oooh, what a weekend

What a wunderbar weekend.

Had the entire weekend off for racing. Unfortunately, a number of my normal 'string' is in season(Focus & Dei) or out of racing for other reasons, so had to take a 'newbie'. . .Tipperary, a great granddaughter of my beloved Kyra. Tipp reminds me a lot of her half uncle Eros, and runs like he does, gangbusters, but once the bunny stops, she has no interest. Unlike him, she doesn't come to the handler when she's done, gave me a few scares this weekend, but we'll be working on that if she wants to go out running with me, and she likes the bunny, boxing well, breaking well as long as the box operator doesn't go in front of the box. If they do, she turns around in the stall to follow them. Silly red head. . .made a lot of friends, from human to iggy. . .Very very sweet girl. Her next event is PVBC's LGRA next week, should be a nice entry. She picked up 1 GRC point this weekend. Nope, didn't breed her, just enjoy running her

Gossip's slowly returning to normal running from post season slump, definitely was more herself this weekend, which pleased me completely. She picked up 4 NRC points, breaking the 100 NRC point mark, only the 2nd Borzoi to've done that.

Reba has been on fire(for her) these last two weeks. Last weekend she placed 3rd in an 8 borzoi meet to pick up 1.5 points towards her GRC, and this weekend she was 2nd both days for 2 more. She now lacks 2.5 points. . I am very pleased with Brooks red headed daughter. Plans are to get her out running on the coursing field next year, and Bonnie may have her out at shows. She is the world's sweetest, calmest little girl.

Brooks' twin son River went coursing and managed to pick up a 2nd major towards his FC. . now just some singles to go! So tickled for his mom/cobreeder!

Then to finish the day, we had some silly fun-ness. . .we have had some easy banter going back and forth between the owners of the 2007(me) and 2008(Fergie's mom) top girlie and both girls were raring to run again at the end of the day, so we ran them together LOL I actually heard someone say they expected Fergie to beat Gossip because of a BIF run she had done. . .but Fergie's pop stated it was Gossip, out of the box, pulilng away from the box and gone LOL Gossip was almost to the end of the run out before the RR got across the line and according to Fergie's mom, Gossip was still pulling away LOL It was great fun, and the girls enjoyed it immensely. Shows you really can't tell a thing about speed on a coursing field. LOL I'd love to see her run against the top greyhound, but alas, he's injured. I know he'd beat her butt, but it would be nice to see by how much. Wish Anne was still doing her speed study, I really would love to know how fast the spotted wonder is.

She curled up in her copilot chair and fell asleep hanging off of it. . .didn't even want to rouse herself for her double cheeseburger til I held it for her LOL Geez. . .but it tired her out, which is what I wanted LOL Neither of us moved once we hit the bed, darn!

Came home, and Umbra made the end of the day, by eating KIBBLE!!! WEEHEE!!!! :) All and all, was a great weekend.

Ramblings & puppy pictures

So much I want to do, only one me to do it with LOL

While thinking about not having a competitive coursing dog, i realised it's a good thing LOL there's not enough time in the day right now to do what I want to do with the dogs I have now lOL I'm hoping by next summer, Gossip'll be ready for the Agility ring, as well as Obedience LOl, that on top of showing her and Grins, who has time for a competitive coursing dog? If i get the need, I'll borrow Focus, or Crivens or Carrot. . LOL but I truly expect my weekends to be full next year anyway, so nothing to worry about.

Got pics of some of the kiddos i thought I'd share. .
Mr Dandy, out of the Hawaiian litter. I am so glad this boy has finally found the perfect forever home. His first home bailed out after his owner got severely ill, 2nd one wasn't willing to deal with a young busy dog(hell, he wasn't at her house more than 12 hrs before she decided she couldn't deal with him, geez), but this one is a charm. She's had Zoi before, but this one fits her personality. .very sweet, very laid back. . .that entire litter has a wonderful temperament.

Mr Loki AKA Mielikki's Can't Stop Me Now JC, with his daddy, who's really sick, have my fingers crossed he comes thru surgery 100% Di.

Here's Dickens AKA Dickie Doo(Mielikki's great expectations), Loki's nephew. . he hopes to join cousin Gossip in the Obedience ring next year, sounds like he's as smart as she is, just a bit more willful where she's much more interested in working for mom. He's out of the rose litter(Umbra X Storm), in fact, the puppy mama broke when he was 7-8 wks old, but you couldn't tell it. His newest buddy is Jake, not bred by me, but a pretty puppy none the less.

Ms Hecate, (Mielikki-windhaven's Wicked Rumour) from the Gossip litter, is very loved and very spoiled up in Canada.

