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2nd September 2009 So much to catch up on. Ettie has now gone to her perfect new home having been retired, many thanks for your help Kim from http://greyhounds4u.co.uk/ :-) For more info about where she has gone please see my 'Previous Dogs' page. Muffin has now been schooled and is at Mick's in training and ready to start racing as soon as she is old enough. Paks made a winning return to the track last Sunday after a break for a minor injury. Foggy however has excelled himself since I last posted on the blog. He won 3 races in a row and will now be presented with a trophy at a special Oxford Owners Association trophy night. Doggie is currently injured and will be off for a total of 8 weeks although we are a fair way through that now. I'm now on twitter @vickystipetic if you want to follow. And the really big news is that we now have a new puppy although this one isn't a greyhound, he's a lurcher, 11 weeks old and gorgeous! His name is Strider...
4th June 2009 Finally we have some dogs back on the card this week and find ourselves in the unusual position of having three runners this week! Paks is out tomorrow and looks to have a good chance, Doggie will make his Oxford debut for us on Saturday night and Foggy is out on Sunday BAGS. So a very busy and exciting week ahead of us. Boo has now been sold, he has gone to a nice chap up in Scotland and will be racing up there. Finn is settling in well at Lincs Greyhound Trust although no-one has picked him yet. Let's hope he doesn't have too long to wait until someone recognises what a lovely boy he is and chooses him. Ettie had another trial at Oxford but it seems she just doesn't get the 450m at Oxford. She looks like an out and out sprinter and we are scratching our heads now working out the best place to send her to give her a chance of racing over the right distance. The weather here has been fantastic and I made the most of it last weekend giving Foggy and Paks a lovely bath. They were both gleaming afterwards and seemed to enjoy cooling off. Also I have finally taken the plunge and filled in the required forms to become a licensed kennel hand for Mick. He has agreed to let me do some parading for him and I've been busy up at the schooling track working on my skills before doing it for real. I can't wait for my first proper race. I am still getting regular updates about our Maldini pup. She is growing up into a fine specimen and I think I will have to have another visit to see her soon. The time has flown by and it won't be long before she starts schooling. 19th April 2009 Well there's been a long gap in the blog yet again. Apologies. To be fair though not much has happened racing wise. Foggy, Doggie and Boo have all been off injured and Paks and Ettie have been in season. Paks had a sprint trial last week and is due for a 4 bend trial tomorrow so hopefully she will be back on the card very soon. Also Ettie had a trip up to the schooling track today and ran really well (see photos below)...
She did a pleasing sprint trial of 15.40, not bad after her very long layoff. Hopefully she will trial at Oxford very soon and may even have another crack at grading on :-) The only other news since I last posted is to let you all know that the decision was finally made that Finn's leg would not recover enough to race again. He is virtually sound now but still favours that leg a little too much to risk him back on a track. I agonised for ages about the best way to find him a new home and in the end I asked my friend Kev from Lincolnshire Greyhound Trust if he would take him. Kev is the only person I know well enough in the rehoming industry to trust with Finn. It's been horrible having to say goodbye to him, but Kev is now working hard to find him a new Mum and Dad and a nice sofa to spend the rest of his days on. I still miss him an awful lot but he deserves the best chance of finding a proper home and I didn't want him wasting away in kennels. Hopefully Kev will keep me posted on his progress. 19th February 2009 Foggy won tonight! YAY!!!!!!!!! He trapped badly but showed pace up then proceeded to crash into as many dogs as possible on his way to victory :-) Talk about making it hard work for yourself! He won by barely a whisker in a very close photo finish. I was watching the race via video link as we couldn't make it to the track tonight and I couldn't tell from the video if he'd won. I had to call Mick to see if he done it. I'm just so proud of Foggy. He has had such a long layoff after that horrible tendon injury and it was just amazing to see him back to his best tonight. Mick promised me he would get extra biscuits and a kiss tonight! (but don't tell anyone!) :-) 18th February 2009 I heard today that Foggy is running this Thursday and Paks is running Sunday. Fingers crossed they both do well. I think they are both due a win in their current grades, so they are both worth a bet for all you gamblers out there! I also finally got around to uploading a photo of Doggieandgabanna, here he is...
14th February 2009 Well today I had the best Valentines present ever.....I got to take Finn for his first proper walk since he broke his leg last November! I have never seen a dog more pleased to be out in the countryside, it was like he was discovering the world for the first time :-) His leg is healing brilliantly and he barely limps now. He can now start to walk regularly again and build up his muscles. Here's a photo of him out on his walk...
