Showing posts with label NCIS Puppies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCIS Puppies. Show all posts
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Great weekend on the field and in the ring
I've gotten real lax with my blog since I lost Gossip. Kinda lost my heart. . .but this week has been too good for my kids
Two Saturdays ago, Gibbs' new mom Kathy & I met up to go coursing. I wasn't running anything personally, but took Bonnie's First for her, we had an absolute blast, even if her dog felt inclined to give me a sponge bath for the 2.5 hr drive, guess he didn't like the smell of my soap LOL
Wendy & Frank had come out with Nacht & family, so it was a nice day with great friends, weather was a bit too warm, but the zoimobile with the AC on kept the kiddos nice and cool. . .Some amazing runs, with Nacht forgetting Grandma was there(after climbing up me to give kisses) and putting in some runs reminiscent of not being a FCH LOL Gibbs runs like a herd of horses, the ground almost shakes as he thunders around, not light on his feet like his sister Jenny, and First's daughter Shimmer was bound and determined to take off before the T of Tallyho LOL After the dust had settled, Gibbs managed to pull out a 1st of 7 for a 3 point major win! Kathy was and still is in denial, she made sure they checked their addition, wouldn't believe anyone who told her he had some nice darn runs and earned it! The shocking part was seeing Nacht, who is not a newbie, who is almost 2/3 of the way to her LCM, pick up a 2nd for a point! They both made me pleased!
Sunday, I went alone. The course was tough with the visual barriers and the high grass, and when Ziva & Tipperary cut at the wrong time, they got severely unsighted, but Ziva did manage to run well enough to pull out a 2nd of 5 for another single. I had gone hoping to get a QC on Frankie, but this event didn't start til 10-10:30 despite having an 8:30 roll call, and when I left at 5:30 on Saturday, they still hadn't done BOB runoffs! NO way I was sticking around. But was real proud of my kids!
This weekend I chose to make it a lazy weekend, got a mad dash trip out to OH, drop off a dog, see friends, look at stud dogs, and zoom back, but Ziva went away with Kari to do some training to be a show dog. After blowing out both knees in the last almost 2 yrs, I've come to terms that until I get in a lot better shape and get my knees both rehabbed, that it's better to let Kari do the hard wrok. I didn't expect much from my Z girl, and she did exactly what I'd expected yesterday with trying to be a GSD and run ahead of Kari, but her cousin Payton (Mandolin Mielikki's Aloha) won his first major by going WD/BOW under Ms gallant!He started off this year by going RWD at GNY's specialty, has picked up the rest of his singles, and now just needs one more major! He is by of SBIS BIF DC/Can Ch Mandolin Mielikki's The Dance SC, CD, TDI out of Witchcraft spirit of the Tsar.
Today, Ziva had her trotting shoes on, and actually settled down for Kari to go WB for 2 points :) She'll be out now and then this fall, and then seriously this winter, in between my trying to finish her FC. Really hoping she'll be my first personal DC(Her uncle Mir and Payton's sire were my first official DC's, but not owned by me)
So nice week for my kiddos! Fall is settling in, weather is cooling down, and hopefully we will be welcoming a gorgeous litter of puppies this fall. Time will tell!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Shows & Auf Wiedersehen Nacht und Gibbs!
The last two weeks have been so busy
Two weeks ago, I drove down to VA for a show with Ziva & Gibbs. . despite my worries, they were pretty darn good, my good knee? Gave up the ghost, on the thousandth down and back it said NOPE, and suddenly sharp pain was going thru it, the judge made me move her around yet again and then another down and back, even tho I had tears from the pain. . I stacked her, and he came over, I was fearful he was going to ahve us do yet another, and he told me not to worry, he wouldn't force us to move again, and we won our class. Nice gentleman, he made sure I had someone who could take her back in, cuz I could barely move by this time.
Had to hand her off to a sweet young lady Kari had brought with us. . .unfortunately, the ONLY time I ever hand her off is when we are going racing, so she was full speed ahead. . oh well, she behaved decently considering she hasn't been out in a year, and this is only her fourth time out period LOL so I was pleased with her.
Nacht moved into her new home after her new owners picked her up at the dog show. She's coming out of her shell and starting to blossom, especially without her devil sister beating her up in the yard. Her new home is GORGEOUS! I want to move there. Once she settles in, she'll be back out working on her LCM & her FC!
Then the following week, Gibbs moved to his new home. he jumped into the back of her car and didn't look back, squeaking his toy all the way home, where he emptied the toy box, and terrorized his cousin Titania LOL Second day he was there, I get an email asking if he had an off button LOL He had his new mom laughign so hard she hurt. Such a nice testimony to his goofy a** personality and perfect to help her heal after losing his great uncle about a week before she picked him up.
So the backyard is kinda empty. . .Nacht was a quiet soul, Gibbs was a loud, bright, obnoxious one. . you couldn't help but notice him trotting around the backyard, with his jolly ball flung over his head.
I look forward to see what both these pups do in their new homes. I miss them, but I know they're in WONDERFUL homes!!!
Two weeks ago, I drove down to VA for a show with Ziva & Gibbs. . despite my worries, they were pretty darn good, my good knee? Gave up the ghost, on the thousandth down and back it said NOPE, and suddenly sharp pain was going thru it, the judge made me move her around yet again and then another down and back, even tho I had tears from the pain. . I stacked her, and he came over, I was fearful he was going to ahve us do yet another, and he told me not to worry, he wouldn't force us to move again, and we won our class. Nice gentleman, he made sure I had someone who could take her back in, cuz I could barely move by this time.
Had to hand her off to a sweet young lady Kari had brought with us. . .unfortunately, the ONLY time I ever hand her off is when we are going racing, so she was full speed ahead. . oh well, she behaved decently considering she hasn't been out in a year, and this is only her fourth time out period LOL so I was pleased with her.
Nacht moved into her new home after her new owners picked her up at the dog show. She's coming out of her shell and starting to blossom, especially without her devil sister beating her up in the yard. Her new home is GORGEOUS! I want to move there. Once she settles in, she'll be back out working on her LCM & her FC!
Then the following week, Gibbs moved to his new home. he jumped into the back of her car and didn't look back, squeaking his toy all the way home, where he emptied the toy box, and terrorized his cousin Titania LOL Second day he was there, I get an email asking if he had an off button LOL He had his new mom laughign so hard she hurt. Such a nice testimony to his goofy a** personality and perfect to help her heal after losing his great uncle about a week before she picked him up.
So the backyard is kinda empty. . .Nacht was a quiet soul, Gibbs was a loud, bright, obnoxious one. . you couldn't help but notice him trotting around the backyard, with his jolly ball flung over his head.
I look forward to see what both these pups do in their new homes. I miss them, but I know they're in WONDERFUL homes!!!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Gibbs has a new assignment
Sometimes, as a breeder or even as a dog owner, you have to make decisions you'd rather not make
I hadn't planned on keeping three pups out of the NCIS litter, but fell in love with Gibbs' personality. When the right home didn't surface, I had no problem keeping him. . .he's so much like his father: full of life, full speed ahead, so happy, bounce, silly!.
It's that full of life, full speed ahead that led to Grins hurting himself three weeks ago. . he wasn't paying attention, running around like an idiot, hit something, and is lucky he didn't cripple himself or worse kill himself. He will be 10 in September, but nobody who has met him recently believes it. He doesn't act it at all, the same old bouncy, trouncy, take off like a bat out of hell Grins he was 9 yrs ago when I picked him up. He has adamantly refused to turn in his Hell's Angels card for his AARP card. Bouncing around the backyard, tearing after his kids, fence fighting with the best of them, and finding him injured really scared me to death.
Gibbs is just as bad. . .and I've worried that he would hit a tree or another dog, as he runs around the yard, looking over his shoulders as his friends chased him, but finding Grins' hurt brought that worry to a boil. . .
Last month, Titania's owner came out to practice Grins' cousin Luthian at racing. She helped us out with boxing and catching the Borzoi. A few days after she helped, I get a note from her "I am starting to think about my next borzoi (I usually get the itch about every 6-7 years).
An answer from heaven. . .after talking back and forth, as I thought maybe Nacht would be the better option(she adores Nacht too), she told me she really wanted a male, and so came out two weeks ago and spent some time with Dork Jr. . .and the next day, I get a note from her that said "Having spent some quality time yesterday, I have to tell you, I am hopelessly in love with your dog. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
an answer from heaven indeed.
He'll get to hit the coursing field between the two of us, she is tickled pink with how intelligent he is, is looking forward to trying obedience and rally with him, and yes, even the show ring!
I'll miss my idiot boy Jr, but I won't have to worry about him every day. His main job will be making his mama happy and trying to get Luthian to play.
I've always said the perfect home always comes around, it just may be awhile. . it was not an easy decision to make, but it was either this, or keep him in a smaller yard where he couldn't get up to speed, just to keep him from running around at warp nine. .I think he'll be much happier this way.
Good sailing, Gibbs
Monday, April 16, 2012
Working the dogs
So, last week was the first week in a while wehre I actually got off at a normal time and when I had extra energy, I worked a bunch of the youngsters.
I used to love working Gossip, but when I lost her, I lost interest, it just isn't fun for me unless the dog wants to work with you. I liked having a happy heeling dog. My instructor told me more than once she'd never seen a Borzoi so happy to work. . I've tried working dogs who weren't as eager to work, and they're just not as much fun. . .dogs who like to learn are just better for me LOL
I am going to LOVE Working with Frankie, who is so happy to work, and in fact, heels like a BC, looking up at me, wagging his tail the entire time. We worked on simple heeling position and sits, with a few swings thrown in. This boy reminds me of his Great Uncle Obie with how much he wants to do whatever I ask.
Grabbed Jenny, and she wagged her tail the entire time, heeling almost as nicely as Frankie, she's not as quick to catch on as Frankie, but I can tell she's goign to be a blast to work with also.
Grabbed Gibbs next and had to do a lot of leash work, as he's a lot like his father, he wants to please, but you have to catch his attention and keep it, he's very ADHD LOL Him we simply worked on walking nicely and sitting at heel.
Ziva. . .Ziva shows be careful what you name your dog, instead of paying attention to me, she paid attention to everything else. .an Israili Mussaud officer never keeps her eyes off the surrounding scenary in case an assassin is waiting to take you out. The cows across the street, the trees looking for bunnies and tree rats, anything but me. . .will have to find some sort of food that is more interesting than anything else going on LOL
Bounce. . I had to debounce bounce first, up and down the Aframe, which she's already doing after only two session and doing it right, hitting her contacts every time. Only after I did was she calm enough to work with LOL . .
Felt good to get working with them again. . .need to get back into Rally class. Rules have changed since I worked Gossip. . .but i think I'm going to have fun with these 5. . maybe I'll have a triathlon dog ready for next year's nationals!
I used to love working Gossip, but when I lost her, I lost interest, it just isn't fun for me unless the dog wants to work with you. I liked having a happy heeling dog. My instructor told me more than once she'd never seen a Borzoi so happy to work. . I've tried working dogs who weren't as eager to work, and they're just not as much fun. . .dogs who like to learn are just better for me LOL
I am going to LOVE Working with Frankie, who is so happy to work, and in fact, heels like a BC, looking up at me, wagging his tail the entire time. We worked on simple heeling position and sits, with a few swings thrown in. This boy reminds me of his Great Uncle Obie with how much he wants to do whatever I ask.
Grabbed Jenny, and she wagged her tail the entire time, heeling almost as nicely as Frankie, she's not as quick to catch on as Frankie, but I can tell she's goign to be a blast to work with also.
Grabbed Gibbs next and had to do a lot of leash work, as he's a lot like his father, he wants to please, but you have to catch his attention and keep it, he's very ADHD LOL Him we simply worked on walking nicely and sitting at heel.
Ziva. . .Ziva shows be careful what you name your dog, instead of paying attention to me, she paid attention to everything else. .an Israili Mussaud officer never keeps her eyes off the surrounding scenary in case an assassin is waiting to take you out. The cows across the street, the trees looking for bunnies and tree rats, anything but me. . .will have to find some sort of food that is more interesting than anything else going on LOL
Bounce. . I had to debounce bounce first, up and down the Aframe, which she's already doing after only two session and doing it right, hitting her contacts every time. Only after I did was she calm enough to work with LOL . .
Felt good to get working with them again. . .need to get back into Rally class. Rules have changed since I worked Gossip. . .but i think I'm going to have fun with these 5. . maybe I'll have a triathlon dog ready for next year's nationals!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
year of the little black bitch
To my internet stalker: you might want to skip this, you will find this boring, I'm using my right to brag :)
The title is how a friend termed this year. .. and it has been the year of the little black dog for me.
Eighteen months ago, I was looking to place said little black dog. . but when the only performance home that came up was not a home i wanted to place a dog in, Bonnie Dalzell convinced me to keep Jenny. . and I'm so glad she said "let's co own her" Who knew those would be words I'd be sitting here being thankful for.
I've had running dogs now for 11 yrs and had some nice dogs in that time. Obie was a great coursing dog, but he never could figure out the racing game, always holding back waiting for the bunny to turn, Gossip was a great racing dog, but plastic was not her forte. .she thought plastic was for pansies. Jenny's father wasn't something to sneeze at, but after he ran his back off, he was never able to achieve his potential, partly cuz his body never recovered from getting sooo sooo sick, but partly cuz I was afraid to run him if it was over 80.
