We had the perfect lure it was the live hare but the tree hugger's and do gooders put a stop to that. I for one is sitting on the fence on the fol the only concern is what happens to the dogs that are keen chasers but dont like being around other dog's ,being a catching pen operator in the past I have seen this type of dog win races be 1st into the pen then when the rest come in it runs to the far side corner of the pen, I can see these type of dogs doing a extra lap.At Pirie we have a run off pen with a dummy lure that has a bungee rope on it when the dog's approach the pen the operator lets it go and they run into the shute and go mad on the dummy lure, I have seen dogs that keen that they will attack any dog that goes near the lure and I have seen dogs shy away from it, I cant see the aggressive dog's changing just because the lure is hanging from looped arm. That just my opinion. Oh and for the record since we put the run off pen into use some 3 years ago injury in the pen, zero.

Peter you asked for opinions - you didn't specify only opinions that are the same as yours.

Maybe you should have called it a petition - then you will only get people who are opposed to the FOL.

Oxley Gazelle is exactly the point - whatever we can do to reduce serious injury in the catching pen - I'm for it. And also to stop dogs getting attacked by other dogs in the pen.

I have an over the top dog - water diabetes 3 times now - problem keeps happening at Lismore. Hasn't happened at Albion Park despite racing there through January over 600m on the finish on lure. CLICK HERE
Cheers,
Tom

Peter you asked for opinions - you didn't specify only opinions that are the same as yours

Its ok Tom no need to get shitty with me back of big fellow lol

Pete

I am not having a go either but yes in my younger days I have trained a couple of over the top dogs.

I found, the trick with them was not to let them see the bunny that often on the trial track. I found the more they got a finish on at the trials it made them worse for race night.

I reverted to handslipping and left the bunny to race day and no stir up and got much better results..

As far as the weather is concerned......if the FOL is the problems then we should consider not racing our dogs at all on days over over 30 degrees for fear of heat exhaustion. They still get excited & overheated with or without the FOL.

While I appreciate people's converns about it and we are having a debate to thrash out the pro's and cons, but some illogical comments are starting to emerge

How far do you guys want to take this argument?

Doing the best I can - trying to be very careful with him - vet has just said the super keen types are more prone to it - this dog gives 110% every time he gets behind a lure.

It is an issue that I've given a lot of thought to in relation to the finish on lure - but as long as the dog is fit enough to run the distance right out (to the pull up point) there doesn't seem to be a problem with it.
Cheers,
Tom
PS - Open to advice - I've still got a lot to learn as a trainer.
I've learnt to be very careful with the dog when coming back to Lismore after a few runs elsewhere, or after a break, as that's when he's really prone to overdoing it.

One I had would get acidosis after every trial track run but rarely after a race, I was lucky in that my local trial track operator realised this and whenever I arrived to trial him I was the next trial no matter how many were waiting, that solved the problem.

I had one that often suffered water diabetes like you Tom and I think he underwent every test possible to find a cause but it was just him, he wasn't a loud dog, more bottled it up inside before a run but he was so keen when he ran, he just wanted to win and he did win a few decent races but I think it was before the race the damage was underway.

Definitely no previews for these dogs.

Tom try and contact this fellow for some advice on a herbal treatment maybe EXTERNAL LINK

Thanks Peter

Thanks Sue, will give McDowell's treatments a try anyway. Currently on Science diet and preservative free beef.
Definitely keep him as calm as possible, no stir ups, tho he's a quiet sort of stresser.
Cheers,
Tom

half a bottle of JACK DANIELS seems to calm me down SUE, only problem is i miss the start a bit

EXTERNAL LINK
4. Project Objectives

c)Hypotheses related to the safety impact of:

I find it Bizarre...No mention of either Catching pen or Lure.

Conspiracy Theory, Wentworth Park track is audited and judged unsafe for greyhound racing and rather than fix Wentworth Park it is decided that Richmond is a far safer track for racing and much cheaper option. So they leave Wentworth Park with some extra cash and make Richmond the new home of GRNSW.
No harm in dreaming.