1 week ago
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Play, Play, Play!
One of the best things about going to Albuequerque for lure coursing or shows is that we get to stay with our friends Sarah and Peter and their dogs Chinle and Yeasa. Chinle, Yeasa, and Zephyr get along great. They alternate between playing and hanging out in the grassy back yard. Zephyr loves it because we don't have other dogs or grass in our back yard. :-) Here are some pictures from one of their play sessions while the adults were having a little party in the background.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Check Us Out!
Well, Zephyr and I have been giving conformation showing a try. This weekend we went to the Durango, Co shows. We didn't win but this is pretty cool.
http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/05/18/Top_dog/
We made the front page of the local paper!
Bruce Clark, left, with Tallualah, and Caron Jones, with Zephyr, both greyhounds, strut their stuff Sunday at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds at the Durango Kennel Club’s annual dog show.
We'll see how it goes.
http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/05/18/Top_dog/
We made the front page of the local paper!
Bruce Clark, left, with Tallualah, and Caron Jones, with Zephyr, both greyhounds, strut their stuff Sunday at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds at the Durango Kennel Club’s annual dog show.
Very exciting!
I'm still not sure what to think of conformation showing. With me being so new it is really hard, and it requires a lot of travel to get to shows with greyhounds which also requires a lot of money. And, although I like it, it's not as exciting lure coursing or agility (which is still a dream). But, we have had some fun. The week before Zephyr won reserve in Albuquerque which had many greyhounds entered.
We'll see how it goes.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Lure Coursing with Desert Fun Bunch
On March 8 I took Zephyr to Gilbert, AZ for a lure coursing trial with the Desert Fun Bunch club. The weather was great, in the 70's and slightly overcast all day. The trial was held at Crossroads Park which has a nice pond that Zephyr can cool off in after he runs. Zephyr did really well despite the course being a little small for a large greyhound. He ended up winning Best In Field again which was a great surprise! Here are some videos from the trial. For some reason when I upload them to the Internet the quality of the video goes down. If anyone has suggestions on what I can do to make the video turn out better I'd love to hear them. :-)
This was Zephyr's 2nd breed run. As usual we were the only greyhound so he ran by himself. When he came around the back side he went out far because of a tight turn. There was a small depression of some kind and you can see him take a big jump. Also, notice how clumsy the handler looks while being dragged to the field and then falling on the graceful hound while retrieving him.
Below is his Best In Field run. I really thought this was his best run of the day.
Zephyr LOVES coursing! It is really a challenge to hold him back when we head for the field. I let him pull and bark it up because I don't want to discourage his enthusiasm, and I love seeing him so happy.
If anyone has suggestions for how I can improve the video I'd really appreciate it. I uploaded them in what I thought was the best quality (they took forever to upload). Maybe my settings are off.
This was Zephyr's 2nd breed run. As usual we were the only greyhound so he ran by himself. When he came around the back side he went out far because of a tight turn. There was a small depression of some kind and you can see him take a big jump. Also, notice how clumsy the handler looks while being dragged to the field and then falling on the graceful hound while retrieving him.
Below is his Best In Field run. I really thought this was his best run of the day.
Zephyr LOVES coursing! It is really a challenge to hold him back when we head for the field. I let him pull and bark it up because I don't want to discourage his enthusiasm, and I love seeing him so happy.
If anyone has suggestions for how I can improve the video I'd really appreciate it. I uploaded them in what I thought was the best quality (they took forever to upload). Maybe my settings are off.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Finally
Well I am finally updating the blog with this winter's activities. It's been a really long time since I have posted anything, but we have all been good with a few minor exceptions. In November Zephyr won a best of breed in lure coursing against 4 other greyhounds, so he has his 2 majors that he needs toward his field championship. We have some trials coming up that should be great fun.