31st January 2009 I spent today at Thurles sales in Ireland. These trips to Ireland are becoming a habit lately! We had a fantastic couple of days and the only disappointment was that the Chinese restaurant which Kev and John had told me all about was closed. We ended up spending Friday night as the only customers in an Indian restaurant in Thurles, very strange indeed, but the food was good. The sale was great. Some very classy dogs trialled and impressed in spite of the appalling track conditions underfoot. The track staff did a great job in preparing the track surface after solid heavy rain had poured down for over 36 hours straight. We almost didn't make it to the track having to coax the hire car through flooded lanes to get there. Fastest time of the day was done by a dog called Doggieandgabanna. I had gone there with the intention of keeping my eyes peeled for a replacement for Finn so we could have an open class dog again, however all the dogs I liked the look of were clearly going to be way over budget. In the usual fashion, the sale started out with some early lots going for way over the top of what they were worth and I was convinced we would go home empty handed. However as the sale went on the lots got cheaper and cheaper and some real bargains were to be had. Then it was Doggieandgabanna's turn to stand on the rostrum and the bidding was slow. I was stunned and decided to give it a go, sure enough he was picked up for a bargain price and will soon be winging his way to the UK. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would get a dog of his class within our budget. He's a lovely black dog and I will try to get some photos soon. 29th January 2009 Well everyone had a fantastic night at the Peterson kennels sponsored race night on the 10th Jan. Magic ran a blinder leading most of the way in his race but just being picked up before the line. He certainly gave us lots to cheer about. I've now added the photo of our sponsored race prize giving to the gallery. Since then it has been rather a quiet month racing wise. Boo and Paks have been off injured. Foggy has had a trial and it looks like his leg may have healed well enough for him to race again. We will find out this Saturday as he has his first race back since last September. I'm just praying he comes off in one piece and we can build his fitness back up over the coming weeks. Paks returned to the track tonight and put in a very good run but she ran out of steam towards the end as expected after a few weeks off getting very fat :-) Boo should trial soon and return to the track in the next couple of weeks or so. Finn has now had his cast off and is healing well. It doesn't look like he will make a return to racing though and so he will soon be searching for a sofa to retire to. This month saw us wave goodbye to Magic. He has been sold to a guy called Tommy based in Denmark. They do straight racing there over the shorter trip so Magic will hopefully be able to win some races for his new owner. Hopefully once he starts racing we may get to see some of his race videos online. It's sad to see him go but there was no point watching him struggle in the bottom grade at Oxford, he deserves a better chance. 9th January 2009 Happy new year! Hope you all have a fantastic 2009. The new year starts with a bang this Saturday when the Peterson Kennels take over the executive boxes at Oxford stadium, hosting a special night of sponsored trophy races. These nights are a great opportunity for all the owners to get together and enjoy a great night's racing and merriment. Luckily we have a runner in the shape of Effernogue Magic who runs in the opening race in the A9. Come on Magic, do us proud! 31st December Bought a new puppy today! Well, to be more accurate we bought half a puppy today as I have finally persuaded my Dad to get involved with the greyhounds and he has come in halves with us for this pup. She is a beautifully bred July 08 pup and looks an absolute cracker! I've created a new page for her with a couple of photos here. Fingers crossed she will be the next big thing when she hits the track although that won't be for a while yet as she is not quite 6 months old at the moment. 16th December Boo had his first race at Oxford tonight. He ran really well for his first effort, trapped better than he did in his last trial, was a bit boxed in at the first bend but ran on well for his first look. I'm really looking forward to seeing his next race. Foggy has started galloping again now that the ground has finally thawed out and is going well. All being well he may be given a handslip at the track this Thursday and then we will see if his leg can handle running a bend again. It's exciting to see him hit the track again but I can't help being very nervous about it too. I'm keeping everything crossed for a positive outcome. Magic has now graded on and had his first race last week. He ran well for his first race and he is out again Thursday so watch this space. Finn is doing well. His cast has been changed since my last post and the vet was pleased with his progress. He is certainly getting about more confidently and putting a lot more weight on the bad leg. To help his progress I bought him yet another new coat, this one is even thicker and warmer than the last one! ;-) In fact I treated most of them to a new jacket as I got a really cheap deal for some very warm duvet coats (very similar to a horse's New Zealand rug). 30th November Well it never rains but it pours, found out on Monday that Paks picked up a shoulder injury during her race last week so we now have no dogs racing at all :-( The injury to Paks appears to be a minor muscle twinge so she should be fit again soon. Boo trialled last Thursday for the second time and improved to do a 28.02 which is great. He has his final trial this Thursday all being well, then we will have at least one dog racing again. Ettie ran again for the first time since her injury and managed a 28.68, a wee bit outside grading time but much closer than she was before so it looks like she is improving. Finn's new jacket arrived this week. I decided to treat him to a nice thick warm coat to stop him wasting his energy keeping warm. He has lost quite a bit of weight following his injury and although he has started to put it on again now I think the warmer we keep him the easier it will be to fatten him up. Here he is trying it out for size...
