Thursday, March 26, 2009

Lure Crashing........or the Attack of the Killer Ex-Pen

Nick, Rosie, and I attended the Southeastern Greyhound Club’s field trial last Saturday. Saturday was an ASFA trial followed by a NLCC trial on Sunday. We didn’t make it on Sunday due to, among other things, the events that transpired on Saturday.


It was a gorgeous day. One of those days that couldn’t have been more perfect if it was made to order – chilly in the morning but warming up to shirtsleeve weather. The field was perfect, not to hard and not too soft. We were running on a new field that hugs the banks of the Chattahoochee River. The location could not have been more picturesque. How could we fail to have a perfect day? Unfortunately, my hounds forgot to read up on trial deportment before we left home. Nick had a nice though not stellar first run, but enjoyed chilling out in the sun in the ex-pen while Rosie had her turn. Rosie ran very well, but stopped to tinkle midway thru her course. Umm…the judges frown on that sort of a break.


Then the real trouble started. After Rosie had cooled down, I decided to let her join Nicky in the ex-pen. When I opened the door, Nick thought that it must be his turn to course again, and tried to push his way out past Rosie. In the process, he managed to knock the whole contraption down. Problem was, he was inside it at the time. While I was trying to free Nick before he was hurt, Rosie got loose. Final outcome – both of my hounds loose at the same time. Very embarrassing!!! Nick also managed to hurt his shoulder – that can happen when you struggle inside a collapsed ex-pen – and had to be pulled from the afternoon course.


We’ve had a serious talk about the day’s events. Rosie promises to take care of her business before she goes out on the field, Nick swears he’ll refrain from charging the ex-en gate, and I’ll be more careful with my gate management techniques in the future. The good news is that, although Nick’s shoulder is still sore, it’s improving and he’ll be fit as a fiddle in another couple of days.


"Mom, my shoulder hurts!!"



"Why the heck are we home on such a beautiful day? See, I have my leg muscles all stretched out and everything."




P.S. I know better management on my part would have prevented all the mishaps of the day. I should have made sure Rosie went before she ran and I should have had everyone leashed before the ex-pen gate was opened. My fault - not theirs.

6 comments:

Jan said...

My dogs always manage to make me take the blame for everything they do too.

Unknown said...

Rosie I wish my legs bent like that.

pet care tv said...

Feel better Nick. While you're resting you should join the 'Make your pet a star' Sweepstakes at MyPetCareTV. All you have to do is create a profile on the site and you're automatically entered. Who knows you could be on your way to Hollywood, all expense paid.

Never Say Never Greyhounds said...

Love the Rosie picture of her stretched out legs and your caption :-). Glad everyone survived. Don't worry, we all could manage better at times :-).

Jen

Patti said...

Thank goodness everyone was not hurt more badly. I missed this one but hope to get back out in the fall!

Aragon greyhounds said...

Yes those xpens can be wicked things. I remember at a dog show last year my friends 2 greyhounds were in an xpen and I showed them a talking toy. Well her two greyhounds pulled the xpen over on themselves to get to it then got scared about what was following them. They ended up in the Basenji ring while they were judging. Very frowned on!! All the greyhound people had to laugh at what happened.
Helen