tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19313126875449944922024-03-21T17:06:52.262-05:00A Dog's Journey<p align="right">The journeys and adventures of the x-racing greyhounds named Kassa and Ricky
</p>jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-25195379320040467112015-02-11T16:39:00.000-06:002015-02-11T16:39:33.503-06:0080,000 reasons minus 2<div class="MsoNormal">
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I recently stumbled across this Grey2K piece about 80,000
reasons to end dog racing now. The
premise is that 80,000 dogs have raced since 2008. Since they raced they must have been born
into cruelty. Since they were born into
cruelty racing should end.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://grey2kusa.org/eNEWS/G2K-21115.html">http://grey2kusa.org/eNEWS/G2K-21115.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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It also puts forth that Greyhounds are Killed and that
Racing Kennels Neglect Dogs. It then goes on to explain that nearly 1000 dogs
have died and how greyhounds are confined for long periods <o:p></o:p></div>
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My two dogs are of that 80,000 and in them I have seen
nothing that suggests that racing should end because of what they have gone
through and what they have become.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vunHoqmj_6XFzrIB9_hXkHkE_YSdyO2BKvFk6KkWhfzc5hCjtsHoVSJtw0xZFzXxOMu4yKqb8cM6IrrfmKJb9br5I0bQ5GqU9iWjsvpGgZuspheP7wtW6wwf3ZwryIVHTOC-LyJtMQCE/s1600/kassaandricky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vunHoqmj_6XFzrIB9_hXkHkE_YSdyO2BKvFk6KkWhfzc5hCjtsHoVSJtw0xZFzXxOMu4yKqb8cM6IrrfmKJb9br5I0bQ5GqU9iWjsvpGgZuspheP7wtW6wwf3ZwryIVHTOC-LyJtMQCE/s1600/kassaandricky.jpg" height="336" width="400" /></a></div>
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I also happened to come across this ted talk by Tyler Cowen
called “Be Suspicious of Simple Stories”. <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/tyler_cowen_be_suspicious_of_stories">http://www.ted.com/talks/tyler_cowen_be_suspicious_of_stories</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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He talks about stories and narratives and how if a story is
too simple, to close to a standard narrative like good vs evil, then we should
be suspicious of it. Life is much more messy than a good hero story allows for.
He indicates if you find yourself buying
into a good simple story you are probably lowering your I/Q by 10 points.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In reality this little story does nothing to establish their
fundamental premise that because a dog raced, it was born into cruelty. Also it doesn’t distinguish that that there
is a big difference between a dog being killed and a dog dying. Nor does it account for the fact that just as
in the pet universe sometimes the most proper course of action for a dog is euthanization. It doesn’t compare death rates of pet
populations to racing populations. It
just throws out the number 1000 as an absolute without any reference to the
80000 dog population it came from. Notice also that when it says “Racing Kennels
Neglect Dogs”, it doesn’t say “ALL Racing Kennels Neglect Dogs” or “Most Racing
Kennels Neglect Dogs” or “A few Racing Kennels Neglect Dogs”. It keeps that
language generic enough such that even if you can find ONE racing kennel that
neglected a dog, the statement would be true.
They design it that way because it nicely fits their narrative.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now I could construct an equally simple narrative called 52000
reasons. Many adoption groups use greyhound-data.com to
track their adopted dogs. Of the groups
that bother to track adoption on that site, it shows that over 52000 greyhound adoptions have
occurred in the USA. Think of all the happy
families whose lives these dogs touched.
Think of all those wonderful dogs that would never have gotten to live
out their lives as pets if anti racing organizations had gotten their way and the dogs
hadn’t been given the structure, training, confidence and maturity that the
racing environment provides.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course this narrative is equally simple. It assumes that all
dogs are easy and wonderful, all track environments are perfect and all adoptive
homes are awesome.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So by all means do research, have opinions, develop your
reasoning for them and don’t buy into either of the simple narratives. It is all so much more messy than that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Conclusion: I really detest propaganda.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-66447534954892669822014-01-05T13:43:00.000-06:002014-01-05T13:43:50.279-06:00Happy New Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Today Ricky, Kassa and I headed to the field for a New Years romp. The field is looking a little shaggy in places but I think it is actually kind of picturesque. As the boys played I did some reflecting on the past year. I'm just going to mix in some of my random thoughts with some pics of the boys at play. Feel free to ignore the boring words and skim the pics.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidS1DR26e_CChfhEpDtSXKHrMSU5Wf5R4aEt9_DG8axCxkqWQ3UXK3L2397-ybsCv5doieJLXX3luC0Ci32X61gx9N7QX1zp94VccN-6WSldKmPKzeEgy_33JXpoIM4tIpvGdEsK4n6eUB/s1600/20140105_110156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidS1DR26e_CChfhEpDtSXKHrMSU5Wf5R4aEt9_DG8axCxkqWQ3UXK3L2397-ybsCv5doieJLXX3luC0Ci32X61gx9N7QX1zp94VccN-6WSldKmPKzeEgy_33JXpoIM4tIpvGdEsK4n6eUB/s400/20140105_110156.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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For me athletically, 2013 was a complete bust with many lbs gained, but many good things happened in other areas. As in most things you sacrifice in one area to give focus to another. The area that had my focus this year was participating more actively in the local greyhound adoption chapter (Greyhound Pets of America / Nashville).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1mlOs7Mo8LkgIkSWrB35aqYMZJ6V_8cxDQ5wL5oOK-_9GGfobENirqy7xm86M5zT_EbP7ox3wh_j4b-y9wOqjHv9z6Tid_PaCgnfNun54AgAHz4kjrPsz6aB1-FwjvMcYyJnvrzm4Z-C/s1600/blog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1mlOs7Mo8LkgIkSWrB35aqYMZJ6V_8cxDQ5wL5oOK-_9GGfobENirqy7xm86M5zT_EbP7ox3wh_j4b-y9wOqjHv9z6Tid_PaCgnfNun54AgAHz4kjrPsz6aB1-FwjvMcYyJnvrzm4Z-C/s400/blog2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This has been a real eye opener for me in terms of the amount of effort involved in running a greyhound adoption program and the enormous dedication of the people involved. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4HTyKcVuTIn0s-sv2z3TiGt_j2myhdmuvzd2qmHi_p2VirtwDd3BCOlzGRcw0xTtgZuTJVtUV2AAZqKWp0uNE75IUeEKIj6zLUzum4RdGkY4655IzOK-gQ1hAnhP0G_kTa6mcBOW21jn/s1600/blog3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4HTyKcVuTIn0s-sv2z3TiGt_j2myhdmuvzd2qmHi_p2VirtwDd3BCOlzGRcw0xTtgZuTJVtUV2AAZqKWp0uNE75IUeEKIj6zLUzum4RdGkY4655IzOK-gQ1hAnhP0G_kTa6mcBOW21jn/s400/blog3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Marketing, Fundraising, Special Events, Meet and Greets, Dog Acquisition, Vetting, Fostering, Application Follow up, Home visit coordination and placement are all necessary cogs in the wheel of greyhound adoption.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSVpBBsysU5vPvxSeVyGkpzVFWPienHXP6Gz3JdRryKO1SfdnKde3k0VW3rBV1zqegEfox4xjcZYQsfNf5HwKOM0q3WY_k6KqIdMXPDnHpaFOoWqLrJr15-yUjBCYw53wlvo_fsliANr0/s1600/blog4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSVpBBsysU5vPvxSeVyGkpzVFWPienHXP6Gz3JdRryKO1SfdnKde3k0VW3rBV1zqegEfox4xjcZYQsfNf5HwKOM0q3WY_k6KqIdMXPDnHpaFOoWqLrJr15-yUjBCYw53wlvo_fsliANr0/s400/blog4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This year I tried to be exposed to most of these areas in one way or another as well as develop a computer program and database that helps manage the whole process. The program though is just a coordination tool. It is the people that make the organization function.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VZrf3aImcLc9OxprVAyL-JR_CLq5-KT4KH1rklG37km-T-2pFNsjnFdqPRErQSAkV9shlmudBmOBqN7StLbOSuhEHPqpsGEeb8KngwMShjzTf7xMKM-0FSL5AUDYq9TdH7kk6M1K_dAB/s1600/blog5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VZrf3aImcLc9OxprVAyL-JR_CLq5-KT4KH1rklG37km-T-2pFNsjnFdqPRErQSAkV9shlmudBmOBqN7StLbOSuhEHPqpsGEeb8KngwMShjzTf7xMKM-0FSL5AUDYq9TdH7kk6M1K_dAB/s400/blog5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Things are not always smooth sailing of course. Even though everyone involved wants to work for the benefit of greyhounds, there of course are disagreements on the best methods to use and what the priorities should be. That said I think there has been a real rejuvenation this year with a new sparked dedication to the program. I am extremely happy with the progress we made.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7M_34y8D-ilGUngrJXaeM5Ln9zocwwwCTLAgXcDlLwu8O1T13bgaddtZr1zIEcmt3tpkW-LzCoflmaL7D7RkkqPh_b0tCRpSgu_jpGLhXexJOV9f6MzOXK2qnbiREp5qYrM0NycSsSDG/s1600/blog6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7M_34y8D-ilGUngrJXaeM5Ln9zocwwwCTLAgXcDlLwu8O1T13bgaddtZr1zIEcmt3tpkW-LzCoflmaL7D7RkkqPh_b0tCRpSgu_jpGLhXexJOV9f6MzOXK2qnbiREp5qYrM0NycSsSDG/s400/blog6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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One of the big issues in the greyhound adoption universe is transporting dogs away from the tracks and out into the distant states and communities that can absorb them into petdom. The Birmingham <a href="http://www.mcgregorgreyhoundwelfarecenter.com/hauler-fundraiser.html">adoption kennel</a> has had a program in place to transport retired dogs out of Birmingham and to adoption groups as far away as Canada, for placement into good homes. A problem has arisen however, in that the adoption hauler used has run its last run. I am very happy to say however that GPA/Nashville and many other groups are assisting in their efforts to get a new hauler in place so that they can continue this critical service. GPA/Nashville is matching funds raised for this effort up to the lessor of $15000 or half the purchase price of the vehicle. This offer is expiring on February 1st. If you feel, as I do, that this is an extremely worthwhile effort please visit their <a href="http://www.mcgregorgreyhoundwelfarecenter.com/hauler-fundraiser.html">fundraising </a>web page.jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-62617291418461369812013-11-07T09:52:00.000-06:002013-11-07T09:52:41.046-06:00Greyhound Adoption UniverseI have been away from this blog for a very long time, but with somewhat of a good reason. It is not because I have dropped everything, decided to train in Judo full time and go for Olympic gold. No.. instead I have opted for decreasing physical activity, increasing belly size and becoming much more involved with the l<a href="http://gpanashville.org/">ocal greyhound adoption group.</a><br />