23rd November I haven't blogged much lately, it's been a rough few weeks. We entered Scala Honcho into an open race up in Hull on the Greyhoundscene forum night at the beginning of the month and he sadly broke his leg after being bumped very badly at the first bend. Luckily the break wasn't too bad and the vet has put a cast on. He should heal well and will be able to enjoy a happy retirement. Magic and Ettie are now recovered from their minor injuries and both are scheduled to trial again this week. Fingers crossed they go well. We also made a new purchase after I had a great day trip to the Cork sales in Ireland. His name is Boo Weekley (after the golfer) and he is a lovely fawn and white pup (April 07). He had his first trial last week and did a respectable 28.32 which is within grading for a pup and hopefully he should have a lot of improvement to come. Foggy is just about to start coming back after his tendon injury and is due to start galloping this week, we should know whether he will ever race again in the next few weeks. The only dog we have currently on the card is Paks. She has kept herself busy whilst all the others have all been off, she won her race last week at A5 and has now returned to her previous best grade of A4.
Boo Weekly 26th September Magic trialled last night and won his trial. His time was a little on the slow side but Mick assures me that the track was running very slow last night so it's fair to assume that he ran inside grading time and I'm really pleased with him. It will be great to get him going soon. He's a lovely pup but has a lot to learn. Finn trials tomorrow night before racing so we will be going along to watch him for the first time. I can't wait to see him run, he's a very fast dog and it will be good to watch. Paks is due to run again on Monday she is getting stronger every week after her seasonal break and I have high hopes for her on Monday. We will be popping up to see them all tomorrow, I'm anxious to see how Foggy is doing with his leg treatment. 14th September Went to Peterborough greyhound sales today and .......you guessed it, bought a dog! Oops! There were so many dogs selling for peanuts and I found one I thought was worth taking a chance on called Effernogue Magic. He was badly bumped in his trial and so I knew his time wouldn't reflect his true quality. Sure enough we picked him up for nothing at all and now we will have to wait anxiously to see if he will grade on well at Oxford. He's an absolute sweetie and I hope he will do well. Mustn't get too attached to this one though as he has been bought with a view to selling him on again :-( 11th September Double oops...no blogging for a very long time! It has been a really busy summer for us and I just haven't had time to update the site so there is an awful lot to catch up on. I'm sure now the nights are drawing in I will be able to spend a lot more time glued to the laptop. Since I last blogged we have had a bit of a swap round with the dogs. Wren and Roman have both been sold as the Oxford track just wasn't suiting either of them and they were stuck in a low grade. Wren has gone to Perry Bar and has done really well grading on at A2 there. Roman has gone to a nice guy at Henlow and is also doing well. Foggy has now started running over the longer trip at Oxford and suits 6 bends much better than 4. He hasn't had much luck so far though and annoyingly he has recently been run back over 4 bends which is a waste of time. We are hoping to give him a trial at Coventry soon which is a big galloping track and should suit him a lot better, I will keep you posted. Paks has been off for a while as she came into season again. It looks like she is a 6 monthly bitch which is a bit frustrating as she seems to spend more time laid in her kennel than actually racing! She looks a picture lately though and is maturing into a really lovely girl. Ettie started schooling and showed a great deal of promise but picked up an injury to her toe. Nothing major but it meant she was off for 7 weeks and she has only recently started to handslip at Oxford again. I'm currently trying to get hold of her Irish book so we can trial her officially and get her proper racing career started. She has really grown up a lot over the last couple of months and although she is a smallish greyhound, she is stocky and strong and very very keen! The other news is that with the sale of Wren and Roman we freed up some resources to invest in a new dog. We decided to try to buy a really decent dog this time so we could have a bash at competing at some open races this year. Through a contact of our trainer Mick we found Scala Honcho. He is a lovely big black dog with some good form and hopefully he will do well for us. He had his first trial round Oxford track this morning and did a 27.33 which is faster than any of our other dogs have ever done so it bodes well for the future (fingers crossed!). I haven't had a chance to take any decent photos of him yet but I will try to get some at the weekend. In the meantime here's one from my mobile on the day he arrived.