But Jenny is a dog of a different class.
I knew she was keen: she'd had some very successful practices, but I had no idea what the next 9 months would bring when I took her out in March. .I'd been just looking to get the needed points to qualify for the International Invitational (II), nothing else. The II was close to home and I wanted to go since they were holding it during a reasonable part of the year, so was only hoping to get those 20 needed poitns.
The title is how a friend termed this year. .. and it has been the year of the little black dog for me.
Eighteen months ago, I was looking to place said little black dog. . but when the only performance home that came up was not a home i wanted to place a dog in, Bonnie Dalzell convinced me to keep Jenny. . and I'm so glad she said "let's co own her" Who knew those would be words I'd be sitting here being thankful for.
I've had running dogs now for 11 yrs and had some nice dogs in that time. Obie was a great coursing dog, but he never could figure out the racing game, always holding back waiting for the bunny to turn, Gossip was a great racing dog, but plastic was not her forte. .she thought plastic was for pansies. Jenny's father wasn't something to sneeze at, but after he ran his back off, he was never able to achieve his potential, partly cuz his body never recovered from getting sooo sooo sick, but partly cuz I was afraid to run him if it was over 80.But Jenny is a dog of a different class.
I knew she was keen: she'd had some very successful practices, but I had no idea what the next 9 months would bring when I took her out in March. .I'd been just looking to get the needed points to qualify for the International Invitational (II), nothing else. The II was close to home and I wanted to go since they were holding it during a reasonable part of the year, so was only hoping to get those 20 needed poitns.Not only did she get those points, she then went Best of Breed, nad then on to Best in Field at her very first ASFA trial(then came into season LOL). Few weeks post season, she went on to win BOB the 2nd day of the II, which tickled me pink to bring home that gorgeous Pyerun trophy.
Her next time out coursing was AKC, where she picked up three majors and then had a BEAUTIFUL BIF run with a really awesome whippet: they were stride for stride thru a number of turns and suddenly she put it into a different gear and blew him out of the water. She added a 2nd BIF ribbon to her trophy wall. .she then went to the Region 8 Invitational where she went BOB on both days, bringing home the G'kar memorial trophy and then not setting a food down wrong, came away with the Reg 8 Best in Event Plaque and the Alleghany Derby trophy and a new FCH title. Next time out, she won the Grand Prix cup, and then went down to win BOB at the REg 4 saturday trial . For 2011, she only ran at 9 ASFA trials, but should be ranked near the top 10. ASFA's much slower at getting rankings out than AKC or LGRA/NOTRA is.
Her next time out coursing was AKC, where she picked up three majors and then had a BEAUTIFUL BIF run with a really awesome whippet: they were stride for stride thru a number of turns and suddenly she put it into a different gear and blew him out of the water. She added a 2nd BIF ribbon to her trophy wall. .she then went to the Region 8 Invitational where she went BOB on both days, bringing home the G'kar memorial trophy and then not setting a food down wrong, came away with the Reg 8 Best in Event Plaque and the Alleghany Derby trophy and a new FCH title. Next time out, she won the Grand Prix cup, and then went down to win BOB at the REg 4 saturday trial . For 2011, she only ran at 9 ASFA trials, but should be ranked near the top 10. ASFA's much slower at getting rankings out than AKC or LGRA/NOTRA is.
She spent most of the spring racing, only being beaten by Doro post slump, and I was soooo looking forward to when she was back on her game to see those two go head to head. Unfortunately his untimely loss just before the fall season started put a kabosh on that, but her and Focus still had some exciting racing. She finished her GRC in the Spring, her SGRC early fall, and picked up a total of 47.50 NRC points for the year and is #1 LGRA Borzoi, #2 hound. . .I sure would've loved to've seen her run against Gossip. . .amongst other greats. .but she's holding her own. . .
Wish i could've gotten her to the AKC Coursing national as well as that she hadn't been in season for the BCOA National, and would've loved to've seen her run the grand national, but she's still young yet, so who knows what the future will bring :)
It's definitely been the year of my little black dog. Next year, we'll start Rally and work on finishing her LCM & FC, and even try Oval in between trips into the show ring. . :) I'm so very proud of her. . .
Wish i could've gotten her to the AKC Coursing national as well as that she hadn't been in season for the BCOA National, and would've loved to've seen her run the grand national, but she's still young yet, so who knows what the future will bring :)
It's definitely been the year of my little black dog. Next year, we'll start Rally and work on finishing her LCM & FC, and even try Oval in between trips into the show ring. . :) I'm so very proud of her. . .
So, Congrats to my little black dog: MBIF, BIE Mielikki Dir Shepard at SIlkenswift FCH, SGRC
Thursday, October 13, 2011
and the band moves on
Trying to keep myself busy so I don't dwell over Dei's illness. . .I've been enjoying running her daughter Jenny. .Jenny floats over the field, her movement is effortless as she glides. . it is truly beautiful to watch, even more so the way they had the Best in Event laid out for the Regional. . .the long straight away cut right in front of you and they were close enough you felt like you could touch them as they went by, and Jenny just coasted by like a ghost. I'm so glad Bonnie told me not to sell her. She is the more confident runner of the two girls, Ziva is soft and has a bullseye on her butt for a**hole boys, Jenny doesn't care. . and exudes confidence on the field and off the field.
She has also brought excitement back to the race track. . .since Gossip died, there have really not been close racing, but now she and her cousin Focus are reminiscent of Gossip & Focus's fueding. . it's a guess who comes across the line first, especially since with muzzles on, you have no clue which black face is which as they come barreling down the track at you. We've been joking Jenny's only been winning cuz her head is slightly longer, cuz it sometimes is Jenny literally by a 'nose'. . .those two are usually shoulder to shoulder, like an 8 legged canine version of Odin's Sleipnir, with Focus occasionally eeking out a race win, but not the meet win.
Bella's been coming out, now that she's learned to use her legs. I look forward to getting her out coursing next year. Unfortunately, she's inherited her mother's short seasons, but we'll squeeze as many events as we can in the 5.5 months she's not in season.
We tried GIbbs, unfortunately trying to find the right combo for a test dog scenario is hard. .either the dogs got a better break then him and he didn't get close enough to see, or he got the break and took off. .. we tried him, but he bounced off of Secret and i'm not sure if it was purposeful or not, so pulled him til I can figure out a way to set him up. . .
Frankie got to run, and he's going to be a ball. Such a sweet goober boy, he got away and was pouncing on the pieces of bunny that had fallen off on the track, pieces of plastic about a quarter wide, he then turned and saw me and the OH MOM!! Lightbulb came on. Ran him thru the box, and he wasn't bothered by it at all. We'll work on the box some more this weekend, and he'll go for his QC next month if luck is with me. . in no hurry, he's a year old, I've got 2.5 and almost 2 yr olds to run, but you definitely can tell who he's linebred on.
And then Ms Bounce. . who is a trip, and is constantly making me laugh. Put her in the box, before we got the door down, she was coming out from between her back legs. .. shut the door, she was facing forward, opened the front door, she was backwards LOL But she turned and was off like a bullet tearing off down the field. She is such a sweet easy going baby girl. She and Frankie remind me a lot of grins, so will have to take it easy with both of them
Otherwise trying to acclimate to the sudden drops in temperature. .we froze at the REgional first weekend in October, it was snowing on the way home. .. following weekend it's warm enough for shorts. . yep, fall is here in the mid atlantic region
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
more fun in the mud
I don't remember coursing in such nasty weather as I've been doing lately. . .LOL. . weather in MD has been hit or miss, at least it's not gotten hot as fast as it did last year, still perfect weather for Zoi, even if it's miserable weather for us humans.
Saturday was horrid, with high winds, horridly cold rain. Borrowed the van which was like driving a sail boat with the way it handled the wind. Clouds were ripped across the angry grey sky, trees whipping around in the wind, thankfully not a lot of line problems. Put points on my friend's girl and Mr Wizard, and got a QC on a Mir granddaughter, and was never so happy as when we finally got on the road and started heading home. Lots of flooding, with a local dog show being cancelled due to it and the photos I saw of that were horrendous, show hall beyond flooded!
Parking was fun due to the field being soaked to the gills. . I left before a lot of people, so not sure if anyone got stuck LOL
Sunday started out with high winds and an overcast sky, but quickly changed to cleared skies and pretty nice weather.
Ziva proved she enjoyed the mud by putting on four spectacular runs. . not because I ran her for field, but becuase I handed her off to someone and in her thrashing, she managed to get loose while the 2nd course of FC's were running. Thankfully she was wearing the missing blanket(blue), and wasn't trailing her leash. As I walked off the field with her and Wizard, was told it was one of the best courses people had seen LOL. . Didn't make up for the fact I'd gone 11 years without a dog getting loose LOL After the BOB runoff, she was still raring to go, but I wasn't going to try her a 5th time LOL
After being attacked, she has taken to taking the bunny out to the judge where she feels safe to tear it apart. . I'm not sure if I'm happy about that or not LOL She doesn't run away when I go out to get her, she just doesn't want to be near the other dogs when she shreds her bunny ..turkey child. Many who knew her father told me they could tell she was sired by Grins LOL. Even after four runs, she was still raring to go, but I didn't tempt fate with having her run across the mudpits again. She did get a nice BOB win: 4 point major, with Wizard bringing home the 3 point major from the FC stake.
Unfortunately both my cert dogs came up with a 'hitch to their giddy up', but Charles offered his handsome Serrano who ran well with Miss Jenny, who now has her QC, taking a nose dive in a pool of water, and still getting up to tear across the field and kill her bunny
I sure did not enjoy putting those disgusting dogs in my car. . LOL.
the dogs were flatzois, jenny curled up in the front seat, head draped across my knee, Ziva in the backseat with her head draped over my arm .. not the most comfortable way to drive.
Looking at the next coursing event. . well, that's the II, am toying with the idea of going to some NOTRA, but also looking at AKC events, I have 4 Opens now, so strange to finally break that dry spell.
Unfortunately, Grins is probably retired from competition.. off and on neck problems just bouncing around the yard. . .he doesn't realise at 8.5, he should NOT stop on the top of his head. He'll get to cert dogs now and then and run at our practices, but he more than likely is never going to enter the coursing field again. . maybe NOTRA wont' be as hard on him .. we shall see.
This weekend is our supported entry. Ordered a new knee brace. First show that I've shown in since the knee went CRACK!!! last fall(9 months ago) hopefuly I'll be able to do this without collapsing. Brand new outfit(former outfit doesn't fit anymore!). Dei's in veterans, as I'm very proud of my 10.5 yr old, and Ms Nacht in 12-18, it hopefully will be fun!
Saturday was horrid, with high winds, horridly cold rain. Borrowed the van which was like driving a sail boat with the way it handled the wind. Clouds were ripped across the angry grey sky, trees whipping around in the wind, thankfully not a lot of line problems. Put points on my friend's girl and Mr Wizard, and got a QC on a Mir granddaughter, and was never so happy as when we finally got on the road and started heading home. Lots of flooding, with a local dog show being cancelled due to it and the photos I saw of that were horrendous, show hall beyond flooded!
Parking was fun due to the field being soaked to the gills. . I left before a lot of people, so not sure if anyone got stuck LOL
Sunday started out with high winds and an overcast sky, but quickly changed to cleared skies and pretty nice weather.
Ziva proved she enjoyed the mud by putting on four spectacular runs. . not because I ran her for field, but becuase I handed her off to someone and in her thrashing, she managed to get loose while the 2nd course of FC's were running. Thankfully she was wearing the missing blanket(blue), and wasn't trailing her leash. As I walked off the field with her and Wizard, was told it was one of the best courses people had seen LOL. . Didn't make up for the fact I'd gone 11 years without a dog getting loose LOL After the BOB runoff, she was still raring to go, but I wasn't going to try her a 5th time LOL
After being attacked, she has taken to taking the bunny out to the judge where she feels safe to tear it apart. . I'm not sure if I'm happy about that or not LOL She doesn't run away when I go out to get her, she just doesn't want to be near the other dogs when she shreds her bunny ..turkey child. Many who knew her father told me they could tell she was sired by Grins LOL. Even after four runs, she was still raring to go, but I didn't tempt fate with having her run across the mudpits again. She did get a nice BOB win: 4 point major, with Wizard bringing home the 3 point major from the FC stake.
Unfortunately both my cert dogs came up with a 'hitch to their giddy up', but Charles offered his handsome Serrano who ran well with Miss Jenny, who now has her QC, taking a nose dive in a pool of water, and still getting up to tear across the field and kill her bunny
I sure did not enjoy putting those disgusting dogs in my car. . LOL.
the dogs were flatzois, jenny curled up in the front seat, head draped across my knee, Ziva in the backseat with her head draped over my arm .. not the most comfortable way to drive.
Looking at the next coursing event. . well, that's the II, am toying with the idea of going to some NOTRA, but also looking at AKC events, I have 4 Opens now, so strange to finally break that dry spell.
Unfortunately, Grins is probably retired from competition.. off and on neck problems just bouncing around the yard. . .he doesn't realise at 8.5, he should NOT stop on the top of his head. He'll get to cert dogs now and then and run at our practices, but he more than likely is never going to enter the coursing field again. . maybe NOTRA wont' be as hard on him .. we shall see.
