Terrier racing........

Gorgeous Daughter went to a County Show recently, excited at the prospect of Terrier Racing.... a sport of which I was blissfully unaware.

As the owner of a terrier, I am fully cognicsant of the terrier credo - 'If It Moves....Chase It. So when friends let us know that they were entering their dog into a terrier race at their local County Show over the weekend, I was understandably curious about what would ensue.

They seemed to be quite confident of young Frederick Albert Chang's prospects, as before the event they ordered a cabinet to house his trophy. Sadly, the confidence turned out to be misplaced as he failed to finish, finding the spectators rather more interesting than the lure.

No matter.

I've been finding out more about the ancient sport of terrier racing, and its more recent modern incarnation.

It has been my experience that terriers like two things.

Chasing things and scrapping. Not necessarily in that order. So to my mind, the prospect of putting a random bunch of assorted terriers in traps, waving a small furry creature (lure) in front of them to wind them up to frenzy pitch, then releasing them to chase the lure, can only result in mayhem and carnage.

This was borne out by the very first terrier racing clip I chanced upon via You Tube. In the first part, some random hound who isn't even supposed to be in the race, dashes out from the spectator's area and grabs the lure, which race officials then struggle and fail to prise from its jaws.

Then one of the dogs manages to catch the lure and mayhem ensues. Dogs running in all directions, owners trying to separate scrapping terriers...... BRILLIANT!

Apparently it is traditional to keep a bucket of water at each of the track to cool the competitive spirits of the dogs (or owners)

I'm all for letting Small Dog have a go, but PP is more circumspect and will only allow it if SD can wear full body armour.