Nevada Coursing

Patti, Gil, and Pi: Ready for Action

This blog entry is long overdo, and I hope my memory of it isn't too foggy.

On the weekend of November 22nd and 23rd, Tom and I packed up his pickup truck with Patti, Pi, and Gil, and drove out to northern Nevada for some open field coursing. It was our first rarebreed hunt of the season, and the first coursing outing for any of my dogs since the Grand Course back in February.

The weather was predicted to be quite chilly, and to avoid any possibility of getting stuck in the snow while going over the pass, we decided to leave Friday night. We arrived around 8:00, checked into our hotel and went to bed early in preparation for an early roll call the next morning.

 Frank, our judge, sitting atop his giant van in the beautiful Nevada desert

As predicted, it was very cold the next morning, and by the time we rolled into the valley we were to hunt in the wind had picked up quite a bit, making the chill all the more sharp. I wasn't phased by it at all; in fact I prefer to be cold rather than warm, and with all the t-shirt weather coursing we had the year before I welcomed the sub-40 degree temperatures.

 Fadiahr the Afghan

We had a good entry of 11 hounds the first day (1 Galgo, 3 Magyars, 4 Afghans, and 3 Silkens), but not enough of any one breed to split the stake. I can't remember exactly which course numbers my dogs drew, except that Pi and Patti wound up in the same course, which I was glad about. Patti is the least experienced of the three Magyars when it comes to coursing, and I hoped that by running with her brother she would have the good sense to follow him back to the gallery when the course was over, rather than wandering off on her own.

 Diego the Galgo

Overall, the rabbits were pretty scarce and very good at evading the hounds, which is typical of my experiences with Nevada coursing. The few times I've hunted there, the rabbits always seemed to have an uncanny ability to seemingly disappear into thin air just as the dogs begin to gain on it. The landscape is deceptively uneven (it looks flat when viewed from a distance, but is actually scattered with low and high spots), and with the brush being as thick as it can be in some spots, it's easy for the rabbits to duck into a hiding spot. In sum, it's a very challenging place to hunt, but the beauty of the landscape itself more than makes up for it.

 Tom soothing Patti, who got a little impatient for her turn to run

We got the first couple of rabbits up, fairly early in the day. Gil's rabbit came up at about 10 'o-clock, and took the dogs over a rise and down into a much lower area of the field, almost completely out of our sight. All three hounds were pretty well-matched on the run up, but by the time we could see them again Gil was quite a bit ahead of the others. It wasn't much of a course from a spectator point of view, but the dogs clearly had fun, and I think they got their money's worth.

Pi, taking a break from slips, but always on the look-out for rabbits

Pi and Patti's hare got up at about 3 'o-clock, right as we were coming over a small rise (he must have been sitting on the edge of the gully). Pi and Patti took off like a light, up and over the rise and out of my sight again. From what we and the judge could tell, there wasn't as much to that course as there had been with Gil's, but I was happy that Patti got sighted and had a good slip, and that she came back safely and quickly.

We struggled to find our last prelim of the day, and had to settle for a very long call that amounted to even less than a tail-chase. With that, we decided to call it a day, and hoped for better runs the next day. Final results had Gil placing 2nd, Pi 3rd, and Patti 5th.

 Kepi the Afghan

We got out of the field just as the sun was disappearing over the horizon. Too tired and cold to leave the hotel for dinner, we had a pizza delivered right to our room. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, and I did not wake up at all until my alarm went off the next morning.

 A hunter and his hound

Sunday's weather was much milder by comparison. It was still cold, but without the wind and occasionally rain showers it didn't feel nearly as bone-chilling. We decided to drive further into the field than we had the day before, hoping for more rabbits. As it turned out, we got to take in lots of new and beautiful scenery, but there wasn't a single rabbit to be had until we headed back down the valley to where we had been the day before.

