Tips and Tricks

There are loads of tricks and tips, too numerous the think of.  Experience will teach you a lot of them.  Many of the tricks come from common sense.

Here are some tips that should be helpful to anybody running lure coursing equipment.

1.  A string moving at 50 MPH can cut through flesh.  Yours or your dogs.  Be very careful.

2.  Never be afraid for a dog to catch a lure if there is any question about the safety of the dog.  Many lure operators brag -- "I never let a dog catch a lure".  This is a boastful and unsafe attitude.

3. Never let the lure go through a pulley under full power if there is a dog even close.  It can severely injure a dog if they catch a lure and get pulled through the pulley.  Speed up between pulleys and let it coast through them.

4. Try to run dogs that are matched for speed and endurance.  A dog that is much slower will get behind far enough that it is difficult to keep track of both the lead dog and the slow dog.  Many opportunities for injury.

5. If you are running at a park or for a large group of people, control your starting lines and keep people back from the course and keep them from stepping over the string.  You will invariably have loose dogs getting onto the course.  I take these case by case and will stop the lure if there is a danger, or run the course all the way through to catch the stray.

6. If you are running terriers, some WILL attack the lure machine.  Keep a close eye on it or fence around it.  The last thing you want is a terrier pulled into the lure machine.

7.  When I set up a big course, I take a nail and string 4-5 pulleys on it. Take three or four nails and string them up this way and put all the rest of the nails in your back pocket.  You can easily carry 15-20 pulleys in one hand to lay out the course.  (using the small pulleys, not the Colorado box pulley)  Loop the string around your hammer handle as you pull the string with the other hand..  You will find you can set up a very large course by yourself in a very short time.

8.  Keep your motor cool and your voltage high.  These two things are tied together.  If your voltage starts to drop, your motor will heat up.  If you motor heats up, it will draw much more current.  It is a vicious cycle.

9.  Run a fan on your motor and keep track of the temperature.   Failing to do so can cause you to smoke a very expensive piece of equipment.  I have the Injoy fan on one machine and a homemade fan on another.  The home made one is made from a used 8" computer fan and a bucket.  To track the temp, I use an electronic indoor/outdoor thermometer and tape the probe to the motor near one of the big screws.  I try to never let the temp get over 115.  115 at the probe is probably 150 inside the motor.  Lacking a temp gauge, you should be able to hold your hand on the case of the motor without discomfort.  The brushes in the motor are soldered together and most solders melt around 250 F.  If your exterior motor temp gets up to 180, I will guarantee the inside is nearing the melting point for solder.

10. Keeping the voltage up can be done with good batteries or having jumper cables attached to a running vehicle.  With a vehicle attached, your voltage will run above 13 volts.  Your motor will run cooler and you will have quicker reaction times when you hit the button.  I also like to use the giant golf cart batteries that you can get at Sams club for around 100 bucks.  They have two or three times the cold cranking amps of a regular car battery.

11.  If you are going to run a battery nearly dead and then switch (running where you can't or don't want to hook up to a car), use deep cycle marine batteries that can handle that deep discharge.  If you are going to hook up to a car, use lead acid batteries.  They have quicker recharge times and are designed for constant recharging. (this is what you do when you drive your car)

A couple more things, I don't know what kind of dogs you have, but most of my experience is with Jack Russell Terriers.  I have run for most every kind of sighthound also.  I find that dogs fall into a few classifications, or sometimes a combination of two.

Coursers - born to chase a lure.

Short Attention Span - will chase to the first pulley and loose interest or come back to mom/dad.  These will probably never be Coursers.

Hunters - Hunting dogs that are very scent driven will get excited, but     when they realize that the lure is a bag, will give up.  These will absolutely never be Coursers.

String Biters - Will get frustrated when they can't catch the lure and will start biting the string.  Very dangerous.  Make those dogs wear a muzzle.

Pulley Biters - They get excited at the whirring of the pulleys and abandon the course to attack the pulleys.  They usually get over it, but probably should wear a muzzle.

I am sure that there are dozens of other tips and other people may not agree with all of my recommendations.  A good way to learn a lot is to show up at a ASFA or AKC lure coursing event.  Show up way before setup and volunteer to help.  Ask a lot of questions and observe.  I learned more in one day doing that than I had in 20 times running by myself.

Good luck,

Have Loads of Fun.

Kirk