- October - We went to a Rally Obedience trial on the 4th held at Point Of Rocks,
Maryland. The Rally trial didn't start until 6:00pm as there was an Obedience trial
get up in the middle of the night to get there, I actually didn't leave my house until almost
2:00pm. The trial hours were listed as being from 6:00 to 9:00 so I figured I could be home
by midnight without too much trouble. Well -- of course the trial ran late but it was still
VERY worth going to! Again (just like in August) I had three dogs entered, Kira in Rally
Advanced and Derby and Avery in Rally Novice. Again, luck was on my side, and we came
home with three qualifiying ribbons and Derby finished his RN title! Poor Derby didn't get in
the ring until the next to the last dog in the entire trial and it was nearly 11:00 pm by that
time - way past his bed time. His performance was certainly not pretty but good enough to
qualify. Yipee! Even though I was very excited about the three legs we picked up, it was
still very hard to stay awake all the way home.
Connecticut making the 8 hour drive up there overnight on Friday night to make it in time for
roll call at 8:30 am on Saturday. The dogs all slept all the way up there, but we did nothing
on the field that day. Thankfully Zuli won Best of Breed on Sunday and completed her LCX-2!
In spite of that, it was still VERY difficult to stay awake the entire 9 hour drive home!
The weekend of October 25-26th were the last race meets of the year for us. I had Aren, Kira
and Marseille entered in Saturday's WRA meet, each of them working towards one of the
'participation' titles that are available in racing. Kira collected 2 points, Marseille got 3
points (leaving her only 2-1/2 points short of her CR title) and Aren picked up 8 points to
finish his CRX title. (Companion Racer Excellent) Aren is the first dog I've ever had that has
achieved that title. That makes three new titles for Aren so far this year, he's earned his
CGC, MC and CRX. Not bad for a dog suffering the effects of Lyme Disease. On Sunday I had
Avery, Derby & Marseille entered. That little Marseille does continue to surprise me as she
is faster than I expect her to be and when she comes flying around the track, she is all
heart! She actually earned more points towards her OTRM title than Avery did, and after
running four full programs the day before. All three of my dogs earned OTR points although
none are close to finishing the next level of 'titles'. They all had fun and we came home with
no injuries, so a good day was had by all.
- September - Zuli and Ruby were entered in an "other breed" NOTRA meet on Labor Day
Monday, and while Ruby blew a pad in the second program, Zuli was able to finish the
and therefore won the meet and collected two more points towards her ORCh (Oval Racer
Champion) title . She now has 9 of the 12 points she needs for that title.
September 19, 2008 we lost Marco, a little boy that I co-owned. He died on the operating
table having a broken tooth extracted. The surgery was planned and no problems were
anticipated, but his heart just stopped. He was only 19 months old. We don't know yet if
there was a hidden problem with his heart or a problem with the anesthesia.
After planning for nearly a full year the Jersey Rag Racers put on the WRA and NOTRA
National race meets the last weekend in September, including a conformation fun match on
Friday. I got to be in charge of the match and after all was said and done we had 100 dogs go
into the ring to be judged! That's larger than a lot of regional specialty shows and it was
daunting - most definitely not a one person task and I never could have done it by myself, but
thankfully Dr. Lisa Costello, DVM took care of the trophies and I had several stewards to
assist in getting all the participants into the ring at the right time. We started at about noon
and finished up just as it was getting dark at about 7:30 that evening. WOW. Saturday
morning roll call for the WRA (straight track) meet began at 5:30am - in the dark! We actually
had to wait until it got light to start the racing. I think we ran about 118 dogs which is
probably a record. I had Aren and Marseille entered and Aren finished 94th and Marseille
finished 112th and got the "Reserve Turtle" award for being the next to last dog to finish all
the races. A great awards banquet on Saturday evening and LOADS of great ribbons and
trophies. Sunday morning roll call for the NOTRA (oval track) meet started again at 5:30am
in the dark. I entered Derby & Kira in this event and out of the 107 dogs that ran, Derby
finished #56th which I thought was pretty darned good! Kira finished 103rd and was the only
dog to finish all the races with a zero score for the day, so she got the Turtle award and lots
of great loot, including a commemorative blanket embroidered with the event and the date
and everything. The awards were again fantastic and Kira got a really big ribbon for being the
Turtle. I certainly had a good time and was happy to be involved.
| 2008 |
| The best, and worst part of sitting down and trying to write a Christmas letter is going over all the high points and low points of the last 12 months. At the end of the year, as I head into another tax season, I feel compelled to cram as many activities and achievements into the end of the year as possible, as I know I won't have any time for myself after the first of the year. I fully admit that I'm trying to do too many things with too many dogs, so if you bear with me, I'll run through my year. |
- January - started right off with a couple of low points. My dog family suffered
two losses, first a six year old daughter of my Kira slipped out the front door
then just a few days later an 11 year old son of my Bagel passed away from heart
failure. Not an auspicious way to begin the year.....