13th April Oops...no blogging for a while! It has been rather quiet over the last few weeks. Paks and Wren have been in season and so having a holiday from the rigours of training and racing. Foggy injured himself during his first 6 bend trial and has had to have lots of treatment to his hip, wrist and one of his hind legs. He trialled back over the last two weeks and has his first race back next Tuesday 15th April. I'm keeping everything crossed for him as he's graded back on in an A4 race. His trials have produced his best ever sectionals and fastest ever times over the 450m distance so it's going to be really exciting to see how he gets on now all his niggling injuries have gone. Roman has been the only one doing any racing over the last few weeks. He has been running very well but hasn't had the elusive first win yet. Last Wednesday he knocked off a dew claw whilst running and when our vet checked him over it turned out he had some sore areas in one of his hind legs which will require some ultrasound treatment. We have no way of knowing exactly when he did the damage so it will be interesting to see how he gets on when he next runs following his treament. I have high hopes for him. Paks and Wren are due to have their first trials back following their seasons tomorrow, so fingers crossed that they haven't forgotten what to do ;-) Ettie is doing well over in Ireland and is due to start schooling soon. I am letting her stay with Martin Tucker for schooling as I know he will do a great job and it's less disruption to her if she doesn't have to move kennels. I'm so excited to see how she takes to racing after watching her grow all these months. 09th January What an amazing two days. Wren and Roman had their first 4 bend trial this morning and both clocked respectable times which suggest they will both grade on ok at Oxford. This was pleasing enough news, but then Foggy had his race this afternoon and stormed home the winner in his fastest time to date clocking 27.59! I even managed to back him at 6-1 which made it a very happy and lucrative day. 08th January What a night! Paks ran an absolutely cracking race and stormed home a 4-1 winner! She ran really well and I couldn't be happier with her for getting her first win. She ran her fastest time to date clocking 27.57 and the track was running 10 spots slow, making her actual time 27.47. 07th January Happy New Year! I finally found some time today to update the website. I've been quite ill over the xmas period and just when I was getting better I've gone down with the dreaded flu virus. I've been laid up for over a week now! So what have I got to update everyone on? It's been a frustrating few weeks on the racing front. Foggy should have had another 2 races but one was cancelled due to it being too foggy!(I did see the funny side!). His last run was 2nd Jan and was really disappointing. Coming off the last bend he had his head hit sideways by another dog diving to the outside and bumping his head out of the way. We've since had him checked by Tom (the vet fella with the heat spot machine) and he found Foggy's neck was really sore, his back was out and he has problems in his shoulder and hip. He manipulated the neck and back into shape and the other areas are now being massaged and ultra-sounded so he should be right as rein very soon. Fingers crossed for his next race on Wednesday. He has been downgraded to A5 so he should have a really good chance assuming all his aches and pains have been eased. Unique Package has had two runs since I last blogged. She finished 3rd on the 18th December despite being very badly crowded at the 1st bend. In her last race she was crowded on the run up and only managed to finish 4th however she knocked 50 spots off her previous race time which I'm pleased with on poor track conditions. She runs on Tuesday and has also been downgraded to A5 so she stands a really good chance if she can avoid getting bumped. We have had a nice festive period in spite of me being ill and have tried to walk the dogs as often as possible. We are enjoying getting to know the two new Brett Lee pups (Wren and Roman), both of whom had a sprint trial at the schooling track on the 30th. They both chased well and look promising. They will have their first proper trial at Oxford a week today all being well. I have added a new page for each of the new pups and will try to add more pictures soon. The new pack (left to right, Wren, Roman, Foggy and Paks looking the other way!)
16th December I got up early this morning as I had been invited by a friend from the forum to go and meet her beautiful 9 week old puppies. The pups are by Droopys Kewell x Kwa Zulu Shadow and they are absolutely stunning! They are little bundles of energy and were dashing about having a whale of a time pulling at our trouser legs, chewing our hair and undoing our shoelaces! They are especially fon of little cubes of cheese ;-) I would love to have one but as we now have five greyhounds I just can't stretch to another one. Mind you it's very difficult to leave such little cuties behind ;-)
15th December Foggy had his second A4 race tonight. For once I was in the restaurant instead of the owners/trainers bar for James's xmas work do. A fun night was had by all however I have to say the food was quite poor and very disappointing considering what it cost. Foggy ran ok but was outclassed and bumped quite badly twice. He came 4th but I'm not too disappointed as the race was won in a time of 27.07! I think Foggy did fine in the circumstances and I'm looking forward to his next run. I also found out tonight that Unique Package is due to have her first race next Tuesday at 7.35pm in an A4. She is up against a dog called Yahoo Sarah who Foggy has run against a couple of times so it will be interesting to see what happens. I can't wait! 13th December I found out today that Foggy's next race will be this Saturday night, which is great as we are booked in at the Grandstand restaurant for James's work xmas party. It will be great to have Foggy racing that night as well. 9th December We had to get up early this morning and were driving out of Galway by 7.30am. We headed north towards Knock traveling through some awful weather. We went first a little way past Knock to visit