News From Abroad: Snow Lure Coursing

I was just sent these pictures of a lure coursing trial held in the snow. I'll bet the dogs get quite a workout running through that stuff! It would be neat to try sometime. Anyway, here are the pictures:

The one on the left is Gil's half-sister, Enyves.

This one's my favorite.
This is the same bitch that will be having a litter in a couple of months (see previous post).

The dog on the left is Gil's litter sister, Fenyves.

... and one last shot of Disco

The Coursing Season in Review: Part I

Photo by Dave Mills

With the coursing season coming to a close I thought it was time to start a review of our dogs' accomplishments this year.

The hunting season for our dogs began in November. Gil was a complete novice and was entered in his very first hunt in Nevada. The hunt was mixed and some of the best coursing Greyhounds, Salukis and Whippets were in attendance so the last thing I expected was for Gil to make a placement (I was more concerned about him coming back to me than anything else!)

The brush in the area was very high and the rabbits were holding tight so it was challenge to get the dogs sighted. Despite the obstacles, Gil was not only able to get sighted he was able to stay sighted for a lot longer than I expected. He ran three courses that day and all of them were a fair distance. Needless to say he was a very tired little puppy all the way home.

He finished the day with a third place. Overall it was a great start for a novice dog and his novice owner ;-)

Stay tuned for part II ...

Belated Brags and Show Results

Gil and Fecni attended four UKC shows in December and both did very well. I finally got the show pictures from the photographer so now I can put up an official report.

For those who may not know, with UKC shows there are usually two shows per day so on any given weekend there can be up to four separate shows.

Anyway, on Show Day 1, Gil was entered for the very first time in the Champions class. He ended up winning a Best of Breed in the first show but was beat by a very nice Afghan in group (the Afghan ended up winning Best in Show that day). Despite his loss, the judge commented that it was a very tough decision between the two dogs. On Show Day 2 he won back to back Best of Breed and Best in Group awards giving him a total of 7 Top Ten points for 2008.

At the second show on Day 1, Fecni wowed us by winning her very first Best of Breed AND a Group 1! The wins also earned her her very first Top Ten points. Needless to say we were thrilled!

News From Abroad: Aranyági Utonálló's G Litter Coming Soon

Although not directly related to the California Magyar Agars, I just wanted to mention that a new litter is expected in Hungary within the next 2 months. The puppies will be out of Gil's aunt, Aranyági Utonálló Dicső and a very handsome dog named Dévaj Roka. The dam is a bench champion and the sire has a good racing record so the combination should make for some very nice, versatile, athletic pups. The litter's pedigree can be viewed here: future litter
If anyone out there is interested you can contact the breeder via her website: Aranyági Utonálló Magyar Agár

Sire:

Dam:

Fecni's Mixed Hunt Victory

Hunter's Gaze

by Dave Mills

On January 18th, Fecni attended her very first NOFCA mixed hunt. Here is what her owner Sally Barron had to say about her big day:

It was a tough day in a very competitive field... Three top NOFCA Greyhounds, a couple of very good Salukis, Sidney and Sally Ride, and some top Whippets (all the way from Washington state)... She had a very good prelim with a Greyhound and a Saluki... I could not see most of the course (they went over a berm) but she evidently ran very well as she had a high score and had shredded her coursing jacket...

We walked all day to find the 4 prelim rabbits... At about 4:00 we changed fields and found that 4th prelim rabbit... Fecni made the finals and drew the two Greyhounds who had made finals... We got up an excellent rabbit for the first final and they ran an extremely long course with a lot of work. The second finals rabbit (we had two courses of finals), we put up at 5:00 was also very good...

Fecni ended up tied for 5th and I was delighted... She was running against some of the fastest most experienced dogs in NOFCA and she looked like she belonged there...

Sally

Way to go Fecni! The California Magyar Agars are certainly on a winning streak this hunting season.

Splash Dogs

Right after we went to the race practice in Wheatland we headed to Cal Expo to watch the Splash Dogs event. One of the All-K9 Race regulars had invited us to come and watch her chocolate Lab Chip do some dock diving so we decided to check it out. We arrived just in time to watch Chip do his final set of jumps and boy is he good at it! He ended up winning 2nd place in the event!

Anyway, in between heats the dock was open for anyone who wanted to practice so I decided to take Gil up to see what he thought. We walked right up the plank and didn't hesitate to put his feet in the water, but as soon as he got far enough down the ramp and found himself completely submerged in the water he promptly turned around and paddled back to shore. Even though he was caught off guard he swam pretty well for a first-timer. Maybe once the weather gets warmer we can practice at it some more. Who knows, Gil may be the very first MA to try out dock diving :)

A nice day of race practice

5 of the northern California MAs headed out to Wheatland yesterday for a day of race practice. The weather was beautiful and all the dogs put in some nice runs.

The two young pups, Luna and Gator, are wicked fast and pretty evenly matched for one another. Their last run of the day was a neck and neck race the entire 200 yard distance with no clear winner at the end. These guys are going to be serious competitors come spring time!

Gil and Willow had one very exiting race together, but the most interesting runs of the day were between the MAs and the Lurchers. Our good friends Bev and Niki wanted to see how fast their two Lurchers, Gower and Gwena, were compared to our dogs so we had a couple of match races. In the end all the dogs were very well-matched against one other which made for some pretty intense racing. We will definitely have to do that again some time!

Belle ran two very nice schooling races as a single. This girl has a lot of heart and always puts out 200% when she runs.

All in all it was a lovely day. Luna's dad took quite a lot of video so once those are available they will be posted to the blog. Stay tuned!

Top MAs of 2008

With 2008 over and done with, top 10 results for the North American MA's are now available.

LGRA Top Dogs:
1. Aranyagi Utonallo Fenseg "Gil"
2. Betcha-Katcha Nubia "Willow"

UKC Top Dogs:
1. Aranyagi Utonallo Fenseg "Gil"
2. Vakvagta Fecni "Fecni"

ASFA Top Dogs:
1. Vakvagta Fecni "Fecni"
2. Aranyagi Utonallo Fenseg "Gil"
3. Betcha-Katcha Nubia "Willow"

We may not have that many dogs right now but hopefully that number will grow.

Welcome!

We are a small group located in northern California, dedicated to protecting, preserving and expanding the interests of the Magyar Agar in North America. This blog was created for the purpose of documenting and recording the lives and times of the California Magyar Agars and their people. The California crew are involved in a number of activities including racing, coursing and showing so please check back often for news and updates on their adventures.