Plastic bag: Just as much fun as a jackrabbit

July 12, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER -- Why would a trio of hounds run at speeds approaching 30 mph just to catch a 13-gallon white kitchen garbage bag whipping around a field?

"Because they're bred to chase and their prey drive is pretty good," Sue Ann Kelly, president of the Alaska Winds Coursing Club, said of the so-called "sighthounds" owned by lure-coursing aficionados in her organization. "They get to the end of the course and they generally pounce on a bag, kill it and are very proud of themselves. Half an hour later, they'll do it again. They don't seem to care it's not live game. The thrill of the chase is what these dogs really truly love."

Today at 9 p.m., members of the club will bring their sighthounds -- Rhodesian ridgebacks, whippets, Italian greyhounds, pharaoh hounds, salukis, Scottish deerhounds and Afghan hounds -- to Mirror Lake Middle School in Chugiak to practice on a 150- to 300-yard conditioning course for this weekend's American Sighthound Field Association trials at the Alaska State Fairgrounds. Competing canines will chase a white plastic garbage bag moved by a pulley system powered by a Ford engine and a 12-volt car battery. The trials begin at 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. In order to compete, each canine must first be certified. Certification runs will take place at 9 a.m. both days.

Lure coursing is a performance event developed in the early '70s by California sighthound fanciers who hunted jackrabbits in the open field, leaving dogs vulnerable to the harm caused by barbed-wire fencing. They invented lure coursing as a safer, more controlled sport for sighthounds that would recreate the physical requirements of open field coursing, allowing them to continue testing the functional abilities of their sighthounds. The hounds chase plastic bags on a course laid out to simulate escaping game.

In 1972, they started the American Sighthound Field Association and invited other sighthound fanciers from across the nation to join the organization.

Why don't lure coursers opt to use fur lures, instead of garbage bags?

"You'd have to run the dogs muzzled 'cause they'll eat it," Kelly said. "Fishing it out is not always fun."

Many of the dogs don't seem to care that their prey is plastic, however. "Some of them clamp onto it and do not let go," Kelly said. "They try to take off across the field with it."

Some dogs get extremely motivated in their pursuit of the faux jackrabbit 10 to 30 yards in front of them -- whippets can average 32-34 mph on long straightaways.

Kelly said dogs need more than speed. They must be agile enough to go around corners without cutting or anticipating those corners, so they won't lose points.

In preparation to run an average 750-yard course at the Alaska State Fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday, Valley sighthounds have been conditioning at least once a week this summer, Kelly said.

"Most single-coat dogs sit on the couch all winter," Kelly said Monday. However, one of her three whippets, Dancer, loves the snow and ice, and spent the winter racing around the yard and building up a thick coat of fur.

The other dogs refuse to leave the warm house and comfy couch. That is, until they start preparing for the national ASFA trial races.

She explained that most of the dogs need to start getting in shape for the energy-expending lure trials.

Each potential competitor will run with another dog of the same breed to test its ability to stay on track.

The judges will certify the dogs that pass, and those are the dogs that qualify for the lure trials in the afternoon, Kelly said.

The hounds will be judged in five areas: speed, agility, endurance, follow and enthusiasm. "Follow" is how well the dog chases the lure without being distracted.

"We have a few fast whippets that would be contenders Outside," Kelly said. She predicts those whippets that reside in Alaska might take home trophies.

"We have some game ridgebacks that are loads of fun to watch," she said. "The ridgebacks scream like whippets when it isn't their turn yet."

The sighthound club will also hold fun runs throughout the day for breeds that can't compete in the lure trials.

"We've had a lot of support from owners of non-eligible breeds, so we'll always offer fun runs," Kelly said. "We have mushers who bring their retired sled dogs."

She said the fun runs offer good exercise and a social atmosphere for dogs.

There's no shortage of judges, many of whom come up from the Lower 48 and stay in the home of ASFA members.

So far, judges are booked through 2006 and 2007, Kelly said.

Even musher DeeDee Jonrowe has served in the capacity of judge for the fun runs.

She also brings her non-mushing Labrador retrievers for the light-hearted dog race.

"One year, she had her Pekinese race the fun run," Kelly said, "but the dogs weren't too impressed and quit after 20 yards. Although her house Labs loved it."

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252/dawn.debusk@frontiersman.com.