Training Conversation

Page 1

Enduring quote: Lotte Hotaling, "I don't know about Basenjis being difficult to train, but it is not at all difficult for them to train their humans."

Page 1 -"Luratics", Page 2 - Recent lure coursing photos, Some agility photos & links to videos.

"Luratics", or "Knock your Socks Off ", in San Diego
by Tamara E.Allen

Last June, we took Tippy to a local park to meet a group of people who run their dogs on a lure course. We were excited! She was going to do so well! We just knew she would love it – we watched lots of videos and have seen her aunts, parents, and grandparents all blaze through the course!

After signing up, and walking out to the field, Dennis introduced Tippy to the lure. She shrieked when it moved! Jumped back and pawed at his leg – Dad, what the hell is that and why is it moving!? That’s not normal!! Okay, try one, fail. Try Two; tie a stuffy onto the lure! That will do it. She loves to attack stuffies and it will look like an animal. That will certainly jump start her hunting instincts! Nope – more screams and leaping into Dads lap pleading to be rescued from this possessed stuffed animal that appears to move on its own. So, end of day, three tries, and three fails. She moved on to try the scent trials and was happier with that activity on this day.

Afterwards Dennis talked to the gal Pat who organizes these events with her group “Luratics”. Pat suggested Dennis purchase a lunge whip to show Tippy these white baggies are quite fun, nothing to fear! We ordered a whip and used that for a few months.

Joe Pistoro with the lunge whip.

Dennis then restarted conversations with the owners of the vacant canyon property behind our house to see if he could purchase the unbuildable land. Six months later, Tippy was proficient with the whip – seemed to enjoy it – and the canyon owner agreed to let us fence off a 250 foot long stretch of the canyon behind our back yard. He said he has dogs too and understands their love to run, so he gave us blessings to use it as much as we want to run our basenjis. Now we had some real space that would be secure to run the dogs and work with them!

The founder of Luratics Pat builds machines (WickedCoursing.com) that will pull a lure, and started hosting events in 2005. Now, she sells the machines and her local events draw people from Los Angeles to San Diego for the “fun runs”. Dennis called Pat and explained what we now had to work with at our home, and she suggested a unit for our girls that would pull 1000 feet of line, and provide spools for up to 4 course turns. He asked Pat to build it and then Dennis started work on fencing.

We ordered the machine at Valentine’s Day (Best Valentines gift ever!).

Near the end of March we picked up our new toy. Pat told Dennis find something Tippy loves to chase and tie it to the end. Well the choice was clear. Either a sock or one of my bras. We went with the g-rated version and used a white orphan sock – you know those socks that lost their mates during laundry? Yup, we now had a good use for them, and we know Tippy loves socks!

Get that sock!

Dennis laid out the course, and let it go. Release the hounds! Tippy, Stella and Gloria saw it go – They were off in a flash! Instantly they knew what to do. Whether it was their pack being there, less crowds watching, or just feeling safe near home – there was no screaming, backing up, fear of inanimate things moving! We have lure coursing basenjis! We really did!

Every week we held our mini boot camp for lure coursing in our back yard. When April came, our friends Ashley and Joe Pistorio came to San Diego for a visit and brought their three basenjis. None of them had participated in lure coursing before. We called it our Rip Van Wrinkle West meet up. We ran six basenjis (well, Gloria at 14 + sat out after a few yards) and everyone had a blast. A freight train of basenjis barreled around our make shift course with pure joy on their faces. After a few runs, we had six very happy very tired basenjis.

Newton, Tippy

Hooligans

Gloria, Ashley Pistorio, Dennis watch the 5 kidz catch the "bunny" (sock).

Now that our girl Tippy was figuring this thing out, and gaining confidence, we were ready to go back and try again with Luratics next event in San Diego in June. We crated up the dogs and headed out to Ocean Beach to meet up with the group. For the morning session there were 30 or so dogs signed up. We were number 23 and walked Tippy and Stella around the park, meeting new fur and human friends. They met three basenjis at this meet, and the people were thrilled to see fellow curly tailed fans! Unfortunately there were a few equipment issues, but Tippy’s time finally came at around 1 pm. After warming up, she entered the area with Dennis. I think Dennis was more nervous than Tippy. The lure inched forward – her eyes darted and fixated on the plastic bags – ears forward, body tense. Then the bags took off – and so did Tippy! She ran the entire 552 yards with 12 turns! And when Dennis called her into the catch fenced box, she came like a champ! The only misstep was when I nearly lost hold of Stella who saw her pal Tippy racing and wanted to break into the ring to join in the run – crisis averted, Stella regained control of herself and said “Sorry Mum! Got carried away with the excitement here!”.

Luratics meets once a month in San Diego, and hosts lure coursing events for all dogs. Pat, who has been involved in rescue and with dogs for many years, has a safety first policy– no bad dogs, no bad people which I appreciate beyond words. Her goal is to make lure coursing fun and accessible to all breeds, and affordable to their people. While we have only been to her events twice, we have been incredibly impressed with her diligence in making sure the dogs are safe, the areas are secure and everyone has a fun time. Tippy will head off the Luratics' next event, to honor her genes and have fun chasing that plastic bag!

Dennis & Tippy