| Derby and I took a Beginner Obedience in the fall of 2007, and he learned very quickly what is expected of him. Sort of on the spur of the moment, I decided to try him at the Canine Good Citizen test on November 9, 2007 since it was being offered at my local kennel club's show, and much to my delight, he passed. In May 2008 I entered him in his first Rally obedience trial, because I was going anyway to show his mother in obedience, and he earned his first Rally Novice leg that day. So in the interest of saving gasoline, I entered him, along with his sister and mother, in another trial in August and he got his second leg. On October 4th I entered three dogs again & he finished his Rally Novice title. I'm very proud of him and we're finishing off the year by taking a novice level obedience class with the idea of maybe some year trying for his CD! Derby was neutered on July 18, 2007 and was recovered enough to run again by the Jersey Rag Racers lure coursing trial on August 11th. He had a couple of very nice runs and managed to come in 3rd to a 5 point major to earn his first two points towards his AKC Field Championship. On Sunday, September 2, 2007 he ran a "course of a lifetime" in his preliminary run, it sent goose bumps up my spine. He finished 2nd to a 4 point major to garner an additional 2 points towards his title. He showed improvement each time he ran and on November 25, 2007 he finished 1st in an open stake of 16 for a 5 point major. After taking the winter off, Derby won the Open stake of 18 on April 13th, 2008 to finish off his AKC Field Championship with a second 5 point major. That drive home went really quick! Since earning his AKC Field Championship in April 2008 he's finished his ASFA Field Championship, his Oval Track Racer title from NOTRA, his Companion Racer title from WRA and his Rally Novice obedience title. He's had a very good year, or should I say we've had a very good year together! We had Derby's heart auscultated at a cardiac clinic in November of 2006 and the cardiologist heard a faint murmur. He marked the form as having equivocal results and recommended re-testing him in 6 months. April 29, 2007 we had Derby re-examined by a different cardiologist, and in his written comments he said that he heard an "innocent murmur" and it was a "Grade 1-2 low frequency ejection type murmur over the tricuspid valve" and recommended an echo cardiogram as follow-up. It seemed that Derby's murmur is pretty ordinary and harmless for a sighthound. However I followed up with an echo-cardiogram by a third cardiologist on Saturday, September 8, 2007 just to be sure that there were no surprises lurking. Derby got a 100% normal diagnosis - no sign of congenital or acquired heart disease. The third cardiologist also called the mummer "innocent." Derby gets along well with most other dogs and went to a new home on 1/25/09 to be shown in Junior Showmanship while he gets to continue to go lure coursing. I've got my fingers crossed that when the economy improves that Derby can get back out on the field. Derby and his new family are very happy with each other which is really the most important thing when it comes right down to it. |
| Running at Hanover 12/30/2006 at 14 months of age |
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| Derby's picture was selected for the 2010 Pet Prints Whippet calendar! |
| Rally Novice: Three legs! New RN |
| Derby won Best of Breed at the Jersey Rag Racer's ASFA trial in November 2008 |
| 1/26/09 - Derby's first morning in his new home - he's already found his way into bed! |
| Derby & new Dad out for a walk - 1/30/09 |
| FLASH - Derby won Best of Breed at the SHOT AKC trial on 3/15/09! |
