TALLY HO!

By Colleen Summerfield

These are the words to hear before releasing your hound if you partake in the sport of lure coursing.  What is coursing?  It is nothing more than a simulated hunt on an open field, but instead of live game the hounds chase a plastic bag that is attached to a continuous loop of line pulled around a predetermined path.  The plastic bag becomes the “bunny”.

It is a sport that is not limited to just greyhounds.  All sight hounds can participate.  If you have never seen a greyhound in full-on all-out run like at the races, it is well worth seeing, believe me!  Everyone stops to watch the greyhounds run.  Before competing with one of my dogs, Mikey, I first got my vets OK before ever taking him to see a course.  It is a very physical sport so THIS IS IMPORTANT.

Sometimes the club running the event will, after the competition is over, have “fun runs” over the course.  This is a good way to see if your hound has an interest.  All dogs in competition run with no collars, just a color blanket for judging.  It was very scary at first to run Mikey.  There was a chance he would go off after a squirrel not the lure.  You know greyhounds-some are not the best on coming when called.  You, as the handler learn how to release and catch your hound.  I can tell you from past experience this can make or break your hound’s performance.  The fun for me is watching Mikey run.  Besides being beautiful to watch he just loves doing it.  Yes, “Mikey likes it”!   

 Every July in Lompoc , in conjunction with a local dog show there is a coursing event.  The competition was tough - lots of greyhounds, but Mikey did very well with a third place.

Donna Arcaro also runs rescued racer Mr. G.  This year he placed 4th.  Last year he placed 2nd - pretty darn amazing for a 9 year old!

So if your hound is in good shape, come on out and watch them run, for fun.

LIFE’S LESSONS

By Kitty Miller

When our beloved Colby adopted our family in March 2002, he knew very little about being a housedog.  He fell for us immediately, spending his first few minutes with us (after checking out our home room by room) leaning his entire body against our legs and successfully blocking Joey’s, our Chihuahua, access to us.  Joey found great joy in barking his head off at Colby when they first met.  Colby very thoughtfully sniffed Joey’s entire body, stem to stern.  He also tried to make friendly contact with each of our six cats, as many as would allow this big dog to place a wet, cold nose on their delicate, perfectly groomed bodies.

Then Colby left with his Foster Parents, for this was just a getting to know you visit.  We had to wait to be approved for him to adopt us.  All I knew is that I wanted “my” dog back.  Well, we were approved and were so happy to find Colby waiting at the door of his Foster Parents’ home when we arrived for him.  Somehow he knew we were destined to be together.

Joey spent the first few days after Colby’s arrival barking wildly at this huge intruder.  Each bark indicated that Colby was up, moving around, lying down, checking his food dish, the water dish, you name it.  Joey was just being a typical “little brother” tattling on his “big brother”.  

What all of us didn’t realize is that Colby was watching Joey’s every move.  Colby used to lift his leg when, ahem, relieving himself in the yard, but he noticed that Joey squatted.  Well, that’s all Colby needed; now he squats, too!

The fine art of begging was certainly an intriguing lesson.  Joey got those soulful Chihuahua eyes going for dog treats (NEVER human food!) and Colby caught on quickly, even noting where the treats are kept so the aforementioned soulful eyes could be directed to the cabinet, lest we forget where they were or our real purpose for being in the kitchen. 

Next was the tennis ball.  The Holy Grail of all toys in this house, Joey wasted no time in demonstrating his skill at catching one of those in his mouth and playing an artful game of keep away.  That’s when we all noticed Colby’s skill for sprinting around the back yard.  That first day as a member of our family when he ran like a maniac around the back yard was truly memorable.  Joey dove into the bushes to avoid the rapidly pounding paws of thunder.  I simply remained on the patio and tried to stay out of his way as Colby performed his laps with front legs waving madly in the air.  That dog was having some real fun!  He had a tennis ball in his mouth, spitting it out and catching it on the bounce and then suddenly, he stopped.  He had to lie down and rest, a difficult concept for Joey to understand in those early days.

