Other animals used in baiting with dogs include bears, otters, horses, mules, monkeys, wallabies, kangaroos, lions. Racoon and baboon baiting was also noted by Fox (1888)
Normally a case of seeing how many rats a dog can kill in a set time but, according to Fitz-Barnard (1975), there have been instances where dogs and humans have been pitted against one another to see which can kill more rats
Earthdog
‘Terriers run through a narrow tunnel in the ground that has wooden sides and ceiling and a dirt floor. At the end of the tunnel are caged rats, which the terriers must “work.” Working the prey may mean barking, growling or scratching at the cage’ (Mehus-Roes, 2009: 22). Mehus-Roes also mentions an emergent version of the sport called ‘strongdog’, which is for larger breeds and entails them dragging a stuffed badger skin out of the ground. These are ‘staged’ versions of the work to catch and kill vermin that was traditionally undertaken by terriers
Dog fights
Discussed in detail later in this chapter
Dog and man fights
‘a man fighting a bull-dog with his fists. Both combatants were attached to stakes by a chain’ (Fitz-Barnard, 1975: 191)
Hare hunting
On horseback, with the use of hounds
Otter hunting
Was focused on freshwater otters and used Otter Hounds (bred specifically for the task). There were approximately 20 packs of hounds used for the sport in Great Britain in the early 1900s (Cameron, 1908)
Conger eel hunting
Reportedly occurred in Normandy, France (Jesse, 1866a)
The lesser chase, la petite chasse
The following have all been hunted using dogs ‘the BADGER, MARTEN CAT, and SQUIRREL; the POLECAT and STOAT’ as well as the wildcat (Scott, 1820: 445)
Fox hunting
Undertaken on horseback with a pack of Foxhounds
Fox hunting with fell hounds
Undertaken on foot due to the steepness and unevenness of the terrain in the wilder regions of the UK (Drabble, 1989)
Beagling
The use of a pack of beagles to hunt for hares on foot (Longman, 1896)
Truffle hunting
Reference is made to truffle dogs in as early as 1866 by Jesse (1886a) and also by Stonehenge in 1875. Today, although a variety of breeds of dog appear to be used to sniff out this fungus, the Lagotto Romagnolo appears to be most closely associated with the activity
Private hare coursing
The chasing of hares by hounds for the private indulgence of the owner
Public hare coursing
The chasing of hares by hounds in a public setting in which betting is a central feature. It is a more recent form of coursing than the private version
Enclosed public hare coursing
Differentiated from public hare coursing in that the activity takes place in a fenced-in area. The popularity of the sport was short-lived in the late 1800s in the UK (Ash, 1935)
Coyote coursing
A sport undertaken with the people on horseback or in cars (Almirall, undated)
Other animals used in coursing include rabbits, deer, wallabies and kangaroos
In all coursing the hound, rather than its human owner, is the killer of the prey (Salmon, 1977)
Lure coursing
Like live coursing, lure coursing is undertaken outside of arenas such as those used for Greyhound racing but a lure is used as a replacement for a live animal (Mehus-Roes, 2009)
Greyhound racing
In Greyhound racing the live hare of coursing is replaced by a mechanical lure. The sport emerged out of America, where the first track was opened in 1921 (National Greyhound Racing Club and Genders, 1990)
Greyhound hurdling
Never as popular a sport as Greyhound racing but undertaken at the same venues
Whippet racing
The racing of Whippets is only undertaken on an amateur basis
Afghan racing
Differs from Greyhound racing in that it is an amateur sport without any formal betting industry involvement
Dog sledding
Involves the pulling of a sled by a number of dogs (the specific number varies across different races) guided by a ‘musher’. Racing occurs over a range of distances including the ultra-long iconic events that are examined later in this chapter
Skijoring
‘a driver on a pair of skis is pulled by a team of one, two, or three dogs’ (Flanders, 1989: 96). It is in effect a combination of cross-country skiing and dog sledding (Mehus-Roes, 2009)
Pulka racing
A low-profile sled (pulka) is pulled by a dog or dogs with musher skiing behind attached by a long bungee (Hood, 1996)
Lead-dog contests
A test of gee/haw skills used in dog sledding by requiring ‘dogs to negotiate a set course successfully’ (Hood, 1996: 384)
Stampede/scramble races
Dog mushers begin the race lying in a sleeping bag, must then pack sled, harness team, then go (Hood, 1996)
Weight pulling
Dogs pull sleds or carts on wheels or tracks onto which weights are incrementally placed. As with human weightlifting, dogs are categorized by size to allow all dogs to compete (Hood, 1996; Mehus-Roes, 2009)
