Echo and I will leaving for the ASFA International invitational in just a few weeks, so I thought she could use just a general exam and bloodwork. She gets these strange little growths on her from time to time that eventually dry up and fleck off, so I also wanted the doc to take a peek at one of those. Her general exam was unremarkable and her blood panel came back perfect, so she’s now got  clean bill of health! The vet said the little growths are nothing to worry about…most likely just a build up of oily skin material in her coat.

Melody was also in for a general exam and follow up bloodwork to check her kidney values. When she was at the specialist to have her toe amputed last year, her kidney values were off the chart. We put her on kidney-friendly food and rechecked at several weeks intervals and the levels did drop down. And ultrasound showed nothing unusual. This visit was just to take a look at her values and see if her kidney issues have progressed or stayed the same. Her creatinine was 2.7 (up from 2.1 6 months ago) which is elevated from what’s considered “normal” for a greyhound, but her BUN was within normal limits at 27. At this point, we are going to keep her on the kidney food and just recheck. However, the vet did clear her for toe amputation surgery, so we will be scheduling that in the next few weeks.

Tater was spayed last week and I noticed a little bit of fluid pooling around her spay incision, so I decided it was best to have the doc take a look. It wasn’t painful to the touch and the skin color along the incision looked great. It was just a little….puffy. The vet examined the incision and said he could feel that all the abdominal layers were intact, that sometimes the muscles just sweat a little fluid. He put her on an antibiotic just to be safe and said to keep her as quiet as possible. We’ll be keeping a close eye on that, for sure.

Peanut was in for a wellness visit last week and to have some baseline bloowork run…something we like to do for all new pups as soon as possible after coming home. Well, one of her values was a little high so they just wanted us to bring in her urine so they could make sure it was concentrating properly. Since she has had a few peepee accidents by the back door, it’s always best to rule out anything medical. I decide to bring her along with the urine specimen “just in case” they wanted to lay hands on her again for some reason. Turns out, her urine looked good and was properly concentrated so Peanut was just along for the ride. Which she didn’t seem to mind. She rides really well in the car and is just soooooo curious about everywhere she goes and everything she sees.

$200 and four healthy hounds later we headed for home…until the next visit!

Most of the hounds in the kennel had already been petted out or sent to other tracks to race, but there was one very special girl Heather said I just had to meet. She opened the top crate about four down from the front door and I peer in to see this beautiful black face peering back out at me. This timid little girl was crouched down in her crate and not quite sure why we were so interested in her. Well, aside from a shiny black coat, this girl had the most adorable roman nose. You don’t see roman noses every day in greyhounds and it seems even less common to see them on a girl.

I was immediatly smitten, but Heather assured me that she had a promising career ahead of her. And she did! In fact, she went on to race in Birmingham for a couple years before closing out her career at Gulf Greyhound Park just a few weeks ago. Over the two years she was racing for Fishdog Kennel in Birmingham, I would always stop by and say hello to her. And every time she’d cower to the back or crate and avoid eye contact. And every time I’d think the same thing: Awwww…sweet little girl. She seemed SO unsure of things, it made you just want to scoop her up in your arms and give her a big ol’ hug.

Heather had always told me her racing owner had an interest in bringing her home when she retired, if she didn’t go to be a brood. And aside from that, with her roman nose I figured there’d be folks lined up to adopt her. So, when Heather told me she was being hauled back to Birmingham and she wasn’t spoken for…..and that if I really wanted her, I could have her…well…that just set my mind to spinning.

Bringing her home meant going back up to our limit of 15. Did I want that? Was I ready for it? I struggled and contemplated for days. And I found my answer in the turn out pen of the overflow kennel at Birmingham. When I looked into Lightning Lee’s eyes, I saw my dog. Not a racing greyhound. Not a pet. Not a foster. I simply saw my girl. And I had no more doubt about whether bringing her home was the right thing to do. It was the only thing to do.

So thank you thank you thank you to Heather,  Team Greyhound, Toomanyhounds kennel, her racing owner and all the folks who helped Lee race straight into my heart and home.

