Finishing Touches?

The concrete for the yard and the turn out pens is going down today so fingers crossed for a dry day. I would say we could get a shower or two as the sky is threatening but hopefully nothing too sever. It will be good to see it done as its a sign that the building works aren't far from an end. All that's left to do is fence off the turn out yard into sections for each kennel and hand the new kennel gates, but I'm sure to have another brain wave before then and start into something else!

A Happy Man

The dark cloud that was hanging over the kennels lifted today in Lifford. Going by what I saw Boss has the makings of an exceptional dog and his little sister Patch isn't too far behind him. I put the two of them in together in a sprint trial, I had intended to give them a 525 but the track was heavy looking.

The result of the trial saw Boss winning by 1 lengths in 17.76 for the 325 and 19.02 for the 350. This is only his 3rd time in the traps, 5th for the bitch, which makes the run unbelievable, indeed they both lost a couple of lengths which was my mistake as I put the dog inside and the bitch outside when it should have been the other way around. I can safely say I have never schooled a pup as promising as this lad. He looks like a proper dog and its always nice when they can run as well as they look.

I feel like wrapping him up in cotton wool after what happened to the Honcho Classic pup but deep down I know what will be will be. A 525 will be the next step for this lad, if he stays he will be a truly special dog.

Another kick in the teeth

I galloped the Honcho Classic dog yesterday afternoon and on him pulling up it was obvious that something serious had gone amiss. He wouldn't put his front left foot to the ground and his wrist was starting to swell like a balloon. I got him back to the kennels and ran it under the cold water tap to try and control the swelling. It was obvious to me that he had either broken a bone in his wrist or fractured the wrist.

I jumped into the van and took him straight down the road to Brian Jones. The diagnosis was as I thought, a fracture of the wrist and serious damage to the ligaments around it. On Brian's advice Johnny was pts. The injury would never have healed properly and Johnny would never have made a pet as he was very nervous and had a tendency to snap at strangers. He was a hard dog to work with but nether the less one who we were very fond of. Colette was very upset when I came home on my own and it was a quiet house last night. He was only 14 months and unfortunately we will never know what he could have become.

RIP Johnny

What a week

This has been the strangest and busiest week I have had with the dogs in a long time, and hopefully the busiest for a long time to come. Something had happened nearly everyday and that on top of trying to keep the builders busy around the yard as well as the normal daily grind has had Colette and myself chasing our tails all week.

I have wrote in detail about this past week in a few postings in the blog and I hope you take the time to have a gentle read through. All comments are welcomed.

Bower Venus

Now this is a strange one.

I was walking Venus the other morning when I noticed she was quite swollen behind. I put my hand on her hind quarters to lift her tail and she held her tail over to the one side, a sure sign that she was ready for mating! I was shocked as there was no sign of any blood from her and a close eye has been kept on all the broods as they are coming in season in a rush at the minute.

Anyway, off to Brian Jones in a rush on Thursday morning where her progesterone test came back with a reading of 9. So it will be a couple of days, probably Monday, before she would be ready for a dog. She also has an infection which she is being treated for so hopefully it clears up ASAP.

I'm undecided on what to mate her to. She had thrown a couple of fairly tasty dogs and is from an outstanding damline but there is going to be pups coming out of the cupboards at this rate of going!

Playing around with testmatings on data these are a few I like.

http://www.greyhound-data.com/dbtestmating.php?sireid=182092&damid=494552

http://www.greyhound-data.com/dbtestmating.php?sireid=65287&damid=494552

http://www.greyhound-data.com/dbtestmating.php?&sireid=675014&damid=494552

Premier Fantasy is yet to get that elusive big dog but I really hope he does as he was a favorite of mine and I would like to see him do well. He has had every chance at stud so if he isn't a success within the next year he wont be.

Droopys Kewell is a sire who you either like or not. He seems to get a big number of winners but he gets a savage number of bitches. My opinion is if the bitches pedigree works then fire away and Venus definitely matches well being by Vieri and off the Minnies Nikita line as both have had great success with D.K.

Finally, Premier County is another sire who looks a good cross. It was pointed out to me, thanks Dave, that its a very similar cross to the first litter Venus produced and it was a litter of a good standard. I'm going to take the weekend to think it over and will have to discuss it with the boss.

Crack Commando

This lad won well for us a couple of Fridays ago. It was his debut and he didn't waste time in leaving his mark as he blasted clear from the trap 2 and it was never in doubt from there to the line, it was a Novice open to boot. He stopped the clock in 19.04 which was slightly disappointing as i expected sub 19 at worst but a win is a win and we took a few quid out of the bookies satchels. He is the first of the Droopys Kewell * Pablos Jewell litter to win a race and hopefully not the last, just goes to show what a bit of patience can do. He was sold to Gary Hamilton and will be running at Henlow I think. Good luck to Gary and I hope he wins a bucketful for him.

http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?l=1340168&z=kN-JFg

A nice addition from Lifford is all races being uploaded and available to view on the Greyhound-data website. This will definitely help with the marketing of dogs for sale and hopefully more people will get to see what a fantastic track it is.

Belle is Home

Got the call from Len McKinney on Wednesday morning that he was collecting Belle from the Dunphy's and would be back in the north in the afternoon. So after being in Lifford in the morning I had to come back in the afternoon to meet him. It worked out fine as I had another dog who was heading on the U.K. run.

Belle has settled straight back in and is her usual exuberant self. I have to say I missed having her about the yard as she is the sort of dog that always puts a smile on my face. Never any bother and always full of beans, I'm not keen on sulky and huffy dogs. It was the perfect pick me up after losing the bitch in Lifford that morning.

