Tribute by Charles Alexander

I have reached a point now where I feel comfortable sharing these images. This photo series, taken by Charles Alexander, shows the last moments of Pesh's life while she, Pi, and Gil were coursing a jackrabbit at the 2014 Grand Course. It's been hard to look at them, but at the same time these are the moments I want to remember years from now; not the sad ones. My thanks and gratitude to the photographer not just for taking these photos but also for his generosity and understanding.

Farewell to a Good Girl

Ch Stouthearted Babes in Toyland RL1 CGC
3/14/2011 - 2/16/2014



On February 16th, 2014, I said goodbye to my girl Pesh. She was coursing a hare with her father and brother at this year's Grand Course when they all fell into a large irrigation ditch. While Pi and Gil emerged from the pit relatively unscathed, Pesh ultimately succumbed to internal injuries and passed away while en-route to the vet hospital. Even though it's been two days since her passing, I am still shocked that such a vibrant young dog is gone. I really don't know what else to say except that I'd like to tell her story, in hopes that by looking back at her life I can come to terms with her death.

As some of you may already know, Pesh and her siblings were my introduction to the joys and frustrations of raising a litter of puppies. The first two pups in the litter were stillborn, and just as I was beginning to think that I was going to lose all the puppies, little Pesh was born. She was small, but strong and healthy, and she was screaming like a little baby dinosaur. All through her infancy she was dwarfed by her brother and sister, but she never noticed.

Over the next several months, Pesh grew into a beautiful young girl, albeit she was extremely mischievous and stubborn. I could always count on her to make a mess out of the toilet paper and/or steal food off the counter, and she never did grow out of her bad habits.

Shortly after her first birthday, Pesh went to live with her owner, Jairi. While the two struggled to see eye to eye on more than one occasion, Pesh thrived in her care. During the short time they spent together, Pesh became a UKC bench champion and Canine Good Citizen, earned her first Rally obedience title, and spent many happy days racing, lure coursing, and open field coursing. She wasn't the fastest Agar in town, but she never gave any less than 200% of her effort on the track or field.

She had all the feist and fire of the bulldogs she shared her home with, and her prey drive was off the charts. But she was also loving and gentle, and enjoyed doting on young children, including Jairi's little boy, Rhett.

I am forever indebted to Jairi for giving Pesh the very best home I could ever hope for, and to Tom for being the rock I needed to lean on during the whole ordeal. I don't know what I would have done without you, Tom. It's still hard for me to believe that she's really gone. She was my little ray of hope when I thought I was going to lose everything. She was the first one to wag her tail and offer kisses, and she never stopped doing that for the rest of her life.

I love you baby girl, and I hope you knew that. You three pups are the best thing that ever happened in my life. You are always in my heart

New Coursing Champion and Courser of Merit!

Pi with his ribbons, completing his Coursing Championship and Courser of Merit titles

Over the weekend of January 11th and 12th, Pi became the first American-born, and second Magyar Agar ever to earn the NOFCA titles of Coursing Champion and Courser of Merit! For those who may not know, to earn a CC a hound must have earned 100 points with at least 10 coming from mixed hunts and 10 coming from breed hunts, have earned either one 1st placement or two 2nd placements in either mixed or breed stakes, and have either one unassisted take or two assisted takes. At the start of the weekend, Pi only needed one more 2nd placement and a few more breed points.

Gil looking for rabbits on a cold winter morning

On Saturday, I took Gil and Pi to the last rare breed hunt of the season, hoping Pi could pick up the placement and points he needed. We ended up having three separate stakes; one Ibizan Hound stake, one Silken Windhound stake, and one "leftover" stake as I like to call them (which consisted of Gil, Pi, three Afghan Hounds, and two Pharaoh Hounds).

Pi and Ruthye looking very matchy-matchy in the field

We started hunting in a portion of the field that had recently been burned down, so there was very little cover, but there had been a lot of hares hiding out there in weeks prior. Pi drew the first course with one of the Afghans and one of the Pharaohs. The hare broke rather far out, but Pi was sighted and took off after it. Unfortunately the Afghan went unsighted. There wasn't much of a course from what I could see, but Pi led the whole way so I had high hopes for him finishing his titles that day.