 Karly the Silken Windhound

We had the same number of dogs entered, and somehow Pi and Patti managed to draw the same course again. Gil drew the last course, a brace, which we ultimately had to scratch in order to finish the day on prelims. Although I felt bad that Gil didn't get a chance to run that day, he kind of deserved it for acting like a complete fool all day long. I don't know if the lack of rabbits mixed with adrenaline caused him to go into some kind of delirium, but he would not stop barking all day long, and he would get particularly crazy at the sight of some dirt bikers and ATVers who were driving around in the distance.

 Patti says, "I WANT THE BUNNIES!"

Despite not having a lot of rabbits, Pi and Patti had probably the best run of the day, not because there was any really brilliant moves on their part, but because of how long and far the course went on. Pi isn't the best courser who ever lived, but he has a knack for staying on a hare's ass, even when it starts pulling out all kinds of evasive maneuvers. He stayed on this particular rabbit all the way past the road that we had come into the field on, and up the base of the mountains that created the walls of the valley itself. I don't know exactly how far he ran, but it was quite far. The only reason he lost it was because he couldn't run vertically and stay sighted at the same time, although he tried very hard. Patti wasn't a factor in the course from what I could see, but she stayed right behind her brother, and followed him back to the gallery pleased as punch.

 Patti returning from her run

For all that effort, Pi ended up with a 1st place (his very first 1st place!), and Patti ended up in 4th place.
Overall, I consider the weekend to have been a success. We may not have had as many rabbits as we would have liked, but the weather was to my liking, the scenery was AWESOME, and my dogs had a great time. What more could I ask for?

 We got one of each placement!

The one and only thing that dampened my day was losing my Garmin Astro in the field :-(  The hand-held unit detached from the clip holding it to my belt, which I did not notice until we got back to the cars. I have since bought a replacement hand-held unit, but man did it make me sad to drive away from that valley knowing it was sitting out there with no way for me to find it (sob).

Our South Dakota Adventure

We had such an eventful time in South Dakota that I thought it warranted its own individual blog entry. I will continue my Premier summary in a separate post.

Anyway, the first big event we had in South Dakota was kind of a bad one. We believe Cali was bitten by some kind of bug, probably a spider. Whatever it was she developed a tennis ball-sized lump on her neck that was swelling fast and clearly very painful. So, we made an emergency trip to a local vet in the middle of the night to have it drained and treated. She's now sporting a rubber tube in her neck that will have to be removed in a few days, but she's looking and feeling much better. Just the same we figured it would be best to cut our trip short and try to get back home by Sunday or Monday. Cali's a trooper but even she gets stressed and at her age I think it's best to get on home and let her really rest.

Here's a gory picture for those who enjoy that sort of thing:


We hit the road for Rapid City around 7:00am. There were all kinds of funny sites along the way, including an 80 ft dinosaur statue. South Dakotans really seem fond of giant animal displays, real and fake.


After a few hours on the road we finally made it to Highway 16 which would take us to Mount Rushmore. Before heading on up we decided to fill up our gas tank at one of the roadside stations. We picked quite a station to stop at; this one had a "free wild animal exhibit" which consisted of a very large collection of taxidermy. Some of the pieces were quite well done; I think the best one was of the Nile crocodile pulling an antelope under water.




Once we were filled up we started the journey up Highway 16 towards Mount Rushmore. The monument is about 30-some miles off the main interstate and the Black Hills landscape along the way is just beautiful.


It's been a big dream of mine to visit Mount Rushmore and I was so excited to finally be able to see it. Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed on top of the mountain but our RV was parked in the perfect spot for a doggie photo-op with the monument right in back.


After we finished at Mount Rushmore we went about ten miles further to go see Crazy Horse Mountain. I really hope they finish it in my lifetime; it's going to be something else when it's done!


We are now at a campground in Hardin, Montana. We got to see part of the Little Bighorn and a beautiful Montana sunset. Now I know why they call this "Big Sky Country."

Our Premier Adventure: Part 5

We have arrived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The camp is nice and the scenery has been beautiful but we're looking forward to moving on to Rapid City tomorrow so we can hopefully catch a glimpse of Mount Rushmore.

