Coat Color in Greyhounds

When breeding a greyhound litter it is always exciting to see what colors the puppies are. With a few basic rules of genetics, the majority of the time colors can be predicted. Three basic colors are present in the breed.

Black

BISS Ch Helios Sun King

Red Brindle

BISS DC Aragon Night Frost VCD1 CDX TDX OJP RE SC VCX

and Red

BISS Ch Aryal Aroi Stoney Ridge CD TD RE NAJ SC

Dogs receive a color gene from each parent meaning if they receive a black gene from one parent and a red gene from the other the dog will be black. If they receive a brindle gene and a red gene the dog will be brindle.

Next comes the modifier genes. The first one is the dilution color. It is recessive so a dog must receive a dilute gene from each parent. If they only have one dilution gene the dog will a nondilute color. So the dilution gene on a black dog gives a

Blue

U-Ch Chaparral Toblerone RN TT CGC

The dilution gene on a brindle creates a blue brindle


Ch Aragon Silver Cloud CDX TDX

The dilution gene on a red creates a blue fawn

Windrock Sin City Playboy RA JC

And last is the Parti gene. This gene allows only part of the base color to be expressed. Once again this modifier gene is recessive meaning the dog has to get the gene from both parents. If it only gets one it is a solid colored dog.

Black+Parti

Ch Aragon Lunar Eclipse VCD1 MX MXJ RE JC

If the dilute gene is present it would be a blue and white parti color(no photo).

Brindle+Parti would be a red brindle(No photo)
if+Dilute would be a blue brindle parti

Ch Aragon Silver Oak

And lastly Red+Parti would be a red and white color

Ch Gaia Best Mate

if+Dilute would be Blue Fawn Parti

DC Windrock Luck Be A Lady

This covers about 99% of the coat colors, some rarer colors such as liver or chocolate or EE Red are not covered but infrequently seen.

Road Trip to the Southern Specialty

I've Been Everywhere, Man......(as told by Darby's owner Lisa)

As Johnny Cash sings it, I doubt we will ever be able to claim that, but we're going to give it our best shot. Back at the end of January I decided that I was going to the GCA southern specialty in Ft. Worth Texas. It was a spontaneous decision, and a resolute one. I was going, I didn't bother to check and see who else was going like I usually do. A lot of my show attendance decisions in the past have been strongly influenced by the company I'd be keeping and how many dogs were going (logical). This decision wasn't based on anything other than my pride and strong held confidence in Darby, I didn't care who else was going. Well, that and my need for a road trip. :)

I've been so excited about this roadtrip, I started packing last week, even though we don't leave until Tuesday. It takes 26 hours to get to Ft. Worth, I'm giving us plenty of time to enjoy the drive. Today I packed my suitcase, and when the suitcase comes out, the dogs are 100% gung-ho with me. They're absolutely sure we're leaving TODAY. Andretti was so sure he planted himself in the big empty suitcase and refused to budge. He's never done that before, I think he might be a genius to have figured it out: suitcase = going away with the mom-lady, so therefore, I'll just be in the suitcase.







After I removed Andretti, Darby decided to see if there was something to this suitcase idea. I can't believe he actually fit. Later, after my camera battery died, he trotted off and came back with his favorite toy and proceeded to try and fit himself and the toy in the suitcase. It didn't work out too well; it's a big toy and he couldn't get it to fit.







But I do think it makes his butt look a little big, maybe something in black would be better?




The two of them played "Going on a Roadtrip" while I packed.




I'm not sure how I'm going to tell Dretti he's not going, it's not going to go over well. But I'm sure Darby will be thrilled to learn he won't be traveling Suitcase Class.