a breeder called Lesley Finch based at Doocastle. Martin had told us about two April 06 Brett Lee pups she had available for sale. Lesley seemed like a really nice lady and she had horses as well as dogs which was a bonus for me! The two pups were adorable, one dog and one bitch and they will be arriving with us next Thursday! After leaving Lesley's we headed back to the airport and had just got through security when they announced that our flight had been cancelled. As that was the only Ryanair flight of the day, I knew things could get messy! In the end we had to hire a car, drive to Dublin, pay for a new Aer Lingus flight, and set off finally from Dublin. About 30 mins into the flight our plane developed a technical fault and was diverted....straight back to Dublin! We then had to swap planes and set back off again after a big delay. We eventually landed safely at Heathrow but then had to get a National Express coach back to Luton so we could get back to the car. We eventually got home at about 11pm! What a lot of palava for what was supposed to be a quick and easy visit to see Ettie! It turned out to be a very expensive trip indeed following all the travel costs and the purchase of two more dogs ;-) 8th December We set off early today for Luton Airport to get a flight to Knock in Ireland to visit Ettie again. She is now with Martin Tucker at Roscommon and we got there around lunchtime. The weather was absolutely horrible with high winds and lashing with rain. All of the puppies had been playing in the mud and rain and looked suitably bedraggled! I've never seen so many puppies in one place before. Mount Cashel kennels is an extremely impressive set-up with facilities second to none. There were some really amazingly bred pups there and we even got the chance to meet Ningbo Jack who is Ettie's dad. Ettie was fine. Her damaged leg is healing nicely and she has settled in very well with her new friends. Martin said she does seem a little bit nervous, but as soon as she saw me she came over to the gate and was pushing against the fence to get more fuss. I swear she remembered me from before as Martin seemed to think she was behaving out of character. I just recognised her as her usual self ;-) It would be nice to think that she did remember me, John Moyles her breeder pointed out that she hasn't met very many people in her short life so far so I guess it could be possible. Anyway it was fantastic to see her again and reassuring that her leg is healing so well. I can't wait to have her over here in the UK so I can see her every week. After leaving Martin's we drove South West to Galway, checked in at the B&B and then headed across the road to the dog track. I was really impressed with the stadium and it was semi-finals night for the Golden Jacket contest so there was some quality racing to see. Foggy was running at Oxford in the 8.05pm race so I had to phone one of my friends at the track to get the live commentary (thanks Kev!). Foggy got bumped but ran well and came a respectable 3rd in his first A4 race. 7th December Today I took a day's annual leave and went to work at the kennels as a spare kennel hand. I now have a new respect for the hard work the team do every day. It was the hardest I've had to work since my days working with horses. It was also incredibly enjoyable and I enjoyed every minute of it, even the sweeping up! :-) I got the chance to see the routine that Foggy experiences every day, to see how they prepare the dogs that are racing that day and I was lucky enough to see Tom (the guy with the 'hotspot machine') in action. He is able to take a series of thermal images of any injured dogs which shows up any hotspots in the dogs body. This enables more accurate diagnosis of injuries and ensures that all trouble spots get treatment. I can't explain it any better than that but it was absolutely fascinating. I have to say I went home reeking of dog and all my clothes including my trainers had to go straight through the washing machine! Thanks to the team at the kennels for letting me get under their feet ;-) Now I know just how hard they work and what a great job they do. Foggy and Paks couldn't be in better hands. 28th November I couldn't sleep last night and have spent all day today just feeling like I'm floating on air and I still can't stop smiling! 27th November Foggy had his first ever race win tonight. He ran his fastest ever time of 27.60 and also did his fastest ever sectional time of 3.90. He trapped better than ever before (although still not as quick as most of the other dogs!) and he was a few lengths off the pace until the 3rd/4th bends where he picked up the pace and sneaked through up the inside to win the race. I screamed the place down! There really is no feeling like your first race win, people have been telling me that ever since I got involved with the dogs and now I finally know what they mean! What an amazing run and he won it the hard way. Prize money for 1st place was £47, but that was supplemented of course as we all had a bet on him! Well done and thank you Foggy! 26th November Unique Package had her first trial at Oxford today. I managed to whizz over to Oxford at lunchtime and watch and I'm really glad I made the effort. She ran an excellent trial. She trapped ok but the two other dogs in the trial trapped better, however she caught them at the first bend and hugged the rail brilliantly taking the lead and storming home the clear winner in a time of 27.95. I'm chuffed to bits with her. A great first effort and I can't wait for the next trial. 24th November It was a very cold and frosty morning for walking the dogs today but Foggy and UP (Unique Package) didn't seem to mind and were happy to go out for a leg stretch. I've added some new photos from the walk to UP's page and the gallery. UP seemed to have come out of her shell quite a bit since last week and although still nervous she was a lot friendlier than previously. There was one slight issue when I went skidding across a patch of ice with arms and legs flailing when the poor little girl looked absolutely terrified but she soon calmed down once I'd leaped onto the grass and avoided disaster! Foggy was full of beans and I'm hoping he can put some of that energy to good use in his run next Tuesday. UP has her first trial scheduled for Monday. I spent the evening at Swindon dog track for another Greyhoundscene Forum Night. This one was a lot busier than the one at Coventry and I met some new people from the forum which was really nice. I can't wait for either Foggy or UP to be ready to compete at one of these nights. 