OMG. I am exhausted. I've had so much fun the last few days.
Friday was not fun, but it was busy. J gave everyone a bath. I am not particularly fond of baths. However, baths were necessary because J had entered Bados, Appley, & I in the conformation shows (aka beauty pageants) at the Silken Celebration on Saturday. J kept trying to fluff my coat to make it look fuller & curly. Blah, blah. I am simply svelte. In this house, it is the boys who are fluffy. When Appley is wet, it is easy to see he is a touch chubby; but when he is 'fluffed', this can be mistaken for more coat.
Saturday we were off to the shows. These get pretty boring most of the time, and I don't particularly like being poked & prodded by the judge. There was also something in the grass near the entry that just smelled heavenly. I wanted to roll in it, but J would not let me.
I wish I could give a good report on the show, but J really let me down here. I TOLD her that she needed to mark class placements in her program, but she loaned it to someone else & then forgot about it. How am I supposed to know all the results? I was locked in an x-pen off the field & behind some vehicles.
For the ISWS show I think that Winner's Dog was Allagante Winsome Riviera (he is Bados' nephew) and that Winsome Peppermint Patty was Best Puppy & then got Winners Bitch or Best of Winners - something like that. Damn, I wish J had not lost her catalog. J is no help in remembering because she was in LA LA Land after Bados won ISWS BEST IN SHOW!!!! She was beside herself.
In the UKC class that afternoon, Bados was defeated by Tootsie (Allagante Hot Tamale) in the Gr CH class; that is the more common outcome. Tootsie is very good at the beauty pageant stuff. She went on to win Best in Show for the afternoon.
How did I do? well, Claudia's Mikey had won Best Male Companion for the ISWS show and the Campbell's Moto had won Best Altered Male for the UKC show, but I behaved myself despite some distractions for the Altered/Companion Best in Show classes and pulled out both wins. The UKC judge was very flattering to both Moto & me. The judge implied maybe we should not have been neutered, but honestly, I am thrilled not to have to put up with those cycles & miss events.
You will have to rely on someone else for more show details. J is useless on that one; no help to me at all.
Sunday was straight racing. J actually let both Appley & me compete! Appley was Appley, and won the turtle award; Bados was just above mid pack. I think if we had a longer, flatter yard at home Bados might do a bit better. We do more jumping up the 'tiers' on the hillside & then just short spurts of speed when playing. Oh, well. C'est la vie.
J scratched me before the last program; she was afraid I might interfere with Bados as were were in the same race. Hmm. I don't know; it would have been very tempting.
BTW> Teddy, of course, won. He is amazing. My pal, Lego, came in second right behind him. Then Murphy, I think. J says all the results were posted by Terri Campbell.
Today was Lure Coursing. This is Bados' & my favorite. Most of the dogs had REALLY good runs in the prelims & it was very tight, but somehow they managed not to have any ties after the finals even though most dogs ran well. Bados finished out of the placements; I hear he cut a lot of corners.
Hudson, who is visiting from NYC, ran beautifully both times and managed the tight end turns very well despite being a big boy. He won and (I think) finished his ASFA FCh!! Actually I think he got his straight racing Championship on Saturday, too. I guess it was a good trip. vbg.
Cute little Nova got 2nd place. I think the remaining placements went to Meggie, Sahara, and Tootsie - but I am not sure of the order. Hey, if J forgets to write stuff down for me; it's hard for me to keep it straight; I've got other things on my mind.
I ran in Singles as usual. The prelims was a blast! I managed to figure out the route in 2 areas & lie in wait for my 'prey'. J was thrilled that - despite my brilliance - I ran enough to get a respectable score. In the final the lure operator was messing with me! He kept altering the speed of the lure to keep me guessing. I never got far enough ahead of it to stalk. Sigh. Oh, well. This made J very happy because I had a 'qualifying' score for the day. Now she is pissed at herself for not entering Appley in singles as 'filler' - so that I would have a win against competition. Even at my most clever, I score better than him.
They gave me a "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" Award. Cool.
Now it is definitely time for bed!!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Fun at Allagante
On Saturday, J took Bados & I out to Allagante for some practice runs. Frankie, Nova, and Buttercup were there, too - along with all the Allagante dogs, of course.