Waiting to come inside for the first time…

Oh, did I forget to mention that this shy, timid girl in the racing kennel was pulling a fast one? Oh yea…turns out, she’s not shy at all! In fact, she’s proving to be quite a mischevious little thing! Stay tuned for all of Lee’s adventures and misadventures!

I was a nervous mommy dropping them off this morning, but I know the spay/neuter surgery is in their own best interest (and my peace of mind!). When I picked them up this afternoon, the doc said Primo came through with no problems whatsoever. Tater did great with the surgery as well, but her uterus was unusually long so her spay incision is quite a bit larger than it normally would be. Poor girl…it really is long incision

Both hounds were given the once over by the pack and then went off to rest. They’ll be on pain medication for the next few days, but I’m sure they’ll both make a quick recovery.

The dogs at the track are housed in kennel buildings a little way behind the actual track. When they race, the dogs are loaded up into a dog truck and driven down to the track. This same road is the access road you use to get from the general parking lot back to the kennel compound to visit the kennels. In order to leave the track and head on out to the highway, you drive the winding road from the guard shack down to where the dog trucks turn off to take the dogs down to race.

And it never fails…when you load the dogs up, all they remember is that this is the way they go when they get to race. “Get” being the operative word. Because any race dog that makes it at any race track must do one thing: love to race. So, asI drive down the winding road and we approach the track, the dogs pace the window and whine. They think they are being taken to race! Well, I finally captured the sequence with my camera…something I’ve always been meaning to do:

Loaded up and ready to go!

Past the guard shack, you can see the Grandstand and the back of the tote board. Birmingham used to also run horses, and in the foreground you can still see the rail for what was the horse track.

Crazystreak and Claire’s Alexia enjoy the view…

As we approach the turn the dog trucks normally would make, the whining has started from these two and they turn their heads to look in the direction of the track…

And as I pass the turn and head up to the parking lot, I get this look: Hey Lady, you overshot the track!

The dogs settle down once you get on the Interstate, but the perplexed look some of them get as you bypass their track is priceless. Some will even stand up on their hind legs and dig at the window as you get close to the track. Little do they know what major changes are in store for them! Retirement and pethood.

As we welcome two new hounds into our family this weekend, we still mourn the untimely and tragic loss of sweet Bodhi. To have no answers makes it almost unbearable to think about.

Since it was still early, I dashed off a quick email to Heather at Team Greyhound to see how Bunny was doing. I knew the reason she didn’t finish couldn’t have been catastrophic (like a broken leg), or I would have heard from them immediately. Heather called me later that morning after she’d spoken with JT. It turns out, Bunny had rushed pretty well out of the box, and ended up in the first turn with the other dogs. She ended up getting banged up pretty good and knocked down. When she got up, she seemed a little disoriented, so the quickly pulled her from the track.

Physically, she’s doing fine. At this point, my worry is that she may be afraid to go into that first turn on her next time out…especially since her personality seems to be more reserved to begin with.  Heather did confirm that can happen, though she didn’t seem overly concerned about it. The racing kennel isn’t schooling any dogs on Monday, so Bunny will have a good bit of time to get over her tumble on the track. I have faith that her trainer will school her back when she’s ready.

You can track Bunny’s career at   http://www.southlandgreyhound.com/ (or stay tuned to here for regular updates)….

Her entry…(yay!)

Her results…(wah-wah-wah-wahhhhhhh) LOL

Most retired racers will chase…but it’s never a sure thing. And being off the track for so many years, I wasn’t really sure what Louie would do. My questions were soon answered! When he first saw the lure go round the course, he went absolutely bonkers. There was no question he’d chase! In fact, it took nearly all my strength to hold him back! He was entered in Singles because that stake does not require any certification since the dogs are running alone. His first course went beautifully. Despite being a large dog, I thought he handled the turns quite well. Not exactly the speediest hound of the day, but he loved every second he was out there and that’s really what it’s all about. After a short time to rest, he was ready to go again….and I’m sure he would have run a second time. But, I felt he’d done enough for the day and scratched him from the final run. Better to leave the field with a healthy, sound hound that still wants to come back for more!

