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Written by Eddie Kominek
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Tuesday, 11 December 2007 |
We got both PISS presents on the same day: Friday. I've just been lazy about getting this old camera (can't find the charger from the new one, it's probably hanging on a hotel room wall somewhere in the SouthEast) hooked up to this notebook. Anyway, I got the pics uploaded today, so I thought I'd share.
First up, Aericina pulled me and therefore, Joey for a very, merry PISSmas. (un)fortunately, all toys are shared in this house, so Reza will stick her witchy little head in all the shots.
Aw, cute card.
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Yay, a football! Joey approves according to his bent snootzle while trying to bite it.
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Nom.
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Froggy!
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... and some pig ears! They haven't gotten those yet, but will soon.
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Next up, Callisto drew Selma and Reza for her PISSees. Let see what the spoiled brat got:
Oh look, a snow man that has a jingle bell collar. They were going nuts over this all day while I was waiting on selma to get home to open the presents. They'd hear the bells in the box and would go bonkers.
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Funny thing: we bought the same snowman when Reza won her first point. That snowman has long since past, his stuffing and honker thoroughly extracted, so this was a welcome replacement.
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Antici....
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But wait, this time the snowman came with a daddy-approved, puppy-torture device.
Call the police
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Joey helped unwrap another nerf football. This is cool because the other one instantly had about 5 tooth punctures in it. The more footballs the better.
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Also, a fleece tuggy:
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The mother-in-law's dog, Didi, likes that one.
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After removing the jingle collar, Reza came back out of her happy place and resumed playing with all the new toys:
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Thank you, Aericina and Callisto, for the wonderful presents and I'm happy to say that all the toys are still surviving including the snowman which I had money on going down that night.
Merry PISSmas to everyone from the D'Vangels. |
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Written by Eddie Kominek
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Tuesday, 27 November 2007 |
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because as bad as she's cheating the field now, she's cheating like a FIELD CHAMPION!
BIE Mahar's Reza of Mihdian FCh, SC
Part 18 in the coursing series - Reza completes her ASFA Field Championship!
Reza's Current standing: - ASFA Lure Coursing
- FCh - 103/(100) points, 2/(2) First Places, 0/(2) Second Places - Done!
- LCM - 18/(300) points, 0/(4) First Places
- AKC Lure Coursing
- JC - 2/(2) Completions, Done!
- SC - 4/(4) Completions, beyond JC, Done!
- MC - 4/(25) Completions, beyond SC
- FC - 10/(15) Points {2/(2) majors}
- AKC Conformation
- CH - 8/(15) Points {0/(2) majors}
This post will cover several trials with multiple pictures because I lumped a bunch of pics together in one purchase.
Bluegrass Coursing Club - BGCC - Chattanooga, TN
September 14th, 15th & 16th
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Metropolitan Atlanta Whippet Association - MAWA
Tara Afghan Hound Club - TAHC - Cartersville, GA
October 13th & 14th
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Bluegrass Coursing Club - BGCC - Columbia, KY
November 16th, 17th & 18th
This was the trial that finished Reza.
Ever since Reza had a couple bad experiences on the field, we've been trying to run her with clean running dogs to show her there's nothing to be afraid of. At the moment, whenever a dog starts coming up from behind her, she'll slow down, watch the dog, and let them pass her so she can watch them for attacks. Obviously, this isn't going to win her any points on the field, but she needs to beat other dogs in order to place and get her championships.
Lexy and I split a room in Kentucky for the three day weekend of ASFA trials. I really wanted to hit this trial because all Reza needed pretty much were placements in order to complete her championship. Jim Anthony was going to be there with two open dogs that are puppies and two FCh dogs, Hocus and Santi, the top two coursing afghans in the country. If Reza could place above at least one of the puppies each day, she would have her championship.
The first day, Reza is running much better than she had been in Cartersville a month ago, having come out of her post-heat, hormone slump. She's picked up cheating the lure alot, so she ends up placing 3rd in her stake against the two puppies. "Cheating" is when a dog has run enough to know that the lure isn't probably going to run into that fence, so cutting the corner will give a better chance to catch it. Most dogs after they've coursed a while figure out this game, and if they're lucky by that point, will have officially gained their Field Champion title. Another meaning for FCh is Field Cheater.