The most exciting thing that's happened today is seeing Ol' Man River. We crossed over the Mississippi when we crossed into Minnesota. It's quite a site :)

Getting back to our Premier adventure, Thursday was our first day of competition. Both Gil and Fecni were scheduled to show in the Top Ten Invitational early in the morning along with hundreds of other dogs that had been invited to attend. For those who don't know, Top Ten is a special conformation competition for dogs that made it into the top ten rankings for their breed. Over the course of the year, dogs that defeat others of their own breed at UKC conformation shows earn top ten points for each dog they beat. The points are tallied and the dogs are ranked from 1 to 10. The top 10 dogs in each breed then get a chance to compete for "Best of the Top Ten" every year at Premier.

The Top Ten competition is broken down into three segments. The first part consists of choosing a best of breed winner from among the top ten dogs in each breed. Unfortunately only two of the top ten MAs (Gil and Fecni) were able to attend but some of the more popular breeds actually have all ten dogs in attendance.

For this first part of the Top Ten competition the two MAs were judged by Paul Bruneau. Mr. Bruneau did a thorough examination of both dogs and told us that he was very impressed with their quality. He even invited us to come and show them in Florida where he does most of his judging (maybe someday we'll make that trip). Although he liked both Gil and Fecni very much he ultimately conferred the Top Ten Best of Breed award to Gil. Even though there were only two dogs in competition I was thrilled with the win and the compliments the dogs received.


After the best of breed dogs were all chosen we moved on to the semi final round of the Top Ten competition. In this round all the best of breed winners are basically tossed into a hat and drawn at random into one of five large groups to be judged by a different judge whose name is not disclosed until the judging is about the begin. Robert Collins presided over Gil's group which consisted of, in part, the Doberman Pinscher, the American Pit Bull Terrier, the Irish Wolfhound, the French Bulldog and many others.

Only four dogs from each group are selected to go on to the final round of competition and even though Gil showed well he was not one of the four chosen. Oh well, better luck next time. We still had three more shows ahead of us ...

Our Premier Adventure: Part 4

Ok, three guesses as to where we are today. I'll give you a hint:


For those who guessed Wisconsin you are correct :) We arrived in a little city outside Madison around 6:00 in the evening after saying goodbye to our relatives in Indiana this morning. Our plan is to take the I-90 through South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington then take the I-5 through Oregon all the way home.


Picking up where I left off last time, after a scenic drive through Iowa on Tuesday we landed in LaSalle Illinois by early evening. I really liked Iowa, the picturesque farms were so pretty, it made me feel like I was traveling back in time. Corny, I know, but it's true. I was really excited when we drove through Madison County (the setting of one of my favorite movies) but unfortunately there were no covered bridges for me to take pictures of.


From Illinois we drove on to Richmond for the last leg of our trip to Premier. Indiana is in the process of remodeling much of their freeway system so we got caught in a merry-go-round of detours but finally made it to the Wayne County fairgrounds by mid afternoon.

Next time we'll have to plan to arrive earlier because by the time we got to the fairgrounds all the water hookups were taken. Fortunately there were still some electric outlets available so we were able to camp in a nice spot in between the terrier racing track and the show arena.

The weather was unbearably hot and humid when we arrived so we all hid inside the camper until night time. The only time I ventured out was to give Gil and Fecni their baths for the Top Ten competition the next morning.

By 5:30 my grandma and aunt arrived with a carload of supper for us; sloppy joes, potato salad, pie, chips, cookies and sweet tea. It was the first real meal we had since we left and it was great.

After dinner we fed the dogs and went to bed in preparation for our first day of competition ...

Internet at last!

I finally have internet! Unfortunately there was no wifi at the fairgrounds so no way to update the blog. The Premier is over and we are staying at my grandma's for a couple of days before we head home. I should have full internet access at our campsites on the way back so I'll try to post summaries of the weekend's events as best I can remember.

Livi and I have been trying to think of a word that best describes our Premier experience. The best we could come up with was "strange" lol. It was fun but we definitely had our fair share of mishaps so stay tuned for details.