Gil drew the second course, again with one Afghan and one Pharaoh. The first run was on a hare that was way too far out. Gil was sighted, but was only able to run it to the edge of the brushline before it got away. The judge decided that we would rerun the course after the last course in this stake. The second hare that Gil got was much closer and cut in front of us going right. The Afghan got a good slip and led for awhile until Gil did a go-by. According to one spectator, Gil made a dive for the rabbit but just missed it (darn!).

Pi and Gil wait their turn to run in finals

The judge decided only to bring up the course winners from each run, which left us with one finals course: Gil, Pi, and an Afghan. I decided to double slip my boys, just to see if I could do it. By this time we had reached the main part of the field where there was plenty of brush and tall grass. We had not walked far before a rabbit jumped just to our left under the feet of a gallery member. I got a good, even slip on both boys and they took off, running right alongside each other stride for stride. Both of them tried to take the lead, which resulted in a little bumping around before the hare turned for the first time. I thought that they were going to take it at that point, but it slipped away and made another turn to the right. All I remember at that point was seeing Pi slightly ahead of Gil before they disappeared into the higher cover. Gil must have retaken the lead at some point, because he ended up winning the course, with Pi running second.

At the end of the day, Gil took 1st place in the leftover stake and Pi took 2nd, giving him the last placement and points he needed to finish his CC! After doing some quick math in my head I determined that he still needed a handful of breed points to finish his CM. He would have the opportunity to get those last few points the following day at the NOFCA mixed hunt.

Pesh on the line looking for a hare

The next morning we met up with Peshamba and Bukra the Saluki for the mixed hunt. We had a full stake, so I planned to be out in the field all day. As it turned out, we were very lucky and finished on finals by 11:30am!

Pesh getting ready to run

While both Pi and Pesh were thoroughly "whippeted" they still had a great time, and Pi finished his CM with 5 High Score Breed points for being the highest scoring Magyar Agar of the day.

Sister, brother

With that comes the end of the regular coursing season, with the exception of the Grand Course to be held later this month. Stay tuned for a report on that in the weeks following.

A gratuitous butt shot to mark the end of the season ;)

Peshamba's Family Hunt

Pesh and Bukra eagerly anticipate a day in the field

Photo by Jairi Rai

On Saturday, January 4th, I headed down with Hattie greyhound to attend a NOFCA mixed hunt. Hattie only needed a handful of points to qualify for the Grand Course, and Peshamba was already entered, so I looked forward to spending a day in the field with two of my girls.

Our field had 12 hounds, so that made for 4 prelim courses. Hattie drew the second course and Peshamba drew the third course, along with her kennel mate, Bukra the Saluki. We were also joined by another one of Pesh's kennel mates, Zealand the APBT (he decided he didn't like staying home alone, lol). It's not often that Peshamba gets to run in a mixed hunt, let alone with two of her housemates :-)

A family portrait: Bukra, Pesh, and Zealand. 

We were only able to run two rabbits in the field we started in. The first course got a nice hare, but unfortunately it ended up being mostly a tail-chase from what we could see. We walked for at least another hour before we got the second course off. The hare broke very close, off to the right, giving Hattie an advantage since she drew the blue blanket. She was off like a rocket, and quickly put a hard turn on the rabbit. She attempted to pick it up, but the rabbit ducked into a small gully, narrowly missing her jaws. After that, it was basically a tail chase with the other two dogs eventually passing Hattie as she ran out of gas.

We put the next course up on the line, I was slipping Pesh and Jairi was slipping Bukra. We walked, and walked, and walked, until we got word from the other field that they were close to finishing on finals. It was only about 12:00, so we decided to hunt back to the cars and head over to the other field.

On our way to another field, and hopefully more rabbits!

Photo by Jairi Rai

As soon as we arrived, we got started quickly so as not to waste any more daylight. We only walked for about ten or fifteen minutes before we got the next rabbit up. Unfortunately it broke quite far ahead of us, so only one dog was sighted coming out of slips. Bukra ran straight after the hare, while the other dog ran in the opposite direction. Not being sighted herself, she had a choice between following her kennel mate or following a dog she didn't know. She made the right call and shot off after Bukra. She eventually caught up to him, but by that time they both went out of our sight. We were certain that it would end up being a no-course, but the judge had her binoculars up and the dogs did not return to the gallery right away. According to the judge, Bukra put one turn on the hare, but Pesh was never able to overtake him -- though she tried very hard. It was disappointing for all of us, but we had to move on if we wanted to finish on time.

