No Puppies This Spring :-(

We took Luna to the vet for an ultrasound yesterday hoping to confirm a pregnancy. She was bred to Gil on March 14th and we were hoping to have a litter on the ground towards the end of May. Unfortunately it was not to be; the vet was unable to find any puppies, and we were understandably disappointed. The vet suggested that we do a complete thyroid panel and cultures on Luna to make sure there's nothing wrong on that end. Given her age, and the fact that she's a virgin bitch, we may have to use a more invasive breeding method next time around.

Pi's First Meet Win!

Photo by Steve Tradewell

Every spring, our little racing club (Racing and Coursing Enthusiasts "RACE") hosts a weekend of all breed sprint racing. This year's spring meet was actually the first time since the Grand Course that Pi and Gil would be competing in any kind of running event. Although Pi came out of the accident unscathed, Gil's right arm had taken a bit of beating, particularly his wrist joint. Over the preceding weeks the inflammation had gone down, along with his lameness, but the joint was left with some permanent and noticeable calcification. I considered leaving him out of the race meet, but considering his age (he's going to be 7 years old in June) and the fact that his most competitive years are pretty much over, and his total lack of pain or tenderness in the joint, I could not justify keeping him from doing what he loves most. I decided that if he came up lame again the worst that could happen would be scratching him from the rest of the meet, and if he stayed sound I would continue to let him run and he would be a very happy puppy.

Gil making a strong finish,

Photo by Steve Tradewell

As it turned out, Gil ran soundly the entire weekend and doesn't seem to have slowed down at all despite being the oldest dog still competing. While his wrist did swell up a tiny bit (barely noticeable), he did not present with any lameness at all so I allowed him to finish both meets on both days. I wrapped his foot and wrist with elastikon tape just to give it a little bit of support, and to cut down on any swelling. I don't know how effective it actually was, but it didn't hurt.

Gil in white, Pi in red, and Gator in blue

Photo by Steve Tradewell

The first day's meet was a match between the three big boys, Gator, Gil, and Baby Pi; and Dude was entered in singles. With Luna possibly in whelp we decided it was best for her to sit this one out (much to her distress). Pi finished second in the first two programs, then went on to finish first in the final program. This secured his spot at the top and earned him his very first High Score in Meet award!

Pi in blue, Gator in white

Photo by Steve Tradwell

Pi pulling ahead for the win!

Photo by Steve Tradewell

Gator came in a close second in the meet, and Gil a close third. Dude ran some very fast singles races, with a best time of 12.58 and an average of 12.78. His times were only bested by the whippets, which is great considering that whippets were made for sprint racing!

Gator, photo by Steve Tradewell

The next day was just Gil and Pi running in the regular stakes, and Dude running in singles. Either Pi was having an off day or Gil had decided that he wasn't going to let his only son beat him a second time, because Gil won the meet with a perfect score and a significant lead in every program. I was extremely pleased, not only that he won against a far younger dog, but that he finished so strongly all weekend despite his recent injury. Dude also had a better day running in the singles stake with a best time of 11.4, only a tenth of a second slower than Hattie's slowest run (and Hattie is one fast Greyhound)!

Gil coming into the finish, and coming down hard on that right wrist with no issue,

Photo by Steve Tradewell

Overall it was a great weekend, and a great start to the 2014 racing season. We look forward to more weekends of racing and lure coursing before we take a break for the summer.

Gil in red, Gator in white

Photo by Steve Tradewell

Stripey Dogs in the Snow

Gypsy and Bukky are still enjoying a winter wonderland up in California's Sierra Nevada mountains.

Gypsy, age 5

Bukky, age 12 and still going strong!

News from Abroad: Emlek Goes Coursing!

Emlek, her bracemate, and the hare they caught

Source, Rita Korpas

I've been meaning to write a post about this for some time, but never got around to it until now. With legal coursing becoming more and more of a rarity in Europe, it is refreshing and exciting to see Magyar Agars doing what they were bred to do in their country of origin. 