I can't believe how gray Ms jezebel has gotten. . .OTOH, she is 6.5+. . I know KC loves her dearly, do miss her now and then, but I make sure to give my buddy Brazen or his brother Jammin some lovin when I see them racing, tho it's their sister Chillie who makes me drool, now THAT'S a Greyhound

This is Dicken's sister Minnie (Mielikki's Minnie Mouse), spoilt and loved dearly in the south. I love getting pics of my kiddos, no matter if they're show pups or just loved and very spoiled pets.

And this is Ms Gossip telling me she can too fit in the suitcase and should be going to Las Vegas with me damnit ! LOL She's not dirty, BTW, that's all the damn ticking she has. .there are two colours I hate: ticked and piss yellow/paper bag brown Borzoi. .so of course the fates had to curse me and give me the best bitch I've ever owned/bred in a colour I can't stand LOL

River brag

Just a shortie, tired and trying not to come down with a cold before I leave for the howlidays

Brooks' look a like son picked up another single and a BOB this weekend, leaving him needing just one more singles, then she'll have to start looking for those majors. Judge raved to her over his sidegait. .he's a lovely boy, can't wait to see his babies.

Gossip & I are going for her second leg of her Rally, can't WAIT!

heart pets

Heart dogs are not made, they are born. You can't craft them, or mold them, or create them, only the powers that we can't see can. It doesn't matter who you believe in up and above, one god or multiple gods, or the fates, or the great sun god, they craft and create and gift these wonderful creatures.

I thought I was blessed with Schatzi. This cat knew me, and owned my soul. I didn't have him anywhere near as long as I should've, only twelve and a half short years. I lost him 6 yrs ago end of next month, and still miss him terribly. Schatzi was my best buddy, was always there when I needed to talk, always there to snuggle. Where I went, Schatzi went. .and when I lost him, my heart broke. . .

And a little brindle borzoi stepped into the huge shoes he left. .Obie didn't replace Schatzi, he just helped me heal. I remember coming home from putting Schatzi down, and Obie leapt onto the bed to give him his Obie hug. Obie was my lil man, and helped me thru some absolutely horrid times. . I call this photo "i'll wait for you mom", and it made me cry earlier today, I miss him so damn much. My silly happy toy dog. .

And now the Fates have given me Gossip. . .she is my pride and joy, and definitely my baby girl. I am most definitely happiest when I'm working with her, whether it's watching her race the wind down the LGRA track, or working her with agility or obedience. She has helped me heal and get over the last few years, and keeps me going. Her exhuberance for life is only outdone by her love for her people. She doesn't quite fit the hole Obie left in my heart when i lost him, but she tries her damndest and proudly wears the mantel of his successor.

I love all my animals, and cry and mourn all their deaths as well as love all the current ones deeply but heart dogs weasle themselves deeper than love, they're part of you, part of your heart and soul, they have their claws wrapped into your heart and dig deep, so when you lose them, it's more than just grief. . if you've never owned a heart dog or cat, you just don't understand, at all, what the loss means. . I'm blessed to've been given three of them, and treasure and love them all still so much.

I just hope I have Ms Gossip for a long long time, since my record with heart animals seem to lose them to cancers way before their time.

Rally-o!

I am so tickled

Gossip is now returning to heel on both sides with a hand signal and a word(Flip to return on left, swing for return on right). She's nto doing her flashy FLIP flip, but she's doing it :)

One task down, now to work on her straight sits :) Maybe we can make a good show in a few weeks!

Got AAA for the Zoimobile, and getting ready for the WEEKEND!!

Be the wolf

One of the things I love most about Gossip is her wonderful personality. Here she is above, being the wolf to her younger cousins(All three pups shown here are about 2, and are out of/by Races sib/half sibs). She gets them running and playing, and rarely has a snarky word to say to them.



Last night Kari was over with her Whiplet & AM, and as usual we went down to the front field, Bonnie with Surya in tow. . .what's interesting is watching Gossip interact with dogs. With Surya she played get the wolf, let's try and throw Surya to the ground, like Borzoi play, football style, with the Whiplet, she plays I'm goign to outrace you. Even Bonnie commented on her different playing style, definitely gentler with the 25 lb whippie. . .she's such a good girl

relax

And that's what I did this weekend.

Reba has been sound, but decided to come into season this weekend, two weeks early, thought of still going coursing, but this cold from PVBC's specialty dunking is still lingering, so why bother? Kinda wish I'd gone, was a huge entry, but oh well, not enough money to go around

So spent it enjoying dogs, especially Brat. . Love this bitch, a lot. Got her entry off for her next Rally show, and wishing there was yet another before the end of the year, but nope, not that we don't have plans for.

This is Kyra's great granddaughter, reminds me of her uncle Eros, a lot, sweet girl.

It's too dark to see, but it's Gossip being a twit(I wanted her to stand on the dog house) saying hi to her cousin First, who wasn't sure what Gossip was doing up on that DAWG house, you're not supposed to be ON it LOL

Touchet looked absolutley lovely in all the gold leaves this weekend. Wish all Borzoi were as spry & bouncy as she is at almost 10.

