While all the dogs there were Jack's, ours weren't exactly. So today, Sparkie was a Giant Jack and Boogie was an Honorary Jack. One thing we know for sure....they had FUN as you can see by this happy face!
We started out the morning on the Lure Course. For those of you who aren't familiar with Lure Coursing, it's (in this case) a squarish course with some jumps (in real lure coursing there aren't jumps) where the dogs chase after a rabbit. Well the dogs think it's a rabbit when in fact it's just a plastic bag tied to a small line that goes around some pulley's. I'd say this course was about 100 yards total. Sparkie has participated in "real" lure coursing where she has run a couple hundred yards in a straight line. And another time it was a U-shaped course that was at least 300 yards. She loved it then too.
Boogie went first and caused quite the laughter from the crowd. His style was so different from the Jack's. They went low over the jumps (often knocking them down) and Boogie did huge "boings" over the jump. I didn't capture any of his huge boings on film but he was cute for sure. Here he is going over a jump at a nice trajectory - but still higher than the Jack's.
He was so fast! But the other thing that made him stand out from the Jack's is that he barked the entire way around the course - I know that surprises all of you!
Then it was Sparkie's turn. Needless to say, she was so much faster than all the Jack's. Here she is starting her run. If you enlarge this picture (which you can do by clicking on it) you can see how she is really going hard....look at her facial expression.
And the jumps were so low for her that, while she did have to jump, it didn't even look like she was jumping much compared to the Jack's...or Boogie.
She really banks around the corners.
Near the end of the course were some really low jumps...kind of like speed bumps. I think maybe that was to slow the dogs down but I didn't see them having that kind of effect. As you can see, Sparkie is still going fast...
...as is Boogie.
When their turns were over, they each insisted they needed to try again. We could tell they were excited as when we were waiting in line they were both barking, jumping and pulling like crazy. The Jack's were so patient and quiet. What's up with that!
Well I can't deny my dogs fun so I went back in and bought a whole mess of tickets. Suddenly I was their favorite mommy!
This time we decided to wait in line with just one dog at a time. So we took Sparkie first this time and left Boogie in the car to wait. (He's so cute I can hardly stand it.)
Finally it was Sparkie's turn. Look at those muscles!
After they'd each done a few runs we decided to take a break and take Boogie over to the Go to Ground area. Boogie's eyes about popped out of his head when he realized what was happening. He couldn't believe he was going to have more fun!
He started out by barking loudly and pawing at the bars in an effort to get to the rats. Normally the lid is shut during this time but we opened it so I could try to get some pictures.
Look at that concentration.
Here is a great picture showing why they don't use horizontal metal bars in the tunnels anymore. Boogie tried to eat through the bars like he does the wooden dowels. The problem here is that the dogs grab the bars with their teeth and then try to twist their head to break the bars....and just end up breaking their jaws. So as soon as Boogie started doing that we took him out as that just seemed too dangerous. Fortunately he didn't do that until he'd had three or four turns.
He didn't want to be done (when does he ever!) so Mike held him and let him look at the rats. As you can see by the teeth, Boogie wanted to get those rats. But not to worry, the rats were very safe in their cage.
All that barking makes a puppy hot as you can see by his curled tongue.
When we see the curled tongue like this we know it's time to get some water and take a nice long break in the sun.
After a nice lunch break we let both dogs have a couple more turns Lure Coursing. Neither dog was the least bit tired and were actually faster than before. I think they were really getting the hang of things. You think Sparkie is happy? Look at this big smile!
I found it hard to get my timing right as the dogs were zooming around the track so fast. Here I clicked too early - I was trying to get Boogie way up in the air. Oh well.
The weather was perfect for such a great event. Mid-70's, blue sky, good food, a super raffle, prizes, lots of dogs, and really nice people. All around just a great day.
As we were leaving I saw these two Jack's and took a pictures just because I had forgotten to take pictures of any Jack Russells. I should have gotten up and taken pictures when Boogie was in the off-leash play area. There were about 40 Jack's and Boogie. He ran around and played for 30-40 minutes and fit right in...except for his hairdo! Anyway, I liked how this picture turned out.
What a great event put on by a nice club.
I'll end here with this picture. It really has nothing to do with anything - I just like it.
Debbie
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