Jetty - DM Fast Frigate, Part 1

Jetty, Age 6 wks

Jetty was a Feather son. As white as his mother was, Jetty was that black.  Like his mother, he was gorgeous and graceful.  Sadly, his testicles did not descend. At 3 months of age, it was time to find Jetty a loving pet home, an appropriate home for a greyhound puppy.

Due to the wonders of the internet, a home was found for Jet in Michigan.  The people had great references and sounded perfect, so arrangements were made for Jetty to go & live with them.

I should have known better...  The relationship between us started off with a disagreement over castrating the boy prior to his going there.  Greyhound puppies as a large breed should not be castrated before their growth plates close, which is usually around 13-14 months of age.  This is something in which I firmly believe as early castration leads to excessive bone growth and it has been linked to some other health issues such as incontinence. But, the home sounded so good for the boy...  I went against my gut and judgment and had the boy castrated prior to his trip to Michigan.

Gizmo the Cat & Jet

Please note that castration for a bilateral cryptorchid is not an easy surgery.  The vet has to go in through the abdominal cavity to find the hidden testicles and, in Jet's case, they were way up by the bladder. Anyway, we had him castrated and about a week later, he developed a urinary tract infection (UTI).  He was put on antibiotics and arrangements were made to transport him to Michigan.

Laurel Drew & I transported the boy part of the way to his new home in Michigan.  We had him in a crate with a pad. He was such a good boy!  He never whined, never messed... He was so good.  We met up with the next person (name now forgotten) in what we call a GUR (Greyhound Run). Along the way, Adrienne Breummer in St. Charles, Missouri, had agreed to house him until he could meet up with the next transporter on his way.  Jet made such an impression on Adrienne, she dropped us a line asking to have him if the new home didn't work out for any reason.  Uhm...  OK...  but I don't think he'll be going anywhere...  even so, I saved Adrienne's email.

The transporters kept in touch with us all along the way, giving us updates and telling us how good he was.  Finally, Jet, his medical record, and his medications for the UTI were handed off to his new owners and then she handed him & his medications over to his new owners.

Jet at Adrienne's Home

A couple of weeks later, we got a phone call from the new owners. It seems that Jet was having problems with urinary leaking.  They had taken him to their vet and he told them that Jet's urinary tract and bladder were not properly formed.  What?  I asked my vet, who had neutered him, if there were any problems with his urinary tract and she told me everything was normal. The new vet wanted to do some kind of surgery that was the equivalent of a urostomy! After discussions with the new owners, it was decided that Jet would come home.

On the return trip, Jet again had the chance to stay with Adrienne.  She again asked me if she could keep the boy.  We discussed it and I told her that I could not saddle her with a defective dog, one that would probably leak urine uncontrollably for the rest of his life. We went round & round with Adrienne getting a concession out of me...  I'd let the boy stay there on a trial basis.

(End Part 1)

Feather Too

So, how did Feather come to be a Dyno-Mutt hound?

Laurel asked Rob & I if we would get Feather "into condition" for the upcoming lure coursing season. Sure...  why not...  So she came here to live with us for a bit of time...  a month or two or three, as needed.  Then, back to Laurel's home.  Some people from Texas came to visit Laurel after the Valencia Valley shows in October and they saw Feather. She was so lovely that day...  Laurel offered to sell her to them. The man was smitten, but his wife wasn't. They offered Laurel some ridiculously low sum of money. I mumbled something to the effect that it was a ridiculous offer, which Laurel heard. She refused and so, back out to the Dyno-Mutt homestead to live with us for the coursing season.  One day, after coming out here to the eastern side of the Sandia mountains to visit Feather, Laurel decided that she was much happier with us and she put us on her papers.  Feather never left.

Ch El-Aur Summer Breeze FCh (Feather) - 1997 Pescadero International Invitational, Photo by Rick Dodd

Oh Feather could run.  She was fast and agile, but silly.  We tried running her on the training track at Abilene Greyhound Park one year.  She ran about 50' and then laid down on the wet sand.  That was bad enough, but then, she started rolling in it.  Oh my....

Feather may not have run on the track, but she was a good coursing bitch.  She never quite finished her AKC field championship, but she did finish one in ASFA, which many people consider the tougher of the two.  She ran in two International Invitationals and a Region 3 Regional.  She would also run rabbits and, given the opportunity, she'd try and take a squirrel out in a heartbeat.  In fact, while she was waiting to be bred, in 2002, she stayed with friends in Michigan.  They had a large maple tree in their back yard and a squirrel would come down to the lowest branches and taunt the hounds.  One day, Feather positioned herself under that branch, judged the distance between her & the squirrel and launched herself straight up!  She got tail feathers and the squirrel ran up the tree, and never again ventured that close to the ground.  Feather, however, was absolutely DISGUSTED that she missed.  That's OK... her daughter, Jib, and her granddaughter, Chispa, are carrying on the tradition of trying to get squirrels in trees.