This weekend is our supported entry. Ordered a new knee brace. First show that I've shown in since the knee went CRACK!!! last fall(9 months ago) hopefuly I'll be able to do this without collapsing. Brand new outfit(former outfit doesn't fit anymore!). Dei's in veterans, as I'm very proud of my 10.5 yr old, and Ms Nacht in 12-18, it hopefully will be fun!
Monday, April 11, 2011
mudfest 2011!
OMG. . mudfest 2011 is over.
There was mud
There was water
There was more mud
There was fun
There was more mud :)
I was hoping after the light drizzle last week the field wouldnt' be so bad, but. . .it poured overnight. . and the field was soup. . dogs took nose dives, snorkeled, owners were covered with mud. Numerous hunt masters ended up with mud on their foreheads, I got thru that job clean, it was my own dog that gave me muddy glasses. . .thankfully, I didn't fall :) I remember vividly the year I ended up in the mud with Races standing on my chest looking at me LOL
Going to take me forever to get the mud off of everything, including my poor boots!!
I had a load of fun huntmastering, well until Dart the Greyhound caught the bunny at the far end of the field when the line broke. it took me 5+ minutes to undo the macrome he made out of the line. I truly have no clue WTH he did, but it was a huge mess. Had a few WOW stakes, one RR and one saluki that was just AWESOME.
Ziva proved to everyone that she truly is Grins' daughter by her behaviour at the starting line. . leaping in the air, lunging, almost pulling me into the mud. Unfortunately her first course on Saturday was horrid due to issues. . 1/3 of the way thru the course, someone's whippet got loose. . we traipsed across the field, got the dogs, started it, damn whippet got loose AGAIN. Ziva had bumped the other dog trying to get to the line, so I told her I'd hold her back so she couldn't do it again(she was yellow, he was pink). Hunt master Tally-ho'd, I'm holding a squirming, jumping, fighting Ziva, and the male didn't move, I finally let her loose, and he chased her across the field. When she pulled away, he cut the field, and cut her off, causing her to stop. She looked for me and he chased her across the field. . thankfully the judge did the right thing, but it just drives me nuts.
Unfortunately, she was the only open I took who run beautifully, but then, she's the only one I (or Bonnie) had who isn't recently out of season LOL I miss the days where I had nothing but boys to run. We will be working with Gibbs this spring in hopes that he'll be ready to run this fall, because running girls STINKS LOL My step dog is visiting while his dad is in China and he'll be out running with me this spring, working on his LCM. Saturday he won his FC stake of three with a runoff, Ziva forfeited BOB to him, and then he went on to win a nice BIF run, a really nice run. Sunday,
Daquiri & Reba went with us instead of Tip & Bella. Daquiri is Mir's granddaughter, so family :) beautiful bright red brindle girl that I could steal. Little tank girl. And my friend Erin & I had a blast holding the two squirming, jumping, twirling, happy girls who REALLY WANTED THAT FREAKIN bunny LOL Thankfully neither of us ended up in the mud, not that you could tell with all the mud I had from huntmastering!
Ziva pleased me to no end by suddenly coming in hard on the bunny, then she snatched the bunny off the line, went out to stand in front of the judge, and shredded it. He was laughing when I tromped out there to get her and when I said she was Grins' daughter, he started laughing more. The run between her and Daquiri was GORGEOUS. . Ziva's got a little advantage with being longer legs, but it was a beautiful run, wish there'd been a photographer.
Wizard won his stake, but slowed down considerably at the end and was obviously sore, so I forfeited breed to Ziva who was raring to go, she's in better shape, but we're working on that with Wiz, that's part of why he's with me, getting in shape for the II.
Unfortunately, in Ziva's BIF run, she was attacked by the saluki, I wasn't sure that's what I saw, until the LO and huntmaster said they saw it,(as did numerous people who came up to me from field side) unfortunately one judge thought Ziva just 'got in the way' of the saluki, the other didn't see it. . she slowed off the bunny after that, and if the other dog was near it, wouldn't get close. .frustrating. . will have to make sure she gets some good experience with nice salukis be fore we try again.
OTOH, it seems like she's gotten over being afraid of men after a large tall, gruff gentleman scared the crap out of her last fall chasing her and yelling at her at a race meet when she got away from him. She was being nudgy to anyone who got close, she's still soft, and I won't let someone like that handle her again, but so glad she was being pushy for ear scritches and attention, even if she does like to rip bunnies off the line:)
So, Ziva finished the weekend with her 2 1sts, Daquiri got 12 points and a 2nd, and Wizard his last placements towards his LCM. We head to AKC coursing this weekend, a bunch of QC's to do!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Happy Holidays
Well, I got a semi decent xmas: Didn't get what i want, but you can't get them back once they're gone. . .but it was semi decent
Secret's DM:
1st. The Wait is OVER!!!
I hate waiting
I am not the most patient being
So, when I sent in Secret's OFA DM test 12/3, the next three weeks were hell on my nerves
Why?
Because the results of this test could so affect the choice of stud dog, my first choice may or may not be a carrier since his grandfather sired a number of carriers, so it was really important to me to get these results.
She's not due in til March/April, but I wanted to do the test ASAP. .not sure when the stud dog owner'll do him. . but now I know it doesn't matter for breeding purposes who I will breed her to. . as she's clear :) So as I said in my previous post, even if he's a carrier or hell, an affected, I will use him.
Now to work on the older dogs. Not that I'm going to breed any of them except maybe Grins again, but the more dogs we have tested, the better idea we have of the gene pool. . and well, Grins' mirror cousin is an "at risk", so a bit worried there and Dei's half sister was a carrier, soo it is important. . .Also helps clear litters(The holiday & NCIS litter)
A load of my mind, just in time for xmas.. .not that I didn't have other loads to occupy my mind:
2nd
Poor Dei had a strange wart pop up. I thought it was a tick, yeah, I know, WTH was I thinking, a tick in December? But that's what it looked like. . so THursday Bonnie took her to the vet's(I couldn't get off work the day before a holiday), and I waited on pins and needles. She's 10, so anything odd comes up I will be a worry wart(Excuse the pun LOL). Thankfully Dr Knickman says it's just a skin tag, but we're having it removed when she goes in for a dental next month. He said she looks really good for a 10 yr old. I have to say, she looks way better than her mom did at this age. Lost Kyra at 10 yrs, 3 months, the way Dei looks, she is going to live beyond that, barring anything going wrong, you can never tell. She's currently enjoying life as a house dog. Too many old dogs in the dog kitchen, and she's too naked to be a yard dog, so she's been guarding my desk at night, and she's holding the floor down quite well!!
3rd:
Two Fridays ago, I noticed the heat sensor on the car was fluctuating. . and not just slightly, it would raise up to half way, drop down, raise up, drop, all while just driving in town, wasn't doing anything extreme with it. Came straight home, took it to the Car Vet the following Monday, and got the bad news: Head Gasket. . .the early Neons were known for bad head gaskets, damn Dodge never did a recall on it, even tho it is a widely known problem. Thankfully, the Car isn't going to cost me anywhere near as much as I'd worried, even with a new timing belt, water pump and the headgasket. .and hopefully I will get it back Monday and it'll last me another 50K. . .not that it didn't ruin Xmas, but oh well. It's my 13 yr old car and only has 76k on it, can't complain too bad.
And the last tidbit that wasn't a worry, but made xmas a decent one. . I now have 4 opens to run. . we held a practice yesterday, and Ms Nacht & Bratty Bella got their ASFA Certs. Bella looked really great, running like a little blond adult. Bonnie looked at me after Bella came off the field, totally ignoring her yardmate who was a little brat and tried to play with her and asked "You're keeping that one, right?" Oh yeah. . .most definitely, keen as Grandpa Brooks and great uncle Grins. . .it'll give me something to do with that one until she matures, she's currently very very coltish, vs Nacht who is looking much more mature.
Depending on weather, will go get their QC's next weekend, but that gives me Ziva, Jenny and the two girls(And Reba when she's not in season) to run. After not having an open dog to run since Grins back in 2004, it's soo nice to have a few . LOL Secret had a nice practice too, shocked BOnnie with the speed on the straight(did an almost 200 yds straight then turns), look forward to getting her out some more before she comes into season. We'll try Aurora next time(My knee said no more in the cold wind) and maybe Gibbs now that he's had time to mentally mature. It was a lot of fun running the lure again, ran it for a Shihtzu, a Samoyed puppy as well as a crapload of Afghans and our BOrzoi.
4th:
I think I have a new OB dog. .Jenny. . this bitch has learned to open the dutch door. .. so, next month, we will start Rally and agility training as my knee allows LOL. . .she's unfortunately a house dog at night due to her neck injury(Think she got T-boned by her idiot brother), she doesn't have the undercoat the others have and with subfreezing weather, she'd be a Jennycicle. . .this morning, she let ALL the old dogs into the house. .too smart for her own good. Maybe we'll start doing some training tomorrow LOL
Had a quite day at home, usually go for a walk on xmas, but no car meant we took a nap and just relaxed. . .tomorrow we might get hit with snow, oh joy, I was so hoping none this year LOl
Hope everyone had a safe happy holiday
Secret's DM:
1st. The Wait is OVER!!!
I hate waiting
I am not the most patient being
So, when I sent in Secret's OFA DM test 12/3, the next three weeks were hell on my nerves
Why?
Because the results of this test could so affect the choice of stud dog, my first choice may or may not be a carrier since his grandfather sired a number of carriers, so it was really important to me to get these results.
She's not due in til March/April, but I wanted to do the test ASAP. .not sure when the stud dog owner'll do him. . but now I know it doesn't matter for breeding purposes who I will breed her to. . as she's clear :) So as I said in my previous post, even if he's a carrier or hell, an affected, I will use him.
Now to work on the older dogs. Not that I'm going to breed any of them except maybe Grins again, but the more dogs we have tested, the better idea we have of the gene pool. . and well, Grins' mirror cousin is an "at risk", so a bit worried there and Dei's half sister was a carrier, soo it is important. . .Also helps clear litters(The holiday & NCIS litter)
A load of my mind, just in time for xmas.. .not that I didn't have other loads to occupy my mind:
2nd
Poor Dei had a strange wart pop up. I thought it was a tick, yeah, I know, WTH was I thinking, a tick in December? But that's what it looked like. . so THursday Bonnie took her to the vet's(I couldn't get off work the day before a holiday), and I waited on pins and needles. She's 10, so anything odd comes up I will be a worry wart(Excuse the pun LOL). Thankfully Dr Knickman says it's just a skin tag, but we're having it removed when she goes in for a dental next month. He said she looks really good for a 10 yr old. I have to say, she looks way better than her mom did at this age. Lost Kyra at 10 yrs, 3 months, the way Dei looks, she is going to live beyond that, barring anything going wrong, you can never tell. She's currently enjoying life as a house dog. Too many old dogs in the dog kitchen, and she's too naked to be a yard dog, so she's been guarding my desk at night, and she's holding the floor down quite well!!
3rd:
Two Fridays ago, I noticed the heat sensor on the car was fluctuating. . and not just slightly, it would raise up to half way, drop down, raise up, drop, all while just driving in town, wasn't doing anything extreme with it. Came straight home, took it to the Car Vet the following Monday, and got the bad news: Head Gasket. . .the early Neons were known for bad head gaskets, damn Dodge never did a recall on it, even tho it is a widely known problem. Thankfully, the Car isn't going to cost me anywhere near as much as I'd worried, even with a new timing belt, water pump and the headgasket. .and hopefully I will get it back Monday and it'll last me another 50K. . .not that it didn't ruin Xmas, but oh well. It's my 13 yr old car and only has 76k on it, can't complain too bad.
And the last tidbit that wasn't a worry, but made xmas a decent one. . I now have 4 opens to run. . we held a practice yesterday, and Ms Nacht & Bratty Bella got their ASFA Certs. Bella looked really great, running like a little blond adult. Bonnie looked at me after Bella came off the field, totally ignoring her yardmate who was a little brat and tried to play with her and asked "You're keeping that one, right?" Oh yeah. . .most definitely, keen as Grandpa Brooks and great uncle Grins. . .it'll give me something to do with that one until she matures, she's currently very very coltish, vs Nacht who is looking much more mature.
Depending on weather, will go get their QC's next weekend, but that gives me Ziva, Jenny and the two girls(And Reba when she's not in season) to run. After not having an open dog to run since Grins back in 2004, it's soo nice to have a few . LOL Secret had a nice practice too, shocked BOnnie with the speed on the straight(did an almost 200 yds straight then turns), look forward to getting her out some more before she comes into season. We'll try Aurora next time(My knee said no more in the cold wind) and maybe Gibbs now that he's had time to mentally mature. It was a lot of fun running the lure again, ran it for a Shihtzu, a Samoyed puppy as well as a crapload of Afghans and our BOrzoi.