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It has been any eye opening experience and a rush of ups and downs. It has also been an honor to work with such a dedicated community of people dedicated to greyhound adoption.<br />
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For those who don't know, my background and profession are in computer software development. As such I have tried to lend those skills to the greyhound adoption program.<br />
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My latest endeavor has been to write an <a href="http://gpanashville.org/auction2.php">auction software program</a> and integrate it into our website in order to raise money for greyhound adoption. Now, with an enormous effort by many people assembling, photographing and cataloging items, we are ready to run <a href="http://gpanashville.org/auction2.php">our first auction.</a> You can register now and it opens on Friday, November 8th.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuyXEmXPLr1bNI1WY5D8E-xi-IzOf7X-taTcjojklb6c8e_uTCUtM8F16asRTRaAIRHbj0BHI2ZJ5mPs8dw8q7z5MXAtkP-k5RMk3l1ZoEvzCztQn9C6Hy4y-oSoMzb2kjmCUO43W4b08G/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuyXEmXPLr1bNI1WY5D8E-xi-IzOf7X-taTcjojklb6c8e_uTCUtM8F16asRTRaAIRHbj0BHI2ZJ5mPs8dw8q7z5MXAtkP-k5RMk3l1ZoEvzCztQn9C6Hy4y-oSoMzb2kjmCUO43W4b08G/s400/photo+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Please go and have a look at the items and sign up for the auction. There are a lot of great items and it is for a great cause.jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-40763243220322486982013-05-19T19:26:00.001-05:002013-05-19T19:26:38.942-05:00How to make road kill, by Kassa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTO54qSuhiWQNSq1r2P47-ppkLI9jwTzrWQYRDw04p-osWObGEEbpEfRzrNeQ74Vd8cCyE_JywlYe_QIHQrpxvqR9nrBxgAO7KPBXdWJczkeDFknqgAqdgKkHxGGG-WDvFgbCLcVf3jNtl/s1600/DSCN0190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTO54qSuhiWQNSq1r2P47-ppkLI9jwTzrWQYRDw04p-osWObGEEbpEfRzrNeQ74Vd8cCyE_JywlYe_QIHQrpxvqR9nrBxgAO7KPBXdWJczkeDFknqgAqdgKkHxGGG-WDvFgbCLcVf3jNtl/s400/DSCN0190.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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First get a brand new stuffy toy complete with squeaker.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8Tmc0ardLZEpwIUmfLHCfE9f13rQ-ZICRpGDrMVKfVHdFDEVFqwrGE5MSkIEwpM2eWyDgQyHQReXTVVhgJ1iorQpb2a3L6-fjLvIC6kOeXuVli4BujHOUIJ0n3xDWslokjjrL8JgjJBG/s1600/DSCN0203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8Tmc0ardLZEpwIUmfLHCfE9f13rQ-ZICRpGDrMVKfVHdFDEVFqwrGE5MSkIEwpM2eWyDgQyHQReXTVVhgJ1iorQpb2a3L6-fjLvIC6kOeXuVli4BujHOUIJ0n3xDWslokjjrL8JgjJBG/s400/DSCN0203.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Identify the precise location of the squeaker</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtHYrGrWdRTT6IUirHTmFAM5qg-vgG-aC1i3rxWkIZk1KzIBPMpH0JbHtbGrnfpTH_9DXiP2_LJFeoUJCftKAZKpZMNr4Lkh77TW1cqbP9EgXGej-MG8CMBsl-r9XIsIFmSNbBwKDBwd-/s1600/DSCN0288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtHYrGrWdRTT6IUirHTmFAM5qg-vgG-aC1i3rxWkIZk1KzIBPMpH0JbHtbGrnfpTH_9DXiP2_LJFeoUJCftKAZKpZMNr4Lkh77TW1cqbP9EgXGej-MG8CMBsl-r9XIsIFmSNbBwKDBwd-/s400/DSCN0288.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Carefully rip into the toy and extract the squeaker. Surgically remove any stuffing that you can grip.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8m80QIXorJQjdrbajuJRn21zX3-Fh41BSTXrMBUl9JIPy-T54vL9l9xPTK__xpzlNXMdhWfEV5Kx-UQ1k2oTnpRxalYhpyvx2DkxPzrvFFyHGiFVW5fNZh4nvkn24_9Ntep_dtT0F4pOY/s1600/DSCN0433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8m80QIXorJQjdrbajuJRn21zX3-Fh41BSTXrMBUl9JIPy-T54vL9l9xPTK__xpzlNXMdhWfEV5Kx-UQ1k2oTnpRxalYhpyvx2DkxPzrvFFyHGiFVW5fNZh4nvkn24_9Ntep_dtT0F4pOY/s400/DSCN0433.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Result. One empty carcass.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVo249GSUqjHD396rNgt0Ynct1ybGaz9RHcv7xbt2tcurYmJmC40MJrIxVfF0e5aLzs9JAR63jMpKvF5Wdx7wvA-BR5oC4yXXD6OFnOcgEABdYYg84lL87oetqBI12sZPDZkiAbcoFSdIq/s1600/Kassa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVo249GSUqjHD396rNgt0Ynct1ybGaz9RHcv7xbt2tcurYmJmC40MJrIxVfF0e5aLzs9JAR63jMpKvF5Wdx7wvA-BR5oC4yXXD6OFnOcgEABdYYg84lL87oetqBI12sZPDZkiAbcoFSdIq/s400/Kassa.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Get a hold of your brothers new toy.....</div>
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<br />jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-70927454218061176992013-05-07T22:20:00.000-05:002013-05-07T22:20:30.860-05:00Analytic MoodI was in a somewhat analytic mood today and so I felt like having a look at some greyhound data assembled by Grey2k. I find that Grey2K gathers quite a lot of data but seems to cherry pick the results without really looking it it as a whole. Their purpose is to end greyhound racing and so they look at all the information that they get through that lens. I want to look at things from the point of view of not expecting perfection but rather to determine if there is there indeed is a systemic problem in the industry. Grey2K's bias is that wrong doing, or failure is due to a system that is corrupt to the root and must be ended. My bias is that racing is a system filled with checks and balances, but that is ultimately comprised of humans that have similar human failings to those found in any industry.<br />
<br />
I found that Grey2K had requested the disciplinary records from the different tracks in the different states. They assembled the data together into a searchable <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/records.html">database</a>. I found it easy to look up individual records but could not get any summary (aggregate) data so I wrote a simple program to get the data and put it in my own database for analysis. I decided to analyse 2 different tracks. The ones I chose are the once my boys are from being Birmingham Alabama and Southland in West Memphis Arkansas.<br />
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Birmingham is a track that currently houses 423 active racers at 9 different <a href="http://www.birminghamracecourse.com/data/roster/kennels.htm">kennels</a>. Estimating from track info they run anywhere from 5000 to 6000 races per year or 400 to 500 per month. From 2002 to 2012 only 162 disciplinary actions in fines have been taken amassing $8920 in fines. The majority of the actions taken from 2008 to 2012. Grey2K manually classified all the actions into one of the following <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/DatabaseGuide.pdf">categories</a>: Abuse, Conduct, Death, Drugs, Injury, License, Miscellaneous, Neglect, Racing Rules, Vaccinations, and Weight/Weigh-Ins.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Abuse:</h3>
There have only been 2 disciplinary actions taken that Grey2K classified as abuse. Both were from the same kennel in 2007 where the offender was found keeping more than one greyhound in a single crate. A total fine of $175 was issued.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Conduct:</h3>
Conduct breaches have nothing specifically to do with the safety of greyhounds per say, but rather are disciplinary actions taken against individuals for their actions on or off the job. Grey2K classifies conduct as follows. "However, the category of “conduct” is used for a human that tested positive for drugs (or engaged in other negative behaviors)." At Birmingham their were 22 conduct violations with one of the following reasons. Only one had any relationship to humans testing positive for illegal drugs:<br />
<ul>
<li>failed to supervise leadouts</li>
<li>disorderly conduct</li>
<li>human drug positive-marijuana</li>
<li>conduct detrimental to racing</li>
<li>possession of gum on grounds</li>
<li>possession of tobacco on grounds</li>
<li>being in restricted area</li>
<li>possession of beer in kennel compound</li>
<li>entered restricted area</li>
<li>not handling their business in a proper manner</li>
<li>possession of gum during weigh in</li>
<li>possession of a cigar during weigh in</li>
<li>possession of alcohol during kennel inspection</li>
<li>possession of food in restricted area</li>
<li>having a cigar in the paddock at weigh in</li>
<li>possession of alcoholic beverages in kennel compound</li>
<li>possession of a soda container while entering..</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Drugs:</h3>
There were 13 disciplinary actions taken for the reason Grey2K classifies as drugs. I found the <a href="http://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/offices/racingCommission/Documents/greyhound_rules.pdf">Arkansas </a>racing rules online and while they are not Alabama's, based on the fines that were issued I think they line up with the way Alabama classifies the violations.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>There were 3 cases where a syringe was found. Possession of a syringe results in a $25 fine.</li>
<li>There were 9 cases of greyhounds testing positive for carprofen (Rimadyl) or methocarbomol (Robaxin). Class 4 drugs includes therapeutic medications which should have less potential to alter performance than those in Class 3. Each of these violations resulted in a $50 fine.</li>
<li>There was 1 serious case of doping with Benzoylecqonie ( a metabolite of cocaine ) that got quite a bit of attention in 2009. The offender was fined $800 and given a 60 day suspension. I do not see him on the roster of kennels at the Birmingham track. This one violation is hardly an indication of a systemic problem as <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/al.html">Grey2K believes</a>. </li>
</ul>
<h3>
Weight/Weigh ins:</h3>
Like Wrestlers, greyhounds have target weights that the trainer decides they will compete at. If at weigh in time they fail to meet the weight, the trainer is fined. A greyhound being underweight or overweight in this classification does not mean the greyhound is gaunt or obese. It is simply a record of greyhounds that failed to meet the target weight. Of the 162 disciplinary actions 90 of them are for the reason of weight/weigh ins.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Racing Rules:</h3>