Got to get to bed!

Our Premier Adventure: Part 3

Today was our smoothest travel day yet. Gil is feeling much better and made it through the night without any accidents. We fixed him up a little bed up front in the cabin and he has been much calmer although he still won't let himself fall asleep for very long. Hopefully he'll get even better as we go along.

We departed for Nebraska early this morning around 6:30. We wanted to make up for the long day we had yesterday and with Gil feeling so much better we were able to make better time. Since the little dogs have had the privilege of riding up front for the past two days we figured it was only fair that the big dogs get their chance.


The little ones were understandably horrified ...


The drive through Nebraska was pleasant but not terribly interesting. There's lots of corn and cattle, that's for sure. Apparently everyone in this state listens to country western music or religious music so we didn't have much to choose from on the radio.


We rolled into the Omaha campgrounds at 4:00 which gave us plenty of time to get comfortable. The campgrounds here are AMAZING! This place escorts you to your site, picks up your garbage and delivers pizza to your door! Not to mention the staff is super friendly and helpful.


I set up a little yard for the dogs outside the RV which they immediately took advantage of. Gil loves being outside and after being stuck in a car all day he was soooooo happy to have a chance to enjoy the fresh air.


Unfortunately the weather has changed dramatically since we left Wyoming. We have finally reached the hot, humid climate that I have been dreading. As much as I want Gil to have a chance to relax outside, he (like me) tends to be a magnet for bugs and he has a history of having allergic reactions to bug bites (just like me!), which is the last thing I need for a dog I intend to show in a couple of days. Of course I forgot to bring fly spray for the dogs so the best I can do is hope that his flea/tick meds will keep the real bad bugs away.

Another great thing about this campground is that they have a little doggie play area with agility equipment set up. Livi and I let Gil and Beryl have a try at it and we have concluded that we don't have enough time to train for agility. Nevertheless, we had a good time trying out the A-frame and teeter totter.






We plan to leave early again tomorrow so I'm going to try and get to bed earlier tonight. One thing I want to mention while it's on my mind is that I may not have internet access once we get to Indiana so if my blog entries slow down or stop just be patient!

More tomorrow when we arrive in Illinois.

Our Premier Adventure: Part 2

After a very rough first night (Gil got sick on the bed and the camper was rolling back and forth in the heavy wind), I was way too tired to even think of driving this morning so I handed the wheel over to Dad.


It's become very obvious over these past two days that traveling by RV is just not Gil's cup of tea. I think his nerves are what caused him to get sick overnight and he hasn't been able to relax at all during our 8 hours on the road. I have a theory that it's the noise that bothers him. The RV drives like a tin can so you can feel and hear every bump on the road. I wrapped one of the crate pads over his ears and that seemed to help a little. The one thing that does seem to calm him down a little is sitting way up front next to the driver.


Thankfully all the other dogs have been taking the trip in stride.


Aside from Gil's little traveling issues the trip has been pretty smooth; the only hitch is getting used to the time changes. We left Nevada around 8:00am, which is later than we would have preferred but we forgot to change our watches. We had a lovely scenic drive through Salt Lake City before reaching Wyoming.




The drive through Wyoming was... just, WOW. The landscape is absolutely beautiful, and GREEN, compared to the dry, brown Nevada desert. The pictures I took really don't do it justice. I can see now why people move to states like this. There's nothing but miles and miles of land for dogs to hunt and run on. Gil would love living here.


We finally reached the campgrounds in Cheyenne around 7:00. These grounds are a lot nicer than the ones in Wendover, unfortunately the weather is a bit too wet for us to be able to enjoy the outdoors. Oh well, hopefully tonight will be much less eventful than the one before. One thing for sure is that Cali (and me by default) is not going to get much rest if the wackos outside don't stop shooting off their fireworks.

We're off to Omaha tomorrow. More later.

