Coursing Terms:

Bye – A bye means a dog has been withdrawn, or there were insufficient entries to fill a stake. A dog who runs a bye course will automatically qualify for the next round. A bye course may be run solo or with a dog not entered into the competition. Blue collars and flags are used in bye rounds.

Card – The programme and running order for the day.

Double–Bye Occasionally there will be two byes in a round. The two competing whippets will run together, unjudged, with both automatically going forward to the next round. In a double-bye neither dog wears a collar.

Draw – The act of selecting names randomly to decide opponents in a stake.

Go-By - Where a whippet starts a clear length behind his opponent, and yet passes him in a straight run, and gets a clear length before him. This may happen in the run-up, between pulleys, or at any point in the course.

Law – The distance the lure travels before the whippets are slipped.

Lure - The item that the whippets chase round the course, usually made of old carrier bags!

No-course – If for any reason the course gets shortened (e.g. a whippet catches the lure, equipment failure etc.) to a point where the judge feels a winner cannot be decided, a No-course will be declared and the dogs will re-run.

Run-up – The straight run to the first pulley.

Slips – The special quick-release twin collars used by the slipper to ensure both dogs start as near as possible together.

Slipper - This is the person who 'slips' (releases) the two whippets using special twin-collared slips.

Slip Steward - Sees that the right whippets, both in courses and byes, are brought to slips in their proper turn and that each whippet is wearing its correct collar.

Turn – A change of direction of more than right angle.

Undecided – A course where the judge awards equal score to both dogs and there is no winner.

Wrench – A change of direction of less than a right angle.