Lure coursing

Honestly, what would mean more fun for a Glen rather than chasing a prey and, if possible, get him caught?

'Glen-Footprints lure coursing' is somewhat similar to the traditional 'lure coursing' but instead of just speed the emphasis is laying on the high fun factor of the game.

How does it work?

A lure (eg a piece of an animal skin) is connected to a 100 mtrs line which is laid out on the ground in a large grass field. We have developed a closed loop course where there is neither a begin nor an end (continuous loop principle).
The form of the course depends on the available space, normally we set up  a rectangular course but a special form as shown in the image below may also be used. The line passes several pulleys placed on the track corners. The machine pulls the lure forward, backward, slow or fast across the field.

As soon as the lure is set in motion most Glens quickly understand the intention of this game and will start to chase immediately. So instead of letting the Glen just run from the start to the finish we can invert the direction and vary the speed at any time with the remote control unit. These features cause very surprising reactions. Above that build in obstacles like tunnels will increase the fun factor even more. 

Well, to enable this kind of entertainment we have started for many years ago to build a manually powered lure system. Through the years we continuously improved this system to a modern, electrically driven and remote controlled lure coursing system. A special build speed measurement system (speed trap) shows us realtime the top speed of each dog.

With the remote control, we can position the lure a few inches ahead of the Glen and  that sets some extra hidden forces free to run even a little harder than normally possible. And if the lure unexpectedly changes direction, it's nice to see how tough a Glen is, his chasing instinct let him brake as fast he can, while spotting the lure he makes his turn and with the only goal in mind, getting his prey caught, he accelerates again. In such a situation they never resign or give up. After each run it is very important that the dogs should be walked (on a leash of course) for a few minutes to cool down.

Even the youngest Glens can gently explore the attraction. Because of their weak bones we do not let them run fast but instead of that we challenge them e.g. to go through a tunnel build of hay or straw bales. If it’s the first time they usually are very reluctant to do so. By moving the lure forward and backward at the entrance of the tunnel they finally will gather enough courage to go through it and this always results in a warm applause of the audience.

And please don’t think that a Glen is a 'slow' dog. Unlike his short legs he proved to be almost even as fast as much larger dogs.

Over the years we were very successful at numerous coursing events in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark and England. For the Glen of Imaal terriërs we have collected their fastest results and composed a ranking of the Top 40 fastest Glen of imaal terriërs ever. 

It's important to know that we pay much attention to make each event as safe as possible for humans and animals. 'Safety first!' is top priority.

Besides facilitating coursing events we have already build several (continuous loop) lure coursing machines and speed measurement systems. Originally these systems were designed for Glen of Imaal terriërs but they can be used for many other dog breeds as well. If you would to have more information please feel free to contact: