, we went into a 4 day ASFA trial. She only needed 11 points, and she was the only open basenji. I figured NOTHING could go wrong. All she had to do was qualify 3 days. There was no risk of her getting dismissed, as long as she didn't get hurt, she would finish her FCh.
Of course, that's the same time she decided to start her crouch/stalk/wait for the bunny method. She only Qd one day because the lure broke & she ran across the field to investigate. They got it going again right as she got to it & she finished the course. We had to do some "retraining" with her (practice runs where they stop the lure anytime they aren't following). She FINALLY finished in late January. Lola is a stinker.
Congratulations on Callie's success - she looks a lovely Basenji. I always admire folks who manage to get their B's to chase lures - i've never managed it!
thats pretty cool , congrats, how do u get into something like lure coursing? i dont know much about it. can anyone take there basenji to one of those places? really no clue how it works, how much does it cost? any info appreciated curious if my younger one would chase it.
just youtubed it, looks like great fun for the dog. i think mine are too dumb/the other too old to chase it lol
thats pretty cool , congrats, how do u get into something like lure coursing? i dont know much about it. can anyone take there basenji to one of those places? really no clue how it works, how much does it cost? any info appreciated curious if my younger one would chase it.
just youtubed it, looks like great fun for the dog. i think mine are too dumb/the other too old to chase it lol
Lure coursing is a BLAST! We MUCH prefer it to showing (mostly because I don't have to dress up haha). It is a very instinctual thing… doesn't require any smarts If your basenji likes to chase birds, squirrels, leaves, trash in the wind, shadows, whatever, it will likely chase the lure. Both of my girls took to it the very first time they saw it.
There are two organizations that we compete in... ASFA & AKC. In order to compete, you need an AKC number. If you have a rescue or, in my case, a dog registered with Continental Kennel Club, & you don't have AKC papers, you can get an ILP (Indefinite Listing Privelage) number to allow you to compete. There are a few requirements to get it (the dog must be spayed or neutered, you have to submit pictures, you have to have a breeder or breed specific rescue rep sign off on the form, and I heard today a DNA test, but I'm not sure about that... that wasn't a requirement when I got Lola's ILP 2 years ago). You pay a small fee, and it doesn't take too long to get the number.
To find events in your area, check out
http://asfa.org/
or do an event search on http://www.akc.org/.
Be aware that you have to check the trial schedules frequently, as trials often don't get put on the website until a month before the trial.
Virginia is in Region 8. Here is the contact info for the Region 8 Director. He should be able to point you in the right direction.
REGION 8: NJ,PA,DE,MD,VA,WV
Don Ewing (2011)
370 Bollinger Road
Littlestown, PA 17340
(717) 357-9606
REG8DIR@asfa.org
Lure coursing is a lot of fun for the dogs. Its a lot of waiting in really hot, really cold, windy and rainy weather for humans, but its worth it when you see your dog running all out, doing what it is built to do. Its a little tricky to find the information & trials when starting out, but once you get into it, its a little easier to find out about upcoming events.
I know a friend with Ibizan hounds that lives in Virginia. I'll ask her for some more info to pass along to you.