Dei showing her Mountain Goat Genes. .we can't keep her off the dog houses LOL

Got home today and worked Dei on Rally, since she's my next project, and doesn't have quite as far as El Dork* does. She's not bad, not as happy to work as Gossip, but it's conceivable we can get her RN, we'll be trying this winter. .at least the indoor shows I won't have to battle for her attention with the squirrels LOL

*AKA Grins :)

Got on line to see Payton had picked up yet another point, first time out with his new owner, so I'm tickled for him. All the boys but Dandy(who's neutered) are pointed, Reba's pointed in the field, and Kani'll be going out with Kari this winter, to see if we can build her confidence up. She's a lovely bitch, drives me nuts to see her so submissive

Strangeness of fall

WTF? I just picked yet another bunch of tomatos off my plants. .it's almost the middle of NOVEMBER, and they're still popping off tomatos. . unfortunately the big tomatos were a failure, but the cherry and grape ones were a HUGE success, so I will just plant those next year. . and not so many of them either.

It's warm out, but overcast. . .some strange ass weather.

A quiet day at home. .was going to go coursing, but with Reba having come up lame last week and feeling under the weather, decided nah. . just stay home, relax, and prepare to drive next week as well as figure out who's going.

Got a note that First picked up 1/4 point last week. Not much in the scheme of things, but considering who she's running against, they'll have to finish before she can start getting more points. So making my list of who's going next week: Gossip, Wizard, Focus probably and ? . . .not sure. .LVCC & Cobra look like they're goign to be huge entries if every shows up. . .including at least one dog from the Midwest :) Can't wait

Found a local rally show, and sending in my entry now for Ms Gossip, who's been working on 'fixing' what she's 'poor at'. .mainly her sits need to be straighter. Considering this show is only like 20 mins away, just couldn't resist. And started working with Dei again. . .she's not as much fun as Gossip, as she doesn't enjoy working, but she does know how to do everything except the return to heel, so we'll work on it.

Got information on another training place in town, this place holds agility & rally funmatches once a month, so you know what I'll be doing this winter :) Getting Gossip ready for the agility ring next year :)

Was neat to see so many Mir(KyraX Blaze) descendents do so well at the LGRA/NOTRA nationals. . wishing I could afford to fly Gossip out to Colorado to run against them. yeah, money grows on trees, NOT!!!

Maigc redux & AKC's stupidity

Whomever said dogs are good for your health, never tried to box an obstinate Borzoi.

All I can say is oh my aching back.

But boy were there some nice races

With Bonnie’s blessing, took three of her up and coming kiddos racing with me: Focus & Carrot, littermates to Wizard & Bartleby that’s been doing so well, and First, littermate to Sammy who’s been burning up the Southeast. Was going to take Bagheera, but he's such a moose, he takes up waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much room in the Zoimobile.

The girls were WONDERFUL, although First is very pigheaded when she doesn’t want to do something(like go in the car, go in the xpen, listen to me. .LOL), boxed decently(none of them saw the box before this weekend), ran really well. Were really good girls.

Carrot didn’t break well first race, but 2nd he was great, and showed some awesome promising speed, unfortunately he tied with First when it came time to redo the board and since she was in highpoint, she stayed there, as I wanted to see him run against Gossip. And this is when stubborn with a capital S came thru when he refused to box, backed out with such force he threw me to the ground, on my back. . ouch. . .took both “Old John*” & I to box the little sucker, and he ended up in there backwards. . .you don’t let them learn they can win. . .they’ll fight harder next time, learned that one with Eros. . box opened, and he lost the race because he took his time coming out, he did finish the race, which is good, but little bugger has got to learn to box better. .amazing two of his siblings have boxed fine, just not him. Losing that race cost him his points and earned him the turtle. .brat child.

Unfortunately Lil John* wasn’t able to drag his butt out of bed to go with us. . John, if you’re having this much trouble now in your 20s, you’re in trouble when you’re in your 40s LOL. Will have to steal Wizard the next time I go out to make sure he gets to run LOL. I want good competition at the races! :) If it means taking great young dogs with me, so be it!

Oatlands is a great place to hold an event, too bad the cost of renting it is inhibitive($400 a weekend). MAIGC lost money big time this weekend. I feel so bad for Terri, she tries so hard, but club members have to step in. .if they’d been able to hold in in Nj, they’d’ve had a bigger entry.

Met some lovely people this weekend, Beth with Mokie(what a hairball!), and a number of Iggy people who have now joined Gossip’s fan base LOL. . .Obie had his people, but it’s amazing how many people Gossip’s won over to the breed. Even got the email from one lady as there’s yet another OB group in town, who runs rally/Agility fun matches once a month, wahoo!! J Gossip & I have things to do this winter. . .

