New JC at Illusion!
This last weekend, my little black and white girl, Arrow, sister to Dude, got her JC in 2 days and then went on, just like her brother, to get her first qualifying score towards her SC.
She came in 4th out of 5, so no points, but she got that 4th place to 2 FCH's and the Basenji that had gone Best in Field in the previous day's trial, so I thought she did pretty well.
Thats Great Terry!!!!!
Way To Go Arrow!!!!!!!
Way to go Arrow!!! WOO HOOO!!!
I'm thinking of having our C3PO get into Lure Coursing. Any thoughts on how I should train him for it??
I'm also looking for practic runs to see if he shows any interest. I'm in the NY/NJ area.
get out a trashbag and rub on and put in a piece of your dog's favorite meat. then let your dog shred the bag up to get to the meat. after that get a lure stick, which can either be purchased at a show vendor or use a fishing pole with string on the end and put a plastic trash bag on it and wave it around in a circle to spark your dogs' interest. Once they start chasing after the lure stick bag use it as fun time in your back yard. If your dog starts to get happily crazy for the lure stick and bag everytime they see it come out, you can be fairly certain they will be enthusiastic enough to chase after the lure on a course. find a local club with lure coursing practice. first start with short straights of 50 yds with lots of praise for your dog going after to catch the lure bag. then gradually introduce a turn and increase the distance to 150 yds. please be sure to instill and reward recall back to you after the dog grabs the lure bag, by having a reward treat in your hand to give the dog immediately for coming back to you. after a couple practices like this your dog is likely now ready for a full course in practice. after a couple of successful practices on a full course your dog is likely then ready for it's first JC attempt. after your dog gets' it JC title, then it's time to go to practice and run against another dog. keep an eye out for agression towards the other dog and praise the dog up for running past without bothering or just chasing the other dog. when your dog can run without bothering other dogs and stays focused on the lure bag you are now ready for entering a trial. if your dog starts to cheat or cut the course to head of the lure bag, go back to practices and run some more straights, and also run some full courses with the lure bag just bunny hopping start/stops all the way around the course so that your dog is closely following the lure bag. if the dog still trys to cheat, stop the bag (fun) until the dog comes back towards it and then continue with the fun. the idea is to teach the dog unless they follow the bag around the course, there will be no fun. getting with an experienced lure coursing club and exhibitor will greatly help you thru the process and introduction, not to mention it's usually a whole lot more fun for you to have a human friend. have safe fun and good luck!!
Way to go Arrow. She is a future star on the field!
Oh yes, Arrow will be a star unless she decides to go check out the REAL animals!
(After her first JC run, which was outstanding, even staying on the lure after a Rhodesian Ridgeback got loose from his owner and ran the whole course with her, Arrow remembered she had seen a gopher in the empty field next to the course. She took off into the empty field and when she couldn't find the gopher, who had prudently gone back into his hole, continued across the field towards the San Diego Wild Animal Park. :eek: With 3 of us chasing her and futilely calling. "Arrow, Arrow, come! Come here Arrow!", it finally occurred to me to change the call to "Arrow, COOKIE!" which immediately turned her around. 
When we got her, she wasn't even out of breath! Of course, then I had to find her a cookie…)
Terry
Terry-LOL LOL that's hysterical!!! 
Arrow is a smart dog…"come" for what??..."cookie"..now THERE'S a good reason to come!!! HA HA
Thanks for the great advice BIRDBARS!! I'm off next week & I plan to work on this.