Pictures from his run on Saturday…

He did so well on Saturday and recovered so nicely, I decided he could handle one more run on Sunday. I asked if he could be the “test dog” used to test out the lure on the course before the first official course is run, and the Field Trial Secretary, Robin, offered up her whippet to run a certification run with Louie. A certification is required for any dog to be entered into Open or Veteran competition. The new dog must run a course of at least 500 yards with a hound of a similar running style to prove that they will chase the lure (not the other dog), won’t interfere or fight…that sort of thing. Once they do that, the judge signs off and the dog can be entered in future field trials.

I muzzled Louie as an extra precaution, but it turned out to be unnecessary. He could have cared less about his running mate…He was focused on the lure the entire trip around the course. The judge signed his certification and now Louie will be ready to run when the lure coursing season starts up in the fall! Because of his age, he’s eligible to run in Veterans (dogs over 6), but he can also be entered in the Open Stake (dogs who haven’t earned their Field Champion title). I’ll probably run him in veterans, but we’ll see how things go this fall. Louie is in fantastic shape and, with a little bit more conditioning, I think he’ll have a nice career on the lure coursing field. I know he’s going to love it!

Stay tuned for more adventures of Lucky Louie the Greyhound!

Nearing the age of 6, it’s hard for an ‘older’ hound to be as competitive as the younger, fresher dogs. Someone forgot to tell Echo that though. She brought her A game last weekend and left the field with a 2d place finish on Saturday (forfeit in a three way tie for Field Champion) and a Best in Field win on Sunday. After taking about a year off from lure coursing and coming back at almost 6, I really thought this season would be fun runs. I would enjoy watching her run and she’d enjoy running. We certainly have had that! But she’s brought a level of competition that I didn’t know she still had in her. To say I’m proud and awed and humbled is an understatement.

Not only do I immensely enjoy watching her run, but she’s such a pleasure to spend the day with on the field. She can calmly watch a course in progress, having learned that her turn to run will come. She settles in the x-pen quickly and I can leave her without worrying she’ll try to escape or drive the neighboring cars nuts with a lot of barking.  She’s just a pleasure from beginning to end. My once in a lifetime girl.

All photos on this page are courtesy of Uma Rapiti Photography. Reprints are available from their site.

A nail biting moment as Echo (pink) and Cole (yellow) bunched up heading into the first turn. Wicked is in the background in blue

Her Best in Field final run with the very handsome Saluki, Pyr

Her Best in Field Trophy “stacked” photo…I imagine it’s a lot easier to get a stacked picture from a show dog!

Saturday was ASFA format, with Best in Field being awarded the Rescue Trophy (sound familiar? Echo won it in 2007) and Sunday being the newly created NLCC format. The Sunday trial was the Southern Turf Classic, featuring the Lucy-Foxey Cup being awarded for Best in Field. Uma Rapiti photography was there to capture the days’ activities and Lee really got some great shots!

All in all, I’m so glad I went. The field was a new one for SEGC and was located on an 8000 acre horse farm. Just the drive across the grounds to get to the field was gorgeous, as you passed calm lakes and ponds with their morning mist rising gently. Lush, green fields of grass sometimes dotted with grazing horses. I even spotted a couple deer who’d stopped for some breakfast in a little clearing just off the dirt road that led to the field. The company was great, the dogs were wonderful, there was a lot of great lure coursing…all in all, a tiring and fun weekend. There was a Blessing of the Hounds Saturday morning which, of course, brought me to tears. Echo and Lucky Louie had the best time not only running, but visiting with the other humans and hounds.

There is exciting news from the weekend, so stay tuned for results to be posted once I have the photo’s from Uma Rapiti Photography….

Here’s a quick shot from my iPhone as I was setting things up on Saturday….

Echo and Louie hanging out in the xpen on Saturday