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June 2007
June 2007
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June 30, 2007 - Day One of the Jersey Rag Racers Versatility Weekend. Today was the
WRA meet. We had an entry of 52 dogs and Aren finished 18th in the meet. Maybe not his
best performance, but not at all bad. This puts Aren in first place in the Versatility
competition. Quite a good start to the event. At lunch time, I tried to run Avery in a practice
run with 4 other dogs. When the door opened, four dogs came out & we all scratched our
heads, and then Avery poked her head out (she'd been busy getting her muzzle off!) and
took off down the track. She needs a little more practice with the muzzle, obviously!
June 24, 2007 - In spite of all my hopes, Kira and I still did not qualify in obedience today.
Our off lead heel was just too bad to squeak by. The good news is that she actually did
both of her stays. She's only done that in a match once and never in an actual competition
before today. So we're narrowing down the problems to be worked on. After the trial I
spent a very enjoyable afternoon with Jennifer & David Gough at their home in Richmond,
VA. I got to spend time and play with Sunny's puppies and see how they're growing up.
They are growing up so fast, and they're going to be bigger than their Grandma Kira,
thankfully.
June 16 & 17, 2007 - Sometimes I enter more dogs than I can really manage, and such
was this weekend. I had 5 dogs entered on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. It was hot both
days, but thankfully it cooled off overnight & there was a pretty steady breeze on Sunday. I
was lure coursing at Hanover, PA and we had a good weekend. Avery and Marseille were
both entered in the Open stake, where they both had nice runs. Marseille finished in a tie
for 5th place and Avery just two points behind her. George Evans brought Ripley up from
Richmond to run in the Open stake and after a run-off, he won third place and two points
towards his AKC field championship. Kira ran in the Veterans stake & finished third.
Ruby and Zuli were both the only ones of their breed entered so they both got to run for
Best in Field, and Ruby won it! After the trial I got to watch Sunny run for the first leg of her
JC, and sister Mia run for the second leg and her JC title.
On Sunday Zuli was again the only Saluki entered, but Ruby had nice competition - there
were five Greyhounds entered. Unfortunately, she took a pretty significant fall in the
preliminary run and came off the field limping. After a nice rest she was still limping, so I
scratched her from the competition. Derby ran in the Open Stake, and he had a nice first
run and a spectacular second run, unfortunately he received a very low score and finished
the day next to last. Aren ran in the Field Champion stake and in the preliminary he ran
against two dogs that were both ranked in the top lure coursing Whippets in the country.
On one particularly tricky turn all three of the dogs lost sight of the lure, and it was fun
seeing them all three hopping on their hind legs looking for the lure. Aren saw the lure first
and was back on it with the other two following him. He won his course and was in first
place going into the final. He had a nice run in the finals and won the stake. Then he had
another nice run and won Best of Breed for 5 points towards his LCX title. Both Aren and
Zuli had very nice runs in Best in Field, but to the surprise of everyone, Best in Field was
awarded to the Irish Wolfhound. After the trial, I got to see Sunny do the second of her JC
runs, so now she's ready to start having some real fun.
June 9, 2007 - Rebel (Aren x Chase) was Best in Match today in Annapolis, MD. I believe
this was one of the first times David has ever tried showing a dog in conformation, so big
congratulations go out to the both of them! Thanks to breeder judge Cynthia Schmidt
(Millrace Whippets) for recognizing the Rebel's quality. See the win photo at the left.
June 4, 2007 - Got word today that Maia (Maya from the Blake x Kira litter) and her entire
family will be moving to California at the end of the month. While I hate the thought of her
going so far away, I know she will be just fine. So here's sending all the best wishes to
Maya, Sylvie & all the humans in the family as they embark on this new adventure. Good
luck Rob with the new job; I hope it turns out even better than you hope.
June 2, 2007 - We went to the Whippet Eastern Regional specialty. I had Aren entered in
the Open Dog class. I was late getting to the show site and the Open Dog class was
already in the ring when I got there. Thankfully they let me go in the ring late, but poor Aren
hadn't had time to do his business after we got there, so he was standing and moving all
hunched up (I'm sure you can imagine how he felt!). After the judge made his cut, and we
weren't part of it, Aren had to stop and poop right there in the ring! I guess I should have
been embarrassed, but I was already embarrassed about being late, so the extra added
cause didn't bother me. Nice thing about the judge is that after I picked up, he watched
Aren's gait the rest of the way around the ring and out the gate. Most judges wouldn't have
done that, but I'm sure Aren moved much better after he lightened his load! We'll go show
to this judge again.