Reza also avoids confrontation at the lure when it stops. She'll let the other dogs run in and play with the bunnies, but will trot up and stay back about 10-15 feet which knocks points off her follow and enthusiasm scores. Once the dogs are done though, I encourage her to come up and play with the bunnies and she's starting liking the plastic bunnies and will play and rip them to shreds.
I did have to jump the 4-wheeler to catch one of Jim's puppies on Friday though when he failed to snag one of them at the finish. Thank god there was a pile of horseshit that she stopped to sniff. being smart, I walk up like I'm interested in the horse poo too and not catching the little pain in the ass. "Wow, look at that yummy horse p...." as I jump on the dog. Jim comes up and gets her and we head back down field.
So onto the second day. Jim Anthony has issues catching dogs, the puppies in particular. You pretty much have to pounce on them and snag their blankets to keep them from running off, up field. On Saturday morning, Jim wasn’t as lucky as he should have been, the lure breaks midfield and the two puppy girls started horsing around... literally. They started chasing each other on the field, playing, when they noticed horses across the electric fence. They bolt through the e-fence, unphased, and start harassing the two horses up the field. They're chasing, barking and running circles around the horses for about 15 minutes. The trial is on hold while people are running after the dogs so they don't get kicked or chase the horses through a fence. Meanwhile, Reza and I are sitting in the middle of the field, smoking.
They finally get the puppies back and the judges are not happy. They end up excusing one of the puppies and hitting the other with an 8 point penalty. Good for Reza so far.
Finals roll around and as long as Reza completes her course, she should have the qualifying first in the bag because 8 points is very hard to make up. The girls both complete their runs, but Jim fumbles the furball at the end and the little bitch is headed up field again. I walk Reza out as I see Tom jump the 4-wheeler up field to help Jim corral the puppy. I crate the bean and start heading back to Ridgeys running, Tom off the 4-wheeler and everything back to normal, but I never saw Jim come back. I'm thinking, "There's no way they left him up there, in a partially unfenced field, to get the dog himself and just continue the trial....
Yeah, they did. I'm pissed at that point because the safety of the dogs should be everyone's #1 priority at a trial, that means runaway dogs too. So I hop on the 4-wheeler and haul ass upfield right after the ridgey course lands. I pull down the e-fence, like the day before where I helped him snag one of the girls and find him on the far side of the hill hoofing it after an afghan that is over 100 yards away. I'm running parallel to the afghan, trying to cut her off and slow her down until Jim can come up to her for a snag. We end up catching her, but damn if it didn't take a while and we were afraid there was going to be another delay of course with the OTHER puppy being excused. Thank God that the judged knew that this was all that Reza needed to finish her FCh, so they let the bitch stay in and scored her.
Sunday was pretty unremarkable for me. Reza ran pretty well, had a good time, but placed 3rd under the Top 2 in the country as expected. No big deal, who gives a shit, she finished this weekend.
Sunday was pretty awesome for Lexy and Bridge, who took Breed over Sailer, the winner of the Gillette Stake at the II.
In a professional capacity, I did get to run the lure for many breeds all weekend, including whippets on Sunday. I got several complements on my op'ing, including one of the judges who did the AKC National Lure Coursing Trial. Lexy did tons of Hunt Mistressing, giving me a reprieve from the duties, which was nice in between standing on the ladder, working on the equipment and chasing dogs on the 4track. Also, Friday was a drag lure meaning that we had to restring the course EVERY time it was run... Lexy and I did tons of restringing; I'm so proud of her and how much responsibility she's taken on at the trials.
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I had to buy one good one of Lexy and Bridgey:
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Reza's FCh finishing shot with the two judges:
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Metropolitan Atlanta Whippet Association - MAWA - Calhoun, GA
November 23rd, 24th & 25th
This last weekend, we hit Les Pekarski's new backyard for a trial in Calhoun. Lexy couldn't make it to this one, but Selma did! Selma was taking on new roles of Field Clerking (fucking paperwork, I don't even know how to do that shit) and Hunt Mistressing. It was good having Selma come out because with her MEDSCHOOL schedule, she has to skip most weekends to work or study.
