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.

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.

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

Best In Field!

Here are the pictures from Zephyr's Best in Field trial with the Basenji Fanciers of Greater Phoenix on November 9. There are lots of pictures but I had to post them all because he's my only dog and of course I think he is stunning in all of them. By the way, my arm and shoulder hurt for two days after the trial from Zephyr dragging me to the start! I loved it all! It was all such a surprise. I had just planned on having him run alone in the breed trial, he was the only greyhound, to gain confidence. In his previous trial he was bumped by another dog in both runs on the first day and this made him a nervous. They weren't bad bumps but it was basically his first time running with other dogs so I think everything combined together to make him nervous. He was looking over at the other dogs and even moving over to let them pass. He ran two great runs by himself, most of the pictures are from those runs. Luckily after those runs a few people encouraged me to watch the breed run offs before I decided against entering him in the BIF run. So, I watched and thought he would have a good chance and decided to enter him. Then it turned out that everyone except for the whippet owner decided against entering their dogs in the BIF run. Zephyr is really great at following the lure! He doesn't cut across corners and is able to make nice tight turns. It is so fun to watch him. His instincts turn on and he knows exactly what to do. He barks his head off when ever he sees the lure, even if it's not moving! And of course pulls me up to the start. He is so happy when he gets to run, I have to say I just love it all.

Here he is in the first run. I love these pictures of him all tucked under. He looks like he's floating.

Isn't he a hotty flexing his muscles in his muscle shirt!

Kangaroo boy in his second run. I like this one because he's really stretching forward with his back legs and pushing back with the front.

Here he's turning. He looks so balanced and strong, kind of like he's telemark skiing.

Yes, I know this shot looks familiar now but I couldn't help it, he looks too happy.

Here's the BIF run. At the beginning of the course there was a left turn that the whippet, Ricky, missed and then he cut across and was in front of Zephyr. Poor Ricky then wiped out, he was okay though. Zephyr was able to overtake him.

He stayed on the lure and followed it all the way in to his first Best in Field!

Here we are with the very nice judge Jennie Behles! Zephyr immediately loved his new big red bed! You can't see it in this photo but he also won a ceramic rabbit-bank to save all his allowance for more trial entries! And then he decided it was time to Go Coursing Again! Actually, we are headed down to Gilbert again for a trial this Sunday. This time there will be some other greyhounds running. Yeah! It gets a little lonely being the only greyhound at the events here in Arizona. I hope he runs well with the other greyhounds and doesn't get nervous again. I just want him to have fun when runs. Caron

BIF!

Last Sunday Zephyr and I went to Gilbert, Arizona for a lure coursing trial at Nichols Park. Originally I had planned on just bringing him to practice and gain some confidence, he was the only greyhound so he would run alone. Well, to make a long story short I ended up entering him in the Best in Field run and the little beasty boy won!!! I was, and am, so excited! And, of course he loved it all! I don't have the pictures from the trial yet, have to order them from the photographer, but I will post them up as soon as I get them. Zephyr won a ceramic rabbit piggy bank and a big red dog bed, plus a 5 point major! I just wanted to share the good news, will post pictures soon.

Caron