4th:
I think I have a new OB dog. .Jenny. . this bitch has learned to open the dutch door. .. so, next month, we will start Rally and agility training as my knee allows LOL. . .she's unfortunately a house dog at night due to her neck injury(Think she got T-boned by her idiot brother), she doesn't have the undercoat the others have and with subfreezing weather, she'd be a Jennycicle. . .this morning, she let ALL the old dogs into the house. .too smart for her own good. Maybe we'll start doing some training tomorrow LOL
Had a quite day at home, usually go for a walk on xmas, but no car meant we took a nap and just relaxed. . .tomorrow we might get hit with snow, oh joy, I was so hoping none this year LOl
Hope everyone had a safe happy holiday
Friday, September 10, 2010
Fall has sprung
Fall season has commenced. Just about every weekend between now and middle of December you can find some sort of doggy event to attend, whatever you want, you can probably find something to do.
The last two weekends have been LGRA and it's been so much fun watchign Ziva & Tip 'grow' on the field.
Ziva continues to improve with each meet, she is now more like her mom than a wilting wall flower. . willing to solicite attention, sometimes bossingly LOL And boy does she WANT TO RUN. Soon as the blanket and muzzle are on, she's dragging her handler to the box, tho she does have this annoying habit of flipping over and trying to get her blanket off, for whatever reason. Last weekend, she threw a tantrum on me for not putting her in the box that was open, a bit improvement from back in June where she refused to box unless I picked her up and threw her in!
Ms Tipperary is also improving. When I'd started the cookie reward, she started slowing down coming over the finish line. . but something clicked in her little needle head this weekend, and she finished the last four races of the weekend in great running form. She's not as fast as some of her kennel mates, but she's becoming a lot of fun to run, happy go lucky, very silly, other than for the desire to think her fuzzy butt belongs in the front seat.
One of my favorte memories of two weekends ago was running the lure for the two Chart polski pups that are now entering the racing venue. .they're not much younger than Ziva and crew, but watching the two sibs and the way they are learnign to use their bodies was very interesting. . Maisie is already running like a little adult, while her big brother has no idea where his rear end is, and was very ungainly, but there were shadows of the powerhouse runner he's goign to be once he grows into his long legs.
Last weekend Ms Ziva became Mielikki's LIason Officer Ziva David GRC, the first puppy to be titled in her litter, and Gossip continued making history by becoming the first Borzoi and only the 7th all breed SGRC5. Unfortunately, I screwed my knee up badly at the dog show yesterday and not sure how much more i'll be doing this fall, the MRI will tell
The last two weekends have been LGRA and it's been so much fun watchign Ziva & Tip 'grow' on the field.
Ziva continues to improve with each meet, she is now more like her mom than a wilting wall flower. . willing to solicite attention, sometimes bossingly LOL And boy does she WANT TO RUN. Soon as the blanket and muzzle are on, she's dragging her handler to the box, tho she does have this annoying habit of flipping over and trying to get her blanket off, for whatever reason. Last weekend, she threw a tantrum on me for not putting her in the box that was open, a bit improvement from back in June where she refused to box unless I picked her up and threw her in!
Ms Tipperary is also improving. When I'd started the cookie reward, she started slowing down coming over the finish line. . but something clicked in her little needle head this weekend, and she finished the last four races of the weekend in great running form. She's not as fast as some of her kennel mates, but she's becoming a lot of fun to run, happy go lucky, very silly, other than for the desire to think her fuzzy butt belongs in the front seat.
One of my favorte memories of two weekends ago was running the lure for the two Chart polski pups that are now entering the racing venue. .they're not much younger than Ziva and crew, but watching the two sibs and the way they are learnign to use their bodies was very interesting. . Maisie is already running like a little adult, while her big brother has no idea where his rear end is, and was very ungainly, but there were shadows of the powerhouse runner he's goign to be once he grows into his long legs.
Last weekend Ms Ziva became Mielikki's LIason Officer Ziva David GRC, the first puppy to be titled in her litter, and Gossip continued making history by becoming the first Borzoi and only the 7th all breed SGRC5. Unfortunately, I screwed my knee up badly at the dog show yesterday and not sure how much more i'll be doing this fall, the MRI will tell
Friday, August 13, 2010
By George I think she's got it!
Well, I sure the heck didn't expect this soo soon.
Went racing this weekend, first race meet since 6/16-6/20, almost 7 wks of dealing with oppressive(for our area!) heat that resulted in a herd of normally athletic Borzoi turning into giant shag slugs, except for the young and the stupid who's brains don't engage. Loaded the car up with 5 girls, the ez-up, a cooler and water for the Dogs, and headed out on what started out as one of the nicest mornings in a long time!
I'd been working with Ms Tip on behaving after the finish line with the power of CHEESE!!! She is oh so very food oriented, and it seemed to've worked, as this weekend she would trot a circle around me then come in for cheese. No panic attacks cuz she headed for the Jersey shores, nada! She did pull up on Saturday and slowly galloped across the line, not sure if she was anticipating the cheese.**
There was some nice racing, with one of Gossip's top peers coming on Saturday, unfortunately there was some strange ass racing too LOL First race First beat Gossip & Mrs Peel. . usually First can't TOUCH either one of them. WTH? Second race Gossip came back and beat First, MRs peel was in the cofeature and won that one. Last race, it was Gossip, Mrs Peel and First pulled up and came off the field, owie. . .slightly slipped pad. . not as bad as one of the other girls that came with Mrs Peel, but enough for her to go NOPE!!!
Ziva-doll made my weekend. She is not pleased with the box, but if people tell her too bad, she'll go ok, here I go. . from what I was told, she's got the box breaking down pat and solid, much like her papa, who even at almost 8, usually gets the break on EVERYONE he's with. She was not bothered by the wailing and screaming of Leans, who can scare a dog She moved into High Point after the first race, poor thing, and got her butt promptly trounced. . ended up placing 4th out of 9 for another point. Gossip won the meet, for 3 more points towards her SGRCV.
Sunday, left Ms First home and brought Jenny for her first meet, to the unhappy howls from her daddy, her cousin Carrot, her uncle Eros, her brother LOL All who wanted to go with us.
A little warmer, but not intolerable with the wonderful access to onsite water.
First race was Tipperary & Jenny, who's still learning how to break and is 2 months out of season. . .so running like a slug! But she ran well. Then it was high point Borzoi. . and across the line. . it's Ziva? Yes, my little brindle child beat my not so fluffy white one. . .check Gossip over, make sure there's no owie, don't see anything obvious, put them up.
Second race, it's Reba & Jenny, with Reba winning that race. And then it's. . Ziva again, with Gossip on her shoulder. . to be overjoyed or sad to see the passing of the guard, not sure. . .my friend said "remember, if you'd bred Gossip, she'd've only had those puppies 4 wks ago" OK, maybe that's it.
Last race, Tip slowed down for some reason and Jenny passed her, which tickled me pink, clean running by the newb! And then HP Borzoi all slowed down, still galloping, just not as hard, WTF? Gossip won that race. . walked them out, hosed Gossip down, and she's standing odd in the rear. . walk ehr out, and yep, a slightly not quite there gimp. . she got loaded into Uncle Jim's AC'd car, to sprawl out in luxury and head home.
Ziva won the meet. . was it luck, or is she faster and Gossip's slowing down? We'll know in a month or so. . .Tho Gossip will turn 6 in a month. I was very pleased with my little brindle monster. . as well as her dark sister. Ziva's now got 8.5 points towards her GRC, and Jenny picked up her first point. .well half a point, she tied with Tip. LOL.
Seeing a way a competitor in another breed has treated dogs belonging to her peers in that breed, i'm so happy that I have such great friends willing to take my youngsters to the box, be firm but not abusive with them. Everyone has made it enjoyable for them. And taht's made a big difference!
Saturday is another show for Bella-Boo, then Sunday if I'm up to it, Ziva's going coursing!!!! Can't wait to get her there and on the oval track next month! :)
All and all, a great weekend!
**I later gave Gossip a bath to try and knock out as much of the blowing coat as I could, and when she ran in the front field to dry off, she came up lame and with a bloody foot. She must've started running her pad off and tried to compensate for it at racing, and the bath soften it enough to tear it off. This fall shall be interesting on the racing field, to say the least!
Went racing this weekend, first race meet since 6/16-6/20, almost 7 wks of dealing with oppressive(for our area!) heat that resulted in a herd of normally athletic Borzoi turning into giant shag slugs, except for the young and the stupid who's brains don't engage. Loaded the car up with 5 girls, the ez-up, a cooler and water for the Dogs, and headed out on what started out as one of the nicest mornings in a long time!
I'd been working with Ms Tip on behaving after the finish line with the power of CHEESE!!! She is oh so very food oriented, and it seemed to've worked, as this weekend she would trot a circle around me then come in for cheese. No panic attacks cuz she headed for the Jersey shores, nada! She did pull up on Saturday and slowly galloped across the line, not sure if she was anticipating the cheese.**
There was some nice racing, with one of Gossip's top peers coming on Saturday, unfortunately there was some strange ass racing too LOL First race First beat Gossip & Mrs Peel. . usually First can't TOUCH either one of them. WTH? Second race Gossip came back and beat First, MRs peel was in the cofeature and won that one. Last race, it was Gossip, Mrs Peel and First pulled up and came off the field, owie. . .slightly slipped pad. . not as bad as one of the other girls that came with Mrs Peel, but enough for her to go NOPE!!!
Ziva-doll made my weekend. She is not pleased with the box, but if people tell her too bad, she'll go ok, here I go. . from what I was told, she's got the box breaking down pat and solid, much like her papa, who even at almost 8, usually gets the break on EVERYONE he's with. She was not bothered by the wailing and screaming of Leans, who can scare a dog She moved into High Point after the first race, poor thing, and got her butt promptly trounced. . ended up placing 4th out of 9 for another point. Gossip won the meet, for 3 more points towards her SGRCV.
Sunday, left Ms First home and brought Jenny for her first meet, to the unhappy howls from her daddy, her cousin Carrot, her uncle Eros, her brother LOL All who wanted to go with us.
A little warmer, but not intolerable with the wonderful access to onsite water.
First race was Tipperary & Jenny, who's still learning how to break and is 2 months out of season. . .so running like a slug! But she ran well. Then it was high point Borzoi. . and across the line. . it's Ziva? Yes, my little brindle child beat my not so fluffy white one. . .check Gossip over, make sure there's no owie, don't see anything obvious, put them up.
Second race, it's Reba & Jenny, with Reba winning that race. And then it's. . Ziva again, with Gossip on her shoulder. . to be overjoyed or sad to see the passing of the guard, not sure. . .my friend said "remember, if you'd bred Gossip, she'd've only had those puppies 4 wks ago" OK, maybe that's it.
Last race, Tip slowed down for some reason and Jenny passed her, which tickled me pink, clean running by the newb! And then HP Borzoi all slowed down, still galloping, just not as hard, WTF? Gossip won that race. . walked them out, hosed Gossip down, and she's standing odd in the rear. . walk ehr out, and yep, a slightly not quite there gimp. . she got loaded into Uncle Jim's AC'd car, to sprawl out in luxury and head home.
Ziva won the meet. . was it luck, or is she faster and Gossip's slowing down? We'll know in a month or so. . .Tho Gossip will turn 6 in a month. I was very pleased with my little brindle monster. . as well as her dark sister. Ziva's now got 8.5 points towards her GRC, and Jenny picked up her first point. .well half a point, she tied with Tip. LOL.
Seeing a way a competitor in another breed has treated dogs belonging to her peers in that breed, i'm so happy that I have such great friends willing to take my youngsters to the box, be firm but not abusive with them. Everyone has made it enjoyable for them. And taht's made a big difference!
Saturday is another show for Bella-Boo, then Sunday if I'm up to it, Ziva's going coursing!!!! Can't wait to get her there and on the oval track next month! :)
All and all, a great weekend!
**I later gave Gossip a bath to try and knock out as much of the blowing coat as I could, and when she ran in the front field to dry off, she came up lame and with a bloody foot. She must've started running her pad off and tried to compensate for it at racing, and the bath soften it enough to tear it off. This fall shall be interesting on the racing field, to say the least!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Practice!
As I'm attempting to stay cool in the horridly hot weather we are receiving, I thought I might catch up on my blog :)
Last weekend I packed Ziva, Reba (Mielikki-Mandolin's Pahu Pahu JC GRC), First (Celeritas Bellatrix of Silkenswift GRC), Gibbs(dork boy extra-ordinaire) and Aurora & Bella in my friend's van, and headed up to NJ for a QC/JC/Practice. The club was holding the QC/JC's early, unlike the local club who does it after the event, thus making it the hottest part of the day for a young dog, and it was our first chance to do so, so I really wanted to get out and see.
Got there about 8:30 and it was already getting warm. Ugh, set the xpen up for the babies, left the other dogs in the AC car and waited our turn.
AKC changed rules earlier this year for entering Open. Originally, all you had to do is get your JC(Junior Courser) and you could run in the regular event, even tho they did recommend you practice with other dogs. Unfortunately, there were people who thought JC meant they were ok to run in Open, and jumped the part about practice runs to make sure your dogs ran clean. I personally have made sure to have an ASFA Cert paperwork in hand before ever running in open, but not everyone was as conscientious. The QC(Qualifying Courser) is essentially the same as the Asfa Cert, and makes people get that practice run in before running open.
So, poor Reba got to be the QC dog for both Ziva & First, everything else we have is too old or in season LOL She handled it well, even tho she's in her slump from her season. She's a good silly red head.
