Puppies!

Gil and Fecni's litter was born on Pi Day (3.14), March 14th 2011. There were a total of six puppies born, but sadly, three of them didn't make it. That left us with two girls and one boy, all extreme white with dark brindle markings.


The first born was a tiny little female. She came out legs first and was quite wiggly upon making her entrance into the world. She is still the smallest puppy of the three but she doesn't seem to realize it. Of all the puppies she's the only one that came out with dark pigment on her nose and mouth.


Second born was the lone male puppy. After the tiny little girl we were shocked to see this big white whale of a puppy. He's already got a nice masculine head, which we hope will take after his father and grandfather.


The last puppy born was a mid-sized female. Like her little sister, she also came out feet first and was clearly a strong little puppy ready to take the world by storm. She has since grown to be the largest of the three puppies, even surpassing her big brother. She is definitely her mother's daughter and is always first in line at the dinner table come feeding time. Even at this age she looks like she's going to be a very heavy-boned, rustic style MA just like Fecni.

Free Coursing 3/13/11

Fecni and Gil are Expecting!

I know, I know, it's a bit late for me to be posting this but better late then never. Fecni and her beau Gil are expecting puppies this month!

She's due to whelp on March 14th. Updates will be posted as soon as possible.

New Years Hunting Trip

Gil and Hawthorn attended the first rarebreed hunt of the new year on January 8th. We must have had one of the largest entries on record, or at least it felt that way as the day wore on.

We started out well and were popping rabbits every 10 minutes or so. We got enough up to finish the Ibizan Hound stake and the first half of the Silken Windhounds. Then as the last half of the silkens came up to the line we suddenly hit a complete dearth of rabbits that lasted for several hours. Since the second flight of silkens were all newbies their owners decided to scratch them so that if/when we did find the next rabbit the other rarebreeds would have a chance to run.

That put Gil up on the line in the first course of the rarebreed stake. We decided to move to the other side of the field where we hoped we would find the rabbits' secret hiding place. We weren't wrong. As soon as we got there a big jack bolted right under our feet. Gil was first off the line, followed closely by Wendy the Afghan. He wrenched a very hard turn on the hare that almost left him completely turned around, but Wendy, who was right behind him, was able to turn it back towards him. They gave the hare a good run from then on but were not able to catch it.

Here's a photographic sequence of Gil's course, courtesy of Rick Steele:


and, here's an aerial view of Gil's course, courtesy of my Garmin Astro:



Hawthorn came along for his very first hunt ever. Unfortunately he didn't sight his rabbit but he ran anyway!

Happy New Year!

Happy new year from the California MA's! We didn't attend very many shows this year, but Gil was undefeated in the UKC Top Ten rankings taking all Best of Breeds, several group placements and one Best in Show! It's been a great year and we think 2011 will be even better :)

Hunting 11/20/10

This report is a little late, but I have a good excuse. Shortly after this trip I had to start to buckle down and study for my final exams. Now, on the eve of my very last exam I found some time to sit down and report on our first hunt of the season.

Gil and Fecni were both entered, and we were very excited to welcome our Silken Windhound friends for their very first official hunt. In addition to the MAs and Silkens there was a full stake of Ibizans and a lone Deerhound bitch. The MAs, Silkens and Deerhound made up the second stake of rare breeds, which added us up to two rare breed hunts and one Borzoi hunt.

Due to the very heavy cover it was very difficult for the dogs to get sighted and stay sighted. However, the rabbits weren't quite ready for us after having spent all summer snoozing and fattening up. The very first course of Borzoi resulted in an AK within the first 50 feet of the run!

From then on it wasn't hard for us to find the rabbits but it sure was hard for the dogs to chase them very far before they would duck into the brush.

Gil's prelim course was one of two good long courses we had that day. Below is a graphic image of his course transcribed from my Garmin GPS:


You can see at the top that he makes a 180 degree turn. I thought he almost had it at that point, but the hare managed to get away just in time.

The second rabbit that Gil ran wasn't as lucky. The jack popped right under our feet and almost as soon as I let Gil go he caught it. I don't think he ran more than 50 feet before he caught him; not much of a run but definitely very exciting!

That UK put Gil at the top of the line up at the end of the day, followed by the Deerhound in second. Fecni settled for a fifth place tie, but she redeemed herself at our last outing (more on that later ...)

News From Abroad: Puppies Available

Vakvagta Jelenseg

Vakvagta Joslat

There are two beautiful puppies from the Vakvagta "J" litter that are still looking for their forever homes; one male and one female. These two pups are half siblings to our Fecni (same dam, different sire) and are located in Hungary.

These pups would make excellent racing, coursing and show prospects. Their pedigree can be viewed online here: http://www.sighthound-trophy.com/madb/testmating_show.php?sire=345&dam=721&actio%20n=Check

If you're interested in giving one of these pups a home you can contact their breeder, Annamária Lóky, at email: bijoufoxi@gmail.com

We have lots of experience importing dogs from Europe and would be happy to help in any way we can.