Lure Coursing can be Dangerous

Yesterday I returned home from my three week island retreat, house-sitting 11 borzois. The dogs were great and the time passed quickly. I left and drove straight to a lure coursing trial, where I met Rich and our three borzois - Toby, Catie and Rowan. Catie and Rowan now both have their Senior Courser AKC titles as well. Toby ran beautifully and was pure poetry in motion, however we didn't get photos of him running, unfortunately. Toby now has his Junior Courser title, too. Here's a photo of both girls running this weekend:




Now for the dangerous part of lure coursing.


Saturday I had volunteered to field clerk, which means, after every few courses, you run across the field to the judges area, retrieve the score sheets, and bring them back to the Field Secretary's table. Since I had just returned from the Island, I had my bicycle with me. After a few times hoofing it across the field and back, I discovered that I could just ride my bike out and back, much faster and it worked great!

Sunday morning, when we arrived, I walked across the field that was slick with dew to retrieve my bike. Shortly after climbing on and starting to pedal, the ground came up and smacked me in the face. At first I thought I'd broken my nose, then realized my back, neck and shoulders hurt like hell. As I rolled off my bicycle that I somehow landed on top of, Rich saw me and came running. My left shoulder was bruised, down my chest and my left breast (handlebars I think), my cheek and nose were bruised but thankfully not broken, my thigh, knee, and calf had huge bruises and I mildly sprained my ankle. Oh, and knocked a crown loose on a tooth I later discovered. I think I suffered a mild concussion since I had a headache for 8 days and was very sleepy for 2-3 days after! Fortunately a doctor was on site and checked me out as more or less OK.

Then, later in the day, as Rich was retrieving Toby after his run, he slipped and fell on the start line and twisted his arm/elbow severely too. We decided that neither of us earned OUR JC's that weekend, lure coursing can be dangerous after all.

A Secret Admirer?

Today I was working away in the office, and glanced down into my computer bag. Seems that an anonymous borzoi has left me a gift....a cute little stuffed tiger. I turn it over and it has a red heart on the front. Wonder who left me that, placed so carefully in my bag? How sweet! * Click on photo for larger image.

Camano Island Sunset, Dogsitting Bonus

Sunset view tonight from house-sitting on Camano Island. Nice view for Borzoi, yes?

Sesame Street Flashback

I'm housesitting for a few weeks for some borzoi breeder friends. Here, we leave our shoes at the door and wear soft slippers in the house.

Today, as I was passing through the living room, I noticed this: Click on photo for larger image....

And, I had a sudden deja-vu of this Sesame Street Song from my childhood. Remember this one?:

Three of these things belong together
Three of these things are kind of the same
Can you guess which one of these doesn't belong here?
Now it's time to play our game (time to play our game)!

Now I've got that Sesame Street song stuck in my head all day, no damage to my shoe, however. Let the games begin!

Late Night Snack

Okay, I'm sitting in the living room working tonight and about the same time I realize that there are no dogs in here with me, I hear a strange sound coming from the bedroom on the other side of the wall behind me. Kind of like the headboard is banging against the wall? What the hell......

So, I go in there and find several dogs on our bed, all watching in particular one black & white borzoi in particular in repose across the bed with her late night snack:

Our #1 Fan

We've been watching our blog to see where in the world people who visit our blog come from. There is one person in Vancouver Washington who visits EVERY DAY. You're our number one fan!
You know, you could subscribe to an RSS feed so you automatically get notices when we make new entries. :-)

But, it's nice to know you care.

Jewel's Bounty

I went in to take a bath at lunch today (work at home), and as soon as I shut off the water and laid back to relax for a few minutes, Jewel our little Silken Windhound starts barking in the kitchen. I holler at her, but every 30 seconds or so she lets out another bark. SIGH.

No relaxing bath today! It's like the same type of bark like when she has the cat trapped in a corner and wants it to come out and play. Or, when she has a really good chewie and is warning everyone off. Actually, it turns out to be something about the size of the cat, and edible so the message in the bark I heard was not too far off.

So, I get out of the tub and notice that all our other dogs (3 borzoi, 1 silken and 3 beagles) are all in the bedroom looking in at me like they're saying with their eyes, "We're staying in HERE, the Jewel's gone psycho!".

I get dressed and come into the kitchen to find:

1) The refrigerator door hanging wide open
2) Jewel standing over a turkey carcass (from a turkey I roasted the other night) in the middle of the kitchen floor, barking at any dog she sees, in any direction. Too busy barking to eat much, but I notice that all the white breast meat is chewed down to the rib cage.

