Well, what an exciting afternoon we all had at the Dalwood Sunday show. The Afghan Hound Club of N.S.W. have been running lure coursing events, in conjunction with some of the shows held at Erskine park. I had heard, from other saluki owners who had attended pervious events, how wonderful it was, and so we decided to go along and try it ourselves. Off we raced, one (“Bored stiff at a dog show Saluki”) and two of her owners, during the lunch break at the show, to the furthest corner of the show grounds, to see what all the fuss was about.

In the far off distance we saw maybe four or five people, some with dogs, but when we arrived on the scene the place was buzzing.

We arrived just in time to see two afghan hounds gracefully lumbering around the grounds, still deciding whether or not they wanted to play or to chase today. They looked like they hadn’t a care in the world. Everyone was gathered round up on the hill watching, cheering, clapping, and having a great time as they waited with their own furry friend to have his or her turn.

The groups of enthusiasts consisted of dogs from everywhere, pet and show alike. At first glance I could see a Greyhound, who apparently arrives in a very swish sports car, Hungarian Vizslas, Italian Greyhounds, Afghan Hounds, Whippets, Staffies and German Pincers to name a few.

As we watched, next up was an Aussie shepherd, and boy did it run. He certainly put the Afghan (SIGHT-HOUNDS) to shame. As this was the first dog I had seen lure coursing I was starting to feel the energy and buzz. Almost all the breeds there had a natural talent for the chase. For some of the dogs it was their first time at a coursing event, and they were just happy to sit on the sidelines and watch the chase. For those that got involved they really had fun.

The course was accommodated to all breeds, so the Staffie started three-quarters of the way round, as I don’t think it could have managed the whole course, and really had a good go at the chase, the Corgi was ready to kill the plastic bag lure just because it was on the ground in front of it, motionless, and ran the whole course. The German Shepherd was rearing to go right from the start, and certainly managed the track well for such a big dog. I was really looking forward to seeing some of the Sighthounds run. We paid our money and stood in line, next to a whippet. He was just rearing to go and could not control his excitement, barking like mad from the sidelines. His determination to be the loudest barker paid off, and he was next to run. He flew round the track, came back to his owner, and just exploded
with excitement once again. It seems the dogs get such a thrill out of the chase. Next up we watched another Afghan Hound run. Not all the Afghans were as undecided as the first two we saw. Some just ran straight out of the gate before the lure had even started, but others new exactly what they were doing and just kind of bounded, almost in slow motion compared to the whippets and Italian Greyhounds, around the course.

Now that my saluki was fully convinced she was being left out of the chase of some fantastic prey, we decided to try her. She stood on her hind legs for 5 minutes gaugeing how far she thought her prey would run, and then we took her down to the starting point. Well the plastic bag came round, and that was it, she was off. Up the straight, round the tight turns, down the slight incline and up the other side, round a few more tight corners and back to the starting point. She stopped looked at the lure, nudged the plastic bag and then looked up at me with this confused look on her face as to why she had just run all that way after a plastic bag. 

A few of the other spectators commented that the Saluki must be a seasoned courser, and were surprised when I said she had never done this before.

          But even after finding out that she was just chasing a bag, my salukis’ enthusiasm and excitement remained at it’s peak when she saw the others dogs having a second run, and when she saw the Italian greyhound actually catch the plastic bag on the chase.

          Really and truly the only casualty of the day is the plastic bag. Another saluki owner told me after the last lure-coursing day, that she felt really confident that if she was ever lost in the bush with her two salukis, they could go out and hunt down and kill a plastic bag for her.

  “Paris”, the real deal – A natural born courser.

This is a real social day, with lunch being provided by the Afghan Hound club, owners filled with delight from watching their dogs at the chase, and also the dogs having some fun and letting off some steam.         

It was great to see all different breeds of dogs just running, and having fun, and to compare the real deal – “Sighthounds”, with their double suspension gallop, to all the other breeds.

          After we had our three runs, and declined the lunch invitation, we then headed back off across the showground’s, to the show rings to compete in our conformation classes. A good day was had by all – those showing, those coursing, and those doing a little bit of both.

The photos in this article are accredited to Sandy & Mike Reeve, owner of the Italian Greyhound, “Mia”, who is quite good at catching the lure.