I wasn't sure if Ziva would run, but she shocked me. Her practice we'd had last spring hadn't been quite as good as I'd hoped, but her QC run was really nice, even with Reba playing field cheater, she totally ignored her, and kept going. She's back to being a bit unsure with another dog, but I'll just make sure to run her with some known clean dogs for awhile, and definitely not Lemans or Serrano who scream LOL She is soo much like her mother in softness.
First's run was brilliant, and she will do her breeder proud if she runs like she did. THe judge was very complimentary of both the girls.
Gibbs had quite a decent JC run. I chose a JC with him, as he suffers ADHD right now. Silly, happy, dorkie as hell puppy, his brain doesn't stay on one subject for longer than a few seconds. He needs some focusing work, and will continue running by himself for awhile.
Then I got the babies out.
Aurora's going to make someone a great dog, she is not afraid of anything, went right up to the RR puppy who was bigger than her and play bowed, bounced off his head, and didn't get worried when an older pup joined in. She thought the entire crowd was there for her. She shmoozed, made lots of friends and jsut had a grand old time.
Bella's more suspicious, not afraid, but not willing to jump in without looking. By the end of the day, both girls were play bowing to one of Fergie's puppies and having a lot of fun. They met everything from a young litter of RR, to whippets, to RR of all shapes and sizes and age
Then we got to the line, and my sweet little Bella, who has been perfect on leash, became a little hellion, radar ears came up, she lunged at the end of the harness and was just raring to get the bunny. I had no clue if any of these pups would run, as Mom is a tofu dog, she has no desire to chase anything I've tried her on, but Bella was channeling her grandfather Brooks(DC Mandolin-Mielikki's the Dance SC, CD) and WANTED THAT GOSHDARN BUNNY!!!!
I handed Aurora off and slipped Bella, who took off like a bat out of hell, tearing down to the pully, where the bunny stopped, as they're flipping it around, she is bouncing off of it, tearing at it, having a great time, to the point they had to carefully start it to bring back, as she was refusing to let off of it LOL. I truly hope she keeps than enthusiasm and grows up to her potential, as she looks like she's going to be a fun dog.
Handed a very unhappy Bella off and slipped Aurora, who took off also, but when the bunny stopped and didn't move right away, she came back to me. Not a bad thing, Great Uncle Eros is the same way, it's only fun when it moves, but we'll keep working on focus with her.
Put them in the car, where everyone promptly flaked out, and left. I was gone by 11, and it was too darn hot by even then.
Unfortunately, no pics as we rushed thru it all to get done before the heat, but hopefully next time!
Was going to head out coursing this weekend to get Jenny's QC, run Ziva(I hope to have her pointed for the NLCC), but with a heat index of almost 110 expected tomorrow, temps over 90 on Sunday, we will be staying home!
Last weekend I packed Ziva, Reba (Mielikki-Mandolin's Pahu Pahu JC GRC), First (Celeritas Bellatrix of Silkenswift GRC), Gibbs(dork boy extra-ordinaire) and Aurora & Bella in my friend's van, and headed up to NJ for a QC/JC/Practice. The club was holding the QC/JC's early, unlike the local club who does it after the event, thus making it the hottest part of the day for a young dog, and it was our first chance to do so, so I really wanted to get out and see.
Got there about 8:30 and it was already getting warm. Ugh, set the xpen up for the babies, left the other dogs in the AC car and waited our turn.
AKC changed rules earlier this year for entering Open. Originally, all you had to do is get your JC(Junior Courser) and you could run in the regular event, even tho they did recommend you practice with other dogs. Unfortunately, there were people who thought JC meant they were ok to run in Open, and jumped the part about practice runs to make sure your dogs ran clean. I personally have made sure to have an ASFA Cert paperwork in hand before ever running in open, but not everyone was as conscientious. The QC(Qualifying Courser) is essentially the same as the Asfa Cert, and makes people get that practice run in before running open.
So, poor Reba got to be the QC dog for both Ziva & First, everything else we have is too old or in season LOL She handled it well, even tho she's in her slump from her season. She's a good silly red head.
I wasn't sure if Ziva would run, but she shocked me. Her practice we'd had last spring hadn't been quite as good as I'd hoped, but her QC run was really nice, even with Reba playing field cheater, she totally ignored her, and kept going. She's back to being a bit unsure with another dog, but I'll just make sure to run her with some known clean dogs for awhile, and definitely not Lemans or Serrano who scream LOL She is soo much like her mother in softness.
First's run was brilliant, and she will do her breeder proud if she runs like she did. THe judge was very complimentary of both the girls.
Gibbs had quite a decent JC run. I chose a JC with him, as he suffers ADHD right now. Silly, happy, dorkie as hell puppy, his brain doesn't stay on one subject for longer than a few seconds. He needs some focusing work, and will continue running by himself for awhile.
Then I got the babies out.
Aurora's going to make someone a great dog, she is not afraid of anything, went right up to the RR puppy who was bigger than her and play bowed, bounced off his head, and didn't get worried when an older pup joined in. She thought the entire crowd was there for her. She shmoozed, made lots of friends and jsut had a grand old time.
Bella's more suspicious, not afraid, but not willing to jump in without looking. By the end of the day, both girls were play bowing to one of Fergie's puppies and having a lot of fun. They met everything from a young litter of RR, to whippets, to RR of all shapes and sizes and age
Then we got to the line, and my sweet little Bella, who has been perfect on leash, became a little hellion, radar ears came up, she lunged at the end of the harness and was just raring to get the bunny. I had no clue if any of these pups would run, as Mom is a tofu dog, she has no desire to chase anything I've tried her on, but Bella was channeling her grandfather Brooks(DC Mandolin-Mielikki's the Dance SC, CD) and WANTED THAT GOSHDARN BUNNY!!!!
I handed Aurora off and slipped Bella, who took off like a bat out of hell, tearing down to the pully, where the bunny stopped, as they're flipping it around, she is bouncing off of it, tearing at it, having a great time, to the point they had to carefully start it to bring back, as she was refusing to let off of it LOL. I truly hope she keeps than enthusiasm and grows up to her potential, as she looks like she's going to be a fun dog.
Handed a very unhappy Bella off and slipped Aurora, who took off also, but when the bunny stopped and didn't move right away, she came back to me. Not a bad thing, Great Uncle Eros is the same way, it's only fun when it moves, but we'll keep working on focus with her.
Put them in the car, where everyone promptly flaked out, and left. I was gone by 11, and it was too darn hot by even then.
Unfortunately, no pics as we rushed thru it all to get done before the heat, but hopefully next time!
Was going to head out coursing this weekend to get Jenny's QC, run Ziva(I hope to have her pointed for the NLCC), but with a heat index of almost 110 expected tomorrow, temps over 90 on Sunday, we will be staying home!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Yeah for the end of june
The heat has finally broken here in MD, at least temporarily. . I so enjoyed watching the Borzoi riproar around this morning, pouncing, trouncing, leaping, flying, bowing, playing, Reba & Gossip being silly together, old Lady Dei joining in on the fun, Gibbs & Ziva playing catch me if you can, the dirt stirring in the still morning air.
It has been so horrid, we've done as little as possible, racing was cancelled last weekend, it was 97 here on Monday, it's supposed to be almost 20 degrees cooler today. And it's been this way most of the month, ugh.
Did manage to finish First's & Reba's GRC, all the girls are workign their way out of their post season slump. :P
Ziva joined the ranks of the racing crowd this month. . .she's made me very proud, from being a dog only mom could catch or box(I'd box, then she'd race back down the track to me, first day she raced,s he probably ran 1000 yds!), to a dog anyone can box/catch. I don't usually race first, but used it this time to build her confidence. She is very soft like her mom, and so will be out selectively as long as I know the dogs who are running run COMPLETELY clean, meaning no crap after the finish line either!, which I have seen a lot of recently when running with others' dogs.
I won't put up with that crap, and in fact pulled a bitch at the last race meet who was doing that. We're taking care of her for a friend, and another friend is interested in a running dog. This bitch has a wav, ahs ran clean before, but for some reason this time, felt the need to roar at Reba as she came across the line. Thankfully Reba has become oblivious to that crap, but that doesn't mean a thing to me. I do not like it.
Some enjoyable time this month, was spent in the company of an old friend and making a wonderful new friend. Fourteen years ago, I met one of my favorite people in Borzoi: Nancy Hopkins. She came up to me at the San Antonio Cluster, very complimentary of my girl, one of the few people who was. She could teach a lot to people who can't see a dog beyond the breeder/pedigree. . .
She came 'back' into my life after I moved to NY, when I bought the littermate to her beautiful Blue Brindle Pele Daughter. My boy didn't turn out, but taught me a lot, as has my friendship with Nancy.
Nancy's friend (and also a friend of Bonnie's) came up to purchase one of the great grandson's of my Kyra out of a girl bred by Nancy. Nancy took a risk and a lot of flack for breeding to a 'half shefaro' boy. . why a risk? Because people were all lined up to buy a puppy from the 'famous' flyte until they found out who she bred her to. . .Mir's a very nice boy, accomplished, but again, refer to the paragraph to people who can't see a dog beyond the breeder/pedigree. . some people are so blind. She got a really nice litter out of Mir & Flyte, and I know she's proud of them all.
Bonnie's girl First is a pretty, very Kristull looking thing. . .and boy was she happy to see her 'grandma' when Nancy showed up.
When she heard I was going racing last weekend, Nancy brought up First's sister HayLuz to see how she stacked against both her sister & Gossip. And even tho we were up and on the road at five to go racing, Nancy was a great sport about it and heavensent, as we needed the extra hands and it helped in walking dogs out,IMMENSELY.
It was a blast, even if it did get warm and she got to see dogs run she'd wanted to see run(Gossip, First, Tipperary, Grins) and she helped me in training Ziva, who is now half way towards her title and getting better each and everytime. . .
Unfortunately, HayLuz decided to be grumpy, coming across the line roaring at poor Reba, and Nancy did the right thing and pulled her. .. wish other people who have dogs who did this would pull them, as it is intimidating to new dogs and can ruin a soft dog. . .Nancy was good nature about it, Hay Luz was about 4 wks post season, so it could've very well been PMS.
She got to see I wasn't joking on how hard it was to pull Grins off LOL. .
Sunday, even tho she didn't have a dog to run, she was up and with me to the field (We love you Nancy!).We got 17 races done in 3 hrs Sunday, and the track came down fast. And by the end of the day, Ziva was hard to pull off the bunny, so I was very happy over all!
The dogs all got in the van and became carpets. . .it was amazing to see LOL. Not a grumble.
If weather stays as mild as it's supposed to be for Saturday, Ziva will attempt her ASFA Cert. My luck, she'll get it and then come into season LOL. That's exactly what her sister did with her LGRA cert run. .
It has been so horrid, we've done as little as possible, racing was cancelled last weekend, it was 97 here on Monday, it's supposed to be almost 20 degrees cooler today. And it's been this way most of the month, ugh.
Did manage to finish First's & Reba's GRC, all the girls are workign their way out of their post season slump. :P
Ziva joined the ranks of the racing crowd this month. . .she's made me very proud, from being a dog only mom could catch or box(I'd box, then she'd race back down the track to me, first day she raced,s he probably ran 1000 yds!), to a dog anyone can box/catch. I don't usually race first, but used it this time to build her confidence. She is very soft like her mom, and so will be out selectively as long as I know the dogs who are running run COMPLETELY clean, meaning no crap after the finish line either!, which I have seen a lot of recently when running with others' dogs.
I won't put up with that crap, and in fact pulled a bitch at the last race meet who was doing that. We're taking care of her for a friend, and another friend is interested in a running dog. This bitch has a wav, ahs ran clean before, but for some reason this time, felt the need to roar at Reba as she came across the line. Thankfully Reba has become oblivious to that crap, but that doesn't mean a thing to me. I do not like it.
Some enjoyable time this month, was spent in the company of an old friend and making a wonderful new friend. Fourteen years ago, I met one of my favorite people in Borzoi: Nancy Hopkins. She came up to me at the San Antonio Cluster, very complimentary of my girl, one of the few people who was. She could teach a lot to people who can't see a dog beyond the breeder/pedigree. . .
She came 'back' into my life after I moved to NY, when I bought the littermate to her beautiful Blue Brindle Pele Daughter. My boy didn't turn out, but taught me a lot, as has my friendship with Nancy.
Nancy's friend (and also a friend of Bonnie's) came up to purchase one of the great grandson's of my Kyra out of a girl bred by Nancy. Nancy took a risk and a lot of flack for breeding to a 'half shefaro' boy. . why a risk? Because people were all lined up to buy a puppy from the 'famous' flyte until they found out who she bred her to. . .Mir's a very nice boy, accomplished, but again, refer to the paragraph to people who can't see a dog beyond the breeder/pedigree. . some people are so blind. She got a really nice litter out of Mir & Flyte, and I know she's proud of them all.
Bonnie's girl First is a pretty, very Kristull looking thing. . .and boy was she happy to see her 'grandma' when Nancy showed up.
When she heard I was going racing last weekend, Nancy brought up First's sister HayLuz to see how she stacked against both her sister & Gossip. And even tho we were up and on the road at five to go racing, Nancy was a great sport about it and heavensent, as we needed the extra hands and it helped in walking dogs out,IMMENSELY.
It was a blast, even if it did get warm and she got to see dogs run she'd wanted to see run(Gossip, First, Tipperary, Grins) and she helped me in training Ziva, who is now half way towards her title and getting better each and everytime. . .
