Of Course

   At our rest stop at the halfway point of our hike today, I saw a man unloading two large Borzoi from the back of his car. It surprised me, because how often do you see Borzoi?! Then I saw an Afghan hound, a Basenji, a Rhodesian Ridgeback... what was this, a sighthound convention?? The man informed me that a group was there with their hounds practicing lure coursing. I'd heard of this sport for years and often wondered if my dogs would be into it, though I'd never had a chance to see it run in person. 
   Today's lure coursing is humane: rather than chasing an actual hare, the dogs chase a white plastic bag, zipping along on a line being pulled by a machine through a series of pulleys along the ground. There are straight sections, and quick jogs to simulate the erratic path of a real animal. The people were friendly and invited me to bring the dogs to watch, and one even suggested that we might try it. Hmm...

The best photo I was able to get, of a very fast Afghan on the course

   We gathered to watch. And the second the plastic bag moved on the line, Aki and Taylor both went berserk. They thought it WAS a real animal! They shrieked and howled and lunged on the leashes while the other dogs ran one by one. Apparently my dogs didn't realize they had just hiked 3 miles!

   One of the organizers came over and I paid the small fee and she suggested that my dogs should try a quick out & back rather than the first course, since this was their first time. I said I'd leave it up to them, but that my dogs were good runners, and would likely do more. She nodded, and showed us to the course, instructing me where to stand and how to hold the leash around their necks so that the dog could be instantly released when the pulley started.

   Aki was first, and made a valiant effort, chasing the bag to the back of the course and through a few turns. She wanted the bag, but isn't especially fast nor was she especially bloodthirsty. She returned and touched the plastic with her nose to ensure it was still. A good first attempt. 
   Taylor was a mad man. He completed the full half-mile course, relishing the chase, and even more: relishing snatching up the plastic in his mouth & shaking his head, to "kill it", much to the amusement of the group. He was my ringer. In fact, he was SO FAST that no one got ANY PHOTOS of him.  ;)
   I rejoined my group and we continued our hike back, and Aki and Taylor kept stopping and looking back in the direction of those evil plastic bags. They seemed to want more. And they continued to drag me along the trail for the entire 6+ mile hike.
   I couldn't help but think of a scene from one of my favorite films, Snatch, in which hounds coursing after a real hare is likened to a man being hunted and kidnapped by his enemies. (The coursing starts at 2:33, and there are several f*bombs. You've been warned.)