The Italian Greyhound is a very active and talented dog that performs with excellence in the show ring. The different events the Italian Greyhound competes in is conformation, obedience, agility, lurecoursing and racing.
Conformation is one of the first show events the Italian Greyhound competes in. Conformation involves how the dog looks in comparison to how the breed standards feel she should look. They have to stay with in the colors that are customary for the Italian Greyhound and their bodies need to be proportioned exactly as the standard. They also compete in obedience. Although obedience is an event in itself, it works alongside of the conformance because the dog has to behave well for the judge or he will be disqualified. The dog must walk a certain way and be comfortable with the judge putting his hands on the dog and moving them up and down the sides. They cannot be spayed or neutered. Most importantly, they have to be able to deal with being around other dogs and not respond to their presence. In the basic obedience, the Italian Greyhound must obey specific commands for his master such as sit, stay, come, heel and down. The dog must obey on leash and off leash.
Lure coursing trials are fun events for the dog as well as the owner. The Italian Greyhound must be at least one year of age to compete in lure coursing. A motorized lure of some sort is thrown or tossed on the course and the Italian Greyhound has to get to the lure and retrieve it and must do it quickly. The trick is that the course is not designed in a straight line and the dog must stay on the track on the course and not cut across as a short cut. The dogs are timed to see who can do this the most accurately as well as quickly.
Racing is another event the Italian Greyhounds compete in regularly. They have a specific distance they have to run depending on the individual race. The races are set up in much the same fashion as one would see in horse racing with the dogs coming out of gates when the race starts. Most Italian Greyhounds love racing.
Agility is by far the most favorite event for the Italian Greyhound. In this event, although their owner is near by, the dog basically works on his own running and jumping through obstacles such as trails, tunnels, slides and bars. The similarity that agility has with lure coursing and racing is that these are timed events as well. In agility trials the dog is judged on how well he performs on each obstacle plus how quickly he finishes the obstacles.
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