20th November I spoke to Martin Tucker today to see how Ettie was settling in. Martin says she has settled down really well and has made friends with the Brett Lee pups she is in with. All is going well so far but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and just hoping that everything works out and Ettie is happy there. I've arranged to go and visit her on the 8th/9th December, so it's back to Ireland again for me! It's a hard life eh?! To be fair the flights were a bargain 1p each way courtesy of Ryanair (flying from Luton to Knock). Even with the taxes added on it only works out to £20 return. We are planning to spend the Saturday night at Galway Stadium and we've timed it well as that night is the semi-finals of the Golden Jacket competition so we should see some class racing. 18th November Unique Package arrived this morning and John and Luke had to get up and meet the courier at 5.30 in the morning! I did offer to go myself but was extremely relieved when Mick said I didn't have to! I did get up early though and was at the kennels for 8.30am so I could squeeze in a visit to see my new purchase before heading into London with the rellies! She seemed very nervous but was friendly and will soon get used to her new home. I took her out for a walk with Foggy and she cheered up quite a bit. She is in urgent need of some fattening up as she is way too thin, and she also has a bad case of dandruff and needs a bath to tidy herself up. I can't wait to see how she trials at Oxford. She will hopefully have her first trial next Monday. Also today John Moyles drove Ettie to her new home with Martin Tucker at Roscommon. Apparently she travelled really well and we will just have to hope that she likes her new home and isn't too upset by the move. 17th November We had my mum, stepdad and sister visiting this weekend so we ended up taking out 5 dogs out for a walk this morning! 16th November John emailed to say Ettie is doing better today. On the mend and back to her cheerful self thanks goodness! It's not been all bad for her, she was given her tablets wrapped in Philadelphia cheese which she loved! We've decided to send her off to stay with Martin Tucker at Mount Cashel Kennels in Roscommon (Ireland). John is going to drop her off there on Sunday. Fingers crossed she settles in and gets on with the pups she is going in with. Martin has a fantastic reputation as a breeder and rearer so she will be in safe hands and what a fantastic excuse for another trip to Ireland! 15th November Foggy had his 3rd race tonight. He was very slow out of the traps and was last at the second bend. At the 3rd bend however he shifted up a gear and stormed through the field to finish second. He looked like a class dog when he turned on the pace and yet again he was the first dog to the pick-up! I'm thrilled to bits with him. He finished in his fastest race time to date but still quite a bit short of his fastest trial time. It looks like he could be quite a good dog if we put him over a longer distance race in the future but he needs to finish developing first. Had an email from John Moyles this morning to tell me that Ettie has been bitten again by one of her sisters. The injury is worse this time and will need antibiotics. It seems that the litter just keep falling out with each other. We are going to have to consider another option for rearing Ettie as if she keeps getting damaged it could spoil her racing career before it starts. John has been really helpful in coming up with some options and the most likely outcome is that we will send her to a friend of Johns who has a slightly younger litter which would be less likely to bully her. 11th November Tonight I went to the Greyhoundscene Forum Race night at Coventry stadium. It was a fantastic night out and I got to meet some of the people I chat to on the forum. Our kennels only had one dog entered for the races and Moses (aka Moss Hill) absolutely stormed home to win and made it look like the easiest thing in the world. He's a really classy dog and will do really well in the future. I had jointly sponsored one of the races with Sedgers (Moss Hill's owner) from the forum and so had the pleasure of presenting the trophy to the winner of our race. It was won by a gorgeous dog called Droops Kan Kan. It was a really fun night and I can't wait for the next one. Hopefully next time either Foggy or Unique Package will be ready to enter. 10th November I was back in Ireland today to visit the Clonmel greyhound sales. It was a fantastic day out and yes I did buy a new greyhound! We now have three! The latest addition is a beautiful black and white bitch called Unique Package. She is a Feb 06 pup by Top Honcho x Cunning Lassie. She has only 2 races on her card and trialled at Clonmel today in a time of 29.65 over the 480m trip. This time suggests she should grade on at Oxford comfortably. She's an absolute sweetie but a little shy and looked like she'd just been dragged out of the field for the day. She has a really bed case of dandruff and looked a bit dirty but she should scrub up well once she gets here. She will spend a couple of days at Pat the courier's kennels and will be shipped over on the ferry next Wednesday arriving sometime in the morning. It was a great day out and I also got to meet Gill, the lady that reared Foggy whilst I was there and we chatted for ages about how lovely he is! I learned loads and will definately come back another time. 04th November Foggy ran in his second race today (watched by us in a bookies in Dublin!). He was slow away and got bumped but ran on ok to finish fifth. I thought he ran quite badly but what they didn't show in the bookies is that he kept on overtaking others after the finish line and made it to the pick up ahead of the rest. This should bode well for future races if he can just keep himself out of trouble! He might even get a longer trip than the usual 450m as he develops. We