- Tax season - I did one thing different this tax season; I was able to take an
obedience class with a new group of trainers in Easton, MD as their training
spend my dinner break going to obedience class. I got some great instruction there
which was very different from what I've had in the past, and it was a great help to
me in improving Kira's obedience performance.
- April - Sunday, April 13, 2008 - we broke away from the piles of tax returns yet to be
done, and went lure coursing and we were rewarded! Derby won the open stake for
tickled with him! But then, Greyhound Ruby (who was the only Greyhound entered that day)
won Best in Field! We floated home.
Saturday, April 19, 2008 found us in Madison, WI at the University of WI having echo
cardiograms done on 5 dogs. Bagel, Eve, Blake, Kira and Dallas all had echos done as part
of the ongoing Whippet heart study. No big surprises in the results, but Dr. Stepien did
remark that having the older non-athletic dogs to look at was particularly valuable.
Sunday, April 20, 2008 - Derby got to run at the Wind Chasers Lure Coursing Club's ASFA
trial near Crown Point, IN (just south of Chicago) since we were in the area. Derby won the
open stake of 6 for a qualifying first place towards his ASFA Field Championship, and 24
points as well. Those points also qualify him to run at the International Invitational at the
end of May.
- May - Saturday, May 17, 2008 - After nearly 5 years of trying, Kira finally managed to
put together all the obedience exercises and earned the first leg of her CD. At the
both of our qualifying ribbons. Then the next day, we were entered in an all breed NOTRA
race meet where we ran in the rain most of the day, but Zuli picked up another 1/2 point
towards her ORC title and little Miss Avery finished her OTR title.
The weekend of May 31 & June 1 was the 2008 ASFA International Invitational, and I had
Derby, Ruby & Zuli entered. Derby came close to winning his stake, but ended up in second
place to bring him within 10 points of finishing his ASFA Field Championship. I learned on
Saturday that Zuli runs much better if I'm there at the start line when she's slipped, as I had
a conflict and was on a different field with Derby as it was Zuli's turn to run & I had a friend
slip her for me. So on Sunday we let the hunt-master know about the conflict and they re-
arranged some of the courses so I could be there to slip her myself & darned if she didn't
win Best of Breed. Of course in her Best In I.I. run she proved herself way too wise in the
ways of the lure and cut off about half the course since she KNEW it would come back down
that hill! Ruby managed to get unsighted on Saturday and blew pads on Sunday, so it was
not a stellar performance for her. However, I camped out with a few close friends, the
weather stayed cool for the most part and we had a bang up good time.
- June - On June 10th I had to part with my beautiful old lady, Bagel. Her kidneys had
pretty much stopped working all together and I could see that she was feeling
sure hope she comes back to me, and if it doesn't exist, I still hope I get another Whippet in
the near future that resembles her. She was my heart dog.
Aren passed the Canine Good Citizen Test on June 22nd and Marseille passed it on June 30th.
| (1/17/93 - 6/10/08) |
- July - The weekend July 4 - 6, was the Jersey Rag Racers Versatility weekend. This
year I entered the three youngsters, Derby, Avery & Marseille. Friday, July 4th was
finish his ASFA Field Championship, and then was one of 4 dogs pulled for Best Adult in
match. Avery finished fourth in the Open Stake for her first ASFA points, and then was
awarded Best Bred By Exhibitor in Match. What an honor! On Saturday Marseille got her
first points towards her Companion Racer (CR) title, and it remains to be seen if she'll ever
get any more! Sunday little miss Marseille ran 4 strong programs (for a little dog her size)
and finished her OTR (Oval Track Racer) title. The weather cooperated for the most part,
except when it POURED down rain in the middle of the obedience match, but it could have
been so much worse. Here's the ad I put in the August Whippet News.
- August - Marseille had the 'run of a lifetime' at the MAIGC lure coursing trial on Sunday
August 3rd and brought home a 5 point major towards her AKC Field Championship!
Kira, Derby, Avery and I went to a Rally trial near Baltimore on August 24th and we had fun.
More fun for me than them, but heck when we go racing they have more fun than me, so turn
about is fair play, right? Any way, Kira got a 86 (minimum qualifying score is 70) in Rally
Advanced and that got her a third place ribbon! Rally Advanced is done all OFF lead, so that
was quite the challenge for us. This was Kira's first RA leg. Then a little later, Avery earned
an 81 in her first entry into the Rally Novice ring for her first RN leg. I told Derby that I
expected him to do better than his sister, and he did - earning a 92 for his second leg towards
his Rally Novice title. The drive home certainly went quickly!
| (2/19/07 - 9/19/08) |
- November - With the arrival of November I start really feeling like I'm running out
of time to get titles finished before tax season and I start entering events every
November I ran 5 dogs both days of the weekend in lure coursing and did pretty well.