The last prelim did not fare much better. We walked a short distance from where we had gotten the last course off, when we saw a small little brown thing sprinting with all it's might across a wide open section of the field. At first I thought it was a cottontail because it was quite small, and it had it's ears down. When it finally raised it's ears for a split second I knew it was a jackrabbit and the huntmaster called a tally-ho. The three dogs ran after it, but were never able to really get close enough to work it. With that, we finished prelims and moved on to finals.

Pesh and her bro, Zealand

Photo by Jairi Rai

The first finals course was a trio of Salukis. The rabbit broke in front of them, not too far out and all three dogs took off after it. Bukra was leading until one of the other dogs collided with him, throwing him off course a bit, but he recovered quickly. The dogs were soon out of our sight, and came back a short time later. It was looking like most of the courses that day were going to end up being tail-chases, as we put up the last final of the day.

The second finals course was a "speed course" with two whippets and Hattie greyhound. The rabbit broke right under Zealand and ran parallel to the gallery. Hattie was not sighted at the time, but I slipped her anyway, hoping that she would follow the other two dogs and eventually get sighted. She was looking at the other dogs as she ran out of slips when the rabbit suddenly cut right in front of her into the wide open. As soon as she saw it she really put on the speed and led the rest of the way out. Just as the hare was about to reach the safety of a patch of cover, she put a good turn on it, ran up alongside it and picked it up!

Hattie with her catch

 

In the end, Hattie placed 1st in the hunt and Bukra placed 3rd/4th. Poor Pesh didn't get a chance to run a second time, but she had a fun day and was thoroughly pooped. Hopefully she will have better luck next time! 

500 Points and Counting!

Ed and Rio the Wolfhound

On Sunday, November 24th, I took Gil down south for NCIWC's annual NOFCA mixed hunt. I've entered this event for the past three years; it's run by friendly folks and always has some good competition. This year it was especially memorable because Gil ended up taking 3rd place overall, giving him enough points to finish his NOFCA 500 Point Award!

 Gil and Pesh taking a short rest in between courses

We got to the field at sunrise and quickly checked for sheep before making our way in. Gil was lucky enough to draw the second course of the day, so he didn't have to wait long before his turn was up. Gil tends to get a little impatient, so it's nice if he can get his excess enthusiasm out early.

Linda with Layla and Chudak

Running with Gil was Maverick the Saluki, and Chudak the Borzoi. We were working along the edge of a canal road where lots of heavy tumbleweed cover tends to gather (rabbits like hiding in tumbleweed piles), when the rabbit sprang up from the clumps and started making a mad dash to the road. I couldn't see the rabbit, but Gil was pulling me like he was sighted so I slipped him, hoping he actually was sighted. Maverick had the advantage being on the far left near where the rabbit came up, while Gil and Chudak sort of collided, which slowed both of them down considerably. We were sure that it was going to be a no course given that two of the dogs had collided and the Saluki wasn't close enough to be able to get right up on the rabbit, but once Gil got up on the road where he could overlook the field below he was able to get re-sighted and took off after it with Maverick and Chudak following behind. Gil dominated the portion of the course that was visible from the gallery, and apparently he did enough to win the course.

Guimaraes and Habbi, Afghan Hounds

In his finals run, Gil drew Barossa the Whippet (a very fast Whippet, BTW), and LeeLee the Saluki who also happened to have the highest score coming out of prelims. We didn't have to walk far before we got a rabbit up at 3 o'clock cutting right across us. All three dogs got an even slip, but the timing was such that Gil and LeeLee collided, with LeeLee taking the brunt of it. Gil probably outweighs her by at least 30 lbs, so while he was slowed down a bit by the hit, LeeLee was turned ass over teakettle and stopped in her tracks. Barossa led the rest of the course, but Gil stayed pretty close behind her, which impressed me given how fast she is.