I'll be updating during the roadtrip. It starts Tuesday and we hope to be in Winslow by evening. Ha ha ha, we shall see but the California portion is pretty boring so lollygagging should be kept to a minimum. :)

Dog Cars

Why I Suffer a MiniVan

I say suffer because there is no looking cool in a minivan, like say you would in a nifty little sportscar or convertible or even an older SUV (like my old Bronco!). There is NOTHING you can spice it up with that will make you anything more than a Middle Aged PTA Soccer-Mom to every other driver on the road, even if you have no children and play old-skool punk at full volume. A MiniVan is just not a fun vehicle, utilitarian and convenient yes, but fun? Not really. But I have 4 reasons to own one.





3 big dogs and 1 little troublemaker need lots of space to travel. And dog pillows. And fuzzy blankets. It looks like a harem quarters south of the drivers seat. I don't crate my dogs when I take them in the van, so they need to get along and have reliable car manners. I'm very proud of them in that respect. Everybody knows 'in the car', they each find a spot and curl up. Dee likes the front passenger seat, Darby likes the back bench seat as his perch when I have it locked in place (funny, just like his mother), Dretti likes to lay with his head propped up on the center console, and Q pretty much takes whatever space is left over. Nobody fusses or snipes. Once we're underway, nobody moves, unless it's to smear noses on the side windows until I open them up so they can taste the wind. Darby is tall enough to stand and get his face out the window easily, Dretti and Dee aren't quite tall enough so usually you just see their noses skimming the top of the open window. Funny. The sunroof is fun, it allows for GPS (greyhound positioning system) and the ever entertaining flappy-wind-lip.

A brief review of the big day

We will post more thoroughly about the specialty in the days to come. Meanwhile, we still have two more days of shows and fun! Here is a quick run down and a bunch of pictures from the specialty.

First up was obedience. Both Lyric and Andretti qualified with really nice scores. Lyric took High in Trial!

Next up was sweeps. Tanner won his sweeps class and Echo won hers. Echo went on to win best puppy at the specialty.

In the classes Sterling beat Tanner but was still too puppyish to go any further. Both boys showed well, got lots of great comments, and had a great time! Here is a picture of Sterling gaiting in the classes.

The girls went in next. Becca showed well despite the fact that she displayed some puppy antics in the ring. Right now, the most important thing is that the puppies learn to enjoy the show ring.



Echo also showed well and had a great time as is evidenced by the following pictures.



We were all surprised and pleased when she managed to work her way up to Winners Bitch! Here she is getting her picture taken after the show.

In the end, Lyric won Best Opposite and Echo went Best of Winners (5 point major)! Lyric also won Best Brood Bitch and it was fun to have all four puppies in the ring with their mom.

After the day was over, everyone took their prizes and headed back to the hotel room for some much needed rest.

The only thing that could have made the day better was if Pearl and Poppy would have been able to join us. We know they were with us in spirit!

Sterling's First Show

Sterling's first show (as well as Echo's) was Del Monte in Carmel Valley. I decided to get Andretti's CD the same show, so the weekend had potential to be very very good for the boys. With an ungodly show time of 8am both Saturday and Sunday and a 2 hour drive time, it was a pretty easy decision to stay in a hotel near Carmel. Carmel is such a nice place to visit, this was a weekend we were really looking forward to. The accomodations were fabulous at the Mariposa Inn in Monterey. Andretti's traditional hotel routine is to immediately jump up on the bed and bounce long and hard for little bit to prep it for our stay, of course Sterling was more than willing to help. We got video of this:

Saturday morning was perfect, the weather was wonderfuly cool and the dogs were relaxed and comfortable. Watching Sterling calmly accepting all the hustle and bustle of the dog show without blinking an eye justified every minute we spent walking around Berkeley, going to street fairs and busy parks and sitting at outside cafes desensitizing him to crowds and noise. I was even more pleased when he moved easily into the ring to be judged, stacked and held it, greeted the judge with a puppy smile, didn't flinch or move during examination and then gaited his way perfectly to Winners Dog, Best of Winners and Best Op. for a 3 point major!! He even held his stack (albeit briefly and not without a lot of fiddling and puppy-fidgiting) for his win photo! What an amazing way to start his show career!