Unfortunately, HayLuz decided to be grumpy, coming across the line roaring at poor Reba, and Nancy did the right thing and pulled her. .. wish other people who have dogs who did this would pull them, as it is intimidating to new dogs and can ruin a soft dog. . .Nancy was good nature about it, Hay Luz was about 4 wks post season, so it could've very well been PMS.
She got to see I wasn't joking on how hard it was to pull Grins off LOL. .
Sunday, even tho she didn't have a dog to run, she was up and with me to the field (We love you Nancy!).We got 17 races done in 3 hrs Sunday, and the track came down fast. And by the end of the day, Ziva was hard to pull off the bunny, so I was very happy over all!
The dogs all got in the van and became carpets. . .it was amazing to see LOL. Not a grumble.
If weather stays as mild as it's supposed to be for Saturday, Ziva will attempt her ASFA Cert. My luck, she'll get it and then come into season LOL. That's exactly what her sister did with her LGRA cert run. .
Friday, April 30, 2010
training techniques
It is amazing to see the difference in littermates sometimes.
Gibbs is a social butterfly, much like his father, wagging tail, happy to see anyone, not bothered by much. He thought the show last weekend was JUST FOR HIM!! And made sure everyone knew just how happy he was that they had all gathered to see him. He handled the blow dryer fine, handled beign put ont he table well. I just have to bring him DOWN some.
Jenny, OTOH, is much more like their mother, who is very soft, not as confident. Put her on the table, she melts, turn on anysort of machinery, she cringes. .. so I've been working hard to get her over this, to help her emerge from this 'fear period' as the confident young dog she was a few months ago.
After Gibbs made such an ass out of me at our supported entry last week, I entered them both in handling class last night. Jenny has her first show next week. It's a Borzoi specialty, but I will be keeping a tight hand on who she meets, as I've seen some nastiness, usually by males, but sometimes bitches too. Stress, or bad temperament, who knows, I don't want it to ruin a good day for my puppy girl .. well, Bonnie's & my puppy girl.
So, we headed out to class, I arranged to get there early to let Jenny relax a bit. New place, new noises. Taking her out of the car, I put the racing muzzle on Gibbs.
This is a dual purpose action. The more they wear the muzzle, the less likely they are to fight the muzzle when it comes time to start running. He's been very sane about the muzzle, not bothered by it at all. It also keeps them from EATING my car, which their father did. they have plenty of toys,b ut I'd rather be safe than sorry, so thus the muzzle.
Our classes are held basically in a warehouse. It's in a big pole building type building, which can echo, and Jenny wasn't at all sure at first, a bit freaked out, but after making her come in, and getting her thru the strange dogs(why people think it's ok to allow their dogs to lunge towards a strange dog,I have no clue), we went in to visit the Berners and their mom.
I stood conversing with the Owner as Jenny stood next to me, eyes a bit wide at first at being happily greeted by 9 month old Mufasa who knows no strangers, his buddy Montana, and their two mixed breed buddies. . Jenny began relaxing, moving away from my knee, and I kept ignoring her. I know this is just a stage, as she quickly began moving up to the owner and her daughter for scritches, still not happy with the big strange dogs getting too close, but not freaking out, no hysterics, just backing off when they got close, but if they moved away, she moved up to sniff them. Her little body started to relax the longer we were there and I knew she had mentally relaxed when she started stealing toys off the display board LOL. I may end up usign getting new toys(as if my dogs need more toys) as a way to reward her for being a good girl. . as she definitely seems to love her toys.
We then went into class, and she again reverted to a little more nervous, but no stress panting, just this very worried look on her face as our large class congregated waiting for the instructor to get ready. I will say, after seeing some nasty darn dogs in the OB classes I've attended, it was soooo nice to see an entire class of well behaved dogs, ranging from a long haired dachshund puppy, to a Chessie, a Schnauzer, an Aussie, a Golden, Mufasa and Jenny, and a little bit in between. A lot of new faces for Jenny to get used to. We situated ourself towards the beginning of the line, as I wanted her to get used to both following, and being followed by another dog, but didn't want to have to worry about tripping over the littler dogs, so we sandwiched ourselves between the Golden & Mufasa.
And class began. First few steps Jenny was a bit confused, but she settled in quickly, I was soooooo very pleased with how she settled in. No silly antics like her brother either, moved out nicely, no bumping, no looking at me, not freaked out by the golden behind us, tail down, movement nice. . we stopped and I stacked her, and she kept lookign back over her shoulder at me, but otherwise, kept her stack perfect as can be, no other movement, no fidgeting. . .unlike her gawky brother, she is very well put together right now. She didn't give us trouble with checking her bite, and didn't react to being gone over. Our down and back was perfect also. . I was very very shocked. We went around to the end and she began going up to people on either side of us, lookign for treats and scritches, still a bit worried when a strange dog approached her, but as the night went, and I was given a toy by the lovely Golden's owner, she began to really relax enough to pounce on the toy when I tossed it and wag her tail, not a little wag, but a nice wag :) Ending it on a good note, I took her back to the car, switched the muzzle over, and took Gibbs in.
Gibbs is the devil child, just like his father was at this age, and I mean JUST LIKE HIS FATHER. Bounce bounce bounce, head up and looking at me, tail up in the air. Instructor gave me some hints that helped settle him down, some of which I'd started at working at home even before class, and that's walking him until he debounces, then break into a slow trot. .. but I also have to learn how to handle him differently than I've handled dogs for 15 yrs, he is much better if he CAN'T see my hand, vs the other dogs I've always shown with my hand down and in front of their nose if I can keep it there. Just a matter of remembering where to put my hand for each dog.
It's one reason I tend to train my own dogs, this difference in how you handle some dogs. I remember one of my first OB instructors wanted me to give Obie a harsh correction, I stood up to her. . .I knew if I'd done it to Obie, he'd've melted, Gibbs (And his Father, and in some manner Gossip) can handle a harder correction, while Dei, Kani, & Jenny can't, they will melt. Granted, that same instructor almost failed us because Obie didn't recall like a border collie. While another instructor in the same place understood and gave me other ideas to get Obie to do what I wished. .
You have to handle each dog differently, and the best way for their personality! And make it FUN!
Gibbs is a social butterfly, much like his father, wagging tail, happy to see anyone, not bothered by much. He thought the show last weekend was JUST FOR HIM!! And made sure everyone knew just how happy he was that they had all gathered to see him. He handled the blow dryer fine, handled beign put ont he table well. I just have to bring him DOWN some.
Jenny, OTOH, is much more like their mother, who is very soft, not as confident. Put her on the table, she melts, turn on anysort of machinery, she cringes. .. so I've been working hard to get her over this, to help her emerge from this 'fear period' as the confident young dog she was a few months ago.
After Gibbs made such an ass out of me at our supported entry last week, I entered them both in handling class last night. Jenny has her first show next week. It's a Borzoi specialty, but I will be keeping a tight hand on who she meets, as I've seen some nastiness, usually by males, but sometimes bitches too. Stress, or bad temperament, who knows, I don't want it to ruin a good day for my puppy girl .. well, Bonnie's & my puppy girl.
So, we headed out to class, I arranged to get there early to let Jenny relax a bit. New place, new noises. Taking her out of the car, I put the racing muzzle on Gibbs.
This is a dual purpose action. The more they wear the muzzle, the less likely they are to fight the muzzle when it comes time to start running. He's been very sane about the muzzle, not bothered by it at all. It also keeps them from EATING my car, which their father did. they have plenty of toys,b ut I'd rather be safe than sorry, so thus the muzzle.
Our classes are held basically in a warehouse. It's in a big pole building type building, which can echo, and Jenny wasn't at all sure at first, a bit freaked out, but after making her come in, and getting her thru the strange dogs(why people think it's ok to allow their dogs to lunge towards a strange dog,I have no clue), we went in to visit the Berners and their mom.
I stood conversing with the Owner as Jenny stood next to me, eyes a bit wide at first at being happily greeted by 9 month old Mufasa who knows no strangers, his buddy Montana, and their two mixed breed buddies. . Jenny began relaxing, moving away from my knee, and I kept ignoring her. I know this is just a stage, as she quickly began moving up to the owner and her daughter for scritches, still not happy with the big strange dogs getting too close, but not freaking out, no hysterics, just backing off when they got close, but if they moved away, she moved up to sniff them. Her little body started to relax the longer we were there and I knew she had mentally relaxed when she started stealing toys off the display board LOL. I may end up usign getting new toys(as if my dogs need more toys) as a way to reward her for being a good girl. . as she definitely seems to love her toys.
We then went into class, and she again reverted to a little more nervous, but no stress panting, just this very worried look on her face as our large class congregated waiting for the instructor to get ready. I will say, after seeing some nasty darn dogs in the OB classes I've attended, it was soooo nice to see an entire class of well behaved dogs, ranging from a long haired dachshund puppy, to a Chessie, a Schnauzer, an Aussie, a Golden, Mufasa and Jenny, and a little bit in between. A lot of new faces for Jenny to get used to. We situated ourself towards the beginning of the line, as I wanted her to get used to both following, and being followed by another dog, but didn't want to have to worry about tripping over the littler dogs, so we sandwiched ourselves between the Golden & Mufasa.
And class began. First few steps Jenny was a bit confused, but she settled in quickly, I was soooooo very pleased with how she settled in. No silly antics like her brother either, moved out nicely, no bumping, no looking at me, not freaked out by the golden behind us, tail down, movement nice. . we stopped and I stacked her, and she kept lookign back over her shoulder at me, but otherwise, kept her stack perfect as can be, no other movement, no fidgeting. . .unlike her gawky brother, she is very well put together right now. She didn't give us trouble with checking her bite, and didn't react to being gone over. Our down and back was perfect also. . I was very very shocked. We went around to the end and she began going up to people on either side of us, lookign for treats and scritches, still a bit worried when a strange dog approached her, but as the night went, and I was given a toy by the lovely Golden's owner, she began to really relax enough to pounce on the toy when I tossed it and wag her tail, not a little wag, but a nice wag :) Ending it on a good note, I took her back to the car, switched the muzzle over, and took Gibbs in.
Gibbs is the devil child, just like his father was at this age, and I mean JUST LIKE HIS FATHER. Bounce bounce bounce, head up and looking at me, tail up in the air. Instructor gave me some hints that helped settle him down, some of which I'd started at working at home even before class, and that's walking him until he debounces, then break into a slow trot. .. but I also have to learn how to handle him differently than I've handled dogs for 15 yrs, he is much better if he CAN'T see my hand, vs the other dogs I've always shown with my hand down and in front of their nose if I can keep it there. Just a matter of remembering where to put my hand for each dog.
It's one reason I tend to train my own dogs, this difference in how you handle some dogs. I remember one of my first OB instructors wanted me to give Obie a harsh correction, I stood up to her. . .I knew if I'd done it to Obie, he'd've melted, Gibbs (And his Father, and in some manner Gossip) can handle a harder correction, while Dei, Kani, & Jenny can't, they will melt. Granted, that same instructor almost failed us because Obie didn't recall like a border collie. While another instructor in the same place understood and gave me other ideas to get Obie to do what I wished. .
You have to handle each dog differently, and the best way for their personality! And make it FUN!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Gossip & Tony's weekend
One of the hard decisions, hard as in being honest with myself, I've had to make is that I do not do Gossip justice in the ring
The backstabbing nastiness I ran into up in NY/NJ, has really soured me in showing, no not everyone, there were some wonderfully sweet people, but there were some really downright nasty ones. . .and I just don't enjoy it, nor with my health, can I do justice with her, as she can move out. . so I made the decision after seeing Kari Macloskey with Bonnie's AM(who's now moved into Kari's house and heart) and decided to send her out with Kari
I have never used handlers. . .but the show ring is worse for me than the OB ring is. . .I'd much rather have fun with her in the Rally/OB ring than deal with the stress of the show ring. . .Four years away from showing with only dabbling in it, I've forgotten so much about judges. Kari loves to show, Gossip loves her, so it's a match made in heaven. . except I miss my spottled girl.
This weekend was our first weekend apart. . and the house is empty without her bounciness. . .but she's getting loving from Kari and is learning the dog show thing. . .and is coming home pointed in the ring :) She got to dabble in the group ring, was a bit confused of why there was somethinjg other than Zoi in the ring, but otherwise was a very good girl :)
While his cousin was showing, Tony went to his very first I'm entered race meet, and did his owner proud considering he's 13 months and some days old and those long legs don't go all in the same direction sometimes LOL He picked up his first .5 of a GRC point, considering he's running against cousins Kyrie & Ryder, he's got big shots to run against, so it's nothing to sneeze about. Baby Drummer got to practice, ran a Silken puppy into the ground, and schmoozed with his adoring masses, so they both had a wonderful weekend
The backstabbing nastiness I ran into up in NY/NJ, has really soured me in showing, no not everyone, there were some wonderfully sweet people, but there were some really downright nasty ones. . .and I just don't enjoy it, nor with my health, can I do justice with her, as she can move out. . so I made the decision after seeing Kari Macloskey with Bonnie's AM(who's now moved into Kari's house and heart) and decided to send her out with Kari
I have never used handlers. . .but the show ring is worse for me than the OB ring is. . .I'd much rather have fun with her in the Rally/OB ring than deal with the stress of the show ring. . .Four years away from showing with only dabbling in it, I've forgotten so much about judges. Kari loves to show, Gossip loves her, so it's a match made in heaven. . except I miss my spottled girl.