Taking a quick water break

Thankfully, LeeLee did not suffer any lasting damage, but I felt bad about the collision just the same. We were so busy checking up on her that I had not noticed that one of Gil's front feet was very swollen when he finally returned from his final's run. I was petrified that he had torn the ligaments in his toes, or worse, suffered a dislocation, but upon closer inspection I found that he had a small puncture wound on the bottom of his foot, inside the webbing between the toes. The puncture was deep enough that some air had gotten under the skin, which was what caused the excessive swelling. He has since made a full recovery :)

Meanwhile at the races ...

The same day that Gil, Pi, and Pesh went coursing, my sister was busy running our club's sprint races. This year, we were approached by members of the American Basenji Club (ABC) about having a conformation fun match alongside the race meet. The ABC is an up-and-coming UKC club and they needed to host a fun show in order to become fully licensed by UKC. We gladly agreed to let them host the event with our races, and, not surprisingly, the sighthound group had the largest entry of all.

Luna in the ring

Photo by ABC photographer

Both Luna and Dude were entered in the show as well as the race meet; Luna ran some match races with Sophie the lurcher and Dude ran in the singles stake (more on that later).

Dude the speed demon!

Photo by Dave Mills

Dude has not been entered in a show since he was a puppy due to an odd phobia he developed. Since this show was being held for fun, Kyle and Rita decided to enter him to see how he would handle it. They kept everything very casual and low-stress, and he did very well considering how bad his phobia has been in the past. Hopefully with more careful exposure and positive reinforcement we can get him to improve even more. Luna ended up winning Best of Breed despite losing her head over having the race track so close by. Unfortunately she didn't place in group, but there was quite a bit of competition and with her not being on her best show behavior, we weren't surprised.

Dude running in the singles stake, 4/6/13

Photo by Gary Claggett

As mentioned previously, Dude ran in the singles racing division, which is something our club started this year for dogs who are either disqualified from regular competition, or who want to run schooling races with some level of informal competition. Dogs running in singles run alone, but they get timed with a stopwatch, which is what determines the final placements of the day. Unfortunately, Dude likes to play with his race-mates when he runs in regular competition, so the singles stake has been perfect for him. He has competed in the singles stake since it's inception, and he is usually one of the fastest dogs entered. On this particular day he had the fastest time out of at least a half dozen dogs -- 200 yards in 11.63 seconds!

Dude, fastest singles racer at 11.63 seconds!

Photo by Kyle Yates

On Sunday, Gil, Pi, and Pesh returned for some racing so Luna didn't have to be all alone. After such a disappointing coursing meet the day before, they were very excited to get to chase the fake bunny! Pi was so excited he just couldn't wait his turn, and managed to break out of his expen TWICE to get to the lure *que the face-palm.*

In the first program, Luna came in a strong first place, followed by Gil, Pi, and Pesh. In the second program, Pi came in first, followed by Gil, Luna, and then Pesh. Then in the third program, Gil came in first, followed by Pi, Luna, and Pesh. After all those mixed results, Gil ended up with the highest score, but only one point ahead of Pi. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures from Sunday :(

Season's Greetings (no, the other kind)

Gil with his bunny radar up and running

Photo by Alicia Kittrell 

The 2013/14 coursing season has begun, and three of the Stouthearted Agars attended the California Rarebreed Association's first meeting of the year on Saturday, November 9th. The event was memorable in that we had one of the largest entries in recent history, including a complete stake of five Pharaoh Hounds! Unfortunately, it will also go down in my memory as one of the most disappointing coursing events I have ever attended.

Hot hounds and handlers

Photo by Alicia Kittrell

The weather forecast indicated that temperatures would hover around the low 70's, but with little to no breeze the entire day and no clouds to cover the sun, the ambient temperature felt closer to 80-some degrees. That, combined with swarms of mosquitoes and heavy/prickly cover made for an uncomfortable atmosphere, and short courses with little opportunity for the dogs to actually work the hares.

Photo by Alicia Kittrell

The Agars, Gil, Pi, and Peshamba, were drawn into a mixed rare breed stake alongside three Silken Windhounds and one Deerhound. As luck would have it, the mixed rare breed stake was drawn last, and with three other stakes ahead of us it was going to be a long day of walking before our dogs had a chance to run.