I took Friday the 7th as a vacation day and had 4 obedience and rally entries at my local
kennel club's shows. Kira got her 3rd leg in Rally Advanced thereby finishing her RA title.
Avery got her 3rd leg in Rally Novice thereby finishing her RN title, and Aren got his 1st leg
towards his Rally Novice title. I got a picture taken of Kira and Avery together. Then we went
over to the traditional obedience rings to wait our turn for Kira to go in there. I had asked to
be moved to the end of the class so that I would have time to go have our picture taken and
so I ended up being the very last person in the ring for the entire trial. WE QUALIFIED!
Granted, it wasn't pretty, but we got a 177 which is qualifying. So Kira got her second CD leg
and it was sweet getting it at home with lots of friends still hanging around to watch. It was
a day I'll remember for a long time, being 4 for 4, particularly on those long drives home after
not doing anything!
November 8 & 9 we spent oval track racing. I had planned to run Zuli, Ruby & three
Whippets each day, but on Saturday they were just a few Whippets short of making an extra
set of points, so I put in all my extras & was like a crazy lady the first program! I just can't
run 7 dogs at a race meet by myself! Even running 5 dogs was a bit more than I wanted to
deal with. Yes, there are advantages to going to the "Other breed" NOTRA meets, when I
only have two dogs to get ready. Zuli collected her 10th point towards her ORCh on Saturday
and on Sunday Zuli collected the final two points for her Oval Racer Champion title! YEA!
Saturday November 15th I spent slogging through the mud at an ASFA lure coursing trial. It
was not a fun day for me. The dogs didn't notice the mud and had a grand old time. Four out
of the five dogs I ran collected points and we had no injuries so it was a good day, although
by the time I got home the mud on my clothes had dried and they practically stood up by
themselves!
Sunday, November 16th we went to a health clinic and I had both Avery and Marseille's hips
X-rayed for OFA evaluation. I wanted to have this done on both girls before I decided about
breeding either of them. As of the date of this writing Avery's hips have been rated excellent
and I'm still waiting for Marseille's results.
Thursday & Friday, November 20 & 21 - two more vacation days spent at obedience/rally
trials in Reading, PA. I had Aren & Marseille entered in Rally Novice both days, and Kira
entered in obedience both days. A total of 6 entries. We came away with 5 qualifying
ribbons. Aren finished his Rally Novice title by qualifying both days, and Marseille qualified
both days as well for her first and second RN legs. But - pure joy - Kira qualified for her third
CD leg thereby finishing her title. The weather was horrible and there was snow and ice on
the roads half the way home, but it was a good two days!
Friday, November 28th, the day after Thanksgiving, a holiday from work for me, and I had
Marseille entered in a Rally trial. Interestingly this is the same trial that I entered last year
and finished Ruby's RN title. Marseille got her best score yet and finished her RN title.
Marseille is the last of my Whippets to finish her RN title, and it was an exhausting fall of
training and trialing to get there. Since mid April I've put 17 titles on 6 dogs. No wonder I'm
tired and broke.
- December - Things start to slow down in December, the running season is mostly
over as the weather gets too questionable to run the dogs safely. But that hasn't
a tracking class on certain Sunday mornings this winter. I'm going to be working with
Saluki Zuli in tracking and in the few tracking sessions we've done, she's doing better
than I had expected her to do. Who knows, if we can keep it up, we may end up going
for a TD title for her, but we won't think about that just yet.
Our last two lure coursing trials were on December 27th and 31st and Greyhound
Ruby, Saluki Zuli and Whippet Kira each picked up some points on their next title, but
no spectacular results. It was bitterly cold and the field had puddles of standing
water and everywhere you needed to walk was a mass of almost liquid mud. Not
much fun for the humans! <G> Thankfully the sun shone on us so the van stayed warm.
- If you've gotten this far, I'm grateful, I know it's boring to plow through all my
dog stuff. As far as the family is concerned everyone is still healthy, Mom is
brother, Les became a grandfather in September, when my niece, Jessica, had her
first baby. My sister Carol turned 50 this year (shhhhh - I didn't tell you that) and
looks about half that age. Marty and Kelli are as busy with their kids as I am with my
dogs; I don't know when they sleep! Josh is now a senior in High School and his
football team went undefeated this season and made it to the State semi-finals. Josh
also had his Eagle Scout Court of Honor in August and is quite the accomplished
young man. A.J. is a sophomore at the same High School where his JV football team
also went undefeated this season and AJ got 'called-up' to the varsity team when the
JV season ended. He has his Eagle Scout project underway and hopes to finish it in
the new year. Kelsi is getting very tall and is on the verge of becoming a teen-ager
and is quite the fashionista.
So Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year, feel free to use the link at the top of
the page and drop me an e-mail!