October 28, 2012

Jiblet

Blog post about AKC Greyhound breed ring & coursing champion DM Flying Jib.
Jiblet was my joy!  Jiblet was the apple of my eye!  Oh how I loved my Jiblet!  Oh how I cried for months, stretching into years, after she died in an accident in the back yard. Rob & I were absolutely devastated and we were within a hare's breath of getting out of dogs.
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DCh DM Flying Jib FCh - "Jiblet"

Jib was very typical of the dogs that are bred here at DM Greyhounds - athletic, healthy, graceful and beautiful to behold.  However...

 "JIBLET!!!!"

If I only had a penny for each time...  if only....

Jib was drop dead gorgeous and had  personality galore. She was my "girly girl", a silly goose and very much a busy body.  She was always into something and when she was, it usually surrounded looking for something to 'collect' as she was a great collector of objects: my favorite shoes, my toothbrush, me...  Well, I'm sure you get the picture.  Lordy that girl was a trip!

Greyhounds are an ancient hunting breed and, as a baby, Jib made her first 'kill' when she caught and killed a mouse!  She was 6 weeks old at that time.  She turned into a superior mouser and didn't hesitate to snap up flies, spiders, and other bugs in an instant.  This made her a great favorite here as I don't do bugs.  Ugh!

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Mr. Jackrabbit, Javelin (yellow), Hadley (pink), Jib (blue)
Jib loved to hunt.  She was deadly on hares and over a span of 4 years, she was working on an open field coursing title.  Jib was good and she showed a great deal of endurance, running long, long courses after the wily black tailed jack rabbit.  Some of her courses were well over two minutes and some approached four minutes in length.  She had all of her placements and credits towards a NOFCA open field title, lacking only enough points to finish that championship.

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Jib Chasing a Jackrabbit (right) in Tall Grass
Her open field credits included a win over two of the top greyhounds in the country: Point Breeze Lionheart and Lady MacBeth.  With all that running, she held up exceptionally well, sustaining only one minor injury, a toe, in her last year of open field, in the run that earned her a berth in NOFCA's version of the International Invitational, the Grand Course.  That was the run with Lionheart & Lady MacBeth.

Jib was prepping for another season of open field when she suffered a career ending injury while lure coursing.  It was sustained in a collision with a larger greyhound. She was tee-boned on a turn right in the loin, which left her with some neurological issues in her rear legs.  Her rear just never worked right after that.

In the breed ring, Jib's first points came when she was still in the 9-12 month puppy class.  She went Best of Breed on Saturday and Best of Opposite Sex on Sunday, both days over older bitches, to get the points.  That was just a precursor of what was to come.

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Jib - BOW Under Noted Greyhound Judge, Richard Bauer
 At the huge San Antonio cluster on July 10, 2003 at age 14 months, Jib took her first major worth 4 points from the Bred By Exhibitor class.  The judge was the noted Miss Dorothy M. MacDonald.  The next day, under judge Bettie Krause, she went Reserve Winners Bitch.  On the 3rd day, she was in the ribbons with a 2nd place in BBX.  However, on day 4, which was July 13, she again went Winners Bitch under judge Richard Bauer.  Unfortunately, the major broke and the win was only worth 2 points.  Hey!  Points are points!

Jib finished her championship easily, before 2 years of age, with additional majors from Mr. Nelson Huber in February 2004 and Mike (Michele) Billings in March 2004 at the supported entry for the Fort Worth Kennel Club show.  And, in September 2004, judge George Heitzman awarded her a Group 4 at the Sangre de Cristo Kennel Club shows.

Mar 2005 - Jib Getting an Award of Merit under George S. Bell
In March 2005, she earned an Award of Merit from noted greyhound breeder judge, Mr. George S. Bell, at the Greyhound Club of America's Southern Specialty.  And, due to finishing the year as one of the Top Twenty greyhounds in the country, she received an invite to the 2006 Eukanuba National Championship show held in Long Beach, CA.

 Only recently, Jib has started with a behavior that her dam, Feather, used to do. If she doesn't want to do something, she'll roll over on her back, showing her belly in a rather submissive gesture.  It is most embarrassing and she only does it if there are other people around!  She doesn't do it when it is only us.  Danged bitch!  She's a pistol!  She's good and she knows it.

 In addition to a very good show career, Jiblet has two lure coursing field championships.  Like B.J., she showed her versatility by winning Best of Breed in the conformation ring at the Shawnee, OK shows and then winning Best of Breed at the concurrent lure course.  We got our exercise that day...  running from the ring to the lure course...  running from the lure course to the group ring....  running from the group ring to the lure course....  Should have seen us in the group ring...  she had grass stains on her hocks!  They were green!  She did get a pull in the group, but not a placement.  After the group ring and running back to the coursing field, Jib went Best In Field (BIF). Other than Jib & B.J., I really do not know of any other greyhounds with this kind of versatility and ability!  In addition to her many lure coursing Best of Breed wins, she won Greyhound Breed and the Fantasy Trophy at the 2006 ASFA International Invitational held in Colorado Springs.  What a thrill!

Sailing Litter - Left to Right:  Javelin, Dash, Bugsy, Slate, Jib, Jetty
Jib truly showed that beauty and function go together. Jib was an outstanding greyhound and she was everything for which I hoped.  She was one of our Sailing Litter.

A joy with which to live with tons of personality, one couldn't have asked for a better bitch.  She is a tough act to follow.

Jib had been health screened for hip dysplasia, thyroid conditions and cardiac abnormalities, passing all her clearances with flying colors!  (Hmmm....  puppy name?  Flying Colors?) Her health clearances can be found on the OFA website.

We bred Jib in 2009, but puppies were not in the cards and she died before a repeat breeding could happen.

I so miss my lovely Jiblet.  May she be resting and tormenting her sister up there in heaven.

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