Abilene Pups

People always ask me what a greyhound puppy looks like and I reply, like any other puppy!

This little brindle baby was so adorable.  Folks couldn't believe I didn't stick him in my bag and bring him home.  I do love puppies, but I think I will stick to the older, more mature, dogs.

I was making squeaking noises at the pups so I could get their attention.

This little white guy was pretty cute.

I love this bunch of brindles!

This pup was so worn out from greeting all the people, he laid down right where he was for his nap. 

And last, but certainly not least, the mommas.  If it weren't for the broodies, we wouldn't have the puppies.  This momma was due to have her pups in 2 days.  She completely stole my heart.  I'm not so sure she wasn't in labor when we were there.  She would go back inside the kennel for a bit and then come back out for love.  At one point, she was circling like she was going to lay down and then she went back inside the kennel.  I am hoping to follow this girl to see how her and the pups do.

Abilene Part 2

Friday was Farm Tour day.  I knew I didn't want to miss out on this once in a lifetime experience.  First up, was the Jack-a-lure training.  These are young dogs, I believe around 13 months of age, chasing the lure.  If you are a sight hound owner, you know these dogs (well some) will chase anything that moves.  In this case, a plastic bag.

 They take the dogs off the trailer two at a time.  The lure stays hidden under the straw bales until the guy pushes the button to make it go around the wire.  As you can tell by the blurry picture of the dog, these dogs were hauling butt!  One thing that I was amazed at, it didn't take them long at all to figure out they could cut across the track and get to the lure quicker.

Here is a pair of pups with the lure out ahead of them.

 At the end of the track, there is a guy with a hide and a squawker attached to a rope.  He distracts the dogs from the lure so they can get them loaded back on the trailer.

I took this picture of the hide/squawker on top of the trailer when the dogs were all loaded.

The dogs are done and most of them were already laying down.  I took this picture for prospective on the size of the compartments.  They will head back to their runs for a nice relaxing dip in the pool.

These are my observations.  The information I am passing along to you is my interpretation, so there could be mix ups in the "technical" terms.  Next stop, the road to puppyville...

Abilene, Part 1

We are back home again in Indiana after a wonderful time at the Heart of America Greyhound Gathering!  We had so much fun and met so many wonderful hounds and their personal assistants.

For my first greyhound stalking, I mean sighting, I got to meet Joey and Scout and their assistants.  This story is so funny.  I had been corresponding with Joey and Scout's mom and we were both looking forward to meeting in person.  My husband and I decided to make a pit stop just before we got to our destination.  We see a rest area ahead and take the exit ramp.  Right in front of us was a big RV pulling a scooter and a Jeep.  I saw the greyhound decal on the scooter and was pretty sure it was Joey and Scout's tour bus.  We pulled in, but I waited until I saw the greyhounds come out of the RV before I made my move.  Nothing like being the crazy greyhound lady in a rest stop!  After following their adventures, I finally got to meet Scout, Joey and their humans.  We chatted for a bit and then headed for our final destination.  I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Joey, but here is Miss Scout chilling at the event.

My husband and I were workers for the event.  We helped set up, sell raffle tickets, work the bag raffles, auctions, etc.  It was exhausting, but fun.  It was nice to be able to meet the people behind their Facebook names too.  There were over 250 people in attendance with 175 hounds, so I know there were more people I didn't get a chance to meet.

On another note, I will now be watermarking my photos.  Before we left, some guy behind the blog "Ironicus Maximus", used a picture of my angel Tom without my permission.  Of course, there is no contact info on his page, so I was reduced to leaving him a few nasty comments.  Finally, he took it down.  If anyone knows who is behind this blog, please drop me a note at macmadday@aol.com.

TO BE CONTINUED...