Haven’t heard the results for NOTRA Nationals, but did get the LGRA one, five of the top 6 Borzoi went back to Obie’s brother Mir, all six went back to Blaze. Unfortunately Sammy hurt himself and so was his Mom and thus was pulled from Notra. He placed a respectable 3rd in LGRA tho. Sounds like it was MUCH better ran than last year’s event. Next year’s’ll be out this way, and I can’t wait!

Was told that AKC was doing away with Veterans stake, and been trying to find that out. Search of AKC's website has found nothing. if they do that, they're cutting off their nose to spite their face. . and going to cost themselves and clubs money. . push judges to give more NQ's in all stakes, and make the rules harder so that those who revel in playing with the loopholes can't, but don't take away Veterans. .they'll just use a different stake to play their stupid little piss ass games in. Dropped them a note, but haven't heard back from that either. . thing this big, if it's true, you'd think it'd've hit one of the lists, but it's been ssshhh.

Well, that's it, quiet week, may take First coursing this weekend, Reba's lame. . we'll see. . .:P

*it’s not an insult. .we have three Johns at some events, so we’ve labeled them Old John, Big John & little John LOL to differentiate between them when they are all there. Gets too confusing when they all turn and go what!?!?! LOL

the joy of Gossip

Dogs are such funny creatures.

Gossip is a very finicky toy dog. . sometimes she'll pick out her prize at race meets, othertimes she ignores them. . and if she plays with them, it's never for long. My bedroom is riddled with various dog toys I've bought her, and she doesn't play with them, same thing with bones, she doesn't chew them.

BUT.

Take said toy, or said bone down stairs, and she's a brat LOL Maybe 'sibling' rivalry is good for something. . I swear she raids Surya's toy box just to annoy him. . .or plays with her own toys just to annoy him. . i bought her a spider that she played with at the store, because Surya was there. . but ignored it in the bedroom, brought it downstairs, and she was racing around the house with it, with him in hot pursuit. .I don't bring hers down often, as they have a tendancy to break(where his never breaks unless Great Uncle Aster comes in LOL). Same thing with a rawhide, she'll race around with it, with him trying to get it away from her. And when she lies down to chew on it, he stares at her. . I'm so glad they can't talk, I can hear them now.

"MOM!!! She took my toy!!!""MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!! He's staring at me!!!"
"MOOOOOOOOM!! She won't share!"

It's also funny watching them if they both have a bone. .if one gets up, to get a drink or a scritch, the other will move over to chew on that bone. The first will go back and take up the other's bone. . with nary a growl . .BUT bring another dog into the equation,a nd forget it. Tilly came in the other night and walked by Surya, who growled LOL

Last Sunday I came in with Umbra's prize he won by going Best in sweeps. .it was a stuffed fox, he's NOT a toy dog at all. .Gossip tore it out of my hand, and out of nowhere came Mr Surya to grab the poor fox by the tail. . LOL I got it away from him, and Gossip bolted threw the gate towards bed, with Surya in hot pursuit. She bolts up the stairs and I swear as soon as she heard the gate latch shut, locking Surya in the living room, she dropped it and wanted nothing to do with it. LOL. Brat, only wanted it as long as Surya wanted it. .

what a little shit LOL

Last night she came in, and grabbed a toy and started playing with it, even tho it didn't squawk. .can toyness rub off on a dog?

The weekend

Wrote this last night, and forgot to post

Brrr, where did fall go? WE keep bouncing between summer (warm and sunny) and winter(cold & rainy). Makes for miserable people, that’s for sure.

Looking to be a nice weekend, small meet, but nice entry. Trying to get Jim to come down with HIS dawg(Tipp), but he finds straights boring. At least with a small meet, I can get in lots of box breaking, Bagheera & First are going, FTE’s, and taking Eros to work box with him. . .maybe I can get him where he’ll stop fighting the box. Would be nice. . getting him into shape to hit the coursing field some this winter. And working with Grins on rally stuff. . he’s such a DORK!!!!!!

Watching Snoopy & Jammin fight it out for #1 is so exciting, and the sportsmanship between the two owners is wonderful . . They cheer each other on, may the best dog win. . .it’s going to come down to the finish line this year with those two. . .both nice dogs, so have a hard time cheering one on over the other. Would love to see a ‘match’ race with Gossip & Jammin, just to see how much he beat her by. . .problem with her is the head games she likes to play LOL. I’ll only go as fast as I have to go, and not an iota more. .drives Karen & Michelle nuts when they’re running the lure. . .OTOH, means she’s a smart dog. Can’t wait to see how Bagheera & First rate next to her, and next time it’ll be Focus & Carrot and maybe Tip, she can be such a pita to catch, so not sure I want to take her.

