ShareThisBy THOM GABRUKIEWICZ
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
I know, for a fact, that my little hometown (population 25,198) does not allow parimutuel dog racing within its city limits. And research shows that the nearest greyhound track to Fremont is about 45 miles away _ in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
So I was confused to watch what looked like greyhounds racing around Christensen Field's municipal soccer fields here recently. They were three to a pack _ sporting yellow, red and blue bibs _ chasing what looked like three white plastic trash bags _ called ghosties _ that floated inches off the thick, green field.
"We were lure chasing," said Dona Rosales of Omaha, a member of the of the Nebraska Coursing Association. "It's something to do with our dogs, have them chase ghosties and get them to follow their instincts."
Lure coursing started in California in the 1960s by sighthound fanciers who hunted jackrabbits, according to the American Sighthound Association Web site. Because farmers' fields were often marked by barbed wire, it was dangerous to have a hound running at full speed to catch a juking rabbit.
So sighthound owners invented their own sport in 1972, and now has grown to 120 member clubs throughout the United States (California is home to 15 member clubs).
It's a performance event where hounds can get out, strut their stuff, and let their natural abilities be rewarded.
And I think, lure coursing would be perfect for Trinity, my hyperactive, 7-year-old border collie/McNabb cross.
Alas, she's not eligible to compete in ASHA-sanctioned competition (for prizes and bragging rights).
Only purebred Afghan hounds, Azawakhs, basenjis, borzoi, greyhounds, Ibizan hounds, Irish wolfhounds, Italian greyhounds, pharaoh hounds, Rhodesian ridgebacks, salukis, Scottish deerhounds, sloughis, and whippets can be entered in the regular stakes in ASFA lure field trials.
You, know, sighthounds.
"These are dogs that hunt by sight and speed," Rosales said. "Instead of by smell like some other dogs."
These dogs also are called gazehounds, and the ASHA gathers those breeds _ and their owners _ for a little friendly competition around the United States. During an ASHA-sanctioned field trial, dogs will run the course twice; courses can stretch anywhere from 600 to 1,000 yards in length and feature numerous twists and turns.
Dogs are judged on how well they follow the course, enthusiasm, agility, speed and endurance.
"Some dogs will cut corners," said Rosales, who ran her 2-year-old basenji, Kya (a rescue dog) for the first time least weekend _ and scored the third-highest point total for any breed. "Some just get out there, see that big field and just cut loose."
But when dogs stay on course, what a thing of beauty to watch.
"Did you see the borzoi?" Rosales asked (I did). "They really like to hunt three at a time; two to chase and one to head the prey off at the pass. And they'll run and run and run until the end, the bigger breeds all do it.
"It's what they were bred to do."
But in this three-pack mentality, doesn't the leader _ on the basis of the one that gets the "kill" _ face a disadvantage in the points? Since that dog will instinctively cut corners on the course to close in on the kill?
Not necessarily.
Dogs are scored 15 points for enthusiasm, 15 points for follow, 25 points for speed, 25 for agility and 20 points for endurance _ which helps even the field, Rosales said.
"Like I said, it's what they were bred to do," said Rosales, who has been running basenji since 1974 _ and finally has found a champion runner in Kya. "They see the game and they chase it. If they don't, that's just the breaks."
The more Rosales and I talked, the more I wondered how Trinity would do on the course. There have been times in the 24-acre field across the street where she's rousted a feral cat from its hiding place _ and given chase with determined abandon (she has two cats at home that just refuse to run for her).
"You know, we do allow test dogs," Rosales said. "That's any breed."
"In (ASFA) competitions, a dog must be certified in order to compete in the open category of the breed," according to Wikipedia. "To certify, a dog must run clean (not interfere with the other hound and pursue the lure) with another dog of similar running style and be certified by a qualified ASFA judge."
While I don't know if Trin would necessarily run clean _ she likes to have fun with other dogs _ I'd like to see her try a lure course just once.
Thom Gabrukiewicz can be reached at tgabrukiewicz(at)redding.com