This weekend was our first weekend apart. . and the house is empty without her bounciness. . .but she's getting loving from Kari and is learning the dog show thing. . .and is coming home pointed in the ring :) She got to dabble in the group ring, was a bit confused of why there was somethinjg other than Zoi in the ring, but otherwise was a very good girl :)
While his cousin was showing, Tony went to his very first I'm entered race meet, and did his owner proud considering he's 13 months and some days old and those long legs don't go all in the same direction sometimes LOL He picked up his first .5 of a GRC point, considering he's running against cousins Kyrie & Ryder, he's got big shots to run against, so it's nothing to sneeze about. Baby Drummer got to practice, ran a Silken puppy into the ground, and schmoozed with his adoring masses, so they both had a wonderful weekend
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
march, what a busy month
what a busy week last week was
Started off with a whirlwind trip to NC and back in less than 36 hrs. Ouch. . .left here and the weather was horrid, high winds, cold rain, lost electricity 5 mins after I left. . my poor salt tank got hit, lost my favorite salty. . .will look for another one as soon as the 105 is finished for my birthday :) Tony & gossip in the backseat, Drummer in the crate in the front seat. For an 11 wk old puppy, Drummer was an ANGEL!! A little singing, then I'd hear a huge sigh and flop as he plopped back down. Tony was the perfect little traveler too.
Weather was nasty until we hit the WV/VA border, then it eased up, but still overcast.. VA is lovely, and made me miss NY, but weirdly reminded me more of Germany. There were some great landscapes, but nowhere to pull over and snap a photo, so just enjoyed them as I drove. . once we hit the NC/VA Border, the skies cleared up and the sun came out.
Started off with a whirlwind trip to NC and back in less than 36 hrs. Ouch. . .left here and the weather was horrid, high winds, cold rain, lost electricity 5 mins after I left. . my poor salt tank got hit, lost my favorite salty. . .will look for another one as soon as the 105 is finished for my birthday :) Tony & gossip in the backseat, Drummer in the crate in the front seat. For an 11 wk old puppy, Drummer was an ANGEL!! A little singing, then I'd hear a huge sigh and flop as he plopped back down. Tony was the perfect little traveler too.
Weather was nasty until we hit the WV/VA border, then it eased up, but still overcast.. VA is lovely, and made me miss NY, but weirdly reminded me more of Germany. There were some great landscapes, but nowhere to pull over and snap a photo, so just enjoyed them as I drove. . once we hit the NC/VA Border, the skies cleared up and the sun came out.
Drummer saying hi to Ripple the silken
We finally got there at like 3:30 Saturday. Placed Drummer in the back yard with two silkens, two boxers and a boston, and within 10 mins he was racing around like he'd always been there, totally totally in love with the silken who is 2 wks older but about the same weight.
Brixs & Ripple
Introduced Tony to his new mama and put him in the backyard, where he was surprisingly gentle with the two pups, didn't leave him long or alone, before putting him up for awhile and bringing Gossip in.
Gossip and Manning
Manning, my friend's cat, decided Gossip was THE THING, and kept following her around the house, attacking her tail. She ignored him until he got close, and then he was subjected to the same thing her cats are: a face washing, not impressed, he bolted for a seat and laid in wait until she went to sleep, then he snuck up, and started chewing on her feet. LOL She's such a good girl, she just ignored him.
Got to see the Brooks/Sage kiddo Payton. As puppies, he and Kani were twins, he's gotten more cream/red in his coat now, she's still a very naked silver brindle. He's also huge, especially in comparison to his sisters LOL It was so nice to spend time with his mom, she's an absolute trip and adores the boy.
Payton 4.5 yrs old, sorry, didn't level the camera
Turned around 10 am the next morning and headed home, again, was beautiful until I hit the VA/NC border, then got overcast. The Potomac was horridly overflooded, brown rapids with thick chocolate caps as it crashed along its beds. really wish I could've pulled over to take a photo, as it was gorgeous, but alas, nowhere safe to pull over and with a promise of a nice dinner at my favorite restuarant was just wanting to get home.
Bella brat getting the bunny
Got home and I SWEAR those girls doubled in size while I was gone. They were not happy with the rain, first day in the boarding kennel, and refused to go outside to potty, but the rest of the week was gorgeous and they have been very good little monsters, going outside to play and potty. I am so very pleased.
Even better, they've met other breeds, including some border terrorists, that bark bark bark, and the girls are NOT at all bothered by them, bouncing around to say hi to them. My attempts to make them bomb proof is really seeming to work, as even Drummer has not been phased by much in his new home.
Joy meeting her uncle Misha, who she'll be living with
Friday I visited with Joy's new home and then repacked my car, removing over 20 toys from the trunk, collection that has grown for 8 yrs from when Obie was running and winning so much to Gossip's toys, what Surya hasn't stolen that is lOL I now have room back there!! WOW!!! :) Went to bed, and tried to sleep.
Gossip saying hi to a Fergie Puppy
It's cheaper with my car for me to drive and back then try to find a hotel in NJ for under $50 a night that accepts dogs. OTOH, I hate getting up that early. 4:30 rolls around and I SOOO do not want to get up. Gossip was up and ready, so much like her uncle Obie in that aspect, if it were a show date, she'd know somehow and not be ready LOL. Load the car up with dogs and head out.
I dressed in layers, but those layers came off as soon as I got there. Some people looked at me like I was nuts, but by 10 they were telling me I was the smart one LOL It was a beautiful almost 80 degree day, clear sky, beautiful field, nice entry of 11 zoi after one of the FTE failed her training run.
Lots of great races across the breeds, with dogs making the line judges job hard, but for the most part, beautiful clean racing all day long. The high point races with Orleans, Focus, Gossip, Mrs Peel & Padua were amazing(no, not all at once, but they all ended up in high point at least once). Gossip kept fooling with Focus' mind by letting her lead til the last 20 yds, where she'd suddenly put on a burst of speed and cross the line pulling away from her competition. She has started a new HORRID technique at the end that involves throwing herself down on her side on top of the bunny and sliding into home base. And yet again, she decided to macrame herself with the line. Enough to make you shudder the way she does it.
Jim Saklad got some awesome shots I'll post as soon as I get them, including a series where you see Focus is ahead and then see Gossip go GOODBYE!!! LOL
Her cousin Dillon(his grandfather is Mir, brother to Gossip's sire Races) had a wonderful weekend, picking up 3 GRC points his first time out. It's so funny, one of his breeders keeps track of racing thru facebook LOL I post the race by race results as they come about. LOL I love the internet and my iphone!
Racemeet ended with Gossip taking 4 NRC points, Focus 2 NRC points, Padua placing third (1 NRC & 3 GRC), Dillon & First tying for fourth, and Reba coming in 5th,c an't remember the rest off the top of my head.
Sunday, earlier roll call, trip starting off by my car getting the first bunny of the day, ewww, the sound of it rolling around in my tire, dumb bunny. Get there, less dogs, but an even more beautiful day.
Gossip ended the weekend undefeated, tho if she keeps up this waiting til the last moment to fly by the dog ahead, she's going to end up misjudging. . .and with 7 NRC points. Reba & First tied on Sunday, taking 3rd & 4th behind Dillon, for 1 point each. Reba then promptly came into season LOL We're never going to get those last 2 points, First is due for season, but will hopefully hold off for the coming weekend.
Jenny came and smoozed, got used to the box opening, ran through the box for the bunny, and was just a wonderful silly girl. Her, Gibbs, Ziva & the piranhas will all get a chance on the bunny this weekend at PVBC's event.
Got home to hear that Tony had a nice weekend smoozing at his first NOTRA, and got to chase the bunny a bit. He's a little unsure of which way his legs go, so will need some more maturing, but looks promising :)
So all and all, a nice week!!
Friday, February 19, 2010
River & ROM & Weather
River AKA Brooks JR, from the Mandolin-Mielikki Hawaiian litter managed to single himself out today! Now to find those illusive majors. . and then on to work on that DC, where all he needs is his singles. May have to see about borrowing him like I did his papa and work on that :) Pat really would like to get Brooks ROM. . Will have to work on sister Reba's FC & GRC this year. Hoping Mir gets his ROM this year too, by my books he's lacking just a few points which he should get when First finishes her GRC :)ROM is a register of merit. . dogs get points via the titles their get gets. My Kyra got her ROM, and is 14 points shy of her ROMX, which I doubt she'll get cuz her youngest litter is 9. . .depends on if Eros is in shape to show and Kari thinks it's worth it, otherwise I'll turn to Dei and work on hers :) It's a nice 'award' that's basically quality of get. . .
Racing season starts back up in three weekends, sn*w is slowly melting(YEAH!). I'm hoping it melts fast enough FOR racing Season to start. Focus needs a few points, Reba needs 3 points, First think needs 6 points, and Tipperary just started. On top of that, can't wait to get the MOnsters(Gibbs, Ziva & Co owned Jenny) on the field and Ms Emma may join us. .. hope they all run clean. Tony leaves in a month. . .I'm going to miss him, he's such a sweet little red head!
I took Gibbs to Rally class last week, he was a hit. . even if he was totally confused in class LOL He has no clue where his butt is unfortuantely. Was very good meeting the dachsie and was just a good boy. . .I'm going to have fun with him, got lots of compliments :) He's a tank, and I love it!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Motherhood & Puppies
When you prepare for a litter, one of the thigns you have to prepare for, is if the mother sucks at motherhood. . .
Thankfully, I've only had one who sucked. .and that was poor Sage. . .her puppies were born 5+ days early by csection because they were in distress. Two placentas had detached and the puppies were decaying, poisoning their littermates. Considering there were 12 puppies crammed into little Sage, it's no wonder. . we lost a total of 5, which I'm amazed at, considering her mothering instinct never kicked in, their heart rates were so low at birth. .the other 7 came to live with me and Storm took them on, nursing 14 puppies with glee. .
I never bred Sage again, worried that she truly was a bad mother, and worried about her two daughters, since bad mothering seems to be genetic from talking with other breeders. . .and thus when someone inquired about leasing Kani, I wanted to make sure she woudl be a good mother. No way did I want to send her across country and curse someone with the nightmare Pat went thru with Sage. .. thankfully, I had nothing to worry about.
Kani's been a great mom. . .the puppies are growing and flourishing quite well. . .little eyes opening. . .She's quite careful when she lays down with them. She's funny, she's ok with the three house dogs walking by, but anything else gets a bark. .which is really funny, cuz I've never heard her bark, she moans and talks but not barking LOL She's also grinning more, which has me in stitches. Now she can be leased, and I can spay her. . 5.5 month season suck. . .and after witnessing two pyometrias, not something I want to tempt. She's a sweet dog, love her built. . .and her puppies are gorgeous.
Wish there were more boys, but at least the one is big and strong. And turning gold. It's so strange to see such a light litter out of such two dark parents LOL. Definitely an interesting array of colours. . I love the little light brindle girl, she's got SPUNK. . which as anyone who knows me can tell you, I really like.
Gossip thinks they're interesting. .even going in and laying down with them when Mama was outside. . she is goign to be sucha great mama. .. she doesn't like it if i make one of them mad LOL. . silly goose.
Timmy has enjoyed his month home with his sibs, spending most of the day out racing around the big puppy yard. He's put on some muscle mass. First dog I've sold to an apartment home, and I can see the difference between him and his sibs. It is truly amazing. . his mama comes home this week, and I know she will be SOO happy to see him
And last note for the day. . I can't believe my beautiful GOlden girl, Touchet, is 11. . .turned it earlier this week. . she doesn't act it, was out flirting and foot stomping with the boys 1/3 her age LOL Do so hope Gossip gets that longetivity. It's one of the reasons I wanted Touchet :)
Thankfully, I've only had one who sucked. .and that was poor Sage. . .her puppies were born 5+ days early by csection because they were in distress. Two placentas had detached and the puppies were decaying, poisoning their littermates. Considering there were 12 puppies crammed into little Sage, it's no wonder. . we lost a total of 5, which I'm amazed at, considering her mothering instinct never kicked in, their heart rates were so low at birth. .the other 7 came to live with me and Storm took them on, nursing 14 puppies with glee. .
I never bred Sage again, worried that she truly was a bad mother, and worried about her two daughters, since bad mothering seems to be genetic from talking with other breeders. . .and thus when someone inquired about leasing Kani, I wanted to make sure she woudl be a good mother. No way did I want to send her across country and curse someone with the nightmare Pat went thru with Sage. .. thankfully, I had nothing to worry about.
Kani's been a great mom. . .the puppies are growing and flourishing quite well. . .little eyes opening. . .She's quite careful when she lays down with them. She's funny, she's ok with the three house dogs walking by, but anything else gets a bark. .which is really funny, cuz I've never heard her bark, she moans and talks but not barking LOL She's also grinning more, which has me in stitches. Now she can be leased, and I can spay her. . 5.5 month season suck. . .and after witnessing two pyometrias, not something I want to tempt. She's a sweet dog, love her built. . .and her puppies are gorgeous.