Unfortunately the dog I had wanted to breed Gossip to is out. . .won’t go into it here, but he’s no longer with us. Damn. . .so back to the drawing board. Thankfully got a long list of Boys I like, just have to widdle ‘em down with Marie.

YEAH

She did it
It wasn't pretty, it wasn't great, but considering I NEVER EVER thought to proof in the pouring, cold, rain, I'll take it! Gossip picked up her 1st Rally leg :)

WAHOO!!!

TGIF

Ever had a morning where it seemed like nothing was going right?

Forgot to set my alarm so I could get up early and put Gas in the Zoimobile. Since our move at work, it's a PITA to fight traffic to go into town to get Gas and the only gas station between here and work is usually 0.15 more than you can get elsewhere. . .well, didn't set that alarm earlier. Which also meant no time to fix breakfast, been trying to be good and fix breakfast to take to work. Usually fix two meals at a time, fry up some eggs and hashbrowns, or some pancakes, seems to hold off the munchies more if I don't eat til 9, vs at 6 am. . .but not this morning.

Then get out to the car, wtf are my keys? Not in my purse, not my work bag, get out, check the car, go in check my desk, check by the fish tank, I have been so good about putting my keys in the same place, but not this morning, panicked, ran up stairs, looked on the nightstand. . and then last place I thought to look, yesterday's clothes, yep, that's where they were. All the while, the cats are bitching cuz OMG, you did NOT give us a can of food this morning, how dare you. Meow meow meow. . spoiled rotten little sh*ts.

I hate mornings that start like this. . blech.

Work's been a bitch. . .feel like we've been on fast fwd for the last two weeks, partly because they don't trust the other three to do the new accounts, afraid they'll f*ck 'em up with the bouncing back and forth between systems, bane of being good at what you do and being intelligent. . .so, have a double work load. . .makes the day go fast, that's for sure. And with 5 flights of stairs to walk up each day (I hate elevators anyway LOL), makes for extra excercise. .but boy do your legs shake LOL. Oh lordie. PITA to get out of to go home tho, have to take the long way. . .but otherwise, enjoying it. .if only it was quieter. I like quiet around me, and you can only turn your IPOD up so loud before your ears hurt, and it still doesn't drown out customer service.

Looking forward to next weekend and abhorring the idea at the same time. Some days I work with G-Biscuit and think we can get that rally leg with NO problem, other days I want to hang her by her brindle ears. "Whatcha want me to do, Mom? Oooh, look butterflies. Sit? What's that mean? Oh is THIS what you want me to do?" Unfortunately there's just not a lot of rally run thrus around, but will do a drop in at class on Monday, and rent the room on Friday to refresh her brain, and then just go in, cross my fingers, and pray. She can do it, if she keeps her head on straight.

Thankfully the rings for OB & AB are not too far apart. . after sweeps will have to run over and let the ring steward know my predicament. Too bad they were only holding Rally the one day I entered gossip in the ring. . What I do to support my club. .at least if push comes to shove, I have two different people who can take Hairball AKA Umbra in the veterans ring for me, hell, he might move better for them than me now that he's having WAY too much fun in the ring.

And then the fun begins. . running every weekend next month. And nice entries if everyone shows up, including the possibility of 16 borzoi Thanksgiving weekend, wahoo! And two of the undefeated Borzoi in the country hope to come up and run head to head with Gossip. Shall be some really really nice running. Even have what's sounding like a nice entry the 1st weekend of November, despite the nationals being the same weekend. Most of the East coast can't/won't go, just not worth it, and too damn expensive. My iggy friend figured it out to be a $2000 trip if she went, with gas and hotel rooms, YIKES!!! And the NY event sounds like it's goign to have a nice entry too, granted after the last fiasco, don't count your eggs right? :)

Unfortunately, have decided after the pain I'm STILL in shoulderwise, that I won't be doing a long ride again, so won't be doign the SC event tho I had thought about it. Really wish they could figure out what's causing it.

And Brooks grandbabies are due next week. I can't wait

Happy birthday Gossip

Gossip turned 4 yesterday, where does time go? Seems like just yesterday I was trying to decide who to keep between Gossip, Rumour & Secret. . .

She spent the day in style LOL: 2 double cheesburgers at McD's(She was only supposed to get one, but I had a sinus migraine and about threw up after I ate one bite :P), and wanted the 3rd I picked up for Grins & Stardust. . .we then went to Petsmart where the Diva got all the attention she could ask for. . .everyone came to pet Miss Gossip. . .and then she picked out a huge fuzzy porcupine, tasted some treats and picked up a box of cookies and a bag of training treats.

