Lure coursing is by far the performance activity my dogs and I participate in most. Lure coursing is an event where the dogs chase a lure, or "bunny" on a course, competing against each other based on their speed, agility, how well they follow the "bunny", their enthusiasm and endurance.
Since writing isn't my strong point - go to Bonnie Dalzell's lure coursing FAQ for a more detailed description. Ridgebacks are considered by most to be sighthounds and can participate in AKC and ASFA lure coursing trials.
This is Sienna, one of Mandy and Ozzy's littermates with her owner Cheryl at the line ready to go!
This is Tucker and Maggie coursing spring "99" at a Northern New Jersey Irish Wolfhound trial. Maggie is owned by Sandi Gordon. Photo courtesy of Steve Surfman.
Nadra is my lure coursing fool. We spent many weekends traveling up and down the east coast for lure coursing events and met many great ridgeback folks and learned lots about the breed during this time. Nadra is an AKC and ASFA field champion and on her way to an ASFA LCM title.... She was #7 RRCUS lure coursing Ridgeback in 1994 after begininng her career in September of that year. She has earned 3 Best in Fields and is a joy to go coursing with. At 7 years old she is still going out and winning Best of Breed on a regular basis - showing the youngsters how to do it! I took her to a GSSA Trial last fall and entered her in Veterans, she won Best of Breed over the top 2 dogs in the country, one of them the all time #1 coursing hound in the country.
Penzi, shown here, is an AKC field champion and almost finished with her ASFA field championship. So far all her pups have shown great lure coursing potential and we will be heading out to work on their coursing titles soon.
Mandy and Tucker have their JC's, SC's and some of their AKC Field Championship points already and we will work on completing their Field championship's this year.
To get started go to a trial in your area and watch - Just be careful not to let your dog get loose when he sees the "bunny". Some of our Ridgebacks get a bit excited at the sight of the "bunny".
Introduce yourself to some of the lure coursing folks - they are mostly a friendly bunch and willing to help a newcomer. There are many Ridgebacks at most trials on the east coast these days. Find out if the club is having practices and take your dog to several practices BEFORE you try to enter a trial running with other dogs. Once your dog earns its Junior Courser you shouldn't automatically enter open and run with other dogs unless your dog has practiced with other dogs before. If you don't know whether your dog will run with other dogs without interfering, i.e "run clean", you should not put your dog or the other competitors dogs at risk. PRACTICE FIRST!
It is good to take young pups to practices even if they only play with the "bunny" for a short stint on the course. Most lure coursing clubs hold practices regularly. At two day trials practices are usually held on Saturday afternoons, not Sunday. By Sunday the trial workers are pretty wiped out and want to go home.
The New England Rhodesian Ridgeback Club became an AKC approved lure coursing club in 1999. We held our first trial in October 1999 for Ridgebacks only and had a huge entry of dogs both days with the winners earning 5 point majors. NERRC held its first all breed trial on Cape Cod in April 2000 with a great turnout and with the help of GONE and NUTMEG members it went off without a hitch. We plan on holding another all breed trial this fall.