WRA meet. We had an entry of 52 dogs and Aren finished 18th in the meet. Maybe not his
best performance, but not at all bad. This puts Aren in first place in the Versatility
competition. Quite a good start to the event. At lunch time, I tried to run Avery in a practice
run with 4 other dogs. When the door opened, four dogs came out & we all scratched our
heads, and then Avery poked her head out (she'd been busy getting her muzzle off!) and
took off down the track. She needs a little more practice with the muzzle, obviously!
June 24, 2007 - In spite of all my hopes, Kira and I still did not qualify in obedience today.
Our off lead heel was just too bad to squeak by. The good news is that she actually did
both of her stays. She's only done that in a match once and never in an actual competition
before today. So we're narrowing down the problems to be worked on. After the trial I
spent a very enjoyable afternoon with Jennifer & David Gough at their home in Richmond,
VA. I got to spend time and play with Sunny's puppies and see how they're growing up.
They are growing up so fast, and they're going to be bigger than their Grandma Kira,
thankfully.
June 16 & 17, 2007 - Sometimes I enter more dogs than I can really manage, and such
was this weekend. I had 5 dogs entered on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. It was hot both
days, but thankfully it cooled off overnight & there was a pretty steady breeze on Sunday. I
was lure coursing at Hanover, PA and we had a good weekend. Avery and Marseille were
both entered in the Open stake, where they both had nice runs. Marseille finished in a tie
for 5th place and Avery just two points behind her. George Evans brought Ripley up from
Richmond to run in the Open stake and after a run-off, he won third place and two points
towards his AKC field championship. Kira ran in the Veterans stake & finished third.
Ruby and Zuli were both the only ones of their breed entered so they both got to run for
Best in Field, and Ruby won it! After the trial I got to watch Sunny run for the first leg of her
JC, and sister Mia run for the second leg and her JC title.
On Sunday Zuli was again the only Saluki entered, but Ruby had nice competition - there
were five Greyhounds entered. Unfortunately, she took a pretty significant fall in the
preliminary run and came off the field limping. After a nice rest she was still limping, so I
scratched her from the competition. Derby ran in the Open Stake, and he had a nice first
run and a spectacular second run, unfortunately he received a very low score and finished
the day next to last. Aren ran in the Field Champion stake and in the preliminary he ran
against two dogs that were both ranked in the top lure coursing Whippets in the country.
On one particularly tricky turn all three of the dogs lost sight of the lure, and it was fun
seeing them all three hopping on their hind legs looking for the lure. Aren saw the lure first
and was back on it with the other two following him. He won his course and was in first
place going into the final. He had a nice run in the finals and won the stake. Then he had
another nice run and won Best of Breed for 5 points towards his LCX title. Both Aren and
Zuli had very nice runs in Best in Field, but to the surprise of everyone, Best in Field was
awarded to the Irish Wolfhound. After the trial, I got to see Sunny do the second of her JC
runs, so now she's ready to start having some real fun.
June 9, 2007 - Rebel (Aren x Chase) was Best in Match today in Annapolis, MD. I believe
this was one of the first times David has ever tried showing a dog in conformation, so big
congratulations go out to the both of them! Thanks to breeder judge Cynthia Schmidt
(Millrace Whippets) for recognizing the Rebel's quality. See the win photo at the left.
June 4, 2007 - Got word today that Maia (Maya from the Blake x Kira litter) and her entire
family will be moving to California at the end of the month. While I hate the thought of her
going so far away, I know she will be just fine. So here's sending all the best wishes to
Maya, Sylvie & all the humans in the family as they embark on this new adventure. Good
luck Rob with the new job; I hope it turns out even better than you hope.
June 2, 2007 - We went to the Whippet Eastern Regional specialty. I had Aren entered in
the Open Dog class. I was late getting to the show site and the Open Dog class was
already in the ring when I got there. Thankfully they let me go in the ring late, but poor Aren
hadn't had time to do his business after we got there, so he was standing and moving all
hunched up (I'm sure you can imagine how he felt!). After the judge made his cut, and we
weren't part of it, Aren had to stop and poop right there in the ring! I guess I should have
been embarrassed, but I was already embarrassed about being late, so the extra added
cause didn't bother me. Nice thing about the judge is that after I picked up, he watched
Aren's gait the rest of the way around the ring and out the gate. Most judges wouldn't have
done that, but I'm sure Aren moved much better after he lightened his load! We'll go show
to this judge again.
| Ripley racing Memorial Day weekend at Ft. Mott State Park, Pennsville, NJ. Thanks to John Huff for sharing this wonderful photo with us. |
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