Indiana or Bust! Our Premier Adventure: Part 1

Well, our journey has officially begun! We are off to our very first Premier in Richmond, IN and our biggest adventure yet. We picked up the rental RV on Friday and got it all packed and ready to go so we could hit the trail early Saturday morning.

We picked up one last extra passenger which gives us nearly a complete Noah's Ark of dogs: two Greyhounds, two Agars, two Rat Terriers, two Dachshunds and one token Chihuahua. Once everyone was settled in to the big rig we were off towards Reno, NV.


Since this is July 4th weekend we wanted to make sure that we beat traffic out of town (which we did successfully). After a somewhat treacherous drive over the Sierra Nevada mountains we finally made it to Reno for a quick pit stop. The weather here is surprisingly cool for this time of year, which is a real blessing considering how many bodies we have in the RV.

After a couple more hours we stopped at a rest area to water the dogs and fix ourselves a picnic lunch. Some ham sandwiches and a few crackers later and we were off again.


We arrived here at our campsite in Wendover, NV around 5:00pm giving us just enough time to get ourselves set up before dinner. Livi put together a lovely little meal of beans, rice, fresh cooked mushrooms and warm bread for us while the dogs basked outside the RV in their exercise pens.

As is usual here in Nevada our campsite is right by a casino so Dad decided to take a shuttle into town to check that out. In the meantime we're going to be getting ready for bed as we have a long drive towards Wyoming ahead of us tomorrow.

More later

WWWA Versatility Weekend: Part 4

By Tom Koler

Lure-coursing was the fourth event to be held over the versatility weekend. Up to this point, Gator had squeaked ahead of his sister to win the sprints and oval, and Fecni took the conformation win. Luna’s forte, however, is the lure-course. In true form she was giving her brother another tough competitive run, when suddenly she came up lame by the end of the first course. Regretfully, we had to scratch her from the final run of the weekend. With his last run of the day, Gator won the ribbons for most versatile in breed by his wins the best of breed in LGRA and ASFA and high score in breed for NOTRA. All in all, it was a successful long weekend despite having to scratch Fecni from the racing and Luna having a bum foot.



The Western Washington Whippet Association has a very well run and efficient three day event over Memorial Day weekend. Our hats are off in thanks to Beth Levine who ran the show for the ASFA lure-coursing; and thanks again to Keri Swepton for her leadership in running the LGRA sprints, NOTRA oval, and the fun conformation match. During our stay, I was able to renew some old friendships from our days as members of WWWA in the 1980s. It was nice to see that our old organization is very much alive and thriving. We will definitely be sending Magyar Agárs to future WWWA Versatility Weekends!

By two in the afternoon we were packed and ready to make an early exit from the polo grounds. We had a twelve hour ride ahead of us, and getting off as early as possible was a necessity. Early in our trip we were to discover that Luna had started her heat. Poor Gator, worn out in competitive running for a total distance of just a little over a mile, was to endure twelve hours in a confined space with two very attractive girls. To say the least, his restlessness was a good source for staying awake during our trip. The trip itself was uneventful with the Great White Whale sailing down Interstate-5 breezing through western Washington and Oregon. At the California border, Audrey took over for a first trial run of the behemoth van. Eleven o’clock at night is a good time to try to drive a vehicle that drives like a helium-filled über balloon. Audrey drove like a pro and by 1:30 AM she pulled onto her driveway in Davis.

Our trip north would not have been successful without our friends in the Olympia area. Charlotte and Claire Lattimore were very gracious hosts, and hopefully future MA owners. Claire and the MAs were a little team of energy every morning before the events, and in the evening she captained the hounds into playful games. There’s nothing more full of energy than a five-year-old and three MAs!

WWWA Versatility Weekend: Part 3

By Tom Koler and Audrey Hsia


The Tacoma Polo Grounds are well-hidden northeast from Olympia. With a little effort we were able to find the grounds and navigate the Great White Whale to a parking area. We got there just before check-in time, and found out that Fecni was in heat. That was the reason for Gator not having a very quiet road trip on Thursday and Friday. This left us with just Luna and Gator, although Fecni had several chances to meet new people and hounds.