Nova was a bit tentative running with faster dogs, but she may be getting the idea. Buttercup was not interested at all until her mom waited at the end to catch her rather than helping to load at the box. I guess she'll be just like Appley & only race if her mom is waiting at the end. Frankie & Nike ran great (as always).
Bados ran well most of the time, but he really need to work on getting out of the box faster - then he would not have to struggle to catch & pass the leaders - that's not always possible with fast dogs. The last practice he got frustrated & snapped at Nike when passing. That was a 1st for Mr. Focus. NIke had been really annoying earlier up at the house, but I hadn't noticed him irritating Bados. Maybe he did. Who knows . . .
I ran by myself. I confess that I get snappy when I'm passed; it's just so frustrating to be passed when you are running your fastest. Anyway, it's still fun to chase the lure. Plus, when running alone you get to bring the lure back to the start. I brought it all the way back after all 3 practice runs..
A neighbor came over with his "rat"; I mean his overweight Jack Russell. J had me on a leash when the man picked up the Jack Russell and stuck it in my face. I think this was supposed to be an introduction, but the "rat" snapped at my face. I lost it & snapped back. Geez, the man acted like I had started it!! Everyone else who saw it knew that it was not my doing. Well, I didn't get a tooth on the rat, but I did get J's hand as she whisked me away. That was embarrassing. At least I didn't snap hard enough to break the skin. Her hand is OK.
The next day J took Mintz & Appley to a UKC show down in Albany, OR. Our friends Lego, Patty, Maggie, River, Tootsie, & Breezy were there. Lego had earned a Grand Championship the day before. Some other dogs that I know slightly were there, too: Teddy, Poppy, Cobweb, Moto, Cooper, Xerox, Summer, & Gemma. But I wasn't there. I am sure I could have won Altered Breed, Group, and maybe even Altered BiS - but no - J didn't take me. Mintz & Appley split it; each won Altered Group once. Neither won BiS, but I think that's because they were doing the judging in a very screwed up way.
Each of the 2 judges only judged 1/2 of the groups represented for each show - alternating for the 2 shows. Well, the judge who had selected best of the sighthound group was not the same judge for BiS. Not surprisingly, this judge did not pick the sighthound (Appley v Mintz)- which she had not selected as Best in Group (in the other show). The Bulldog won both shows - hmm, the same BiS judge had picked 'Best' for that Group. According to J, she heard the BiS judge ask where the Greyhound was when he did not appear in the BiS ring; she was surprised & disappointed to learn that the other judge had not picked him for the Group. Oh, well.
Nova was a bit tentative running with faster dogs, but she may be getting the idea. Buttercup was not interested at all until her mom waited at the end to catch her rather than helping to load at the box. I guess she'll be just like Appley & only race if her mom is waiting at the end. Frankie & Nike ran great (as always).
Bados ran well most of the time, but he really need to work on getting out of the box faster - then he would not have to struggle to catch & pass the leaders - that's not always possible with fast dogs. The last practice he got frustrated & snapped at Nike when passing. That was a 1st for Mr. Focus. NIke had been really annoying earlier up at the house, but I hadn't noticed him irritating Bados. Maybe he did. Who knows . . .
I ran by myself. I confess that I get snappy when I'm passed; it's just so frustrating to be passed when you are running your fastest. Anyway, it's still fun to chase the lure. Plus, when running alone you get to bring the lure back to the start. I brought it all the way back after all 3 practice runs..
A neighbor came over with his "rat"; I mean his overweight Jack Russell. J had me on a leash when the man picked up the Jack Russell and stuck it in my face. I think this was supposed to be an introduction, but the "rat" snapped at my face. I lost it & snapped back. Geez, the man acted like I had started it!! Everyone else who saw it knew that it was not my doing. Well, I didn't get a tooth on the rat, but I did get J's hand as she whisked me away. That was embarrassing. At least I didn't snap hard enough to break the skin. Her hand is OK.
