Final Iron Hound Results
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I have always loved the pics that Dave Mills gets of the dogs running. Here
are some links to some of my favorites from this weekend's Iron Hound
competition.Levi who wrestled his muzzle off in the box on Saturday
http://www.pixf.com/dogracing/070527RCRA/LGRA/slides/dm_36076.htmlThe break from the last high point race of Sunday
http://www.pixf.com/dogracing/070527RCRA/NOTRA/slides/dm_37750.htmlMiss Rio flying
http://www.pixf.com/dogracing/070527RCRA/LGRA/slides/dm_35751.htmlCrash gets the bunny
http://www.pixf.com/dogracing/070527RCRA/LGRA/slides/dm_35825.htmlThe LGRA high point race
http://www.pixf.com/dogracing/070527RCRA/LGRA/slides/dm_36148.html -
Those pics are amazing. Those dogs look like they are having a blast! Except for the darn muzzle.
Personally (and I have been coursing a long time) I think it should be a requirement for all coursing for the hounds to wear muzzles… just like it is for Straight Line and Oval racing. It is much safer for the dogs in general.... When the muzzle goes on, they know it is time for racing... they stay more focused.. and out of trouble. If there is a problem with a dog getting jumped by another, there is no serious damage (like bites).... Just a couple of months ago, someone ran their Basenji that was NOT ready to be running in competition (again this is another peave of mine, people running their dogs before they are ready or focused on the lure), but good thing that he was wearing a muzzle (and get this, it was cause the owner didn't trust him not to jump another dog... duh... here is a clue he should not be running)... he jumped the same dog 3 times on the field... Lucky that he didn't ruin the other dog.... she was a little gun shy the next run and gave Lisa's Rio a little trouble... but has since gone back to running clean
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In general, they leave them alone. It is when they have to wait in the boxes because of some delay that they usually get bored enough to try to get them off. In that race there was one basenji that had no box training and really fought the boxes which delayed the race long enough for Levi to wrestle his muzzle off.
I do have one basenji who fusses with her muzzle during a race but she is getting better about it and actually won 2 races this weekend even with the fussing. We are going to take the suggestion of a Visla owner and start giving her canned cheese when she wears the muzzle and doesn't fuss to reinforce the muzzle is a good thing. The fuzzy lure was a huge reinforcement but she has some negative associations with the muzzle that we have to work on overcoming.