Racing rules violations are really violations of procedural issues. There were 24 racing rule violations.<br />
Examples are: failed to perform preliminary card check resulting in two greyhounds racing with the wrong blankets, failed to operate lure properly, failure to remove collar from dog in race, failure to perform duties of patrol judge, and failure to perform duties of a starter.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Vaccinations:</h3>
There was one fine imposed because a vaccination was found not to be current.<br />
<br />
<h3>
License:</h3>
There were 2 cases of penalties under the category of License. One was a failure to obtain a permit/license and the second just specified that the license was suspended with no reason given.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3>
Misc:</h3>
<div>
Examples of the 8 Misc violations are: Unauthorized to sign in visitors into a kennel, Failure to comply with a judges order, Failure to appear, Failure to pay fine on time, Violating Kennel Overflow Policy</div>
<div>
failure to disclose criminal history and racing history on license application.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 503px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 4205; mso-width-source: userset; width: 86pt;" width="115"></col>
<col span="10" style="mso-width-alt: 1280; mso-width-source: userset; width: 26pt;" width="35"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1389; mso-width-source: userset; width: 29pt;" width="38"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="31" style="height: 23.25pt;">
<td class="xl65" colspan="8" height="31" style="height: 23.25pt; mso-ignore: colspan; width: 268pt;" width="360">Alabama (Birmingham): Incidents</td>
<td style="width: 26pt;" width="35"></td>
<td style="width: 26pt;" width="35"></td>
<td style="width: 26pt;" width="35"></td>
<td style="width: 29pt;" width="38"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="115"></td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2002</td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2003</td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2004</td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2005</td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2007</td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2008</td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2009</td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2010</td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2011</td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2012</td>
<td class="xl70">Total</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="115">drugs</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">5</td>
<td align="right">13</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="115">license</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">1</td>
<td align="right">2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="60" style="height: 45.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="60" style="height: 45.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="115">weight/weigh
ins</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">22</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">42</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">26</td>
<td align="right">90</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="115">abuse</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right">2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="115">racing
rules</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">5</td>
<td align="right">24</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="115">conduct</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">2</td>
<td align="right">22</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="115">vaccinations</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="115">misc</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66" style="width: 26pt;" width="35">0</td>
<td align="right">8</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="115">Total</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">42</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">63</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">39</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">162</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 526px;">
<colgroup><col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1499; mso-width-source: userset; width: 31pt;" width="41"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1718; mso-width-source: userset; width: 35pt;" width="47"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1572; mso-width-source: userset; width: 32pt;" width="43"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1536; mso-width-source: userset; width: 32pt;" width="42"></col>
<col span="4" style="mso-width-alt: 1499; mso-width-source: userset; width: 31pt;" width="41"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1536; mso-width-source: userset; width: 32pt;" width="42"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1462; mso-width-source: userset; width: 30pt;" width="40"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1572; mso-width-source: userset; width: 32pt;" width="43"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="31" style="height: 23.25pt;">
<td class="xl65" colspan="7" height="31" style="height: 23.25pt; mso-ignore: colspan; width: 240pt;" width="319">Alabama (Birmingham): Fines</td>
<td style="width: 31pt;" width="41"></td>
<td style="width: 31pt;" width="41"></td>
<td style="width: 32pt;" width="42"></td>
<td style="width: 30pt;" width="40"></td>
<td style="width: 32pt;" width="43"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">2002</td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 35pt;" width="47">2003</td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 32pt;" width="43">2004</td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">2005</td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">2007</td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">2008</td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">2009</td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">2010</td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">2011</td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 30pt;" width="40">2012</td>
<td class="xl73">Total</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">drugs</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 35pt;" width="47">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="43">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">800</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">25</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">275</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 30pt;" width="40">200</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">1300</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">license</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 35pt;" width="47">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="43">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 30pt;" width="40">25</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">25</td>
</tr>
<tr height="60" style="height: 45.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="60" style="height: 45.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">weight/weigh
ins</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 35pt;" width="47">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="43">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">610</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">1265</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 30pt;" width="40">640</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">2515</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">abuse</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 35pt;" width="47">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="43">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">175</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 30pt;" width="40">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">175</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">racing
rules</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 35pt;" width="47">400</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="43">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">225</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">250</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">225</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 30pt;" width="40">200</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">1300</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">conduct</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">500</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 35pt;" width="47">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="43">1350</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">1000</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">225</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">205</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 30pt;" width="40">100</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">3380</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">vaccinations</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 35pt;" width="47">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="43">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">25</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 30pt;" width="40">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">25</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">misc</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 35pt;" width="47">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="43">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">75</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 31pt;" width="41">75</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 32pt;" width="42">50</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69" style="width: 30pt;" width="40">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">200</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">Total</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">500</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">400</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">1350</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">1000</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">175</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">75</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">1025</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">1185</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">2045</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">1165</td>