In December Zephyr had a ruff spell. Right before Christmas he got in to a fight with a pit bull. Our neighbors are seasonal residents and let some of their family use the house occasionally. Well the son and family were up and they let their pit bull and corgi out off leash. They do not have an enclosed yard. I'll make a long scary story short and tell you that Zephyr was generally okay after the fight. We had walked out the front door to go on a walk and when I got to the road I saw that these dogs were out. The corgi, Bomber, came up to Zephyr and then got scared because he was overwhelmed by his size/exuberance. I was just trying to continue walking but then I saw the pit bull, Blue, coming. He is very protective of Bomber. Zephyr is also protective of his home area and could probably sense my fear. I tried to yell at Blue to keep him away but it didn't work. So when blue ran up to Zephyr they just started fighting. It was not good, pit bulls really do go right for the neck. Zephyr did fight back though. I was yelling for help and trying to break them up. Thankfully Zephyr pulled out of his collar and was then able to run away. So then I got to watch my un-collared greyhound running down the road with a pit bull chasing him while I chased them both. Luckily my other neighbor was already coming to help and kept the two separated and there was no traffic. Once we got Zephyr, my neighbor and I were holding him and looked down and saw that my legs were just vibrating in fear. It was all very scary. Zephyr was generally okay, only some small wounds and his feet got scrapped up, but a few of the wounds did leave little scars. =( After talking to the owners of the others I found out Zephyr bit Blue on the forehead and his feet were torn up too. I of course emphasized, in a nice way, that they have to keep their dogs confined or on leash, etc. Actually, Ernie said I was too nice and I probably was. Since this I have been a little nervous when going for walks, and twice we have been charged by off leash dogs in the neighborhood. I think I am going to have to start calling animal control on these people.
Another bummer was that after Christmas Zephyr slipped when coming in from the back yard and really cut the side of one of his back toes on the curved metal piece at the bottom of the door. We went to the vet and they did not want to stitch it up because although it was big most of it did not go all the way through the skin. Well it took forever to heal and stop bleeding when he bumped it, etc. Like over a month. I kept it covered and that helped. I think it took so long because the layers of skin had to regrow. It's almost 100% healed now.
Between all of this we have been having some fun in the snow and enjoying winter fires. It's been another good winter here with lots of snow and I've been able to stay home some days because school was canceled. Here are the pictures of what we've been up to the past few months.
Finally introducing our three cats, from top to bottom, Pablo, Riley, and Annie!
I learned how to knit after Thanksgiving. Zephyr is modeling my first hat.
Riley models a mini scarf a friend crocheted.
There has been plenty of snow to have fun in and frolic.
Zephyr got this fun ball for Christmas.
Zephyr turned 2 on January 6 and we had a little celebration!
He LOVES his dragon that he got for his birthday!
During a warm spell in January a lot of the snow melted and the elk came to visit.
This one was a little cranking and did not appreciate Zephyr's playfulness.
This is a hike we did with Marlies at Beaver Creek. It's a little south of us and lower in elevation so it was a lot warmer.
Zephyr even fetched some sticks in the water.
After all the fun it's good to share a fine meal with family.
And then get a lot of rest in front of the wood burning stove!
The kitties need time in front of the fire too.
Just a reminder, it's always a good idea to be respectful and and pay homage to those who are really in charge.
