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By: Claudia Nix
The sky is cloudless. The sun is high. The mouth-watering smell of grilled hamburgers drifts on the air, mingling with the laughter and warm conversation of old and new friends. All gather, beloved hounds at their sides, to celebrate stories of victory and cry with one another over tales of defeat. However, the talk is soon forgotten as all heads turn to admire the three powerful dogs, ablaze in blue, yellow and pink, as they make their way onto the field-- purpose shining in their eyes and eagerness forging every step. There is a marked hush as the crowd waits for the Tally-ho! which will set the course into action. The world seems to be suspended in time for those few moments when the power of three hounds can be felt as a tangible thing and nothing matters but their desire for the hunt, their thrill of the chase and their hunger for the 'kill' at the end. The course is over and the crowd breathes again, smiling and cheering and shaking their heads in awe. Alright…alright. So that was a *bit* dramatic. So sometimes the sky is not cloudless. In fact sometimes the sky is full of clouds--clouds that rain buckets, clouds that drop snow or just those nasty clouds that keep the sun from shining all day long. There are times when the sounds of laughter and warm conversation can not be heard mingling in the air but sentences such as, "Ah, man! The lure broke again!," "These damn mosquitoes are driving me crazy!" and "We're out of paper in the Port-A-John!" can be heard with astonishing clarity. And as exciting as it is to watch the runs, there are many times when you just don't see a thing. Those times when you are too busy pondering out loud what you are going to have for lunch that day, too busy complaining to anyone within ear shot of how you had to get up at 4 a.m. to make the 8 am. roll call, too busy holding and cuddling the whippet puppies or too busy discussing past courses or trials with a group of assorted hound owners. Sometimes you climb into your van at the end of the day with your dog(s), and ribbons in tow, (and sometimes No ribbons), covered in a thin layer of dust and sweat, bone tired and burned to a crisp and you wonder, "where did my day go? Where did my weekend go?!" But as they say…it's all in the 'game.' And for the most part, what a brilliant 'game' it is. Lure Coursing. If you have never been to a lure field trial, you owe it to yourself to go to one. More importantly, you owe it to your basenji! You have never truly seen a basenji smile until you've seen one strut off the field after completing a course. What heaven! Imagine your basenji in an open field, running at break-neck speed, twisting, turning, leaping, soaring all in pursuit of the prey…the bunny--the little plastic white bag. And all of this while off lead! If the previous sentence strikes fear in the hearts of many basenji owners, that is understandable. It's the 'off-lead' part, huh? Well then, first things first. Come out and visit a lure field trial. Bring your basenjis. Meet the people. Meet the dogs. Watch the courses. It's a wonderful opportunity for you to meet other basenji/hound owners and a great place to socialize your dog. And who knows? Maybe one day all heads will turn to gaze admiringly as your basenji strides powerfully onto the field with purpose shining in his eyes.
"Ladies in Waiting"
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