Friday, Reza was up against three of Linda Shipley's bitches. Reza got 4th because of a combination of her fears of other dogs running up on her, Reza's cheating and Linda's bitches being new to the sport and not cheating. Saturday and Sunday, Reza had no competition and took firsts/breeds both days. We ran her in Best in Field on Saturday for experience and rehab running with clean running dogs, but she didn't win.
Joey made it out and had fun out there stalking the lure and goofing around.
Saturday was fucking tragic for other reasons. Basheera, our good friend Carol and Russ' Saluki, ran into the line, got wrapped and was severely injured during the Best in Field run. The line had cut through her Achilles and separated the muscle from the bone higher up on her leg. Selma can tell you all the medical shit, but it was bad, very very bad. They're looking at thousands of dollars in surgery for her and it will be probably a year before she runs again, and that's if she can run again. She'll probably never be shown again because he gait will be uneven.
I wasn't hunt mastering or op'ing at the time and was several yards from the machine. I remember watching Basheera and the whippet come across a long straight, high up on the field. Basheera was low and on the inside, running abreast of the lure, and coming up on a rounded 50 yard about turn. Basheera made a take as the lure came into the turn, hit the line and was caught up in the line. She began howling in pain and trying to run from the line, possibly doing further damage. People were screaming cut the line, and being about 40 yards away, I haul ass in a spring and dove, knife first into the line and was still the first person to cut it, something I was NOT happy about.
I ran over to the golf cart and get out there with Carol and Jan to see the carnage first hand and cut the line off her foot. They cart Basheera back in with Carol in tears and rush off to the vet after a vet on the field took a look at it and stabilized it some. On Sunday, to benefit Basheera's vet bills, MAWA held a 50/50 raffle. They were talking about donations and Selma and I agreed on $100 because they're probably our best dog-people friends. They then announced the raffle, and I was upset all the money wasn't going to them, but still bought $100 in tickets planning to donate it back to the fund. Well, when they drew, we didn't win and I was even more upset that someone was going to take the money.
The Pharaoh lady that won the draw, out of the corner of my ear, I could hear, "I'm going to respectfully decline..." I teared up. After the ribbons, I walked over to Howard, who was organizing the draw, asked for confirmation that she donated it back, and had Les announce what she'd privately done. There was a huge round of applause for her generosity. Selma and I walked over afterward and thanked them personally. She said that pretty much everyone had agreed to donate it back among all of the breeds. I was so busy on the field, I had no idea. And that's what it's all about.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 November 2007 )
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Written by Eddie Kominek
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Monday, 09 July 2007 |
Reza's Current standing:
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BIE Mahar's Reza of Mihdian SC
ASFA
FCh - 85/(100) points, 1/(2) First Places, 0/(2) Second Places
Best in Event - 1
AKC
JC - 2/(2) Completions, Done!
SC - 4/(4) Completions beyond JC, Done!
MC - 0/(25) Completions, beyond SC
FC - 9/(15) Points {2/(2) majors}
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Bluegrass Coursing Club - BGCC - Columbia, KY
July 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th 2007
Website
AKC Premium List
ASFA Premium List
Another coursing weekend, another coursing thread, blah blah blah.
Not too much to report on the actual coursing this weekend, only that it was for five straight days. Reza ran AKC on Wednesday, but skipped the Thursday trial because there was no competition. In the AKC, that means no points. I'm playing phone tag with the AKC people, trying to figure out if she gets a SC point out of Wed. Usually, you have to qualify against competition, but since she took breed and ran in Best in Field (but didn't win), I'm hoping that it will count for her competition portion. {EDIT} And it does! updated the top.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were ASFA with the Friday course being a "Drag" instead of a "Closed Loop." What this invariably means is that every time you run the lure, it winds up on a spool instead of just looped on the "pie plates" and you have to rethread the pulleys by dragging all 800 yards of line out again. What normally would have taken us running from 7AM until about 1 PM took us 7AM until 7:30 PM. The course was restrung by 4 wheeler with 2 people riding, a driver and a guy with a pole with the lure on the end, pulling it out from pulley to pulley. The awesome part about Drag was the behavior of the lure; instead of a pretty static line, the lure bounces all over the fucking place, almost like a bunny would. Dogs that normally wouldn't course or god bored of closed-loop would go apeshit and be dead-on for drag. For weight on the line, a badger pelt, a fox tail w/ squeaker and tennis ball and a baggy were all tied on the end. The pelt was huge and many dogs went nuts just for that. Of all the days, Reza coursed the hardest on Friday. People were tired after such a long day on Friday, but the dogs had such a great time with a different lure that everyone thought it was well worth it.