We then swung over to Petco, where it was a repeat of pets, and a roll of Natural Balance, a lb of pick your own cookies to share with everyone at home. We then went home, and she got bedrights when I collapsed due to the migraine, and she woke me up a few hours later, having found the squawker. .. which she promptly squawked, in my ear. . .brat LOl At which point I scooted back and she climbed into bed, to soon be joined by Prince Brat, who wouldn't leave her alone, boy he was sooo happy to have his dog in bed with him lOL

Yes, she's spoiled, I admit it. . I love this dog to no end. . .almost as much as I loved her Uncle Obie. She's not Obie, but she's stepped into the huge hole he left in my heart and has tried to fill ti as much as she can. Like him, she has a huge presense, a huge personality. . she's got a zest for life that nobody matches, and is always happy to do anything with me. . out of everything, she's the one thing that's helped me heal most. . .my bouncy baby borzoi girl.

Secret & Ike

Got a note earlier this week from Secret's mum. .they're ok, got some damage to the house and yard, biggest problem is lack of electricity and worry about finding gas for the generator. . .feel so bad for them, and wish I was closer to help them out. Hope things don't go worse for them. they could be without power for a month, omg, we were out for a handful of days and life was hell

Secret'll be coming back tho, she's worried after two evacuations in 2 wks, about moving a bitch in season with unaltered dogs. She is NOT in a position to deal with an oops litter . .I know that worry. . .so she offered her back instead of just spaying her. A Wonderful lady, and one of my oldest friends in Borzoi, Margaret loves Secret, but also knows how important Secret is (and agrees she's too nice to spay if she can come back home). . she's one of two dogs I regret ever letting go, but not knowing exactly how bad my life was going to go, a good home came along, and I let her go. . .she'll come back, and either just stay with me, or Bonnie may take her. . .I owe Bonnie a replacement pup since Titania didn't turn out, so that's fine with me. . . I'll get to show her, and we'll try her in the front yard to see if she'll run. She did a LGRA practice as a puppy, but was not as promising as her sister, but who knows. Otherwise, I'll show her :)

Other dog, I realised the other day that I regret letting go, is Yanna. . she may not've been the perfect show dog, but she was a sweet little bundle of love & I loved her in return, but had to do what was best for her. . .granted, I couldn't've standed to look at her when I lost Obie, since she was his mini me, but I miss her. . .oh well, hindsight's 20/20

Agility tonite, rented hour tomorrow, and a nice relaxing weekend. . .NOTRA got cancelled, so I'm staying home. .tho I'm kicking myself in the butt for cancelling my day off Saturday, Vanessa's going todwn to NC and she asked if I wanted to go with her to see Pat, oh well :P

Plans, Agility & Ike

Wings has a hot date. . .dam to be's sister produced well when bred to a related boy, so I'm looking forward to it. Dam's not of a pedigree I'm too particularly thrilled with, but otoh, ti's not absolutely horrid either. . just worried I'm going to get HUGE. . since I get a stud fee puppy. Robin'll grow them out, which works out for both of us. . .so here's hoping for a decent sized, nice healthy litter and a couple of keen boys for Robin & me.

On that note, I got the nod for the litter of my dreams for Gossip. I am so tickled. It's an outcross for Gossip, but it's a lovely dog, and even tho I'm not keen on part of his pedigree, the rest is yummy. . .I am SOOO EXCITED LOL.

After Gossip's loss of brains last week at our first Agility class, I took a different approach.

1) I stopped and picked up two double cheeseburgers from McD's2) I let Gossip run the pants off of two of her boy friends. She ran so much, I thought she might be useless for agility class. Popped her into the car, and headed off to the agility class.

Tonite was bigger because they had to combine the intermediate and beginners class due to scheduling conflicts. . .there were a total of 8 dogs. Again, we were the oddball breed: two Shep Xs, two toy dogs, one German Shorthaired pointer, one Standard poodle, one weimeraner, and us. Gossip did me proud. . .she did not act up, she behaves, she paid attention to the hand with the hamburger and not the two white fluffy dogs that were barking and zooming. . not at all like last week with the cockerspaniel. . .the GSP was with us last week and she commented on how well behaved Gossip was this week. .i was so tickled. AND she did the weave, it's at the V shape right now, but she did it without me having ot lure her thru, so I was VERY happy

She was soooooo on the hand with the hambuger, she did not see the shep X come out of the tunnel and come barreling at her. I'd been watching this dog all night, as she kept staring at Gossip, and baring her teeth. She wasn't making any noise, and having a Grinnie dog, I was wondering if that's what she was doing. This dog's owner had no control over her, no choke chain, a flimsy lead, the dog was clearly in charge. She went thru the tunnel and came racing towards Gossip, again, baring teeth, I stepped between, treated Gossip and snarled at the dog. .and then made sure the rest of the class that at least half the class was between us and that dog. The GSP owner even mentioned how intent that dog was on Gossip. If it happens again next week, I'm going to stay and talk to the teachers, as this is NOT the learning environment I want. I've BTDT with a dog who had it out for mine, and i was too stressed about that other dog to do my own dog justice.

