The Gift

People sometimes wonder why we show dogs. It is not about winning or losing but rather the time spent together with friends and dogs. One day I was talking to Marie about this and she told me a  touching story that happened to her at a show. I asked her to write it as I wanted to publish it. This is what dog showing is all about.

In the story below "Gator" is Ch Windrock Blue Bayou                                                 

Showing a dog is more than just the work involved in the actual judging ring.  There is often a myriad of surprises.  Some are good and some are not so good. But the fun is always there in some form or another.

A few years ago,  Gator was invited to the Eukanuba National in Long Beach, Ca. He did not place, but I experienced a once in a lifetime event. 

Fortunately, my daughter and I stayed to watch Greg Louganis and his #1 ranked Jack Russell Terrier in Agility.  As we waited (and waited), a little girl ( about 6-8) approached me and asked to pet Gator. I told her “sure, he would love it.”  She and her family had been looking for him since the judging was over.

She handed me a plastic bag. She said, “ we think you were robbed during the show and we want you to have this.”  I looked at her Mom and older sister and they were smiling and nodding their heads in agreement.

Rather reluctantly, I replied “Thank you” and looked in the bag.

 It was a Bronze sculpture of a Greyhound lying down. I nearly cried when I saw it. I had looked at it at the vendor and almost bought it, but it was  nearly $60.00. I decided I didn’t need it that much.

But, after giving her a big hug, I tried to not accept such a gift. But she and her family were adamant regarding his deserving something and would not relent. She actually started to weep at the idea that I wouldn’t take it.  I couldn’t stand both of us crying so I accepted.

I don’t even remember how Louganis did in Agility that day, but I will always remember the experience of the GIFT from someone so appreciative and the relationship that Gator had with the dog lovers present. 

Tracking Season

 Tracking with Greyhounds is easy and fun!

Come November tracking season starts in Northern California. Unfortunately this year has been dry and warm. Not ideal for tracking or for anything. By January the hills should be covered in low green grass. So far we have only had two rains this season and are heading into an extreme drought.

This makes tracking difficult for the dogs. This year I am working on Echo's TDX. She has to work up to a 3-5 hr old track between 800-1000 yds long. The track will cross roads and various obstacles such as down trees, change of cover, through fences or water. She has to find 4 dropped objects along the way to complete the track. In addition the track she has to stay on is crossed by a stranger in two separate points. The "cross track" is a newer scent designed to pull the dog onto the easier scent. The dog must stay on the original scent/track it started on. It is okay to check out the easier scent/track but the dog must come back and continue on the original scent. It can and generally does take a couple of years to teach the dogs these skills.

Increasingly it is getting difficult to find large tracts of open land to train the dogs. I am excited though because this year I was given access to a 5000 acre ranch to practice.

Along the way we encountered curious onlookers

A happy dog is a tired dog, back to the car after training! We have months more practice before she is ready to try for her TDX

Mistake

Sometimes you make a bad decision or mistake for your dogs. In December several friends went down to an obedience trial in LA. What are the chances of it raining? We are in a drought and have had only one rain this season. Well greyhounds don't especially like rain-at least mine don't.

After taking the day off work to drive down I was sure the predicted rain the next day wouldn't happen. Wrong! The next morning dawned grey and cold-37 degrees and rainy wet. I went over to the show with my friends committed to pulling Echo and Whisper from their runs. Stupidly I decided to try-everyone else was showing. Bad decision. Echo's class started at 8 AM and it was cold.
She tried but the drop on recall was too much to ask-and I shouldn't have made her uncomfortable or unhappy. She didn't drop so we didn't qualify.






By the next day the sun was out but it was cold and I had an unhappy dog to ask to work. Her enthusiasm  was nil although she did what I asked. The ring that day was full of sawdust covering the mud. Of course my dumbbell throw couldn't have been worse-right into a sawdust pile. I am surprised she actually picked it up. Although she qualified for her second CDX leg she didn't want to be there because of yesterday.





Sometimes you just have to stick to your original decision, I am mad at myself. We not only didn't qualify which I knew we wouldn't, I  have an unhappy dog.  Now I have to work on convincing her obedience isn't as bad as she thinks.

Christmas Walk

Years ago I used to hike my dogs a lot-several times a week. Over time I have gotten out of the habit of hiking and letting them free run. Christmas Day I decided to change this, I contacted a few friends and off we went hiking. We had a pack of 6 greyhounds, one golden retriever and 3 people.

It was a lovely walk until we met up with some fresh cow manure. Darby investigated it first-rolled and then proceeded to shake, flinging it everywhere.

Lisa had a great attitude about it saying all she had to do was walk across the road to go home and hose him off,  Terry and I were secretly  happy it wasn't our dogs. I looked over in horror and realized Echo was doing the same thing. It didn't show as well on her since she is a dark brindle. But she was covered as thoughly....and I did have to put her in the car to take her home! It smelled bad.
 Maybe that is why I stopped hiking them????

The rest of the walk was lovely and the dogs went home and slept the rest of the day. A good dog is a tired dog. I will have to add hiking back into our routine.

Ch Aragon Full Moon Rising-Group 4 (as told by Marie Hamilton)

The recent weekend in Woodland, CA could be classified as a ”BAD day GOOD day” event.

Saturday, Riser could be described as a “bug on a hot griddle”! He was not a happy camper. He took the Breed and went to the Regular group with a Junior (Sydney) handling him. I hope she still wants to show dogs after that experience!! I had to take him in the Owner-handled group and I was wondering why!!  He never calmed down.

I was reluctant to go back on Sunday. We showed at 0830 and it was cold and the grass was still wet. But, he must have decided to give up and just go with it. When the Judge approached him with a “Well, Hello Big Boy”, he just held his free stack like a PRO!

He took the Breed with a 4 point major toward his Grand Champion title and was qualified to go to Groups again.  The Hound group wasn’t until after 6PM. We went home, rested, played, and returned around 530.  He did nothing in the regular group, but managed to hold his free stack throughout the Owner-Handled Group and was placed 4^th in the group.

I think the key to his performance is the old adage “a Tired dog is a Good Dog”

That worked for him. (and ME)