Saturday she ran against Gunner in mixed stakes, but he's a goof-off and failed to qualify. This means that Reza automatically took breed and couldn't get her second necessary 1st placement if she beat him in a breed run-off.
Sunday, Reza took a pretty bad spill in the final. It was nothing serious, but did bruise her up pretty good we think. She still ran decently for Best in Event after judging that she didn't have a limp in her gait.
Personally, I had tons of fun this weekend. Starting on Wednesday, I got to Hunt Master. That's the guy on the field that yells "Tally Ho" to release the hounds. That's not your only job though; you also have to make sure the lure is in good condition, call the correct dogs to the line, verify the dogs are in the right colors, perform a visual check for lameness as they come to the line, check to make sure silks are on securely, check to make sure leads are correctly held and wrapped, check that judges and lure ops are ready and then you signal the lure to start and then Tally Ho.
The most important job is keeping the dogs safe. You have to be the secondary eyes for the lure op; so while the op might be watch 2 dogs that are coursing correctly, you have to keep an eye on the third that might run back to momma and tell them to retrieve or just signal to the op that some dog is in right field and to be careful. You don't want a dog running the wrong way on a course because 2 dogs running 40 mph at one another and colliding is not a pretty sight. You are also one of the people with the authority to stop and restart the course if a dangerous situation presents itself or a dog is hurt.
So on one course of three whippets, all three dogs went out great and were on the lure. The lure made a close pass to the starting area and blue wandered back in to start. It looks at his dad, then back at the lure and the other dogs running, then back at his dad, still approaching. I call, "Retrieve Blue," but only when I see the dogs rounding a far off bend and heading back in for the final approach. If that blue dog took off at the other two, not only could that result in an injury, but it fucks with the other two dogs' course and their performance. He goes to get his dog, and mutters, "That's a bullshit call." I told him, pleasantly, that I don't want his dog running head first into the other two and causing an injury. I head up to the judges and asked if I made the right call and they backed me up that it was a good one. Later, Jan comes up to me and says, "If anyone abuses you like that again while you're performing your job, come tell me or Steve. They can be excused from the trial for that. The judges will always back you for the safety of the dogs." He had gone over to the table and complained about my call, but I think Jan set him straight.
I did have a couple screw ups though. One lady, who'd been coursing for days, had screwed up her lead. On release, her dog hit the end of the lead and whipped around, still in a choke configuration. The lady struggled for what felt like minutes, but was only a couple seconds to release the dog. It was my double failure because I didn't check her release lead and I should have told her to hold her hound instead of releasing late in a panic. Another dog was injured on the field, but didn't take a tumble or anything; it just stopped using one of its back legs. They thought it was a fibrocartilaginous embolism. Thankfully, the lure op saw it and stopped the lure immediately. That was pretty sad, and thankfully, the only injury of the weekend.
I ended up Hunt Mastering more and more as the days progressed, starting with 2 breeds on Wed and ending with 5 breeds on Sunday, including whippets who were the most prevalent. On Thursday, there were around 11 courses of whippets iirc. In addition, I was driving the 4 wheeler for most of prelims and some of the finals for the restringing on Friday. Friday night, I was so ragged out, I got back to the hotel after dinner, let the dogs out, cuddled them a minute and literally passed out. I woke up at 2:30 AM in my clothes, sleeping on top of the comforter and realized that I didn't potty the dogs, didn't feed them and neglected to brush Reza out before bed like I needed to. I walked the dogs at 2:30 in shorts and nothing else, and fed them and went back to sleep until the 5:30AM wakeup. I got better in my duties too, and by Saturday, I asked if I could run the lure for practice!
