I have been extremely remiss in keeping my website updated this year. My only excuse is that I’ve had a redesign/reorganization in mind and I kept thinking I might as well wait to do updates until I have time for the complete overhaul, but now I concede the utter ridiculousness of that premise! What was I thinking? I’m sure by now I’ve forgotten a lot of the big news I could have been sharing all along, but I’ll do my best to get caught up. For those of you on Facebook, I do love the convenience and ease of the one-liner updates possible there, so if you haven’t already, feel free to find me on Facebook to keep up with all the breaking news!
All Grown Up!
Chili x Lark kids at 16 months: (l-r) Jonah, Seven, Skeena, Hokum. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Honey-Gillespie.
The Chili x Lark pups are now young adults and several have made their debuts in performance events with spectacular results!
Seven’s Big Adventure
Seven in the lead in the #2 jacket
Seven made her CWA debut at the July 24 RFF meet in Abbotsford running a grade B score to earn her very first top 10 finish! She finished 3rd in the match behind two bench champions to earn her first DPC credit in her very first match. Her next weekend out, at the August RFF meets, she finished just out of the top 10 on Saturday.
On Sunday, she came back strong and surpassed my every expectation by finishing 8th in the meet and splitting the bottom two sets of points for her first two points towards her ARX. As if that was not enough, she showed like a star in the match and earned her second DPC credit under judge Jeanette Dorsey (Treadway), earning race champion points and the equivalent of show champion points the same day – a dual purpose breeder’s dream come true!
Based on the strength of that finish, although I had been successfully resisting temptation, at the last minute, I decided to fly to the CWA National in Milwaukee with Seven over Labor Day weekend, and boy am I ever glad I did! She handled the flight and every aspect of the trip with her usual unflappable cheerfulness, and raced her little heart out! On Saturday, boxed in with tough grade A spoilers in her races, she finished mid-pack. I couldn’t have been more proud of her strong performance under the circumstances, but she made me even prouder in the match, where she showed like a dream and made it down to the final cut of eight in a huge entry of around 30 beautiful athletes.
Seven winning her final race in Milwaukee by a nose. Photo courtesy of Ule James.
On Sunday she came back stronger than ever with a first and a second place finish in her first two races. Responding to the tough competition, she put in the race of her young life in her final race, winning by a nose in a thrilling upset to vault into 9th place in the 54 dog meet to earn the bottom ARX point. There just aren’t words to describe the incredible thrill of seeing her respond to the challenge and give everything she had to give to pull off such a close win over competition I never thought she would be able to beat. I will never forget it!
Jonah
Brothers head to head: Jonah #6 and Hokum in the lead.
Jonah made his CWA debut on July 23 and now, with three meets under his belt, is proving to be a clean, focused and very enthusiastic grade C racer who has improved his meet score with every meet. While he can’t quite match his superstar sister’s speed, he makes up for it in enthusiasm!
Jonah has also done well in the CWA matches too, with a DPC credit in his very first match. Very much his mother’s son, he absolutely loves the show ring and tries so hard to please. We are going to have a lot of fun together racing and showing!
Echo
On the other side of the country, Echo made his CWA debut at the June RnRWA meets in Ohio, earning his first top 10 ribbon despite scratching after three programs with a sore shoulder. Congratulations to his proud owners Carol and Steve Weber for his successful debut! Echo will make his lure coursing debut this fall, and I can’t wait to hear how he does.
Hokum
Hokum in the ring at LMWA with owner/handler Mary Downing. Ringside candid courtesy of J&E Szabo.
Hokum made his racing debut at the August RFF meets, running a very consistent high C score and gaining valuable experience. Like his mother, brother and sister before him, he finished 2nd in the match for his first DPC credit in his very first meet! Thank you Catherine O’Brien (Curas) for the nice placement and very positive comments about Hokum and his brother and sister!
Hokum also made his debut in the Canadian show ring with his owner Mary Downing of Whimsy Whippets, with impressive results, winning Reserve Winners Dog at the LMWA specialty in July under whippet specialist Chris Abraham.
Lark
Lark, proud mother of all of the above, made a few rare appearances in the show ring at the summer specialties, bringing home yet another specialty reserve at the Cascade Hound Association show in July under breeder judge Wendy Gay (Grand Prix). She has both majors and will continue to make occasional appearances in the show ring looking for her last singles towards her championship.
Other Updates
I’ve done some updates:
- Seven’s main page and stacked photos
- Jonah’s main page and stacked photos
- Hokum’s main page and stacked photos
I have many more new photos and updates but I’m running out of time today so those will come soon, I promise!