In December Zephyr had a ruff spell. Right before Christmas he got in to a fight with a pit bull. Our neighbors are seasonal residents and let some of their family use the house occasionally. Well the son and family were up and they let their pit bull and corgi out off leash. They do not have an enclosed yard. I'll make a long scary story short and tell you that Zephyr was generally okay after the fight. We had walked out the front door to go on a walk and when I got to the road I saw that these dogs were out. The corgi, Bomber, came up to Zephyr and then got scared because he was overwhelmed by his size/exuberance. I was just trying to continue walking but then I saw the pit bull, Blue, coming. He is very protective of Bomber. Zephyr is also protective of his home area and could probably sense my fear. I tried to yell at Blue to keep him away but it didn't work. So when blue ran up to Zephyr they just started fighting. It was not good, pit bulls really do go right for the neck. Zephyr did fight back though. I was yelling for help and trying to break them up. Thankfully Zephyr pulled out of his collar and was then able to run away. So then I got to watch my un-collared greyhound running down the road with a pit bull chasing him while I chased them both. Luckily my other neighbor was already coming to help and kept the two separated and there was no traffic. Once we got Zephyr, my neighbor and I were holding him and looked down and saw that my legs were just vibrating in fear. It was all very scary. Zephyr was generally okay, only some small wounds and his feet got scrapped up, but a few of the wounds did leave little scars. =( After talking to the owners of the others I found out Zephyr bit Blue on the forehead and his feet were torn up too. I of course emphasized, in a nice way, that they have to keep their dogs confined or on leash, etc. Actually, Ernie said I was too nice and I probably was. Since this I have been a little nervous when going for walks, and twice we have been charged by off leash dogs in the neighborhood. I think I am going to have to start calling animal control on these people.
Another bummer was that after Christmas Zephyr slipped when coming in from the back yard and really cut the side of one of his back toes on the curved metal piece at the bottom of the door. We went to the vet and they did not want to stitch it up because although it was big most of it did not go all the way through the skin. Well it took forever to heal and stop bleeding when he bumped it, etc. Like over a month. I kept it covered and that helped. I think it took so long because the layers of skin had to regrow. It's almost 100% healed now.
Between all of this we have been having some fun in the snow and enjoying winter fires. It's been another good winter here with lots of snow and I've been able to stay home some days because school was canceled. Here are the pictures of what we've been up to the past few months.
Finally introducing our three cats, from top to bottom, Pablo, Riley, and Annie!
I learned how to knit after Thanksgiving. Zephyr is modeling my first hat.
Riley models a mini scarf a friend crocheted.
There has been plenty of snow to have fun in and frolic.
Zephyr got this fun ball for Christmas.
Zephyr turned 2 on January 6 and we had a little celebration!
He LOVES his dragon that he got for his birthday!
During a warm spell in January a lot of the snow melted and the elk came to visit.
This one was a little cranking and did not appreciate Zephyr's playfulness.
This is a hike we did with Marlies at Beaver Creek. It's a little south of us and lower in elevation so it was a lot warmer.
Zephyr even fetched some sticks in the water.
After all the fun it's good to share a fine meal with family.
And then get a lot of rest in front of the wood burning stove!
The kitties need time in front of the fire too.
Just a reminder, it's always a good idea to be respectful and and pay homage to those who are really in charge.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Photo Tag
I was tagged by Never Say Never Greyhounds to post the sixth picture in my sixth folder of my photo folders, explain the photo, and then tag six other people to do the same. My picture is of Telluride "Telly". Telly is no longer with us, we lost him on December 21st, 2006. He was 19 1/2 years old and a truly wonderful boy. This is not the best picture of him, he's kind of in a funny position, but it wast taken about 6 months before died from cancer and kidney failure. Actually, we lost our 21 1/2 year old girl Ashley (see picture below Telly) three days later on the 24 making for a really crappy Christmas that year. Both of them passed peacefully with us at home which was really nice. If you'd like to read more about them check out Ashley and Telly.
Telly
Ashley and Telly getting warm in front of the wood burning stove. She was wearing her beads so they must have been on a date. ;)We still have three other kitties and I've been meaning to introduce them so hopefully that will happen now. They are not happy that it has taken so long. We got Zephyr a few months after Ashley and Telly left us. I had wanted a greyhound for at least 15 years. But, as I went through college, got married, got a job, etc. Ashley and Telly were getting older and I didn't think it would be fair to bring a dog into their lives then.
I will Tag these blogs:
White Family Blog
Learning About Life With Greys
Sirius Sighthounds
Jen & The Greyhounds
Plus Est En Vous
Rockin Richins
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