<td align="right" class="xl71">8920</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I will be briefer with Arkansa data:</div>
<div>
<div>
Southland Park has one of the largest kennel compounds in the nation. It's twenty-five buildings can hold up to 1,950 greyhounds at any given time. It conducts an average of 6,000 races over the course of a year. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Grey2K had data from Arkansa from 2010 to 2013 resulting in 63 disciplinary actions.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The drug violation was for a class 4, penalty B therapeutic drug.</li>
<li>The abuse violation was from the racing secretary observing the offender mistreating a greyhound. It resulted in a 15 day suspension, 1 year probation and a $200 fine.</li>
<li>The neglect violation resulted from 2 greyhound being left in their turnout pen after completion of morning work. A $300 fine was imposed.</li>
<li>Misc violations were from late payment for previous violations and failure to secure workers compensation.</li>
<li>The license violations were failure to obtain licenses on time.</li>
<li>Conduct violations included: intoxication,marijuana,stealing a wallet,disruptive on track grounds,failure to follow procedure and report the death of a greyhound, using profane language and misleading racing officials during an investigation. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 384px;">
<colgroup><col span="6" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="31" style="height: 23.25pt;">
<td class="xl66" colspan="4" height="31" style="height: 23.25pt; mso-ignore: colspan; width: 192pt;" width="256">Arkansas: Incidents</td>
<td style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
<td style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
<td class="xl70" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">2010</td>
<td class="xl70" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">2011</td>
<td class="xl70" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">2012</td>
<td class="xl70" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">2013</td>
<td class="xl69">Total</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">drugs</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">license</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">4</td>
</tr>
<tr height="60" style="height: 45.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="60" style="height: 45.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">weight/weigh
ins</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">14</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">16</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">33</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">abuse</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">racing
rules</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">2</td>
<td align="right">2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">conduct</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">17</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">misc</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">1</td>
<td align="right">3</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">neglect</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">injury</td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Total</td>
<td align="right">3</td>
<td align="right">28</td>
<td align="right">29</td>
<td align="right">3</td>
<td align="right">63</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 384px;">
<colgroup><col span="6" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="31" style="height: 23.25pt;">
<td class="xl65" colspan="3" height="31" style="height: 23.25pt; mso-ignore: colspan; width: 144pt;" width="192">Arkansas: Fines</td>
<td style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
<td style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
<td style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
<td class="xl70" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">2010</td>
<td class="xl70" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">2011</td>
<td class="xl70" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">2012</td>
<td class="xl70" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">2013</td>
<td class="xl71">Total</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">drugs</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">50</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">50</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">license</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">150</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">150</td>
</tr>
<tr height="60" style="height: 45.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="60" style="height: 45.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">weight/weigh
ins</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">200</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">1175</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">1325</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">2700</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">abuse</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">200</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">200</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">racing
rules</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">400</td>
<td align="right">400</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">conduct</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">600</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">1402</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">2002</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">misc</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">50</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">600</td>
<td align="right">650</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">neglect</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">300</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl67" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right">300</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64">injury</td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">0</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Total</td>
<td align="right">200</td>
<td align="right">2375</td>
<td align="right">2877</td>
<td align="right">1000</td>
<td align="right">6452</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
Looking at this data, I think that the racing industry is designed to carefully monitor how racing is conducted. It takes especially seriously anything that could effect the outcome of a race, especially performance enhancing drugs. It also demonstrates the importance of how individuals conduct themselves. A disciplinary system that issued no violations would be an indication that it is completely ineffective. This report shows how the system responded to situations from the relatively minor violations to the serious ones and is an indication of what kind of environment it is trying to foster. Given the number of dogs, races and kennels the number of disciplinary actions does not seem condemning.</div>
jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-7876612192614621942013-04-07T18:38:00.002-05:002013-04-07T18:38:54.307-05:00Nevada has found his home.This weekend went on his first home visit and is now being fostered with intent to adopt by a fine family who already has one greyhound. <br />
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My wife and I wish him all the best in his new life. </div>
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My boys will miss sunning with him but of course we are all very happy he found his home.</div>
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jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-11022306769772012182013-03-17T18:48:00.000-05:002013-03-17T18:48:26.993-05:00Matchy Matchy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkuk98zgDUIE7MsUdj3VJ82H_Eb1UJ7YyC3Fc4jq0e0tLAiCxwG3NLV9i-VrgzY-a20B_HMjXKjXhawWJFPV6nJiyg2veYS_XpSCllTeWdLbGnPxBuAxDcF4F0RDvv7IR7KWNeWN-2ZMUQ/s1600/DSCN2287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkuk98zgDUIE7MsUdj3VJ82H_Eb1UJ7YyC3Fc4jq0e0tLAiCxwG3NLV9i-VrgzY-a20B_HMjXKjXhawWJFPV6nJiyg2veYS_XpSCllTeWdLbGnPxBuAxDcF4F0RDvv7IR7KWNeWN-2ZMUQ/s400/DSCN2287.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I just realized that our tile matches our hounds.....</div>
jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-76327838284073826212013-03-16T20:59:00.000-05:002013-03-16T20:59:10.719-05:00A new step.Our family has decided to take on a new step in this wacky world of pups. We are fostering a greyhound named Nevada for the <a href="http://gpanashville.org/">GPANashville.org</a> adoption group. I'm pretty excited about it actually. Getting a dog from the track is in many ways like getting a puppy. Just a mature well trained puppy. There is so many experiences that are new for them and I'm taking the view of trying to pack as many pet life skills into him that I can to make his first adoptive home his last. Too bad I'm not a better dog trainer.<br />
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Nevada has his own blog so that people can follow along with his progress and see what a great dog he is. <a href="http://gpancrynevada.blogspot.com/">http://gpancrynevada.blogspot.com/</a><br />
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Overall I think the dogs have been enjoying life. My friend Diane caught these shots of Ricky at a grey play meeting.<br />
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I also dug out an old old camera. My Nikon Coolpix 995. When we got it it was the bleeding edge of technology and to my recollection it was the first digital camera capable of producing photos with enough resolution that you could actually print. During the turn around time between pictures, I can count Mississippi's. I have to hold the battery case together as I shoot or the whole thing will shut off. All that said, it is the only functional camera I have atm and all things considered I'm actually pretty impressed with the pix all things considered.<br />
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Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Cheers!</div>
jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-68066654675200178082013-01-13T12:25:00.002-06:002013-01-13T12:25:59.165-06:00Reprieve"Rain rain go away..." The holiday season has been a wet one here in Nashville and once again this weekend has us under water. This is a perfect opportunity for me to reminisce about the few brief reprieves from the weather. Our friend Diane has been practicing with her camera as of late and graciously allowed me to post some of her pictures here. She has some beautiful stills of the pups without their racing muzzles on as well but I personally lean toward action shots. Despite all the racing around, Kassa and I do take some time to smell the roses now and again. Of course by "Smell the roses" we really mean that Kassa stands and I rub... <br />
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I love this shot of the pups racing in the grey play field. Especially our honorary greyhound Maggie on the far right. That was a busy day. I think it was a pre-holiday pic but shh.. nobody knows that except those in the greyplay group.</div>
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Greyhounds have a lot of fun on these outings. They like playing "Superman". We should get them some capes!<br />
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Ricky has really adjusted well this year. He rebounded quickly from the brief fireworks exposure on New Years Eve. I can really see how his trust in us has grown and he has grown accustomed to us being in his personal space. Ricky has always preferred running over walking, but even so, he has been eager to join Kassa and I on an evening walk. I'm hoping to ramp up the walking again as their frequency and duration have slipped over the last year.<br />
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Looking back over the last year I can once again see how adding the dogs to our family and interacting with this group of people has been a positive thing. In the coming year we are looking into doing some more formalized dog training. Hopefully that will provide me with some more interesting fodder for the blog. I wish everyone good health, wealth, and happiness in 2013.</div>
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the end.</div>
jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-63529355541968695622012-10-15T18:03:00.000-05:002012-10-15T18:03:15.471-05:00Mid-South Greyhound Adoption Option: 2012 Reunion<br />
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<a href="http://www.midsouthgreyhound.com/">Mid-South Greyhound Adoption Option</a> is the adoption group that
is partially funded by <a href="http://www.southlandgreyhound.com/">Southland Park</a> and has an on-site kennel. As Ricky Bobby raced at Southland, we decided
to attend their fundraising reunion this year.
Of course the reunion isn't limited to dogs that came
from Southland, but I felt extra motivated to go this year so that Ricky could
see his old stomping grounds.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The event wasn't supposed to start until around 5:00 but we arrived
around 1:00. We were told that it is a
lot of fun to let the dogs observe the races inside and behind the glass and
watch their reactions to everything. There
was some confusion because we were quite early for the event, however eventually
things got sorted out and we (and other greyhound adopters) were graciously invited
into the kennel club with the dogs to watch the races for some private viewing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ricky wasn’t that animated inside. I don't think that his eyes are as good as Kassa’s
are. Outside where he could hear the
sounds and smells associated with a race he was so excited he was hard to
control but Kassa was ever vigilant both inside and out. He was fixated on Rusty (the stuffed
bone/lure) that zips around the track. I
wish I had watched more of the races, but I was so fixated on watching my dog’s
reactions that I kind of forgot to really take in what was going on.<o:p></o:p><br />
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After the matinee finished we went back to the hotel for a
while and returned at 5:00 for cocktail hour.
The dogs milled around as the humans were merry.<br />
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We then had the opportunity to walk the track
with the boys. While the dogs walk the track they do an announcement on the viewing floor describing the greyhound adoption program.<br />
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Both Ricky and Kassa were
super excited and I admit that I had a very strong temptation to unhook them so
they could run the track. I kept my
temptations in check however and we went upstairs for the fundraiser dinner and
auction.<o:p></o:p></div>
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They had a great turn out at the event and both hound and
human were suitably exhausted by then end.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The next morning we went to check out the adoption
kennel. The staff there kept the whole
kennel absolutely immaculate and were providing the 'broken leg dogs' with excellent care while they mended in preparation for adoption. It was
really quite an impressive setup. <o:p></o:p><br />
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These adoption programs are very well run; and they also have large financial burdens. Surgery for a dog that has a broken leg can be thousands of dollars alone, not including the cost of food and shelter. Another huge area of concern, is one of transportation costs. As the landscape of racing has changed, we are now in a position where there are a large number of dogs residing in the east, and a large number of adopters and adoption centers in the west with no systematic, safe, and cost effective, way to transport them. <a href="http://www.almosthomeforhounds.org/about-us/facility.php">Almost Home for Hounds</a>, located in Nunn CO acts as a way-station for greyhounds on the way to retirement, by providing both housing and medical services including (spaying/ neutering, dental cleaning, vaccinations, heart worm tests and microchipping.) It works closely with adoption groups on the west coast, to ensure that the dogs have a safe transition from their racing lives to their life as a pet. I personally think that much of these medical and transportation expenses should be built into the <a href="http://ngagreyhounds.com/">National Greyhound Association</a>'s racing licensing fees; however, I don't think this is on anyone's radar. Until then, these needs will need to be addressed by the adoption community, and the good people who volunteer their time and money to it.<br />
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jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-19671695168954208512012-09-23T19:00:00.001-05:002012-09-23T20:38:46.099-05:00Catching Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This year brought the unfortunate turn of events where my camera suffered an untimely demise. It has proved difficult for me to coordinate grabbing the pictures off my wife's camera and getting anything onto the blog while the events are still fresh in my mind. So this is going to be a great big catch-up post with few words and lots of pics.</div>
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Including:</div>
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The snake Kassa and Ricky cornered at the grey play field and would not leave alone:</div>
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As a result it we had to confine them to our area. I have no idea what kind of snake it was but I preferred not to experiment with the dogs.</div>
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Luckily the next time the group gathered the snake had moved on.</div>
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Our mini vacation to the lake, where I grabbed a few scenic shots. Kassa and Ricky stayed with a greyplay family. I realized later that we missed Kassa's birthday. The great thing about dogs is.. they don't seem to mind when you miss these things.</div>
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The GPAN summer Picnic</div>
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Our friend Lou's dog (Oath) ran for president.</div>
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She got Kassa's vote and of course won the day.</div>
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There was also a hot dog eating contest.</div>
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Needless to say, although the blog hasn't been that active, Kassa and Ricky have been. Kassa still wont fetch a ball anymore, (except when he and I are alone at the baseball diamond). He loves working on stays and recalls though. Ricky fetches like a wild thing and has taken to eating dirt out of the planters. He will now jump into high vehicles with coaxing of treats etc but he takes his own sweet time deciding to do it. His fireworks phobias have receded and he is now eager and ready to go outside. He is a happy goofy boy, and I think I can see his confidence has grown as has his trust in us.<br />
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jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-24688954064013898982012-07-30T09:30:00.001-05:002012-07-30T09:30:33.112-05:00Memories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A friend of mine recently, and unexpectedly, lost her heart dog. One of the things that seems to be a bit difficult for her is that as the camera holder in the family, her pics of the dog are many, but the pics of her with the dog were few. I'm really thankful that there are a few people in the group with cameras and will always have fond memories of this bbq greyplay event. Here I am having a bit of fun with the pups.</div>
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Here is my good friend Tony, drowning in hounds :)<br />
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Thanks very much to Diane for capturing these memories.</div>
<br />jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-65735490941738024092012-07-03T17:44:00.000-05:002012-07-03T17:44:07.796-05:00Giles Express Needs a hand<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Recently it came to my attention that Giles Express was "dumped at animal control, with more than 1000 fleas sucking him dry. On the verge of death, he was transported to Knoxville Pet Emergency Center for care" Giles was an adopted dog who was obviously suffering from neglect. He is also my dog's (Ricky Bobby's) sire. If you can spare a dollar or two please consider contributing to Giles' medical expenses.
