Our first show of the year in Texas is the Nolan River Kennel Club cluster held in the little town of Glen Rose, known for its dinosaur tracks. We have had some nice success here in the past, and it is a show site that we enjoy. There used to be lure coursing trials held in conjunction with the shows, which made for some long days – but those times are now gone. I fondly remember when we had Solo out as a special and he went from winning Best of Breed, over to the field to run prelims, then back to the building for Hound Group where he received a Group 4 and we had to rush to get his picture and then drive him back over to the field. The judge was astonished that the dog had shown in the group just after a gallop in the field instead of a stint on the grooming table, like some of these specials being treated more like Poodles than proper hounds. Of course, it helps that Solo possesses ring-ready coat at all times and only required a brush-out before strutting into the ring!
We had a great start to the year, with Beast winning his 3rd major from the Bred-by Exhibitor class, going Best of Winners on Saturday under judge Dana Cline.
On Sunday our judge was Charles “Chuck” Trotter. Beast again took Winners Dog/Best of Winners for his fourth major and completed his conformation championship!! His sister Me!Me! and housemate Nox fared better under Mr. Trotter than the previous day, taking 4th and 3rd in BBE respectively. Sadly, Boo was still invisible in the specials line-up.
Monday, January 6, 2014
It's Party Time!!
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
UKC Shows (Hutto) and Siren's Big Debut
Well this had to be the most exciting UKC weekend ever for us!
First, let me introduce one of the players. Some of you who attended the 2009 SilkenFest in MO may remember a little extreme white with tan sable spotted bitch that Victor was showing who absolutely refused to come off the cement area where the judge had examined her, and on to the grass so she could be put through her paces in the lovely grassed ring. The judge had finally excused her for her stubbornness. That little minx is named Siren – who inherited some of that classic bitch behavior from her mother Ginger. Siren was shown a bit more successfully – in that she actually at least got around the ring this time – at the 2010 SF. We also had our share of personality clashes with her at home – and for a while she was living up north. Upon her return, we just kept her around the house and didn’t bother trying to get her to “work for a living.” With Jules‘ and Velvet‘s fairly quick championship completions, I was trying to figure out who to bring out next. Siren had become much more affectionate of late, so in a moment of weakness, I entered her in this weekend’s shows, along with Bekka (a Space/Ember daughter) and then Deuce (looking for his last 2 Grand Ch legs) and Pasha.
So Saturday morning, Siren made her UKC debut. I fully expected some sort of Mexican standoff or ring tantrum, and although she was obviously a bit uncomfortable, she went on to take Winners Bitch from the 5 entered, and then on to Best of Winners. Well heck – I thought – we just might survive piloting her to a UKC championship if she keeps this up!
On to show Deuce in the Champion class, where his fine example of what an over-caffeinated Silken could look like (he was very, VERY “up”!) took Reserve, and then Ajax (ISWS Ch. UKC Grand Ch. Gryffyn’s Walkin’ in Memphis) taking the Grand class win over Pasha. Within that line-up imagine my very great surprise to have Siren handed the Best of Breed nod – but then a bit later came my incredulous response at her being awarded a GROUP 1!!!
Finally the call came for the BIS competition to get ready, so off we went to play in the ring. I had absolutely no aspirations other than trying to get through it without incidence, despite Siren’s earlier good behavior – she is a bitch after all – plus we had some local heavy hitters in the ring, including the Doberman, one of the top Australian Shepherds, and the German Shorthaired Pointer. I was completely overwhelmed to be handed the ribbon for BEST IN SHOW!! It felt completely unbelievable!
Siren managed to continue her good behavior, again earning WB/BOW and BOB at the afternoon show (and then a group 2). Deuce won the Champion class.
On Sunday, at the morning show Siren was again WB/BOW and finished her UKC championship. Deuce won the Champion class and finished his Grand Championship and then went on to BOB/Group 3. He was moved up for the afternoon show and went on to win the Grand Champion class.
All in all – an unbelievably successful weekend at the shows! I floated home!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Pasha is Grand
Pasha showing off in the yard
Today I opted to spend the morning taking Pasha, Shadow and Jules to the morning UKC show in Denton instead of to the LGRA racing "around the corner" in McKinney - Victor took care of that duty.
Pasha had been taking time off for an extended period following a ligament injury sustained in June. At first believed to be a possibly career-ending cruciate injury, after further testing and consultation with a vet not so eager to start cutting on him, it was discovered to involve the medial collateral ligament in his left hind leg, and not so much the cruciate. But it still required plenty of rest to heal, which we did along with performing prolotherapy treatments to his leg.
This would be Pasha's second weekend to come out since he was cleared to be able to return to "ring duty" the previous month. I had opted to enter him at this particular show and miss out on some racing because earlier in the year, the assigned judge had done well for him - so I had to try for that last required Grand Championship leg!
