A Nice Little Weekend

We had a very nice little weekend of UKC shows on the 22nd and 23rd. The Norcal APBT Club hosted a small specialty show in conjunction with a weight pull and we ended up going home with a lot more than I expected. The first day, Gil, Willow and Belle were all entered in the Champions class at the specialty with judge Dennis Blickenstaff presiding. Gil must have been feeling extra good that day because not only did he take Champion of Champions (for his second Grand Champion leg) he went on to win a Best in Multi-Breed Show!!! Not bad for a dog that isn't too crazy about showing. I think it has something to do with the weather; Gil always seems to do well when it's hot outside, which is surprising because hot weather and hounds don't usually mix. Anyway, this is Gil's third UKC Best in Show win and his sixth BIS win overall (UKC, Rarities, IABCA etc). Nellie Belle gave a pretty good showing as well and took her first Reserve Champion of Champions award. After the show Gil got geared up in his brand new John Deere harness and earned 5 points towards his UWPCH and took second place in his weight division.

On day two Fecni joined the rest of the Champions for the specialty and showed very well, although she did not make the final cut. Judge Mark Golden was presiding that day and, despite Gil's efforts to squelch his chances of winning by refusing to free stack at the end of the down and back, he gave Gil his third Grand Champion leg by going Champion of Champions. This time Willow took the reserve award even though she too was doing her best to show poorly. After the shows Gil amazed us all by earning 10 more points towards his UWPCH and pulling a new personal record. He also took another second place in his weight class. Unfortunately he had a small equipment malfunction so his brand new harness will have to be repaired before it can be used again.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from the weekend. The only excuse I have is that I didn't nearly expect to get the kinds of results we did so I didn't bring my camera. Darn!

**Update 06/30/10**
Turns out Bill Hemby caught a candid of Gil and me in the Best in Show ring right before his big win:

News from Abroad: More Big Wins for Cserihegyi "E" Pups!

The Cserihegyi E pups are at it again, taking home big wins in the European show ring. On May 15th, Cserihegyi Ejha followed in the footsteps of her brothers and sisters by taking home a Reserve Best in Show Puppy award. Congratulations to her owner, Rita, and her breeder, Diana. This is an amazing litter and we can only expect greater things from them in the future.

News from Abroad: Big Wins for Cserihegyi "E" Pups

It was a weekend full of wins for two of the Cserihegyi "E" pups (Gil's niece and nephew). Two shows were held on one day in Budapest, a rarity according to Diana. In the first show, an all breed show, Emlék took Best Puppy and both she and her brother Elmés received very promising critiques from the judges.

Later in the day, Emlék went on to win second runner up to Best in Show Puppy!


The second show was a Magyar Agar specialty hosted by the MEOE and judged by world-renowned MA judge Tamas Jakkel. This time Elmés took the Best Puppy honors over his sister. To top it off, both pups took home a Best Brace award. Congratulations to their owner and breeder, Diana.



Here are the rest of the results for those who are interested:

All Breed Show, MA results

Dogs:
Puppy class (6-9 month)
Cserihegyi Elmés very promising 1.

Open (15 month and older)
Pottom Excellent 1. (without the CAC title)


Bitches:
Puppy class
Cserihegyi Emlék very prom. 1., Best Puppy

Intermediate class (15 - 24 month)
Nagymancs Tappancs Marcsi Excellent 1. (without the CAC title)

Working class (with coursing or track licence, 15 month and older)
Kucorgó-Dombi Fodorka Excellent 1,, CAC, BOB

Open class
Kalandvadász Zsálya Excellent 1, CAC

Champion class
Kalandvadász Űző Excellent 1, CAC


MEOE MA Specialty

Dogs:
Puppy class
Cserihegyi Elmés very promising 1., Best Puppy

Open
Pottom Exc 1., CAC

Bitches:
Puppy class
Cserihegyi Emlék very prom. 1.

Intermediate class
Nagymancs-Tappancs Marcsi Exc1, CAC
Kucorgó-Dombi Fodorka Very good

Open
Kalandvadász Zsálya Exc1, CAC
Nagymancs-Tappancs Trixi Very Good

Champion class
Kalandvadász Üzö Excellent 1, CAC, BOB

Happy Birthday BK N's!

Happy Birthday to Willow, Belle and the rest of the Betcha-Katcha "N" litter. They are 5 years old today.

New GRC!

Big congratulations to Gator for finishing his Gazehound Racing Championship this weekend!

This boy is an amazing runner and has done his mother proud for sure!

It's Still Winter in April ...

... for Bukky and Gypsy

The Wonders of GPS Technology

Ever since I started running Gil in the open field I've been using the Garmin Astro dog tracking system to keep track of his whereabouts should he ever become lost, disoriented or injured while on hunt. The Astro is probably one of the best, if not the best, investment I ever made. They're not cheap but it sure does give me lots of peace of mind, plus I get all the cool features that come with it, like being able to review Gil's courses.

Below is an illustrated view of the last course Gil ran at this year's NOFCA Grand Course.


The image was created from information gathered from the collar and then superimposed onto Google Earth. The collar tracks all kinds of information including average speed, distance and location of the dog at any given point in time. I have highlighted the leg of the course where Gil was recorded to have reached his highest speed of 52 mph. In all honesty I doubt the accuracy of the collar but it does give you some idea of how fast these dogs can travel. The point at the far left is where I believe he lost the rabbit since the speeds from that point on become much slower and steadier. The whole course was about 2 miles, but if my guess is correct he only ran the rabbit for about half that distance. Nevertheless a mile long run at full speed is quite a feat.

The most important point to be taken from this is that it gives one a realistic view at how real rabbits run in their natural habitat. Lure coursing is held by many to be an adequate or even exemplary simulation of hare coursing when, in truth, most lure coursing plans do not even come close to simulating the natural course a hare would take while being pursued by a predator (be it dog, coyote or falcon). As a result, lure coursing can only give us a limited indication as to how well our dogs are fulfilling their original function. My hope is that we can start to use technology like this to create better lure coursing plans so that we may improve the ability of those who do not have access to open field coursing to test their hounds' skills in the field.