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Donation fund for Giles' medical expenses.<br />
<a href="http://sweetiesenior.chipin.com/giles-express-abused-greyhound">http://sweetiesenior.chipin.com/giles-express-abused-greyhound</a>
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Emergency Auction for Giles<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/417359881636446/">http://www.facebook.com/events/417359881636446/</a>
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I'm a pretty strong advocate of the adoption system as a whole even though, as some are quick to point out, I don't invest the hours and hours of work to the cause that some do. I recently did a random survey by looking at all the dogs that raced at a track on a particular day in history. I then tried to find out where the dogs ended up that were no longer racing. I was easily able to find the dogs that were racing based on the track's website. I then started doing internet searches and used resources such as greyhound-data.com to find out where the dogs are. I was able to find 67% of the dogs had ended up in an adoption program using this method. I noticed that the adoption group based at the track does not use greyhound data, so I contacted them. They act as a central hub sending dogs to groups throughout the states and many into an adoption group in Canada. My contact there was able to bring the total entering adoption programs to 94% with 6% returning to the farms. I was elated. Based on this random sample I can't say that the adoption rate in the USA is 94%, nor can I say that at that track is 94%, but I can say that it is an indication of a successful system and one that people who contribute more than I do should be proud of. (It has been pointed out that I mostly get together with people and their dogs, drink beer and allow the dogs to run and play, and pontificate online... for which what can I say but.. GUILTY..).<br />
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Then news of Giles comes which brings me crashing down to earth. Even if the system was honed to perfection, there is no utopian solution. Life is messy. There are all sorts of things that can happen in the racing world due to the highly athletic competitive nature of the sport, due to complacency and human error, and due a catastrophic failure in the formation of some people's humanity (<a href="http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/At_least_20_greyhounds_found_dead_in_Panhandle_106403708.html">Ron Williams</a>). I think what galls me most is that Giles wasn't failed by commercial racing system. He was very successful there. Instead he was failed by the pet system and, as shown by many animal channel tv shows, many pets are. At 11 years old Giles is not a young dog. I'm sure where ever he spends his remaining years it will be a home fit for kings, but I really hope we can set up a reunion where he can see his offspring Ricky and Pickle.<br />
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PS. My actual random sample looked like this: Started with 112 dogs. Found that 52 of them were no longer racing. 49 of the 52 were found in an adoption program.<br />
<br />jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-6505221709260308882012-05-24T10:51:00.000-05:002012-05-24T10:51:00.975-05:00I now dub thee Grey Play GrillA few weeks ago one of the families in the grey play group donated their grill to the field. Now this opens up a wide range of possibilities of entertainment for both human and hound. Ok ... mostly human. Saturday evening we decided to give the grill its first whirl in its new grey play role and I had been anticipating it all week. The weather forecast looked clear and although not all of our beloved greyplay members could make it we were going to have a good turnout. On the day of we got a bit of a scare in that some unexpected rain started moving through and was forecast to hit the field right at the time we were to arrive. But, die-hards that we are we decided to go for it.<br />
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As it turned out we got the best of the best. There was some thunder rumbling now and again and we did get a little drizzle, but that just served to cool things down so that the dogs could get a bit randy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLA1gJYuKqHyHyEKPKczZy7XWLJmr_f-3yWx8NlQD4OpnuZTbbzRfcUmgFgJeQYSrwONdGBeH2ugTLyc4hKF_u1A4lvgKetjlzQY9i2cxaTxS1lo9eL3SIvLZ9HyDkfcCdKFdcorZDudm4/s1600/randydogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLA1gJYuKqHyHyEKPKczZy7XWLJmr_f-3yWx8NlQD4OpnuZTbbzRfcUmgFgJeQYSrwONdGBeH2ugTLyc4hKF_u1A4lvgKetjlzQY9i2cxaTxS1lo9eL3SIvLZ9HyDkfcCdKFdcorZDudm4/s400/randydogs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In total there are few things that I enjoy more than a grill out with friends while watching the dogs zip. The batch of margaritas that we consumed certainly didn't hurt as well. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6yZosUz64nJ-rKRj6d7_F8_3orphSCDoFWihb2Vs3DvUOqQiJwoKzDlDZhHqllSzW-3dZnz80HYCcxefODHXYDEXc-JNR8BpKGNfVdzLsBYCOxAY3PNpbaFchn3GdXrgsI78q7v8sFfak/s1600/sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6yZosUz64nJ-rKRj6d7_F8_3orphSCDoFWihb2Vs3DvUOqQiJwoKzDlDZhHqllSzW-3dZnz80HYCcxefODHXYDEXc-JNR8BpKGNfVdzLsBYCOxAY3PNpbaFchn3GdXrgsI78q7v8sFfak/s400/sunset.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I really can't recommend enough finding a good group of folks to enjoy your dogs with and finding a place to do it. Everybody wins!</div>
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<br /></div>jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-81527141112594995912012-05-13T22:08:00.000-05:002012-05-13T22:08:28.214-05:00Bambi and Thumper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVu2Kl9mYd__rC7OVFU2WUduft83Vbf0heAI0AVMejgS0jhd1CVDmGWOSetA1TmLLbHSwgQtLoETVEAxM_Jw79ohhL3tRPmhpkg-bHYO7xk5g1xJsFRDhNjzn90uO_1Zx_AyXbt3OqRU26/s1600/P5120057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVu2Kl9mYd__rC7OVFU2WUduft83Vbf0heAI0AVMejgS0jhd1CVDmGWOSetA1TmLLbHSwgQtLoETVEAxM_Jw79ohhL3tRPmhpkg-bHYO7xk5g1xJsFRDhNjzn90uO_1Zx_AyXbt3OqRU26/s400/P5120057.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Hi .. I'm Thumper</div>
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Hi Thumper.. I'm Bambi</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7ehz-X2f5tN2Y9NaJf51VYdR7iOb24UT1fIaYqeFMJjo-36GOokerJncCUqCO7Oh0y1a4DA6T__G1XE9OF0uvJ-6VNGz1Z_Gcdy6f0elR7iRikQNPTuePD7-dXyk-6fHcYH6UMJIFMrl/s1600/P5120054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7ehz-X2f5tN2Y9NaJf51VYdR7iOb24UT1fIaYqeFMJjo-36GOokerJncCUqCO7Oh0y1a4DA6T__G1XE9OF0uvJ-6VNGz1Z_Gcdy6f0elR7iRikQNPTuePD7-dXyk-6fHcYH6UMJIFMrl/s400/P5120054.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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I'm coming over to say HI</div>
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And closer</div>
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And closer...</div>
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Thumper: Nice to meet you Bambi .. BYE..</div>
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Kassa: Darn Foiled again... but dad.. that bunny is MOCKING ME!!</div>
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The rabbits in my back yard are INCREDIBLY BOLD. We repeated this exercise about 4 times this past week but this time I remembered my camera. They will be in for a shock if the boys ever unhook. Pics don't really do justice to how close we actually got.</div>
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<br />jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-84208997139052894942012-05-09T14:12:00.000-05:002012-05-09T14:12:57.838-05:00Racing Into the LightOne of the new things in the greyhound world is a <a href="http://greyhoundmovie.com/">documentary</a>, by Bill Buchanan, being created on the history of greyhounds and the inner workings of the racing industry.<br />
