Chapter 1 HUNTING TURNED TO SPORT The sun is warm on the large grassy field Three whippets each wearing a yellow pink or blue blanket stand at the lure coursing start line They strain against their slip leads and bark They are excited to chase the lure a white plastic bag on a motorized string The huntmaster asks the handlers if they are ready They answer Yes and the huntmaster calls Tallyho The handlers quickly release their dogs The whippets race after the lure They gallop along straight sections of the course and perform difficult turns
Whippets make speddy lure coursing dogs
all while following their prey the lure The lure's motor whirrs A judge watches from close by writing notes about the dogs coursing skills and giving them scores The dog that scores highest in certain areas such as speed and following the lure wins Less than a minute later the course is over The dogs catch and play with the lure for a moment as a reward for a good chase The handlers cheer for the dogs The huntmaster calls Retrieve the hounds and the handlers place their dogs back on leashes The next dogs get ready for their course ACCEPTED LURE COURSING BREEDS The American Sighthound Field Association ASFA recognizes the following breeds Afghan hound Azawakh basenji borzoi cirneco dell'Etna greyhound lbizan hound Irish wolfhound Italian greyhound pharaoh hound Rhodesian ridgeback saluki silken windhound Scottish deerhound sloughi and whippet The American Kennel Club AKC recognizes all those breeds except the silken windhound The AKC additionally recognizes the Portuguese podengo pequeno For certain awards the AKC allows these Foundation Stock Service Breeds to compete Azawakh Norrbottenspets Peruvian Inca orchid Portuguese podengo medio and grande and Thai ridgeback
Racing takes place on a formal track There are no sharp turns as there are in coursing COURSING AND RACING Lure coursing is one of two sports designed for sighthounds The other sport is racing in which dogs chase a lure on a flat track in either a straight line or an oval curve Sighthounds tend to use their eyesight to hunt other animals their prey They are talented at seeing things that move and are far away Many hunting dogs use their excellent sense of smell to find prey but sighthounds usually focus on what they can see