Sailing Litter: (L-R) Javelin, Dash, Bugsy, Slate, Jib, Jetty

In March 2002, Feather was bred to DC Can Ch Lakilanni Scatpak Barracuda (Cuda) and produced six healthy strong puppies - our Sailing Litter. This breeding was in the planning stages for three years and it combined two super performance lines of show greyhounds. The pups were whelped on May 26, 2002 and they became the Sailing Litter: Javelin, Jib, Dash, Bugsy, Jetty, and Slate. They fulfilled all of our wildest dreams, winning in the breed ring and on the field. Jib & Dash had group placements; Bugsy went Winners Dog at the Greyhound Club of America's National Specialty and also at Morris & Essex to finish his championship.  Jib & Javelin were dual champions. ALL OF THEM were outstanding companions.

Feather was a great mom and our foundation bitch.  I see her in her children and grand children.  Our Feather girl is still with us today.
 

Bugsy

Ch DM Ocean Meets T'Sky

Bugsy, Age 6 - 7 months

Bugsy got his call name because, when he would lay down, the white on his chest would make the silhouette of a long-eared jackrabbit - just like Bugs Bunny!  His registered name comes from the Rod Stewart song, Sailing.

You see, one of my favorite movie scenes is in the movie, The Perfect Storm.  The fishermen are in a bar, the night before they go out for swordfish.  It's night and one of the deckhands, "Bugsy", is trying  to pick up a woman.  In the background, the Rod Stewart song, Sailing, is playing...

"The rhythm of my heart is beating like a drum and the words 'I love you' rolling off my tongue.  Never will I go, for I found my perfect home.  Where the Ocean Meets the Sky, I'll be sailing."

Having been a boat bum for many years, that scene brings back fond memories and a few tears.

Bugsy's family, the Proctors in New Jersey, have two sons, Patrick and Jared.  Bugsy has claimed them and calls them his own.

BOB at Delaware County, Judge: J Council Parker

The Proctors call him 'the little black dog.'  He really isn't all that small, standing a good 30" tall at the shoulder, but in comparison with some of the other AKC greyhounds back there, he's on the small side.  That's frightening!

Bugsy finished his breed ring championship with style.  He was entered for three days of showing at some very tough events:  Greyhound Club of America's (GCA) Eastern Specialty, Morris & Essex, and Devon. Yikes!  These are shows that brig out the "big guns"...  the big handlers & the big time breeders...  Some of the dogs in attendance were bred by long time greyhound fanciers, not all of whom agreed with or approved of my judicious use of racing blood in the pedigrees.  Breeders such as Rosemary Connor (Amwell Ridge), Sue LeMieux (Gaia), etc. In fact, Ms. Connor (RIP) and Ms. LeMieux (RIP) were behind the most recent attempt to close the AKC studbook to dogs registered with the National Greyhound Association, the domestic registry for racing greyhounds.

Anyway, there was a last minute judge change.  Last minute in that due to weather conditions, the scheduled judge was not in attendance.  However, in attendance was Lena Tamboer, a borzoi breeder & AKC hound judge.  The competition was intense with entries from Cebar (Ellie Creech & Dani Edgerton), Chesagrey (Kat Whitaker), Classic (Cackie Vroom), Eden (Sally Taylor), Golightly (Stacy Pober), Grand Cru (Melanie Steele), Harmony (Cyndi Swanson), Willomoor (June Matarazzo & Patti Clark), and Windrock (Kim & Colin Fritzler).  And that's not all of them!

At the end of the day, Judge Tamboer awarded Bugsy Winners Dog for a 5 point major!  That was on 5 Oct 2005.

2005 GCA Eastern Specialty - Winners Dog - DM Ocean Meets T'Sky

Needless to say, Betsey Proctor was on Cloud 9, as was I. A Greyhound Specialty winner in my first litter and the 2nd to take an award at a GCA Specialty!  Earlier in the year, in March, at the GCA Southern Specialty held in Fort Worth, TX, Bugsy's littermate, Jib, was awarded First Award of Merit by noted breeder judge and open field competitor, George S. Bell.

However, that wasn't the end of the weekend as he still had to exhibit at Morris & Essex and then Devon on the last day. Two very tough shows...  The judge at Morris & Essex was Gayle Bontecou, a Scottish Deerhound breeder (Gayleward) & sighthound judge. The entries were pretty much the same as at the GCA specialty.  At the end of the judging, Ms. Bontecou awarded Bugsy, Winner Dog, for a 4 point major!  He finished!  The boy finished his championship and he did it at two of the biggest shows on the East coast against all comers!  Wahoo!!!!  (Can you tell I'm excited & proud of him?)  What a way to finish a breed championship!

Bugsy was retired from the breed ring not too long thereafter and he lived out the rest of his days with the Proctor family.  Sadly, he developed renal disease and died in 2009.  We do not know what contributed to the kidney disease, but suspect it was a consequence of some medication contraindicated for the use in which it was given.

All of us miss our Bugsy.