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When I watched the original version of this trailer I was concerned that this documentary was going to end up being fairly one sided against the racing industry. It started out with footage that showed the majestic appeal of the hounds thundering around the track, followed by interviews with people in the industry explaining their positions and the issues they see. It then progressed to show dogs wiping out during the race and a dog with an amputated leg which was no doubt the result of a bad break. It then ended with some hard emotional slams against the industry via interviews with Grey2K affiliates. At least that was my perception. My concern was that a documentary which works specifically to demonize the industry could cause a setback in the positive reforms that have occurred in racing and damage the relationships between the industry and adoption groups.<br />
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I have watched this video and revised versions of it quite a few times since then and the more I watch it the more I believe it is going to be a fair and balanced accounting of the racing and adoption world and some problems that exist within it.<br />
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<ol>
<li>It gives credence to the history of the greyhound and its athleticism and its desire to run.</li>
<li>It allows the racing industry to speak. It shows that the hounds can not be forced to run and must be well cared for in order to compete. </li>
<li>It shows greyhounds in their track environments including the crates, newspaper bedding, and muzzles at turnout and that they appear healthy from birth to track. I don't get any negative impression off of the footage of the dog farm.</li>
<li>It shows that wipe outs and injuries do indeed happen and states an area of possible improvement which is improving the condition of the track surface. When it does show the dramatic wipe out it does not end the clip leaving you to assume the dog died. It shows the dog getting up and trotting off the track.</li>
<li>It shows the animosity between the greyhound breeders and trainers and the anti-racing groups.</li>
<li>It shows the anti-racing community stating the purpose of their cause and speaking to their concerns about the risk of injury to the dogs and their views about the types of injuries sustained.</li>
<li>It shows the anti-racing community stating their affection for the dogs and their view that they are not objects but living breathing beings that deserve respect and decency.</li>
<li>It ends with footage of greyhounds as pets in happy homes.</li>
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If I were to try to create a picture of the racing landscape as I have perceive it to be, I don't think I would have done it any differently (except of course I wouldn't have had the excellent cinematography and dramatic music and the spelling on the subtitles would have been in error).<br />
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From what I have seen of reviews of this clip in online communities, it appears that the extremists are still extreme and no doubt Mr Buchanan is exhausted and exasperated from reading and responding to email regarding his intentions. I was curious how people, who have little to do with greyhounds, felt about this trailer and so I asked two. Note that these are not Mr Buchanan's judgments but are the judgments that the people took away from the information presented in the clip.<br />
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The first is a good friend of mine and someone who is an animal rights advocate by nature and practice. She was suspicious of the motives, felt it was overall pro racing but felt she could see that attempt was made to be objective. She was moderately reassured that the documentary would be authentic by Mr Buchanans past documentary ( <a href="http://www.companionstonone.com/">Companions to None</a>) on dog population and abuse issues in Mexico. She could not (much to my amusement) watch the clip beyond the dog wiping out and so probably will not be viewing the documentary in its finished state. <br />
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The second person I asked, also a good friend, is a sales person, father of two, and pet owner. He was able to bring himself to watch the whole clip (note the sarcasm) and felt that it wasn't communicating a fundamental problem with racing, but that higher track standards are needed.<br />
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In conclusion I would say that since the extremists (as I've seen online) are critical of this project, that is probably a very good indication that it is doing its job well. I believe I have come to support this project both in the blogosphere and soon via a financial contribution and I hope you consider doing so as well. I think this documentary could be a wonderful thing for greyhounds and greyhound adoption.jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-37827120287858651162012-04-27T14:27:00.000-05:002012-04-27T15:56:51.457-05:00Manswers: Why guys should get greyhounds.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Warning:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All though the following statements are pretty
true, they are assembled in a specific crass format designed to emulate the TV show MANSWERS.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Some, if not most, may be
offended.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">BRAGGING RIGHTS:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">
Who knows why, but men like to think their dogs are tough. The truth is however, that anyone with an
ounce of moral fiber would hate for their dog to ever have to prove it. Who wants to go to court because your dog
got in a big fight with another dog? Now
greyhounds aren’t exactly known for being tough. They are known for being fast,
athletic, and muscular. They are elite athletes.
The slowest greyhound is faster than
almost any other dog out there. Plus you
know what you are getting before you get it.
The bragging can begin immediately.
Unlike kids, where to live vicariously through them you have to wait 15
to 20 years to see if they amount to anything, a greyhound has already
established his record by the time you get him. Let the vicarious living begin.
If you do want a slightly tougher
looking dog go for a black or a dark brindle greyhound. They are just the same as the other
greyhounds but less likely to be confused with a deer.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>T</b></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">HEY AIN’T SMALL:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> There are lots of nice small dogs out
there, but let’s face it, small dogs are for PURSES. Guys like
BIG dogs. When you go walking up the
street do you want an 11 lb ankle biting Chihuahua<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222;"> </span>hanging
on the end of a string, or do you want an 85lb Greyhound that you don’t have to
bend over to pet. Most other larger
breeds have short lifespans and problems with hip dysplasia. But greyhounds are breed for athleticism so
no hip worries, plus they live usually from 12-14 years old.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">
When you get home from a hard day of work, your boss has been riding you
all day nothing cheers you up like a big old happy boy who wants nothing more
from you than a bit of food, a chance to relieve himself, and to hang out with
you for the evening.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">LAID BACK NOT YAPPY:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> Picture yourself, beer in hand, sitting
down to watch the big game or the next big UFC fight. Do you A) Want a little yappy dog that will
not shutup and let you focus on the event, or B) want a BIG greyhound that’s content
to sit on the couch beside you while you guzzle chips and beer and cheer for
your favorite team.</span></li>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">CHICKS DIG GREYHOUNDS:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">
When you walk around with greyhounds people come to you like
magnets. When chicks meet greyhounds
they immediately fall in love with them.