HE GOT IT!!
Jules gave him a run for his money, but Pasha did win his last Grand leg! Now I can concentrate on deciding on which silken windhound to bring out next year to compete for rankings in the UKC.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Farewell Golden Boy
A great heart was stilled on one of the kindest Borzoi I've had the privilege of knowing and sharing my life with. I cannot thank Nadine enough for sharing him with me and Victor for all these years. He was a wonderful boy, who even while working through the results of a grave injury several years ago (ran into the cross-fencing and temporarily paralyzed from a spinal shock) and dealing with decreased mobility, maintained such a happy attitude and acted like he had never had a bad day in his life.
BIF DC Rising Star Kalipso, SC FCh
Monday, July 16, 2012
"Dear Mr. Obama"
The following was written by Amanda Kelly of Fwaggle Manchester Terriers. Amanda edits "Black and Tan" which is a breed specific magazine, and she was the editor of Canine Review, the Canadian version of Dogs in Review, for several years.
The potential impact and intent of the proposed USDA/APHIS regulation change are crystal clear, even to someone outside the US. The collapse of dog-breeding in the US thanks to this ill-thought regulation change will impact purebreds around the world. The loss of genetic material as US lines are lost will be devastating to all breeds. Not to mention the extinction of the well-bred family pet, raised lovingly in breeder homes.
Permission to cross-post with attribution.
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Dear Mr. Obama,
By Amanda Kelly
What a fantastic photo of you and Bo playing in the yard. It is obvious that you enjoy each other very much -- how lucky you are to have such a wonderful family dog. But I wonder... would Bo even have existed if your changes to the Animal Welfare Act had already been made? After all, his breeder did have a website (if you haven't been there, you really should visit www.http://amigopwd.com/). Oh my God, you don't think they might have sold dogs to people in other parts of the country, do you? People who
didn't visit their homes in person to pick up their puppies? Oh wait...wouldn't that be people like you?
Under your new rules, after all, those breeders would automatically be subject to the licensing, inspections, and standards of the AWA. Sounds good, until you realize that means no more "home-raised" puppies. Uh-uh, no way -- USDA rules don't allow breeders to keep their dogs or puppies in the house, only in the kennel. And thank heavens, I mean, who would want a puppy raised in a home environment anyway... I'm sure you would agree that kennel dogs "always" make better pets. Right?
I'm sure Portuguese Water Dog breeders are also happy you chose their breed, if only to give their market a bit of a boost. After all, if they want to be allowed to have their dogs in the house, they will have to sell every one of their puppies locally so owners can pick them up in person. Whew, that's a tall order. Just imagine what a problem that would be for someone who breeds Manchester Terriers, say, or Sealyham Terriers, or Norwegian Buhunds. You mightn't have ever heard of these breeds, but they are really great dogs and their owners really love them. The trouble is, their breeders have worked really hard to protect them from popularity, over-breeding and the problems that come with it. I bet they're really kicking themselves now.
Most of these breeders have one or two litters a year as a hobby, their dogs live in their homes and they sell their puppies to people all over the United States and around the world. They have to, you see, because the market is relatively small and spread out. Guess they will have to move the dogs out to the kennel, breed them more often and get to work selling them to anyone with the money. Or maybe those breeds will just go extinct altogether. Well, that would be a shame, but why waste time worrying about that -- they have only existed for a few hundred years. and their owners are mostly just snooty people who love their dogs and like to go to dog
shows and agility trials and things like that. I mean, it's not like those leisure activities generate any income for their local economies.
And finally, whew, you won't have to worry about waiting around to find the perfect dog in the shelter, that's for sure, when the only people able to meet the USDA requirements are those with giant breeding operations, there will surely be lots to choose from. Won't it be perfect when all of the breeders of these rarer breeds are gone? If we're really lucky, the changes will take down all of the small breeders and when dog shows and trials collapse and some of the bigger breeds follow, we'll be set! Everyone can get shelter dogs -- it will be perfect. Well, maybe a little difficult for people who live in apartments and had their heart set on a small,
smooth-coated breed (they don't tend to be very popular among large volume breeders). Or families who have to think about allergies, I mean, it may be a little tough to find a reliably hypoallergenic breed down the road. Oh wait... isn't that you again?
Anyway, as I was saying, I'm so glad you are enjoying Bo. Be sure the press gallery takes lots of photos -- he may be one of the last of his kind.
Sign the AKC's petition to Protect Responsible Small Breeders here .
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
(The) Magik is Gone
Today the world is a less "magickal" place.
DC Chataqua Gryffyn's LaMagieContinue, SC SOR GRC FCh ORC
aka "Magik"
Nov 22, 2001 - June 6, 2012
she has joined her sister Sassi in the fields of heaven - Godspeed ladies
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