Thankfully she was acting psycho and keeping them all away from the kitchen.....if not, a whole lot of stuff in the fridge would have gone away in the feeding frenzy that would have most likely ensued with everyone. I figure a Beagle yanked open the door and hauled the turkey on the floor, and Miss Jewel took over from there and chased them all away to guard the bounty for herself.

Jewel blissfully slept the rest of the afternoon away, no doubt on a tryptophan high from all the turkey she ate.

Show Success in Elma

This weekend past, we (I) showed our new borzoi boy Toby (Zabava Tabasco) at the AKC shows in Elma, Washington. We are pleased and thrilled to report that on Sunday, Toby was Best of Winners for one AKC point, and his sire Zabava Mercury was Best of Breed and went on for a Group 3rd placement. Show photo to follow!
In addition, Rowan (Tovaritch's Beresina) was Reserve Winners Bitch on Sunday.

Down The Hatch

Today I took the two borzoi girls for a long walk, about 4 miles all told. At the end of the walk, just as we were turning up our road and in the last couple hundred feet, both girls (true hunters that they are), spotted something moving in the leaves on the side of the road.
Usually, if it's too small to be a squirrel or rabbit, it's just the wind rustling around a dried leaf. Not this time. As the girls about yanked me off my feet to investigate closer, I saw a small black mouse dart out of the leaves, about two seconds before it disappeared.
In the blink of an eye, I saw the last half of the poor little critter's tail go just like a piece of spaghetti across Rowan's lips and down the hatch.

New Member of the Pack -- Toby

We are pleased to announce and introduce the newest member of our pack -- Zabava Tabasco, aka "Toby" (or Tabasitch, as we also affectionately call him, just like his first family did):

Toby is a gorgeous, structurally sound, sweet and affectionate 2 year old male Borzoi who we'll co-own with Irina and Kristina Terra of Zabava Borzoi on Camano Island here in Washington State.
Although we don't have a private beach to offer Toby here at Winterfell, we do have nice wooded property with trails and squirrels to chase. We are in love with him already, he is fitting into our routines just great.
Watch for Toby in the show ring and on the coursing field soon!

Borzoi Nationals

It's been an incredibly busy two weeks.

Last Tuesday (the 15th), after 3 hours of sleep, I got up at 2:45am and was on the road by 3:15am with two Borzoi and two Silken Windhounds. Destination: Sacramento for the Borzoi Nationals via a short stop to drop off the Silkens with Paul & Karen Sanders at Allagante Silkens in Oregon. It was a long drive -- 770 miles, and 15 hours all told including stops for the dogs and me.

I arrived just in time to watch Futurity, and see our new boy Tabasco, aka "Toby", place second under Brood Bitch class. More about this new addition to our pack in the next post!

Rich flew in Thursday morning in time for most of the conformation shows that day. Although our girls didn't place, it was fun to show them, see beautiful dogs, meet friends both new and old and enjoy the warm 70-80 degree sunny weather while it snowed back home in Washington, we heard.

Here is an image of Ivor (Catherine's sire) and his get showing in Stud Dog class at Nationals. Although we didn't place in this particular show pictured on Saturday, Ivor and his kids did take first place in the same class at the BCNC Specialty on Sunday. Catherine (and I) are fourth in the line (second from the right):


Rowan and her littermate Bitsey were shown by Lexy Hancock in Brace Class. Again they didn't place, but they were an impressive brace:



Monday morning we drove home and arrived around midnight, very tired but glad we made the trip.

No Charm the Third Time

For the third time in four days, I took the Silken puppy to the vet. I did not luck out this time as I'd hoped. Poor little guy fared as well as the first two times (poop, nausea, foaming at the mouth) -- however, he now has his health certificate! And, a remedy from the Veterinarian for his motion sickness that should help the little guy out on his trip to his new home this week.

All I can say is.....when Karen and I go to Cancun and the Mexican Carribbean in November, all my drinks are on her. All of them.

The puppies really aren't monsters, they're very sweet and adorable. Just scared little babies going out in the world and trying to find their way, and finding it a little overwhelming at this point.

In about an hour Paul & Karen will be home from their fabulous cruise, and tomorrow I'll be headed home. Yes, I would do it again....in about a year. It's good practice and hands-on experience for someday when we might decide to breed a litter. (God help me!) I can't say I wasn't warned if we go that route some day.

Meanwhile....., it's Happy Trails home in the morning!