My loyal and generous hunting partner, My Italian Greyhound

by Franklin
(UK)

Nilo is my favorite dog. We opened up the world of lure coursing to Italian Greyhounds together, and I have one of the most memorable recollections about our time competing together.





We had made it through all of the qualifying rounds to enter the top-ranked “International” event for the year, and traveled many miles by car to participate. All of the other purebred dog breeds in the Sight hound category were there.

Standard size Greyhounds waited for their turn to run next to tiny Basenjis. Dogs and their owners were camped out beside caravans loaded with exercise pens, running gear, and hot meals.

Nilo’s turn to run arrived, and we leashed up at the starting line. As the hunt master called “Tally Ho!”, Nilo wriggled and howled to be let free. He flew across the wide expanses of the coursing grounds in pursuit of the lure, doing what he was born to do. I could still hear him barking along the course as it dipped around and behind a huge hill, and waited for him to make it back to the main viewing field.

As the lure came into view from behind the knoll, I spotted him stretching out and putting on extra speed to catch up with it. The lure, though it was traveling at a very fast clip, was not fast enough for Nilo. He dug his legs in to make a sharp turn and cut off the path it was traversing. In an instant, he had the lure in his teeth and was wrestling it from the motoring line. He tugged so hard that he dislodged the line from its pulleys.

What happened next is a moment in time that I will never forget. Though he was flawless in returning to me after a run, this time he would not come back to me. I began calling him, and walked a short distance toward the distant spot where he stood ground.

The field was huge, so I was reluctant to head all the way out to him, and perplexed about why he would not budge from his spot. Eventually, I had to go out to him, or risk holding up this very important event. I felt a hot blush of anger that Nilo has let me down at this crucial moment and trudged over 500 yards to reach him.

I was wondering out loud what could be wrong with him. As I approached, Nilo began dancing around the now “lifeless” lure, barking and wagging his tail, pouncing on the lure and looking back to me. I scolded him, telling him to “come on,” but to no avail. I looked closer to see whether there was some kind of distraction hidden in the tall grasses near him. Nilo then caught my eye, picked up the tethered lure, and tried to drag it over to me.

Without any prior training or inclination, he attempted in that moment to gift me with his inestimable prize. He would not budge until I let him know he’d done a fine job getting a virtual prize for the dinner table. Nilo was sharing the spoils of his hunt with me!

From that day forward, I knew what joy it is to have a loyal and generous hunting partner. Never again would I think of Nilo as “just a companion dog.” It was an indelible bonding experience for us both.