will just have to wait and see what happens in his next run. I am going back to Ireland this Saturday to see if I can bag a bargain at the Clonmel sales. It will be interesting to see if the prices are a lot cheaper than the sales at Hall Green. Fingers crossed we can find a suitable dog. 03rd November Today we arrived in Ireland to meet the new puppy. She is amazing and I am really pleased with my purchase. Her breeder John has been doing a fantastic job of rearing her and she and her littermates have fantastic paddocks to run around in and all the attention and care any puppy could need. All of the dogs were happy, healthy and friendly and I was really impressed with John's set up. We spent ages playing with her and a big thank you goes to John for being so generous with his time today. We spent the evening at Thurles dog track which was a really fun night made even more amusing when one guy couldn't catch his dog at the end of the race and racing was held up whilst the dog ran around staying just out of arms reach! 23rd October Foggy trialled tonight just before the regular racing started. He got bumped quite badly but recovered well and stormed home to win by 7 1/4 lengths. He didn't do a particularly quick time but should still be good enough to go back in at A5. Hopefully he will get a race in the next 7 to 10 days. I'm planning a trip to the Hall Green sales this weekend so you never know we might just get Foggy a new kennel mate! 20th October Missed Foggy this weekend as I had a trip back up to Hull to visit my family. I managed to persuade one of my friends from the forum to take him out for a walk on my behalf though, so he did still get some special attention. 13th October Went to visit Foggy today and see how the patient is doing. I only took him out for 15 minutes today as he is a bit weak after his illness the last couple of days. He seemed really well in himself in spite of the illness and was pulling on the lead trying to make me walk as fast as I usually do, so much for him taking it easy! Unfortunately because he was pulled out of a race last minute he will have to run another trial before he is allowed to race again. Hopefully he will trial a week on Monday and will then be available to race again. This dog game certainly requires some patience and that is not one of my best qualities ;-) 12th October Foggy is doing much better today and has perked up a bit. He's been given some tablets to help him get better and they seem to be working. 11th October Well Foggy should've been running tonight but Mick called at lunchtime to say he's ill. He has a very bad case of then runs and can't race tonight. I hope it's not too serious. 09th October Just checked the race card for this Thursday and Foggy is on it! He runs in the 19:50 which is the second race of the night. I can't wait! 06th October Took Foggy out for his weekly walk today. He was not amused when we met a black labrador on the village green. The lab was off the lead running round in big circles taunting him. Foggy was desperate to get off the lead and go and play with him but he was really good and didn't try to pull me over or anything. I really wish he could play about like a normal dog sometimes. I felt so mean for not letting him have some fun. 03rd October Just checked the race card for Oxford at the weekend. Foggy isn't listed so I will have to be patient and wait until next week for his next run :-( I also realised today that I had the wrong photo up of the new pup. One of the photos was her, the other one her sister! Oops...thanks to John for spotting my mistake. They do look very similar. I've taken down the one that isn't her. I'm going to visit her in person on 3rd November and will post some fresh pictures after that. 27th September Tonight was Foggy's first race. I was a nervous wreck just before the race and shaking like a leaf! It was such a special feeling seeing him parade on the track. I was really excited and felt like a proud Mum on sports day. Foggy looked the part and seemed unfazed by the lights and the crowd. He trapped better than usual but unfortunately that put him right behind some trouble and he was forced to check, he kept on running well but hadn't got a hope of catching the others. He wasn't a total disgrace though, coming in 5th. Hopefully he will learn from the experience and improve next time. I will never forget the feeling I got watching him running up the home straight looking every inch the athlete (my 'little' puppy!). What an amazing buzz! We got to say hello to him as he came off the track. He was panting like mad and he had loads of sand in his eyes bless him. It was just such a relief that he was all in one piece and still happy. I can't wait for his next race which will probably be next Thursday or Saturday. He looked so smart in his little rain jacket ;-) 25th September Mick called earlier to confirm that Foggy is due to have his first race this Thursday! He will run in the 21:05 race out of trap 4. He has been graded at A5!!! I FEEL SICK!!!!!!! This is just far too exciting, then scary, exciting, then scary! Dog racing is not good for your health ;-) I had a look on 24dogs.com and sure enough Foggy's name is there in black and white on the race card for Thursday. I can't believe it's really happening! 23rd September I've bought another pup today! This dog thing is getting serious ;-) That's what you get for browsing the greyhound database classified section and falling in love with little bundles of cuteness! She is a 5 month old brindle bitch pup by Ningbo Jack out of a bitch called Bantiss Princess. She's absolutely gorgeous. It has to be said that both Mick and James think I've lost the plot completely buying such a young pup, but I just couldn't help myself. She will stay with her breeder in Ireland to be reared with her brothers and sisters until she is old enough to start racing, then she will come over to Mick. At the very least it's a fantastic excuse to pop over to Ireland for a weekend break! And you never know she could be really good! Errr....not sure about the name of my website now....the blueandbrindledogs.co.uk is a bit of a mouthful ;-) 22nd September We had a fun night at Oxford tonight with my sister and my friend Jon who were staying for the