Pi and Pesh patiently waiting their turn

Photo by Alicia Kittrell

Since we had quite a large gallery, we worked the field using a double-ender to make sure there were no wasted hares. We managed to find five hares within a couple of hours, but with the cover being so heavy most of the courses were short tail-chases into a bush or scrub. In order to ensure that we finished before dark, we ended up combining the last two braces of rare breeds so that we would only have two prelims to run. So, in the first prelim we had Pi running with Falkor the Silken and Nacho the Deerhound, and in the second prelim were Gil, Pesh, Gita and Helios (both Silkens).

Pi's hare broke about ten feet ahead of us out of a pile of cut willows. Pi sighted right away and took off in a flash, followed closely by the Deerhound. The hare veered left with the dogs in pursuit, but quickly found cover in some nearby star thistle. Barely winded at all, Pi frantically searched around hoping to find his long-awaited rabbit, but to no avail.

Gil and Pesh's hare also broke about ten or fifteen feed ahead out of a tight cluster of star thistle. Helios the Silken got the best slip and led the first part of the run up until Gil caught up and did a go-by on him. Almost as soon as Gil passed Helios, the hare disappeared, leaving a bunch of confused dogs in its wake.

Gil, ever eager to find his hares

Photo by Alicia Kittrell

At the end of the day, the judge placed Gil first, Pi third, and Pesh fifth. He reasoned that given the short nature of the courses he had to find very small differences to determine the placements, and it was Gil's go-by that won him the top placement that day. As disappointing as the day was overall, I was glad that Gil was able to pull out a first place win the way he did. Just goes to show me that the "old man" still has the speed to lead in a run-up!

NAMAA Nationals: LGRA Racing

Pi on the move

Photo by Steve Tradewell

After the conformation show on Sunday, the dogs were more than ready for the final event of the weekend: sprint racing. We had six dogs entered; Gil, Gator, Pi, Luna, Peshamba, and Fecni. As I mentioned in my previous post, I decided to pull Gil from finals in the lure coursing trial, and I saved Pi completely for the race meet in hopes that it would improve their performance.

Unfortunately we didn't have starting boxes that are big enough to accommodate the Agars, so all had to be hand-slipped. Hand-slipping is a much less accurate way to get an even start on all the dogs, which can skew the results if all the dogs are evenly matched.

In the first program, Pi and Fecni were placed in the low point race, leaving the others to run in the high point. I knew Pi was faster than that, but his WAVE wasn't high enough at that time for him to draw higher. So, poor Fecni had to race against her much younger son. She ran about a third of the way down before she decided it wasn't worth the effort and trotted back to the start line. I had not intended to run her in all three programs anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

Pesh taking up the rear

Photo by Steve Tradewell

In the high point race, Gil and Gator were running neck and neck almost the entire way down, but Gil managed to win by a nose, with Luna and then Pesh taking up the rear. It's unusual for anyone to beat Gator in a race, so I didn't know whether Gil's first program win had to do with him getting an earlier slip or if Gator was just a bit fatigued from the lure coursing trial the day before.

Luna in full stride

Photo by Steve Tradewell

In the second program, with Fecni scratched, the two remaining girls were drawn in the low point and all the boys were drawn in the high point race. I was certain that Gil's win in the previous program had just been lucky, but he surprised me again by taking a clear lead and coming in first, followed by Gator and then Pi who were not too far apart from each other. 

Pi, Gil, and Gator running neck and neck

Photo by Steve Tradewell

Pi and Gil racing to the finish

Photo by Steve Tradewell

Having won the first two programs, Gil pretty much had the meet in the bag, but even so both Tom and I were absolutely certain that Gator would turn on his after burners and win the final program. From my perspective at the finish line it looked like all three boys got an even slip, and were running head to head almost the entire way down. The last five or so yards of the race was quite a nail-biter; Gil and Gator were running evenly, when Gil made a small surge ahead, managing to squeak ahead by what looked like mere inches. It was so close that I wasn't sure if his little burst of speed came too late or not. In any case, even if Gil came in second place in the final program that would still be enough for him to win the meet. I was so surprised I just couldn't believe it.