The next day J took Mintz & Appley to a UKC show down in Albany, OR. Our friends Lego, Patty, Maggie, River, Tootsie, & Breezy were there. Lego had earned a Grand Championship the day before. Some other dogs that I know slightly were there, too: Teddy, Poppy, Cobweb, Moto, Cooper, Xerox, Summer, & Gemma. But I wasn't there. I am sure I could have won Altered Breed, Group, and maybe even Altered BiS - but no - J didn't take me. Mintz & Appley split it; each won Altered Group once. Neither won BiS, but I think that's because they were doing the judging in a very screwed up way.
Each of the 2 judges only judged 1/2 of the groups represented for each show - alternating for the 2 shows. Well, the judge who had selected best of the sighthound group was not the same judge for BiS. Not surprisingly, this judge did not pick the sighthound (Appley v Mintz)- which she had not selected as Best in Group (in the other show). The Bulldog won both shows - hmm, the same BiS judge had picked 'Best' for that Group. According to J, she heard the BiS judge ask where the Greyhound was when he did not appear in the BiS ring; she was surprised & disappointed to learn that the other judge had not picked him for the Group. Oh, well.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Mintz Update
Well, life was pretty boring this week. No excitement for us pups what so ever. Sigh.
I guess I had a better week than Mintz &Luka; both went to the vet. Luka just had a follow-up chest x-ray. She had been having chemo therapy for her osteosarcoma and has an occasional cough. It's more of a gag really; probably laryngeomalacia or something. She had this even before the osteosarcoma, but it could be slightly worse now. The vet & J just wanted to make sure that the subtle change in her cough was not actually a lung metastases of the sarcoma. Her lungs look good. No changes, yeah!
Mintz got to go on an excursion down to Oregon State University. He had those large toes on his R rear foot & walks oddly on that foot sometimes. Dr. Radcliffe (who spoke at Silkenfest) had recommended Dr. Linda Blythe as a Greyhound sports medicine specialist. Unfortunately, Dr. Blythe is not working in the clinic now, but she recommended one of her OSU colleagues. Mintz said that even though Dr. Blythe was not working, she came to meet them at the clinic. Mintz was very flattered. J enjoyed speaking with her about Greyhounds in general.
Mixed results: with Mintz's new injury from a few weeks ago, the OSU resident & vet student could not help but focus on THAT foot. The good part of this is that they discovered another injury from that accident. He tore his iliopsoas muscle up near his hip. On their exam this bothered him more than either foot, even though the injury was not as visually obvious as the cut foot. They recommended PT at a place in Portland.
Mixed feelings: although they did find the muscle injury & refer MIntz to PT, the OSU folk never addressed the original foot problem. J is quite irked that the vet that Dr. Blythe had recommended she make an appointment with NEVER joined them - just the student & surgical resident. It was late (& J was post-call) by the time she realized that that vet was really not going to make an appearance. Now she is annoyed at herself for not asking to speak with that vet before leaving.
This weekend we were supposed to go down to race at Cottage Grove, but that has been cancelled. I hope J finds something else interesting for us to do.
I guess I had a better week than Mintz &Luka; both went to the vet. Luka just had a follow-up chest x-ray. She had been having chemo therapy for her osteosarcoma and has an occasional cough. It's more of a gag really; probably laryngeomalacia or something. She had this even before the osteosarcoma, but it could be slightly worse now. The vet & J just wanted to make sure that the subtle change in her cough was not actually a lung metastases of the sarcoma. Her lungs look good. No changes, yeah!
Mintz got to go on an excursion down to Oregon State University. He had those large toes on his R rear foot & walks oddly on that foot sometimes. Dr. Radcliffe (who spoke at Silkenfest) had recommended Dr. Linda Blythe as a Greyhound sports medicine specialist. Unfortunately, Dr. Blythe is not working in the clinic now, but she recommended one of her OSU colleagues. Mintz said that even though Dr. Blythe was not working, she came to meet them at the clinic. Mintz was very flattered. J enjoyed speaking with her about Greyhounds in general.
Mixed results: with Mintz's new injury from a few weeks ago, the OSU resident & vet student could not help but focus on THAT foot. The good part of this is that they discovered another injury from that accident. He tore his iliopsoas muscle up near his hip. On their exam this bothered him more than either foot, even though the injury was not as visually obvious as the cut foot. They recommended PT at a place in Portland.