Hopefully she has brought a big litter of pups home with her. Interest in her pups is sure to be high as I have a feeling he litter brother Line of Fire will have a big say in this years Irish Derby, he runs tomorrow night and barring trouble should qualify no problem.

Finally a word of thanks to Len. A top man to transport a dog and always is on time and never lets anyone down. Any dog he has ever transported for us has been delivered in first class condition.

Update on Patch

I took Patch, the white and black Premier Fantasy bitch, back to Lifford for her final sprint trial on Wednesday. I didn't take Boss, her litter brother, as he had a bit of scour on Tuesday morning and it was a very warm day. If she keeps going in the same direction then I will be a happy man. She won a 2 dog trial by a 1 1/2 l in 17.89 for the 325.

Taking all things into account, only 4th time in the boxes, this is nothing short of fantastic. If she stays she will be a good class of bitch, hopefully open class. The bitch she beat is no slouch either having recorded 19.03 for the 350 in Hurley's the week before. What really caught the eye was the early pace, she broke level but was 2 lengths in front in the space of 50 yards. I wont get too excited just yet as what happened the Top Honcho bitch in the trial straight after goes to show how hard a game this is.

Disaster Strikes

We had a van load in Lifford on Wednesday morning for schooling trials and it was a very disheartening experience. A lovely black and white bitch owned by my Grandmother shattered a hock and we had to have her put to sleep to save her from suffering. The hock was literally in pieces and if there had been any chance of her recovering to have a good standard of life then she would have been operated on but the vet was of the opinion that the humane thing to do was to euthanize her.

Its always a chastening experience to have to come home with a dog less than you left the yard with but its the downside to this wonderful game that tugs at the heart strings daily.

http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?d=nothings+changed

She was a lovely bitch to have in the kennel and never gave a days bother. A season every six month stopped us from getting the best out of her as suppressing a bitch is something I don't agree with. We managed to get one good win from her in Lifford but the best was definitely to come yet as she was a 29.00 bitch every day of the week. A bang tight railer who wouldn't run till she got onto the rail which was to prove her downfall. Swinging out of the 2nd bend she went to move back onto the rail and actually struck the running rail. This caused her to check and the damage was done at this point.

It was a very long and sombre drive home.

The Waiting Game

We had a few pups entered for racing this weekend but unfortunately they aren't on the card. I know from speaking to a few friends in England that this is a very common phenomenon at NGRC tracks and to a lesser extent this side of the water, especially with lower grade dogs.

I'm not sure what the solution to our problem is as at the minute there is far more racing than 20 years ago where two night a week maximum for each track was the norm, and a ten race card to boot. Taking Lifford for example there are an average of 42 races a week, times six gives 252 dogs which is a lot of dogs but there seems to be plenty still not getting a run. This leads me to the conclusion that we are breeding far to many dogs.

As pointed out by John Moyles on his excellent blog, http://bantissgreyhounds.blogs.com/ , the number of matings has fallen sharply, however, the number of pups is at a steady level due to vast improvements in pinpointing when a bitch is most fertile. I wont quote the exact figures as I prefer to refer you to John's blog as he has down the leg work in finding the stats.

I have talked to a few other breeders and they have suggested putting another nights racing on. This wont work in my opinion. Again, using Lifford as an example. They race Fri, Sat and Sun. Their neighbours at the Brandywell, Derry, race on Mon and Thurs which rules those nights out. This leaves Tuesday and Thursday, neither of these two nights will attract non-dog people, by this I mean those that will fill the restaurant and bars. It has become reality that unless the hospitality facilities are being made use of then the race night will fail to turn a profit and I for one wont condemn any business man for throwing good money after bad.

It is approaching the stage where a limit on breeding will have to be set. I'm not sure how this could be achieved without massive upheaval and fallout but the way the market is for pups at the minute it may become more and more self regulating. The major problem as I see it is owners who have a nice bitch that they are very attached to. They think they want a litter of pups out of their pride and joy. Many of these bitches would be better served laying on the sofa beside their owner that breeding a litter of pups that in all likely hood will be filling the lowest grades are not even grading in. This experience can actually drive owners away from the game as breeding a litter is a very expensive undertaking and their money would be better spend on buying another race dog or a better bred pup. I could well be slated for this opinion but its the harsh reality of the game at the minute that far too many unsuitable bitches are being bred from by people who have neither the facilities or the experience to do it.

Nearly There

The next couple of weeks should see the end of the building works to the new kennel block. I original intended to be finished for the end of April but things have dragged on but they will definitely be finished by the end of the month. The plans are a lot more grandiose than originally intended but I will be happy with the finished product.

When complete we will have 4 double kennels, 8 singles, 2 whelping kennels all of which will have access to a concrete turnout yard and a kitchen and food preparation/storage room. Out in the paddocks there will be 2 pens at 125m x 25m and 3 pens at 40m x 15m. All the pups will also be able to get out onto the rest of the farm for hunting and exercise everyday.

I have plans for another series of paddocks in a nice 10 acre field but I will wait and see how things develop with what we have for the mean time.

Promising Pups

I took my two Premier Fantasy x Maureens Angel pups for a schooling trial in Lifford this afternoon and they confirmed to me that they are pups of real potential. Patch, the white and black bitch, beat Boss, the black dog a length in 18.04. This was the bitches third time in the traps and the dogs second time through. I would say Boss lost a good 3 lengths on Patch at the lift of the lids and couldnt get past her on the bend but at the 350 finish line he swooped past and chased very hard into the pickup.

I couldn't be any happier with them as Boss is around 3 pounds over weight and Patch could do with losing a pound or two as well. If they stay 4 bends then they could be very special, here's hoping. A couple of weeks galloping will do no harm before I maybe try them over four bends. But they are definitely shaping up to go in the same direction as their flying mother.