Gil, Photo by Steve Tradewell

After walking all the dogs out and examining them for injuries, I made my way over to the scoreboard to get the final results and was pleasantly surprised to see that the judges recorded him as having won the third program! It should be mentioned that Gil is six years old, two years older than Gator, and he was the oldest dog competing that finished all three programs. He has not won a race meet of this size in several years, and even if the win was influenced by Gator's participation in the lure coursing trial the day before, it was still a very special win for him and for me. 

Gil, High Score in Meet

Photo by Steve Tradewell

Just to keep everything in the family, Gil's daughter Pesh proudly took home the Turtle Award, given to the lowest scoring dog who finishes all three programs. Pesh may not be the fastest Agar around, but she certainly is not lacking in drive or enthusiasm! I think she's going to be more of an endurance runner than a speed demon.

Peshamba the Turtle

Photo by Steve Tradewell

NAMAA Nationals: Conformation Day 2

Sunday's conformation show was judged by Mr. George Bell. For those who don't know George, he is an avid hare courser, and breeder of some very accomplished coursing Greyhounds and Salukis. While George and his late wife started out with Salukis, he is now focused almost exclusively on Greyhounds, particularly the "half and half" variety. A "half and half" as they are affectionately called is a Greyhound that has both NGA and AKC bloodlines in its pedigree. Needless to say, George is more than qualified to judge working sighthounds, and I was excited at the prospect of having him judge our Agars.

I decided to keep things simple and leave all the dogs in the same classes they had previously been entered in. Unfortunately for us, the race track for the LGRA specialties was being setup in plain view of the show ring, and all of our dogs were well aware of what was going on, which made showing them a bit of a challenge to say the least.

Pi being very uncooperative

Photo by Ed Sakai

Pi went into the ring first and was about as cooperative as a bucking bronco. I don't know if that had anything to do with George's choices, but it certainly didn't help.

Gator, Photo by Ed Sakai

Next up were Gil and Gator in Open. The two older gentleman were slightly more composed than Pi, but not much. Between the two, George picked Gil. In addition to coursing his dogs, George enjoys taking them into the show ring on occasion, and he tends to like dogs that are "pretty" as opposed to more rugged types. So, I wasn't surprised that he preferred Gil over Gator, as Gil is definitely more slight of build. Between Gil and his son, George predictably went with Gil.

Peshamba showing off her lovely side gait

Photo by Jairi Rai

Next in the ring was Peshamba. Knowing George's preferences in dogs, I had hopes that he would like her, despite her post-season condition. I was definitely not wrong. Even though Pesh was pretty uncooperative in the ring, he remarked to her owner/handler that he liked her, which gave me hope for at least a Winner's Bitch award.

Luna on the go-around

Photo by Ed Sakai

In Open Bitches, Luna was quite beside herself with the race track being so close by and did not show as well as she has before. Nevertheless, I had a feeling George would prefer Patti over Luna, and I was right. Patti's show performance was greatly improved over what it had been the day before; she was much more relaxed with minimal help from her handler, and when she went around the ring I saw her move like I had never seen her move before. She reminded me a lot of both her mother and father; a seamless blend of both, and I was very proud :-)

Patti getting ready to go around the ring

Photo by Ed Sakai

That pitted the two sisters against each other for Winner's Bitch. As their breeder and "second mother" I would have been happy and proud for either of them to win, but as I had hoped George picked Pesh for Winners Bitch!

Winners Bitch Peshamba

Photo by Ed Sakai

And, last but not least were the Veteran girls, Belle and Fecni. Again, George's choice was pretty predictable, and he went with the prettier Belle over the more rugged Fecni.

Belle, Photo by Ed Sakai

Mama Fecni, Photo by Ed Sakai

That put Gil, Peshamba, and Belle in the ring for Best of Breed. I was so tired by that time not just from going around the ring several times, but also having to handle several uncooperative and strong dogs. In the end, George picked Gil for Best of Breed, which did not surprise me. What I was really waiting for was to see who he would pick for Best Opposite. I felt that both girls stood a good chance of winning, but I was thrilled when he handed the ribbon to Peshamba.

Gil, Best of Breed under George Bell

Photo by Steve Tradewell

Peshamba, Best of Opposite Sex under George Bell

Photo by Steve Tradewell