Now as the years have gone by, Colby and Joey are completely inseparable.  They have a deep love and loyalty to one another that is truly heartwarming.  They eat together, sleep together and play together.  Joey licks Colby’s face several times a day and Colby rests his big head on his little brother’s body when they rest.  They nuzzle and cuddle all the time.  Where one is, you will find the other.  Yes, everything Colby learned about being a dog, he learned from his Chihuahua brother, Joey.  It is a real love story and I’m so happy we get to be a part of it.  It is one of the true, great joys of our life. 

I am always telling people that I cannot imagine life without a Greyhound and a Chihuahua because they both taught us that size doesn’t matter, but love truly does.

MY AMPUTATION II

By Shadows Nighthawk (AKA: Marie Monroe)

I enjoyed hearing my two legged companions (often referred to as mom and dad) read Haley Jones’ letter in the July issue of Needle Nose Notes.  It was good to hear from a fellow amputate, for I too lost a leg almost two years ago. I broke my left hind leg rushing down the stairs.  My family rushed me to an Emergency Clinic (it was sad to see them crying on the way to the clinic, but dad’s lap was very comforting to me), where some tough decisions were made. (The amputation versus being put to sleep was a no brainer for me.)

After learning I had cancer, my leg was removed.  While waiting to go home, I worried about how I would negotiate the stairs, but mom and dad carried me up and down until I was strong enough to make it by myself.  I also wondered how my three other companions would accept me.  

All was well, Chico still loved me and continued to groom me, Prince even became a gentleman for awhile and let me make it all the way up or down the stairs before barging up or down, and Little One continued to harass me (so I knew she still loved me). 

The initial adjustment was a little work, especially learning how to go potty on three legs.  I also had trouble shaking at first (I think I caught mom and dad laughing a few times; they tried to hide it from me).

The biggest decision to be made was about my next level of care, chemo or no chemo. With the help of Linda Brown, Hemopet and NNC, no chemo won out (thank goodness, I didn’t want to go through that process).  

When we went for walks, people, especially kids, would ask what happened to my leg.  I was very patient while mom and dad explained what happened, and proud when they explained how well I had adjusted.

The 21 months since the amputation have been quite interesting.  There have been a lot of things that I would have missed.  I loved getting all that extra lunch meat, even though there were pills wrapped in it (thanks Linda Brown for the suggestion of all the herbal meds). 

I’ve had some great adventures, have seen and done things that would not have been possible if I had crossed the Rainbow Bridge after the accident.  I made a two thousand mile trip to Tennessee, saw some great sights (Arizona and New Mexico were a little sparse, just not enough trees for a big dog like me) and stayed in motels (keeping quiet so the managers wouldn’t know there were six of us wasn’t easy).  We ate baby food and snacks on the trip.  Somewhere at a Texas rest stop dad lost our water dishes.  After arriving in Tennessee we met new family members (two- and four-legged) and enjoyed a new home.

The new home has a nice big yard (anything is big compared to the backyard at the Irvine Townhouse) to run with Prince and Bull.  I can still out run Prince, but Bull is another story.  Swimming in the pond was fun, especially seeing how scared mom looked when she saw me in it.  Playing with the goats was also fun, but after Chico rolled in goat poop we didn’t get to go play with them much.  We got to bark at the cats and the cows, although mom and dad yelled at us for doing that.

I really wanted to write this to encourage your decision-making readers to consider amputation over “sleep”.  I’ve enjoyed these “extra” months with my family and hardly knew anything was different (except when I needed to scratch my left ear).

(After dictating this, Marie succumbed to the cancer that had spread to her other hind leg and hip.  She has crossed the Rainbow Bridge and is being harassed by Little One again.  Shadows Nighthawk: 12/14/93 to 8/3/04 .)

	Judith Douglas for her loss of Princess
	Bob & Mary Mallory for their early loss of Shadow
	Sheila Finch for her loss of the wonderful Rosie
	Rich & Darlene Monroe for their loss of the determined Marie
	Larry & Linda Brown for their loss of "The Hanky Man" Drive
	Jay, Mary & Kelly Nelson for their loss of the marvelous Charity
	Kathy & Maggie Pena for their loss of Mr. Murphy
	Jess & Karen Morehouse for their loss of Riley
	Brian & Cheri Schonfeld for their loss of Ziggy
	Joy Moss for her too early loss of A.J.