After obedience with Andretti, and hanging out for Best Puppy In Show competition (which made for a very long day for the baby) we went out for a late lunch at Forge in the Forest with Sheila and her dog Treasure, and Helen and her kids. Andretti and Sterling were so exhausted, it wasn't hard to be well behaved. They mostly snoozed through lunch, occasionaly waking up to take cookies from one of the servers and of course to admire Sheila's Banana Cream pie. We all admired Sheila's banana cream pie, it was fabulous.

Sunday was a good day as well. Both Echo and Sterling got one point each and showed like puppy-pros. The handling classes Helen and I have been going to weekly paid off in spades this weekend. I also think that the constant and random stacking that Sterling and I do everyday is making it second nature for him. We still have a ways to go, but he just keeps impressing me more and more everyday!!!! Andretti got his CD on Sunday, complete with flopping over on his side and sleeping through the long down. And then promptly got stung by a bee going back into the ring for awards. He placed 4th in a group of 9 with a 187. Overall, a very very successful weekend! Thanks to the help of no less than a dozen dog show people, Andretti recovered quickly and Art the Husband came down for lunch and a trip to the beach after the show. Sterlings first trip to the beach was a blast! He played with other dogs and tried to drink the ocean.....this litter LOVES WATER!

Sterling and Echo's first show

This weekend both Echo and Sterling were entered in Del Monte Kennel Club show as a test run for Lompoc. Both Lisa and I have been working hard to teach the puppies how to show for the big sighthound show the end of July. The puppies were wild with excitement when we first arrived at the show grounds-so many people so little time to meet and greet. Both dogs did quite
well in the ring and both took Winners Dog and Winners Bitch from the 6-9 mth puppy class both days. The first day the puppies got their first points and first major! Sterlings performance will be chronicled by Lisa.

I quickly learned with Echo one thing we need to stop working on is sitting for treats. In the ring when we stopped for the judge to go over the dog she quickly sat and looked up at me for her reward. I repositioned her and she again quickly sat. We did this several times-the judge was not laughing so I did and said well she is confused about what ring she is in. At least it made him smile. Except for the sitting thing she did great and I was really proud of her. When we went into the ring and stacked, I miscalculated and stacked too soon. This is a hard thing for a puppy to hold still that long and I should have repositioned her to give her a break. I kept thinking the judge would turn around so made her hold her position. It turned out we must have stood that way for 2-3 minutes. She was so good. Her gaiting was perfect. Lompoc here we come!!

Lyric showed equally well both days but Best of Breed went to another dog both days. Whisper wasn't entered but went along for moral support.

After the conformation it was up to the obedience ring to watch Andretti try for his third leg for his CD. Although he did super in the individual exercises the group sits and down were too much for him and he laid down to rest. Ah well there was always the next day. We then went over to the shade and lined up all the dogs for a group down stay and photo session. It is nice to have obedience trained dogs. Even puppies should be able to handle this. It was a little hard though since it was a new area and strange dogs kept walking around. However the picture proves all can do it.

Then it was time for some human fun. Some of the greyhound exhibitors went with us to Forge in the Valley, a lovely little dog friendly restaurant in Carmel Valley. Dogs are allowed to be with their owners on the patio. I think only at a dog show would one find 6 greyhounds, two Gt Danes, one Bernese Mtn Dog, one English Bulldog, two dachshunds, some little white dogs all sitting or laying quietly at their owners feet in a small patio area. I wish the public would take lessons from dog people on behavior, it would lead to a lot less dog restrictions and regulations.

The next day was more of the same-Echo and Sterling did super in the ring and again both went Winners Dog and Winners Bitch for one point each.

Andretti did qualify in obedience and earned his CD. Yeah!!!!!!!!

After they work hard showing for me, I like to do something for the dogs. They like free running best of all so Lyric, Whisper and Echo and I went to Ft Ord to run their hearts content. All in all a very busy tiring weekend.