So, yes, the fairies returned the GOOD Gossip to me LOL

Watching the Ike information just boggles my mind. . why when a hurricane almost as big as Texas is barreling down on you do you stay behind? So many people didn't heed the warnings to run, so glad Secret's owner is not one of those people. I mean, comeon. . it's not like a tornado that can appear above your head and go wham bam thankyou ma'am, they knew it was coming. Pack up those things that are very important to you(animals, kids, the computer and small things, like I couldn't leave Schatzi or Obie's ashes behind) and get the hell out of dodge. Better to leave and have nothing happen,than not to leave and lose everything including you or your families lives. You'd think EVERYONE would've learned from Katrina. I know I have. .if I'm ever in the path of a hurricane that could sink my house, I'll be OUT OF THERE.

Where's the week gone?

wowza. .just recover from 1st weekend back on the road, and here comes the 2nd. .this week has gone FAST!

Last weekend was survival Sighthound style
1-Saturday, Reba hurt her toe coming out of a box. . so she's down and out for awhile. Dei came out of the box wrong and her rear end gave out from under her. .thank heavens didn't hurt her, good news is she got up and kept going, and did NOT try to run anyone off the track like she did the last time she got hurt

2. Monday- Grins tore off a dew claw, Brightness burnt some pads, the entire greyhound contigency blew at least one pad, some of them ALL four feet, the Saluki entry was pulled down to one dog due to injuries. Gossip scared the beejeezus out of me after doing a practice run in NOTRA PERFECT, she ran for real and bulldozed her way thru the snow fence. I had my heart in my throat afraid she'd get a toe stuck in the fencing or put a fiberglass pole thru her heart/head. Good news is, she got up and kept going, and even tho she was OC, she did NOT interfere. . i'll practice her a few more times, but not sure if i'll bother, plastic is not her thing, even with bunny ears attached LOL

Chantilly had a couple of promising practices, but when I ran her for a cert run, she was a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad girl. . .her sister had a nice NOTRA practice run, and will get out in a few weeks with me for real.

Grins passed the torch on to Wizard this time. .was it his injury? Don't know. . it didn't seem to bother him, but I noticed a difference in the 2nd run and the 3rd when I wrapped his dewclaws(ahd to do both, or he'd refuse to walk on the wrapped paw lOL). . .we'll see once he heals. .but he is 6 today. .gulp, is he that old? Where does time go? Wizard looked good, and in fact, finished his FC on Saturday with another 5 point BOB win, such a pretty, fasty, keen happy boy LOl

I bought Gossip a used jackalure(to support the club's two new ones, which were then killed by the greyhounds the first weekend on the string LOL OOPS!) Well, not just for her, going to use it in training, see if Kani will chase it with some confidence building. Gossip's REALLY happy with her toy, in fact, so happy I found her on the hood of the Neon in an attempt to get the bunny. . oops. . LOl

Umbra got thru his dental ok. After Sera's heart stopped beating when she was under to be spayed, I've been paranoid about having anything done to my guys. . now he's got white pearly teeth. .. see how long that lasts. . :P Wish that dog would chew on Bones, Touchet's are really nice for an almost 10 yr old girl. . but she may have genetically good teeth to begin with.

And Gossip was a dork at our first agility class. . .she was like OMG OMG!! Other dogs, can i PLAY!!!?!?!?! Refused the tunnel, which she usually does well for me. Showed off on the aframe(launching herself over the apex at full speed), unlike the other dogs, she has to work on contacts going up, they have to work on them going down LOL. And she's GETTING the weaves, finally. . .instructor released her to me, and she went thru them, I was so tickled. .and she zoomed over the jumps. We were both beat by the end of class.

Was sooo looking forward to Gossip going ehad to head with Serrano and Wizard today, but we've got that tropical storm heading our way, so Saturday got cancelled, darn! Spent three hours battening down the hatches here, moving dogs into the kennel, moving loose stuff onto the porch, moving the cars out from under the trees. . it's overcast and drizzly, but it's heading our way. . oh joy!

LGRA nats

don't you hate when the world seems to conspire against ya?

I've been hoping to go to the LGRA/NOTRA nationals all year. .. but the $1300 vet bill in June, now the vet bills with the thyroid kitty(and no, I'm not putting her down, her quality of life is healthy, she's just on meds and CBC checks for the rest of her life), on top of having to take more time off to go home for xmas(not that i'm complaining) which resulted in no extra time off, I couldn't figure out how to drive. . It'd be four days off just for driving time as it was.

Oh, wait Vanessa was going. . so I could always give her gas money and she'd take Gossip, she'd already told me she could. . no problem, oh damn, Vanessa's girl came into season early and now she's got puppies in the oven, due that week. . ok, Wiz's Dad was all gungho to go with his boy, oh damn, he's going back to school and doesn't know what's going on time wise, and he's got the same issue I have, an old car, would it make it? My neon has less miles on it, but it's still 11 yrs old. .

