Lure Coursing

griffdaddy

Hi all,

I tried to google this and seemed to go down a rabbit hole (no pun intended) around arguments for and against live hare coursing, hunting and how fake lure courses are damaging hunting etc. Without going into all of that, my question is, are there events organised in Ireland, preferably non-competitive and just for a bit of craic, where you can bring your lurcher or other sight hound to chase an artificial lure around with other dogs of a similar mindset? I'd love to let my lurcher loose after something like that but don't want him actually hunting or catching anything live. I know I'll never get his hunting streak out of him so I might as well indulge him as a treat every now and again. It looks like these events are organised in other countries.

Thanks,

Griff

Knine

I know they used to have it in the National Show Centre run by one of the hound clubs & it was very popular. Sadly Covid has put paid to everything at the minute. Hopefully it starts up again when things go back to normal.

muddypaws

The Rhodesian Ridgeback club used to hold events. Some of my dogs had a go in the UK and enjoyed it, I'm considering getting a winch and setting it up in my field foe fun

VonVix

What I would do if I was you, would be to get into training with a flirt pole. Similar to lure coursing but on a smaller/more controlled scale. I do this with my very prey drivey shepherd, we do lots of wait's and drop's. The key is to incorporate training into it, it's better than letting him chase something willy-nilly, it can help teach a dog self control.

There's lot of videos on it. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=flirt+pole+training

You just need a horse lunge whip and something light to dangle on the end of it. Very inexpensive. https://www.saddlesandstyle.ie/shop/equestrian-wear/whips/lunge-whip/