The first day of the Western Washington Whippet Association’s Versatility Weekend is the LGRA 200 yard sprint. As usual the brother and sister team were nose to nose at the finish line but Gator in the end squeaked out the win. Several people expressed an interest in the MAs and we had a chance to visit with Ann Chamberlain, who has expressed a lot of interest in our breed. Everyone had kind words for Gator and Luna and both of them brought home plenty of loot for the trophy room.

After a long hot bath and some dinner with Charlotte and Claire we were ready to turn in for the night. Everyone slept soundly and woke up bright and early the next morning for the NOTRA race meet.

The two pups have only had limited experience running the oval but they both ran it like pros. The first race of the day drew loud applause from the onlookers as the two sped by in perfect unison for an even tie, which was confirmed by the club's video camera that they had set up at the finish line. Thankfully for the finish line judges the last two races were much easier to judge, although the two siblings were still running neck and neck for the most part. In the end Gator proved the victor yet again for another point towards his ORC.



To top things off, even Leeroy the longhaired dachshund got to do a fun run. We weren't sure if he was going to make it the entire 300 yards but to everyone’s surprise and delight he finished with a flurry across the finish line! He's now got a whole new fan club up in the PNW :-)

After the oval meet we stuck around for the fun match. This was Gator's debut appearance in the show ring and he did fantastic! For a dog that's had no show training he handled himself beautifully and was given lots of praise by the judge.



Since there's no restrictions on showing bitches in season, Fecni finally got her chance to step out of the van and into the spotlight. To our great delight she ended up winning best female and best of breed! The judge lauded her effortless movement and gave her serious consideration for best in match, but ultimately that award went to the whippet. Nevertheless it was great to have Fecni do so well since she couldn't participate in the running events.

Thanks to Kerie Swepton for helping us getting signed-up and checked-in. Kerie had a heck of a job with a very large entry of whippets along with the large gazehounds.

WWWA Versatility Weekend: Part 2

By Tom Koler


We spent a quiet night in Ashland and hit the road first thing on Friday morning. Ashland is nestled in the Klamath Mountains which straddle the Oregon and California border. The Klamath geology is very complicated and geologists and miners are always attracted to this area. This is because over geologic time several Japan-size island archipelagoes have become “accreted” to the North American Plate. There are at least three of these volcanic arcs squished together, and all are sources for gold. The southern Oregon gold rush started in the early 1850s, shortly after the Californian Forty-Niners arrived in the Sierran foothills east of Sacramento.

This part of Oregon is very much like northern California, or as native Oregonians (like me) like to think, the northern fringes of California and southern Oregon are the great “state” of Jackson. At one point in history, Jackson almost became a state. The climate and vegetation are similar and this part of the US was settled by like-minded, independent thinkers as settlers entered this part of Oregon in the 1840s on the Applegate Trail (a part of the Oregon Trail).


Our trip in the Great White Whale (as we have named the white van) from Ashland to the Portland area was pleasant and relatively free of traffic. The MAs slept quietly with the exception of Gator who slept in starts and fits. We couldn’t quite figure out why he was such a worry-wart until Saturday morning (see Part 3). We made a mid-day stop to visit my folks who had never seen MAs before. They live just west of Portland and after lunch we then headed up I-5 towards Olympia.


The Mt. St. Helens’ Volcano Monument is about half way between Portland and Olympia. This was a good place for stretching our legs and the visit inside is worth the stop. On clear days you can see Mt. St. Helens from the viewing deck. Unfortunately the mountain was clouded in rain clouds and it was unlikely to clear while we were there. Mt. St. Helens is a special place for me because I started my geology career within the shadow of the mountain when it was erupting in the early 1980s.

The final leg of our trip ended in Olympia, the capital of Washington State. Lori and I lived here for thirteen years before our travels took us to Idaho and California. Fortunately Lori and I still have friends in the Olympia area, and we were warmly taken in by Charlotte and Claire Lattimore and their dog, Daisy. Claire and the pups took to each other right away :-)