Aim of training

Now that we have popped open the can of worms considering training, let’s go deeper.

Sure, training itself implies that we are trying to get into a situation that we – or in this case, our dog – performs and recovers better. Let’s put an emphasis on that: training is aiming to improve certain traits required to compete better.

Like a good friend of mine said, if you really want to compete and train, every time you go out with the dog you know what you are going to train. Every. Time.

Let it be obedience, socialization or actual training for running. Every time you take your dog out, you have an agenda. That is training.

If you just go for a walkie in the woods is not necessarily training, unless it happens to be the ‘rest day’ between interval training or strength training.

Like I noted in an earlier post, we have three seasons in training. Think about the requirements of the season and plan at least a week ahead: when the harder training, when rest. When you are pushing the dog to the limit with speed or endurance, when you rest and do the maintenance – rest, swimming, massage, osteopathy, you name it. And then some rest more.

Plan your aim of the training. Speed requires different kind of training than endurance.

Plan ahead. Aim the training.

Puppy fun

Training a lure coursing dog begins from the puppy bin. No, really. They do it by themselves, fighting for their food in the form of getting to the mommy’s nipple first. The ones with the most ‘fighting spirit’ will be the ones, who push their litter mates aside, rushing to the milk bar.

I’m not saying this means that the ones that are always first on the feeding are the ones who will always win in the lure coursing. Just pointing out that they have the fighting and winning deeper in them. As an example of this, our first male who became European champion, was the runt of the litter, the one no-one expected nothing of.

However, in our breed of gentle giants, the fighting and winning traits have been deliberately bred out. Of course, when you have an extremely big dog with quite substantial muscle mass, you want to be sure that even the lighter owner can handle the dog’s urges and instincts.

But the instinct is there. It’s the basis of survival for wild dogs and wolves, so it cannot be bred out totally in the domestication process. It’s like hick-ups for us human, a constant reminder of our ancestral history in the oceans.

As mentioned earlier, even the runt of the litter can become a decent lure coursing dog. I would presume that it goes with racing, too. It just requires more work and dedication from the owner, something that is not too common in our giant, grey breed.

The actual training, in which the owner is crucial contributor, begins the moment the puppy comes home. It is all play and no work, even though this play prepares for the work. Play tug of war. Play with cat lure, you know, the stick with feathers at the end. PLAY with the puppy.

The main point is to make this fun. And rewarding. When the play is at its funny peak, STOP. Let the puppy enjoy it’s hard earned reward. The best would be to connect the play with food reward: give the puppy something especially good from the lure or toy, just to give her/him the idea.

I cannot emphasize too much the fact that Irish Wolfhounds bore quickly, so try not to stretch it. Just few tugs and thanks.

Later on, when the puppy starts to run in the yard, your best friend should be rod lure. A fishing rod or broom handle with a short rope attached to lure. Few round pulls to get the puppy chase the lure, stop and play with the puppy. To enhance the food connection, try to stop the lure to a spot where you have put some treats, or give the treats to the puppy through the lure.

Young Saluki pup pulling on rod lure. Note the plushy toy as lure!

Again, only few short exercises and only after the puppy has played with something else. This is to ensure that the puppy doesn’t start with cold muscles, to avoid injuries to the muscles and soft tissues.

The only thing to avoid, really, is overdoing it. The smaller the pup, the shorter the ‘exercises’. You should get to know the limits of the puppy and not exceed them, yet. Time for overextending comes later.

So, play, have fun and learn your dog and her/his demeanor. Have a nice weekend!

The most important in the field

In lure coursing event there are several officials and even more unofficial people working to make it all for the dog owners. In the field alone there are at least seven people watching and working for the dogs performance: three judges (evaluating), track master (design and working of the track), lure operator (pulling the lure), lure returning (well, returning the lure to start) and starter (making sure right dogs are running at the right time). However, there is one who can make or ruin the dog’s performance in the field. Make a guess.

Waiting.

Waiting.

A walk in the fields.

It is the lure operator. Let me tell you why.

First and foremost, usually the lure operator is the one who sees the most of the field. It says in the FCI rules, that the lure operator has to have unobstructed visibility over the field. He is also the one, who regulates on how the dogs come into corners. The lure operator dances with the dogs, lure being the partner which the dogs are following.

And when the operator is up to the game, the run is as smooth and enjoyable as a dance for both participants.

A good lure operator can save an event where the course itself has faults. Thankfully, usually the lure operator is also the one who makes the track. Sometimes, however, the operator is there to give rest for the one who has made the track and it just doesn’t work the way it should. Or the field in question hasn’t been suited from the beginning to host a lure coursing event.

A good lure operator can read the terrain, dogs and the combination of these on the track. It takes good eye-hand-coordination to perform at the highest level, benefitting both the judges and the dogs in the event.

You see, when the dogs are running the best, they are also the easiest to evaluate. A good operator can tell what he has planned the track to bring out of the dogs: some speed and acceleration to the beginning, gradual turns to take the speed off, showing the intelligence, tighter turns for agility and endurance and uphill/downhill for real endurance. By doing this, the operator can tell the judges that he has really thought out the track, not just laid down the pulleys here and there.

Considering all this it feels odd that there are no training or guidelines for the lure operators and track masters covering the FCI coursing tracks. The quality and abilities of the lure operators vary strongly from one place to another, almost as much as the lure operating machines do. And as it is with the machines, some of them are better suited to the job than others. The best should be in use in European Championships, this is the only thing we dog owners can hope for.

Anyone can pull the lure. But there are only some who have taken it to their heart and want to see the dogs perform at their best.

Credits are due

As the lure coursing season is over here, it is time to give credits to all those who make this hobby possible. A great big thanks to all of you few, who organize, operate, guide and evaluate for so many, who bring their dogs to the events.

I can only wish that the ones whose dogs run, take part and compete in the events really and truly remember to thank the people making all this possible. Because without the people working for these events there would not be any events to attend to.

Give credit where the credit is due. And keep your dogs in good shape!

Free running in training.

Three seasons

As the competition season here in the north has ended just before winter, it is time to remind all lure coursing owners about the three seasons of a competing athlete. They are the basic condition training season, preparation season and competition season. Some add a fourth (cooling down), but in my mind the transition from competition season can be managed by switching into base training directly.

Base training consists of upkeep of the basic condition: lengthy free movement, long walks and free running. In the darkest of winter days this can be once in a two or three days, because the temperature itself is a challenge to the body. Every degree below room temperature increases the strain to the dogs body and condition. Every degree in the freezing temperatures increases the energy requirements immensely. So every ‘training’ in freezing temperatures is an excessive strain to the dog, especially to it’s metabolism. In addition to that, the freezing temperatures can be difficult for deep chested breeds with huge lung capacity: deep breath in freezing temperatures may cause lung problems and inflammation. So ‘tempering’ comes into play here, too: slowly, gradually getting to know the weather and getting accustomed to the weather. Just like in the hot summer days.

Then again, on a crisp winter day, after a warm up walkie, a free run in chest deep snow is perhaps the best strength and agility training there is. The dog regulates itself in the speed and movement and most of the dogs enjoy fooling around in the snow.

Plus the owner with a camera just loves the dogs pushing through light snow…