As organized gambling at greyhound tracks has gone the way of the Dodo and Sonny Bono, backyard and open-field lure coursing has grown in popularity.
How does lure coursing work?
Quiet well, actually.
The first lure-coursing machines were made from bicycle wheels with string wound on the rims, and a small rabbit pelt pulled through the grass.
The Big Leap Forward came when the hand crank was replaced with the starter engine off a truck.
The second big leap forward came when pulleys were attached to stakes set in the field, so that the string could be operated as a continuous zig-zag loop over a large area.
Here was mechanical "open-field coursing" in which nothing died, and a disabling rip from barbed wire was never going to be a worry.
Perfect!
I remember seeing one of the first modern lure-coursing rigs being operated in the very early 1980s, and trying it out with two of my terriers back then. It turns out that a white fluttering plastic bag is about all that is needed to get a dog -- almost any dog -- running like the wind.
The code explodes, and that’s as true for terriers and Basenjis as it is for Whippets and Greyhounds,
Today, lure coursing rigs are not only used by a wide arrays of dog enthusiasts, but also by zoos giving exercise to Cheetahs and Wild Dogs (as well as a bit of entertainment for visitors). Modified lure coursing rigs have also been used to exercise large hawks and eagles in wildlife parks and sanctuaries.
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