Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Speedy and Sugar Go Lure Coursing...Well sort of!!

Memorial Day Week-end had a little something for everyone this year. Saturday the whole family went lure coursing. OK, in reality only Rosie coursed, but the whole family went along for the ride. Friday, I packed the van with Rosie’s crate and the ex-pen for Speedy and Sugar. I also packed a tarp for shade as well as shade screen, water bowls, lots of water, snacks for human and hound, extra beds and blankets, and a battery operated fan to assure hound comfort. By the time the van was loaded with three hounds and all the necessary gear, Rob and Wheeler had to follow me in another car. Jeez, talk about taking everything but the kitchen sink!! In reality, they didn’t want to get up and leave as early as I needed to make 8:00 roll call in Calhoun anyway, so the extra gas would have been wasted in any case.

There were lots of Pharaoh Hounds in attendance. Eight running in open – it’s rare to have so many; often there are only two or three open Pharaohs and we’ve even run alone more than once. Rosie didn’t have a very good day as far as the judges were concerned though. She came in 5th and got zero points. Rosie’s problem is that she is too smart for her own good - she cheats!! Why run the whole course behind the lure, if you can see where the line is going. She figures she might as well cut a loop off and head the lure off at the pass. This strategy is very effective if the goal is to get to the lure first, but not if you’re being judged on follow. She out smarted herself. All in all, she had a blast and came home tired and satisfied. She doesn’t care how many points she got or how she placed. She just thinks she had fun!! I'm not telling her she wasn't the star.

Sunday, we cooked out at a friend’s house where Wheeler enjoyed hanging out with the other teens. On Monday, we did nothing. Also a very good thing.


Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Memorial Day Weekend Plans

Speedy, Sugar, and I are going coursing Saturday, probably for the last time before next fall. It just gets too hot for the hounds in the dead of summer – especially in Georgia!! In reality, only Rosie will be running, but Speedy and Sugar already have their duds packed; they are planning a nice day in the country. Sugar plans to nap in the expen, in the shade, in front of her fan. Speedy will do the same, only he will be wistfully watching the festivities while staring at me with those big eyes designed to make me feel guilty. You see, I never took him coursing when he was young enough to safely run. Unfortunately, at almost 11, he has a heart murmur and some sort of orthopedic issue with his hips. Even absent those issues, he’s really to old to run a course of around 900 yards at top speed. He is very interested in the lure though and I truly wish I’d discovered how much fun lure coursing is for both hound and human when he was young enough.

Sugar on the other hand, shows absolutely no interest in chasing a plastic bag. She’s much too smart for such things. She does enjoy reclining on her soft bed in the shade though while the others “play their silly games!”

Sugar’s pain is now pretty well controlled and she is eating well. She feels good has even joined in a play session or two with Speedy and Rosie. I’m felling pretty good about her now.

Sunday we'll cook out at my friend Jenny's house to celebrate all of our birthdays. Can you believe Wheeler, Rob, and I all have May birthdays. Here's a couple of pics from Wheeler's birthday. He turned 14 on the 8th and will be in high school next fall. Wow!!



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Monday, May 5, 2008

The Winner of the Old Mill Stakes and Recipient of the Old Mill Cup is........the Pharaoh Hound - Rosemary!!!!!


Rosie and I had an awesome weekend. The Old Mill Stakes is an ASFA lure coursing event and has been run the first weekend in May for the past twelve years. There is no daily Best in Field, but each day's Best of Breed is eligible to run in Best in Event on Sunday if they run both Saturday and Sunday. Rosie won Best of Breed Saturday and came in second on Sunday for the Pharaohs. Her run in Best in Event was spectacular. She soundly beat the competition and is the first Pharaoh to have won the Old Mill Stakes. The perpetual trophy is a huge. It's a fancy silver cup on a large wooden base with the names of all the previous winners engraved on the base.

I was so proud of my little rescue hound I almost cried. Goofy I know, but she's come a long way from the county animal control.

Speedy and Sugar were both along for the ride and I think enjoyed themselves. Speedy clearly wanted to chase the bunny too! He went nuts when the lure zipped by. I'm sorry I never coursed him when he was young enough.