ALEX - PEPEE

- ALEX BOHEMIA VAMPIRELLI -
- MULTI CH., MULTI JCH. DJUBA LEE PEPEE VON DER BURG LITERMONT-

What is coursing?

Coursing is a historical predecessor of commonly known horse-racing. The dogs run in free countryside with all the obstacles that go with it such as moats, bumpiness and zigzagging. The track long at least 700 metres is proposed so that the dogs have to show their hunting skills. There always start two individuals of the same race and of the same sex which are distinguished from each other by a white and red cover (possibly a collar). They run on a track where the direction changes a few times, they overcome natural, slightly hilly terrain with an obstacle. The race is run in two rounds which differ from each other by the place of start and the obstacle. All the obstacles are adjusted to avoid any wounds.

The winner is chosen not only by a quality run but also by the determination, agility and as last but not least intelligence, cunningness and the ability of the dog to go back to fight. Each runner attends two run-ups and the points from both rounds are counted up. During the second run-up the track changes (they either start from the other end or the track is changed completely). Because, naturally, the dogs remember how they ran in the previous round. The aim of coursing is to hunt the prey which is represented by a piece of leather (a tuft) pulled by a reel. The dogs' performance is judged by referees according to five criteria: quickness, effort during hunting, intelligence, agility and stamina. These criteria are assessed independently; the maximum number of points of one round is 100 points. So that the dog can advance to another round, it has to gain at least 50 points during the first round. But the hunt of the prey does not end in the finish, as you might have thought, the dogs are so focused on the hunt that the owners often can not make the dog let the lure go so they have to carry the dog away in arms.

AS I already said, unlike horse-riding, the coursing track is rambling which gives the dogs a chance to show their intelligence. Coursing has also one more big advantage; it does not need a horse-riding track, which is hard to find and gain grounds of appropriate parameters and whose building is not very financially demanding.

So that a dog can become a professional racer, it has to get a license. A license card is issued to the dog owner by ČMKU on the grounds of successfully passing license exams. A dog can pass a license exam at the age of at least 12 months for small and 15 months for big races. They are composed of one solo run to prove interest in the prey and of two group runs. If the dog is in correspondence with CŘ assessed with disqualification, it does not continue in passing LE that day. If it is assessed with disqualification twice, it has to pass five times solo run without mistake to be allowed to the group run. If the dog is assessed with N it can continue in passing the exam during that day. License exams are a part of all the events included in the date list. The data about passing LE is noted by the organizer to the training document, which is brought out by the Czech coursing club or the Moravian-Silesian Association of Coursing on the grounds of the dog's PP after completing required age. The payment for releasing the training document is stated by the releasing organization. The dog's owner sends this document to the registrator of the coursing group together with the payment stated by the presidency of ČMKU after passing LE and reaching the age of 15 months for small races and 18 months for big races. The training document has to include confirmation of the owner's membership in the member organization ČMKU, in case of the races Whippet and Italian Greyhound also the note on first measuring. In case of small numbered races an exception can be allowed by the coursing group when the License exams are passed with 3 solo runs.

Everything else concerning coursing can be found on the web pages of the Moravian-Silesian Association of Coursing www.mscoursing.com.