Wish there were more boys, but at least the one is big and strong. And turning gold. It's so strange to see such a light litter out of such two dark parents LOL. Definitely an interesting array of colours. . I love the little light brindle girl, she's got SPUNK. . which as anyone who knows me can tell you, I really like.
Gossip thinks they're interesting. .even going in and laying down with them when Mama was outside. . she is goign to be sucha great mama. .. she doesn't like it if i make one of them mad LOL. . silly goose.
Timmy has enjoyed his month home with his sibs, spending most of the day out racing around the big puppy yard. He's put on some muscle mass. First dog I've sold to an apartment home, and I can see the difference between him and his sibs. It is truly amazing. . his mama comes home this week, and I know she will be SOO happy to see him
And last note for the day. . I can't believe my beautiful GOlden girl, Touchet, is 11. . .turned it earlier this week. . she doesn't act it, was out flirting and foot stomping with the boys 1/3 her age LOL Do so hope Gossip gets that longetivity. It's one of the reasons I wanted Touchet :)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Training puppies
The last two weekends have been good ones. Weekend before last we had a practice in the front field, I was able to 'cert' a number of dogs, now knowing they will run clean, they can come with me. These included Crivens(Brother of Wizard), Bagheera(Touchet's nephew out of her half sister), and I was also able to run three of the four pups still here. The boys had blazing runs, completed an entire 400 yd course on full trusters, will running like babies, but lookd good. Ziva ran, not as nicely, but did come in for the kill and took off with the bunny LOL Seeing the two boys run, if John decides not to take Gibbs AKA Wizard Junior, he may stay here, he's a nice boy, and very keen, or I may keep Tony. . LOL that's all I need is another boy, but with Umbra dying, there's a spot to fill.
Then last weekend it was Jenny's turn. Soo, this is the first litter that has had the benefits of being near boxes. Anyone who races can probably tell you about that one(in my case two) dog they owned that was a sonovabitch, to get into a starting box. I SWEAR Races grew an extra set of paws, and his brother has managed to turn his big heavy ass around in the box numerous times. . their half nephew Carrot is JUST as bad, so this weekend, when I had extra room in the dog mobile for lil Ms Jenny to ride along. So off we went.
First thing in the morning, we walked around the box, with me rapping the metal door and top with my knuckles, if Jenny reacted, it was ignored, if she came up despite the noise, she was praised.
After everyone ran, with Tipperary putting in a nice FTE entry, she finished 5th I believe, but since she is very submissive and lacks confidence, the fact that she passed Grins in the last race made my day. She'll get it, and will be goign back out with me this weekend. Grins showed the youngens how to do it, and barely losing to a nice fast male (Lemans put on the speed last 2 lengths and passed Grins). He's still a PITA to get off the bunny, but as long as the boy wants to run, eh can run. Well, after that was all done, I went over to the box with my jackalure. Opened the back door, tossed the bunny in
Jenny looked at the stall, then up at me, stepped one step in, then two, grabbed the bunny and backed out. Now, normally you don't want them learning to back out, but since I was trying to get her to have confidence going in the box, I kept doing that. We went thru this a bunch of times, until she wasn't pausing to get the squawker.
THen it was hand her off to a stranger, open the front of the box, and head down the track. David Milne pointed her thru the stall and the Lure Operator(LO) bopped the bunny. Jenny wennt thru the box, looked around, a bit confused, until the LO bopped the bunny, then she took off like a bat out of hell. Even tho she overshot the bunny, she came back and attacked it. She then retrieved it all the way to the box so a friend's IW puppy could chase the bunny. I was so very very pleased with her! There was an adult Borzoi there who didn't handle his first run thru the box as nicely as she did!! I am so glad Bonnie co owns her, she's going to be a lot of fun, in the ring and on the field!
And to end a good day, she was a great puppy in the car, no chewing on anything, a littel grumbling cuz she's not used to sharing space yet, but otherwise, a very good traveling puppy. She won't get to go with me often, but they all will get exposure to BOnnie's box next month at PVBC. . .if it makes my life easier once they hit running age, why not?
Then last weekend it was Jenny's turn. Soo, this is the first litter that has had the benefits of being near boxes. Anyone who races can probably tell you about that one(in my case two) dog they owned that was a sonovabitch, to get into a starting box. I SWEAR Races grew an extra set of paws, and his brother has managed to turn his big heavy ass around in the box numerous times. . their half nephew Carrot is JUST as bad, so this weekend, when I had extra room in the dog mobile for lil Ms Jenny to ride along. So off we went.
First thing in the morning, we walked around the box, with me rapping the metal door and top with my knuckles, if Jenny reacted, it was ignored, if she came up despite the noise, she was praised.
After everyone ran, with Tipperary putting in a nice FTE entry, she finished 5th I believe, but since she is very submissive and lacks confidence, the fact that she passed Grins in the last race made my day. She'll get it, and will be goign back out with me this weekend. Grins showed the youngens how to do it, and barely losing to a nice fast male (Lemans put on the speed last 2 lengths and passed Grins). He's still a PITA to get off the bunny, but as long as the boy wants to run, eh can run. Well, after that was all done, I went over to the box with my jackalure. Opened the back door, tossed the bunny in
Jenny looked at the stall, then up at me, stepped one step in, then two, grabbed the bunny and backed out. Now, normally you don't want them learning to back out, but since I was trying to get her to have confidence going in the box, I kept doing that. We went thru this a bunch of times, until she wasn't pausing to get the squawker.
THen it was hand her off to a stranger, open the front of the box, and head down the track. David Milne pointed her thru the stall and the Lure Operator(LO) bopped the bunny. Jenny wennt thru the box, looked around, a bit confused, until the LO bopped the bunny, then she took off like a bat out of hell. Even tho she overshot the bunny, she came back and attacked it. She then retrieved it all the way to the box so a friend's IW puppy could chase the bunny. I was so very very pleased with her! There was an adult Borzoi there who didn't handle his first run thru the box as nicely as she did!! I am so glad Bonnie co owns her, she's going to be a lot of fun, in the ring and on the field!
And to end a good day, she was a great puppy in the car, no chewing on anything, a littel grumbling cuz she's not used to sharing space yet, but otherwise, a very good traveling puppy. She won't get to go with me often, but they all will get exposure to BOnnie's box next month at PVBC. . .if it makes my life easier once they hit running age, why not?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
puppies and veterans
puppies. . you put so much thought, blood sweat and tears and time into them, into creating them, and then you have to wait, hope you picked the right one. . .
unlike a number of breeders, i refuse to pick when they are little. . .sometimes I'm drawn to a certain one, but I try and think with my head and to do that,IMHO, you have to wait until they're older, see what their personality is, see what they
grow up into, see what their prey drive is.
Two of the pups over the years I've been drawn to, ended up being the wrong choice. Both from the same litter, Poet was missing too many teeth to be showable in this area. Yes, her half uncle Mir finished with that many missing teeth, but in the NE it's a lot harder than other parts of the country, and her sister Titania didn't have a temperament I wanted to breed on from. . oh well. . .both are in wonderful homes. . .
By waiting, you also get a better idea of what puppy would be great for that home. . Timmy is one of those examples. . none of his siblings would've done well in his home, not calm enough, too busy, too rambunctious, but Timmy's always been a thinker, a watcher, an observer. He's fitting into his household quite well and got a clean bill of health from a greyhound vet in the area.
This weekend, I took the puppy who I watched grow up and prayed she'd be the one to turn out, to her first show. . .Ziva is everything I wanted in this litter and she handled her first show as a pro. Nothing really bothered her, Saturday she was the perfect little trooper, behaving herself, wasn't the judges type, but I didn't think she would be. .Sunday she was a hellion, channeling her half Aunt Rinka by not putting two feet on the ground at the same time, she was a great comic relief and the regular judge told me I'd have a lot of fun with her, once she grows up and settles down.
at this age, you're wishing they'll hurry up and be competitive, but the thing is, they grow up too fast, by the time you know it, they're veterans, and then you face the thought of losing them.
Seems when you have veterans, when one is doing better, another gets ill.
Pandora's going on 14 months past DX of thyroid. She had a bad bout of ??? $200 later and vet couldn't give me a clue. Started putting her in a 600 crate if I wasn't home, with food, water and kitty box, and gave her pepcid and some SubQ's for awhile, and she's bounced back, gaining weight as of last week from what she was at in May.(they didn't weigh her when she was hospitalized for the above vet visit). being away from ehr brat brothers allows her to eat and potty in peace. . .
When I got home from the LGRA Nationals, I found Umbra with a raspy breathing. . .worried he'd gotten soaked and chilled, I ran him to the vet, who didn't like what he heard. Xray showed pneumonia. . .and a shadow over his heart. Two of his sibs have died from hemangiosarcoma heart hit my feet. .
there's nothign you can really do with cardiac hemangiosarcoma. . you can spend thousands for surgery and chemo, and it may not give you anything longer than the original forecast. Even if I had the money, the outcome is so poor it's just not worth the stress of putting him thru it.
This has been the unhealthiest litter of all my litters so far. . .it's not known if it's genetic or not, it could've been the environment, there's just no information. . .and it's so frustrating and heart rendering. The xray today showed it's even bigger.
Umbra is my first BBE CH, my first owner handled BOB over top winning specials. . .no, he's not everyone's cup of tea, but he's my boy, made even more special by his mother's untimely demise. . .He's a litter I hadn't wanted at the time, an oops, and boy the stress that litter brought lasted months. . but I'm glad I've had the joys he brought me. One of my all time favorite times in Borzoi was making it down to the last 7 at the 2004 Nationals, surrounded by old timers. .. me the only 'nobody'. . .
I'm trying to prepare myself for the inevitable, as it's only a matter of time. . .Long as he's happy(and he seems happy right now), we'll keep going. . but this sure put a damper on my enjoyment of this weekends specialty. . I couldn't watch the sweeps, as we should've been in that ring.
Hug your dogs, cuz you never know
unlike a number of breeders, i refuse to pick when they are little. . .sometimes I'm drawn to a certain one, but I try and think with my head and to do that,IMHO, you have to wait until they're older, see what their personality is, see what they
grow up into, see what their prey drive is.
Two of the pups over the years I've been drawn to, ended up being the wrong choice. Both from the same litter, Poet was missing too many teeth to be showable in this area. Yes, her half uncle Mir finished with that many missing teeth, but in the NE it's a lot harder than other parts of the country, and her sister Titania didn't have a temperament I wanted to breed on from. . oh well. . .both are in wonderful homes. . .
By waiting, you also get a better idea of what puppy would be great for that home. . Timmy is one of those examples. . none of his siblings would've done well in his home, not calm enough, too busy, too rambunctious, but Timmy's always been a thinker, a watcher, an observer. He's fitting into his household quite well and got a clean bill of health from a greyhound vet in the area.
This weekend, I took the puppy who I watched grow up and prayed she'd be the one to turn out, to her first show. . .Ziva is everything I wanted in this litter and she handled her first show as a pro. Nothing really bothered her, Saturday she was the perfect little trooper, behaving herself, wasn't the judges type, but I didn't think she would be. .Sunday she was a hellion, channeling her half Aunt Rinka by not putting two feet on the ground at the same time, she was a great comic relief and the regular judge told me I'd have a lot of fun with her, once she grows up and settles down.
at this age, you're wishing they'll hurry up and be competitive, but the thing is, they grow up too fast, by the time you know it, they're veterans, and then you face the thought of losing them.
Seems when you have veterans, when one is doing better, another gets ill.
Pandora's going on 14 months past DX of thyroid. She had a bad bout of ??? $200 later and vet couldn't give me a clue. Started putting her in a 600 crate if I wasn't home, with food, water and kitty box, and gave her pepcid and some SubQ's for awhile, and she's bounced back, gaining weight as of last week from what she was at in May.(they didn't weigh her when she was hospitalized for the above vet visit). being away from ehr brat brothers allows her to eat and potty in peace. . .
When I got home from the LGRA Nationals, I found Umbra with a raspy breathing. . .worried he'd gotten soaked and chilled, I ran him to the vet, who didn't like what he heard. Xray showed pneumonia. . .and a shadow over his heart. Two of his sibs have died from hemangiosarcoma heart hit my feet. .
there's nothign you can really do with cardiac hemangiosarcoma. . you can spend thousands for surgery and chemo, and it may not give you anything longer than the original forecast. Even if I had the money, the outcome is so poor it's just not worth the stress of putting him thru it.
This has been the unhealthiest litter of all my litters so far. . .it's not known if it's genetic or not, it could've been the environment, there's just no information. . .and it's so frustrating and heart rendering. The xray today showed it's even bigger.
Umbra is my first BBE CH, my first owner handled BOB over top winning specials. . .no, he's not everyone's cup of tea, but he's my boy, made even more special by his mother's untimely demise. . .He's a litter I hadn't wanted at the time, an oops, and boy the stress that litter brought lasted months. . but I'm glad I've had the joys he brought me. One of my all time favorite times in Borzoi was making it down to the last 7 at the 2004 Nationals, surrounded by old timers. .. me the only 'nobody'. . .
I'm trying to prepare myself for the inevitable, as it's only a matter of time. . .Long as he's happy(and he seems happy right now), we'll keep going. . but this sure put a damper on my enjoyment of this weekends specialty. . I couldn't watch the sweeps, as we should've been in that ring.
Hug your dogs, cuz you never know
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