Thousand yard stare

Source, János Farkas

Emlek is a relative to Gil, Pi, Patti and Pesh (she is Gil's niece and first cousin to the Operetta puppies), so when I found out that she started coursing I was thrilled! Coursing in Hungary is very strictly regulated by the Hungarian government, but is allowed for Magyar Agars exclusively because they are considered a national treasure. These coursing tests are overseen by the Magyar Agár Tenyésztők Országos Egyesülete (MATOE), which is an independent registry not affiliated with the FCI. In order to be granted permission to course, each dog must be registered with the MATOE. Unlike FCI registration, each dog must go through an individual evaluation process to determine whether they meet certain conformational criteria as set forth by the MATOE. One of the stricter requirements is that the dog be solid colored with full pigmentation on the toenails. Apparently the wisdom is that dogs lacking sufficient pigment are more likely to sustain foot injuries due to the more brittle nature of their toenails. As such, poor Gil and Pi would not be allowed to course in Hungary, but thankfully they can enjoy that privilege here in America. 

Emlek is the lighter colored dog

Source, Zsuzsanna Barabás

The coursing tests are always done by the walk-up method, meaning that the dogs walking with the gallery in a line to flush the hares. Once a hare gets up, the dogs are slipped in braces and evaluated for their coursing abilities. Unfortunately, I was not able to get more information on the judging criteria.

Emlek straining in slips

Source, Rita Korpas

Emlek and her bracemate

Source, Rita Korpas 

Watching for hares

Source, Rita Korpas

Source, Rita Korpas

 Emlek and her owner, Rita, on the far left

Source, Imre Kovács

Source, Imre Kovács

Group Photo

Source, János Farkas

Patti's Promising Show Career

Although Patti has spent some time in the show ring, she hasn't exactly been a standout show dog. I had been so focused on showing Pi and Pesh that I had sort of put Patti's show career on the back burner. Add to that the fact that she had little to no show training, she just couldn't keep up with her siblings. Pi and Pesh finished their UKC conformation Championships in pretty short order, and both of them made big placements at our national specialty. Patti was the only one in her litter without any real show wins to brag about. Well, it looks like that's about to change.

The Norcal All Breed Club hosted three days of UKC events over March 21st through 23rd. Even though I had not had much time to prepare her for the shows, I wanted to give her some ring experience without over doing it, so I decided to enter her in both shows on Saturday.

Unfortunately there wasn't a large amount of competition in the sighthound group (at least not as much as there has been), but there were still enough dogs to make the competition somewhat challenging, and to give Patti an opportunity to get a competition win or two in group.

I'm accustomed to showing my dogs with a fair amount of handling on my part. I always hand stack them, and I occasionally use bait as well. Since I've started seriously working with Patti as a show dog I've had to resist my urge to hand stack her, because she doesn't like it, and without her cooperation she doesn't end up looking very nice. Some dogs are just that way when it comes to showing -- they prefer to free stack and gait on a loose lead. So, before we arrived at the show grounds I stopped by Burger King and picked up a sausage patty to use as bait, and hoped that it would encourage her to stand pretty for the judges.

Well, it ended up paying off quite well. In the first show she presented herself beautifully and won the group against two other dogs (a Thai Ridgeback and a Silken Windhound)! The judge told me that she showed very well, and that I should stop worrying about her and focus on how I can make the most of my opportunity to exhibit her.

She put on another good showing in the second show, but placed second to the Thai Ridgeback, thereby cutting her out of a potential competition win since the Silken had already gone home. It was late in the day by the time she was called to the ring, so she was lacking a bit in the enthusiasm she had earlier, but it was still a very good experience, and overall she made a lot of progress. I'm looking forward to showing her more in the future, and hopefully finishing her bench title soon.

She cleans up pretty good!

Litter Plans

Breeding was done on March 14th. Here's hoping Luna get's pregnant!

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.