The Brisbane Lure Coursing Club is affiliated with Dogs Qld and holds ANKC Sanctioned Trials. In lure coursing, dogs chase an artificial lure (plastic bags!) across a field, following a pattern that is meant to simulate live coursing. A typical lure course in Australia is between 600 - 800m long. The course must have a minimum number of turns in order to simulate prey changing direction in a chase
. The fields can be fenced or not. If a dog is lure focused they will typically follow the lure from start to finish and not run off course. Dogs with some considerable lure experience, termed "lure-wise", may try to anticipate or "cheat" by attempting to cut off the lure instead of trying to capture the lure using follow, speed and agility. Sighthounds generally have no need to be trained or enticed to chase the lure since the desire to chase is instinctual. Some breeds do, however, require lure play at a very early age to encourage them to follow an artificial object with enthusiasm. Dogs must be at least one year old to compete; the hard fast turns are tough on a dog's developing joints, and intense and frequent competitive lure coursing before the age of 12 months may cause joint problems later in life. Dogs at an earlier age do require a moderate but essential introduction to the artificial chase to: stimulate their normal mental and physical development, to prepare and improve their capacity to perform physically with enthusiasm without hurting themselves - as is the case with the mutual, voluntary athletic play of littermates.