Lure Operator is the guy that pushes the button to make the bunny run. The rules basically say that the bunny has to be kept 10-30 yards in front of the dogs, but it's far more complicated than that. In my opinion, the lure op is the guy who makes the decision on how well your dogs run. A lure op can make a dog look really bad or really good through position and speed throughout the course. It reminds me of playing a video game; you definitely need some hand-eye coordination to do it effectively.
It's not as simple as it sounds; for example: on a turn, you have to pull the lure out further from the dog and "show the turn." Too close on the lure and you can have very bad things happen from the dog making a dive and ending face first into a pulley, turning too hard and tumbling or skidding resulting in broken bones or blown pads or just losing the lure altogether. A good corner is where you show the turn and let the lure coast out of the turn, the dog looks, makes the turn and at that point, you resume the lure. On the straight-aways, you want to tease the dog, so you let them get in close, almost to the point of a "take," but not that close. But, the longer the straight, the more momentum they have and the further out you need to show them the next turn.
I had Steve Curry and Cathy Sanderson walking me through everything. Some of the practice, I actually had Steve pushing my finger when the button was supposed to be pushed in order to get a feel for pulse frequency; pushing and holding the button on a starter motor (which is what a lure motor is) leads to a $400 dead motor. I also got to get up on the actual scaffolding during the trial judging while Cathy was on the lure and she talked me through what she was doing. I ran about 10 runs during the practices; they said I had very good ability, and with practice, could make an excellent lure op. I'm pretty excited, and Steve said that coming up in the September trial, I might be able to lure op for some of the more experienced dogs doing a JC test. You don't want to run young or inexperienced dogs during a test as a novice lure op because sometimes they require more finesse. I'm a while away from op'ing for a trial with multiple dogs, but this is a start and plan to push the button for practices every chance I get.
We had lots of fun every night at Jan's house on the property, drinking and eating homemade food that Sabine, their neighbor made. All the beef came from one of her own cows; those had to be the best kabobs I've ever had. Steve and Jan were so thankful for all the work I put in that they presented me with a set of racing silks with "BGCC" embroidered on them after the ribbons ceremony on Sunday; an amazingly cool and useful present that we'll always have.
As photos come in from people, I'll post some of the cooler ones in the thread.
(All videos are under 10 megs, with some being under 5. All in WMV format.)
Friday (Drag Lure, WATCH THESE)
Preliminaries -
Afghan Open Prelim - Reza (Video)
Finals -
Afghan Open Final - Reza (Video)
Saturday
Preliminaries -
Afghan Mixed Prelim - Reza and Gunner (Video)
Finals -
Afghan Mixed Final - Reza and Gunner (Video)
Sunday
Preliminaries -
Afghan Open Prelim - Reza (Video)
Finals -
Afghan Open Final - Reza (Video)
Best In Event -
Best in Event - Reza, Basheera the Saluki, Keira the Basenji (Video) |
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Events |
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5/30
- Grey Summit, MO
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5/31
- Grey Summit, MO
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6/1
- Grey Summit, MO
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6/6
- Joliet, IL
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6/7
- Wheaton, IL
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6/7
- Lakeland, FL
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6/7
- Lakeland, FL
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6/8
- Wheaton, IL
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6/8
- Lakeland, FL
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6/21
- Columbia, KY
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6/22
- Columbia, KY
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6/23
- Columbia, KY
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7/1
- Columbia, KY
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7/2
- Columbia, KY
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7/3
- Columbia, KY
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7/19
- Omaha, NE
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7/20
- Omaha, NE
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8/22
- Atlanta, GA
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8/23
- Atlanta, GA
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8/24
- Atlanta, GA
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9/19
- Atlanta, GA
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9/20
- Atlanta, GA
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9/21
- Atlanta, GA
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10/11
- Atlanta, GA
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10/12
- Atlanta, GA
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