Then one of her fans said she might be able to take her, as she could use the help with gas. . she decided not to go, the entry for her breed SUXS and is not worth spending $1000 to get there(THAT I understand). And it seems nobody else is going from the NE. .

Damn

I even went so far as to think of flying down. I want to see friends I haven't seen in YEARS,and run her against Nitro & Tornado, but it just ain't going to happen. Even if I could afford to fly her down, I'm worried the airlines in dallas, who are known for being pricks won't let her fly home in a 500. And unlike other people, when I say I can't afford something, I can't afford it, and I CAN'T afford to ship her in a 700. It was pushing her to give someone gas to drive her there and fly down to run her. Not that it's really worth it to spend all that money for one day, as i don't know if she'll even run NOTRA

Oh well. . it'll make her detractors happy.

Oh well, the local event may be decent size with at least one person coming from WAY out of the area

Good news is she's still doing well with our Rally, hope to have myself sure enough to try her for a leg in November, she's also slowly gathering speed in agility, and loves to work. She's a white & brindle border collie :)

And Good news Pandora has gained back about 8 oz's since she was diagnosed with thyroid disease. . considering she was down to under 6 lbs, that's a GOOD thing.

Cleaned out the trunk of the car tonite, will clean out the front so I can fit four dogs in it. Chantilly & Juls are going with me this weekend to see if Chantily'll run and get Juls boxbroke. She's my borrowed running dog for coursing since I dn't have an open. LOL. And she'll hit oval & LGRA as I do this fall. She's a sweet pretty girl, and I can't wait for Bonnie to breed her, as she will produce some gorgeous babies. Both these last things help make up for not being able to go to BFE to the LGRA nats.

day at a funmatch

Grins went to the funmatch today. . he actually was 50% better than I thought he'd be LOL. He only tried to course the flags on the fence posts a couple of dozen times, and on the go around, he tried to launch himself onto the huge pile of squeakie toy prizes LOl The judge was very nice and allowed me to stack him facing the squeakie toy pile (as well as the lure machine), and he stood rock solid. He won Adult Borzoi, which tickled me pink. .by the time we went in for Best in match he was tuckered and behaved himself. The judge had us go around, went over all the dogs, go around again, and came back and went over only Grins & the Scottish Deerhound before giving it to the Deerhound, so it made me feel good. He's no longer looking like a furry tribble with the 6 inch long topline hair thanks to a quick grooming lesson with Aunti Rebecca

Then was the dismal run for JC for Dei. . she started off looking GREAT. . I thought wow, maybe she'll get this leg. .got half way thru the course and realised she was away from Mommy. . problem was, the Rally ring and the Conf. ring was between us. Instead of doing like any other Borzoi would do, she ran straight to me and jumped OVER the rope of the Rally ring(Which she could've gone under if she'd wanted to), and then over the far side, then over the one side of the Conf ring and she stopped and looked at me like she thought she was in trouble. I raised my arms in the air and hollered "Dei Over!' and she hopped over that rope, to the applause of the crowd. I was laughing so hard I couldn't be disappointed that she'd failed. The Huntmaster came over and said "I'm sorry, but we haven't approved Borzoi steeplechase yet." Guess she prefers Agility & Rally.

Gossip ran thru the Rally twice, and made me happy . .and started talking dirty to the bunny, so i thought what the hey, I'll let her have a practice run. She looked great, then halfway thru she said phooey and started taking off for the tree line. I hollered Gossip COME! Her head came up and she barreled towards me, I then Hollered Gossip SIT! And she did a perfect front sit. . made me proud LOl

I'm tired, but it was a good day.

Gossip & Rally

When the teacher says you rarely see a borzoi so happy unless they're at a coursing event, it makes you feel GOOD :)1st time around, Gossip did not embarass me. . I screwed up following signs, but we got through it in a manner that pleased me.

2nd time around, she did ok, her flip returns weren't as pretty, but she did them. .again I fubared us on the return right. . but we got thru it.

3rd time was not as pretty, and you could tell she was starting to have enough of it.

4th time, fubar doesn't even cover it LOL She had had ENOUGH thankyou, why should I bother?

Last week we've practiced sits on stops, and that has improved IMMENSELY. This week there were none of those except in relation to return to heel LOL Which was new. . .she does a rather decent one to the left, not perfect, but we're working on it, now we have to work on the return to the right. She's smart enough I don't expect her to have a lot of problems, it'll be owner/handler issues LOL I gotta remember Flip to the left, Swing to the Right.

The trainer came over to compliment us before we left. . and I was truthful with her, that this was the smartest Borzoi I've ever met. . and she is. . .I just hope I can do HER justice LOL :) And yes, even smarter than Obie, who I considered pretty damn smart