weekend. The atmosphere was great and it can only be better when it's Foggy out there running. I'm getting more excited (and at the same time more nervous) the closer it gets to Foggy's first proper race. On the betting side of things I had three wins but rather more losses. I'd best not give up the day job just yet ;-) 17th September Foggy's 3rd trial today. I got seriously worried before today's race having read the last chapter of Laura Thompson's book 'The Dogs' in which she recalls the death of a pup whilst trialling at Oxford when it crashed into the wall and broke it's neck! Obviously I convinced myself this might happen to Foggy and was even more stressed than normal :-( I missed two calls from the trainer thanks to being in a meeting at work and when I eventually got hold of him and asked how Foggy went he said "terrible...absolutely terrible..." at this point I felt VERY sick....then he finished the statement with "...he ran far too fast!!). Turns out the pup missed the break again, caught up, overtook on the last straight and accelerated away to win by 9 and 3/4 lengths. Unbelievable. He did a great time which I've forgotten as I wrote it down at work and have been in a daze ever since and forgot to bring it with me but I know it was 27 something which is his fastest time yet! He is now finished trialling and ready to race for real. He will have his first run hopefully sometime next week. 15th September Went for the weekly visit to see Foggy today. No James with me as he had semi-finals tennis match to play. It was gorgeous weather and I decided to take him off down what looked like a lovely broad gravel track footpath. Things were going great until I realised that halfway up the track our way was blocked by a cattle grid, with no way round. Foggy just stood there looking at me so I thought oh well there's only one option and picked him up and carried him over. He didn't seem to mind being picked up at all and it meant we could continue our walk without any further problems (unless you count having to carry him back over the cattle grid on the way home!). He was really settled today and seemed so much more confident and trusting. The kennels are obviously looking after him extremely well and he improves condition every time we see him. Still no new pics I'm afraid as I forgot to take the camera! 10th September Foggy's second trial at Oxford. This time it was a trial with other dogs. He missed his break (didn't "trap") caught up at first bend, then he got bumped and ran last most of the way. On the last straight he pulled to the outside went round the outside of the other dogs and got up to win by 2 1/2 lengths. His time was 28.09. I'm really chuffed with this run. It shows he has some common sense and is a fighter. I'm booking an executive box for next year's Derby! I feel like a proud parent ;-). Next trial is scheduled for next Monday and if he gets through that he can race for real. 9th September Went to see Foggy and took him and another one called Tina for a long walk. Discovered that walking across fields with sheep in may not be the best idea! Tina was straining at the leash to chase them and Foggy soon cottoned on to the idea. We retraced our steps and stuck to the road after that. No more photos I'm afraid as my camera is broken and I need to buy a new one. 3rd September Foggy's first trial at Oxford. He ran really well in a time of 28.03 over the 450m distance. Michael was over the moon with him. I'm just relieved he didn't run out of the trap backwards or just not run at all! Next trial is scheduled for next Monday. 2nd September Second visit to see Foggy today. He's still gorgeous! He was so much more relaxed and happy today so he seems to have settled in nicely. Michael said he is eating a lot better now and isn't so anxious. We took him out for a walk today. He was strong at first but soon settled down to the usual dog stuff, sniff, pee, walk and repeat! He was really friendly and seemed to love being out and about in the fresh air. I tried running around a bit on the green but he overtakes me in one bound and I can't run fast enough to keep up! I think we need a longer lead or I need to get down the gym more to the point ;-) We gave him a good brush when we got back which he really liked. I can't believe how much happier he seems than last time. I'm really looking forward to next week's visit. He is having his first trial at Oxford tomorrow. Fingers crossed he does well.....but he'll make a great pet even if he's rubbish on the track! 25th August - 1st September On holiday in Austria. No dog visits for a whole week :-( 22nd August Broadacres Blue finally arrived today. I went to see him at lunchtime. He's gorgeous! I'm so pleased. He was a little bit shy at first but very friendly and munched a couple of biscuits once he'd worked out what they were ;-) I signed all the paperwork to transfer him officially from Ireland to England and register him in my name. I also found out that his kennel name is "Foggy". Apparently you can change the name if you want but I think it suits him and he did seem to answer to it. He is now going to be given a week or so to settle in before he has his first trial at Oxford. I can't wait to come back and spend more time with him. I'm going off on holiday on Friday for a week so it will have to wait until I get back. I took a few photos which have been added to the Gallery page. I will take more next time I visit but I didn't want to mess him about too much after his long journey. He is sharing a kennel with a new friend called Holly so at least his has some company while he gets used to his new home. 21st August Just called our trainer Michael Peterson. He confirmed that Broadacres Blue is all set to be dropped off by the courier tomorrow. I've arranged to go and meet him for the first time at lunchtime tomorrow (and pay for him more to the point!). I hope he has a safe trip over from Ireland. I'm ridiculously excited about his arrival. I even popped to Pets at Home in Aylesbury to buy some dog biscuits (although Michael did warn me that he might not fancy a biscuit after the whole moving kennels experience!). Now I just have to persuade work to grant me an extended lunch break so I can make it over to see him tomorrow. |