Mixed feelings: although they did find the muscle injury & refer MIntz to PT, the OSU folk never addressed the original foot problem. J is quite irked that the vet that Dr. Blythe had recommended she make an appointment with NEVER joined them - just the student & surgical resident. It was late (& J was post-call) by the time she realized that that vet was really not going to make an appearance. Now she is annoyed at herself for not asking to speak with that vet before leaving.
This weekend we were supposed to go down to race at Cottage Grove, but that has been cancelled. I hope J finds something else interesting for us to do.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Some like it hot
Some like it hot - but this may be a bit much. It was over 100F on Saturday.
We Silkens have more hair, but I think we tolerate the heat better. Mintz & Luka pant & pant. It is a little cooler in the basement, but not tons - it is a daylight basement and gets afternoon sun on the 'daylight' side. Oh, well.
J & Rob put fans all over the house. They freak Luka out but definitely help. If J makes Luka lie down by one, she will begin to relax after a while.
Sunday was not quite so toasty. J took Bados & I to a practice down in Junction City, OR. We had not played with that group before. I think all those people usually course AKC. Anyway, they were very welcoming to J. A few Afghans, Whippets, Borzoi, and Greyhounds were there. Because the Greys were there, J was sad that Mintz's foot is still bothering him from last weekend (it is getting better, though).
The cool thing about there lure was that it was reversible! No one waited at the far end of the field for catching. As long as we didn't catch it at the end they would start it up going the other way. What a fun surprise the 1st time I ran! I had begun to raise my head & fan out - anticipating a turn - when it stopped & started going back the opposite direction! How sneaky!! I zoomed back down to the start to catch it.
The 2nd time they had me run with an older Whippet. This confused me at first because they released him late and then he only ran part way. I continued toward the end of the field, but could not decide what to do. They mixed up the direction a couple of times in short bursts to throw me off. I'm not sure what I did to get them moving it again, but I got in a good sprint & capture both in mid field & near the end. I'll need to think about how to manage that reversible lure if we go back. Very tricky . . . I love it.
I was so HOT when I was done. It is hard to be a very dark brindle on a hot, sunny day.
Lots of panting! Bados was panting a lot after his runs (respectable & speedy), but I think I was worse. We drank lots of water - pausing for more panting, and J kept trying to spritz me with water which I find annoying.
The fans were on, so it was cooler inside Ivan than in the sun; but it was still better to get Ivan's engine started & the AC on. Bados & I slept all the way home.
We Silkens have more hair, but I think we tolerate the heat better. Mintz & Luka pant & pant. It is a little cooler in the basement, but not tons - it is a daylight basement and gets afternoon sun on the 'daylight' side. Oh, well.
J & Rob put fans all over the house. They freak Luka out but definitely help. If J makes Luka lie down by one, she will begin to relax after a while.
Sunday was not quite so toasty. J took Bados & I to a practice down in Junction City, OR. We had not played with that group before. I think all those people usually course AKC. Anyway, they were very welcoming to J. A few Afghans, Whippets, Borzoi, and Greyhounds were there. Because the Greys were there, J was sad that Mintz's foot is still bothering him from last weekend (it is getting better, though).
The cool thing about there lure was that it was reversible! No one waited at the far end of the field for catching. As long as we didn't catch it at the end they would start it up going the other way. What a fun surprise the 1st time I ran! I had begun to raise my head & fan out - anticipating a turn - when it stopped & started going back the opposite direction! How sneaky!! I zoomed back down to the start to catch it.
The 2nd time they had me run with an older Whippet. This confused me at first because they released him late and then he only ran part way. I continued toward the end of the field, but could not decide what to do. They mixed up the direction a couple of times in short bursts to throw me off. I'm not sure what I did to get them moving it again, but I got in a good sprint & capture both in mid field & near the end. I'll need to think about how to manage that reversible lure if we go back. Very tricky . . . I love it.
I was so HOT when I was done. It is hard to be a very dark brindle on a hot, sunny day.
Lots of panting! Bados was panting a lot after his runs (respectable & speedy), but I think I was worse. We drank lots of water - pausing for more panting, and J kept trying to spritz me with water which I find annoying.
The fans were on, so it was cooler inside Ivan than in the sun; but it was still better to get Ivan's engine started & the AC on. Bados & I slept all the way home.
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