You are an instant hero because your rescued them from “Untold horrors”. It doesn’t really matter that they are
actually typically well treated while racing. You can tell the woman that …
LATER.</span></li>
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Warnings and Disclaimers:
Greyhounds are addictive. When
you get one you will often find yourself with two or three within one years’
time. Greyhounds are buddies for life. It is seriously <b>UNCOOL</b> to return a greyhound just because you met a new lady with a
hamster who can’t live in the same house as your dog. Never let a woman come between you and your
dog. If in the future life lets you have
kids, find a way to <b>MAKE IT WORK WITH
THE DOG</b>. After all, with your
charming personality, you probably wouldn’t even have been able to get the girl
if not for your lovable pooch. People
who have returned greyhounds to adoption groups have been known to be spontaneously
bagged and pantsed in public by a team of little old ladys.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-73357550899006499372012-04-22T16:46:00.000-05:002012-04-22T16:46:02.562-05:00Full of grey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I don't think my boys could have asked for a better weekend than this. On Saturday one of the dogs in our grey play group (Beth Ann) and her sister Joanna had a birthday bash at the Factory shopping center. It was a meet and greet adventure with lots of pups on hand to generate a lot of attention. Warriors mom was there with her new DSLR to capture some nice photos. All of the pups got a little ice cream and they had a wonderful time. Ricky and Kassa were SUPER excited, as we don't do meet and greats that often. They were pulling on the leash quite a bit to get to the other pups, but settled down as time went on. We got to see a lot of dear friends, some of whom we don't get to see as often as we should.</div>
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Here are the birthday girls now.</div>
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Did someone say Ice Cream!</div>
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Sunday we had our grey play meet and had a good showing. Beth Ann, Tequila, Warrior, Java, Ricky Bobby, Kassa, Specs and lastly and happily Army ( who was recently adopted by Army's people).</div>
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Army was in fine form running with Ricky</div>
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Running with Specs</div>
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The dogs traded paint along the fence</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBksolGOEeZwujGdHker-9pqSAG37OymGnlP_6MgdBA53oItwdYkWYK-HRhjwdchghNxnmRMHCbddw1IWeCdIukmeTm3pB8v6uOLwv4n3vTlY0aBEjFMjSaJhCEz3Q1Dy7YmlJhmb98FJU/s1600/rickyandarmy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBksolGOEeZwujGdHker-9pqSAG37OymGnlP_6MgdBA53oItwdYkWYK-HRhjwdchghNxnmRMHCbddw1IWeCdIukmeTm3pB8v6uOLwv4n3vTlY0aBEjFMjSaJhCEz3Q1Dy7YmlJhmb98FJU/s400/rickyandarmy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Ricky and Army traded paint more than once today.</div>
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The guys enjoyed the straightaways as well.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgor6iuivL2t_BpBspHvFAFGwhm_2ttDccx1UVpRjVklLaZ6pZeHRpXmC8QNFJLZ4zxp35XcbCfYP5_7eZme34UHHgcDbmCOCYi9PZ86gjM1DoR8Nw8sv3GxewIRcGy6TIjHM42Z9YG3mkg/s1600/warior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgor6iuivL2t_BpBspHvFAFGwhm_2ttDccx1UVpRjVklLaZ6pZeHRpXmC8QNFJLZ4zxp35XcbCfYP5_7eZme34UHHgcDbmCOCYi9PZ86gjM1DoR8Nw8sv3GxewIRcGy6TIjHM42Z9YG3mkg/s400/warior.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I think Warrior was really happy to be back.</div>
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I was going to talk a bit on some of the specific training that we have been doing with Ricky for some of his phobias and stubbornness and loading, but I have had such a wonderful afternoon with my happy healthy pups and their friends, that I think I will save that business for another day. Hope you all had as much fun this weekend as I and my boys have.</div>
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<br /></div>jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-21154609415119430922012-04-15T19:36:00.000-05:002012-04-15T19:36:23.680-05:00Wonder Twin Powers.. Activate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ricky and Kassa put together their dynamic duo powers to create a very nice weekend.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWq46hKZwwC6NihskS9HEN9DiRoMjFjkJvkWvh07pkMcPz88h8ZUgYL7hbZ1_QQsTOKqtWqVtFLdx6KzBnTexHDVK_lmb7ERzEmT14Pr7h4zlkr4wpslMYol6r8zt7W5o3ghqBpA4lADh/s1600/wondertwins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWq46hKZwwC6NihskS9HEN9DiRoMjFjkJvkWvh07pkMcPz88h8ZUgYL7hbZ1_QQsTOKqtWqVtFLdx6KzBnTexHDVK_lmb7ERzEmT14Pr7h4zlkr4wpslMYol6r8zt7W5o3ghqBpA4lADh/s400/wondertwins.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVP_kCg9Oc1WR-goElxXAAoYuYbiydqId-vbDi9d8okgIU-sv8VbRY_vLQbB2XXvpZitGRNzJNNl9XCU4qoVqyQK3FJf_UfslX-tLo9STcDnC955UdPynm7Y27WSXwvzxYBPEA6Zile7s9/s1600/P4150084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVP_kCg9Oc1WR-goElxXAAoYuYbiydqId-vbDi9d8okgIU-sv8VbRY_vLQbB2XXvpZitGRNzJNNl9XCU4qoVqyQK3FJf_UfslX-tLo9STcDnC955UdPynm7Y27WSXwvzxYBPEA6Zile7s9/s400/P4150084.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Saturday morning we all met at the park and went for a walk. Ricky did very well but wanted to cool off for a bit in the creek.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyo9e0ncyzU9T514-CV7VL_rvdmpnz3Bp_-Ke9ceWyDFqMy_e_Es1nLd8tw-4CoHdq3vLnSpVvdKx1o2XCHgVYBOE5i2Kjc1O5D6mHmnhSoJ0aC-rsyMPiZUr2-GsECj4sV62evgOA3g4X/s1600/P4140069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyo9e0ncyzU9T514-CV7VL_rvdmpnz3Bp_-Ke9ceWyDFqMy_e_Es1nLd8tw-4CoHdq3vLnSpVvdKx1o2XCHgVYBOE5i2Kjc1O5D6mHmnhSoJ0aC-rsyMPiZUr2-GsECj4sV62evgOA3g4X/s400/P4140069.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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Sunday morning there was more action as our friends had everyone over for some fun running and socializing.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMmuIYS3ImYyAOZhlinA6nPtE0zhdpm1W8seOe3xCoUgKuDstQSZ2Yi2widtO5i5OT5g4acB27oRRDwbpti2cJtUL-DtODfZyzG4cwox9Zni3AGV7jDO_wk_1IzO3YvRkUMQChT06oKPw/s1600/thekids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMmuIYS3ImYyAOZhlinA6nPtE0zhdpm1W8seOe3xCoUgKuDstQSZ2Yi2widtO5i5OT5g4acB27oRRDwbpti2cJtUL-DtODfZyzG4cwox9Zni3AGV7jDO_wk_1IzO3YvRkUMQChT06oKPw/s400/thekids.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ymvdam6rEG-wDiAzWI6br6uVx7Z-Kamlwo9VHi_VUZ4rN1GwUmV2XMnS5RkIDomW_MTHRmh2eK-SEGDu_I7dwBM4U2Uvbe0XlHmu5qEHNyHLmFd4b6K-ovuvDTCtZ_uyyXB5i-KIGPJG/s1600/kasa-azar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ymvdam6rEG-wDiAzWI6br6uVx7Z-Kamlwo9VHi_VUZ4rN1GwUmV2XMnS5RkIDomW_MTHRmh2eK-SEGDu_I7dwBM4U2Uvbe0XlHmu5qEHNyHLmFd4b6K-ovuvDTCtZ_uyyXB5i-KIGPJG/s400/kasa-azar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then we had a real treat when our friends Dianne and Don showed up with a brand new DSLR camera. Dianne took family pics of everyone and this is one of my favorites.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTG5GZSJZzbTxitSw6ej3FRm5xTQx-vp6Z7PO600_samtxJ8DiLcdICXyzA1R8eQoLzVDYnjPQ7OpNtgObzZ9ig3nn8-FSOss6BQt-WZFitdtXUrFTibHMJ2hEsz65e_e-u0G_nllD-QWD/s1600/521971_429166350431089_100000131829654_1776113_101324437_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTG5GZSJZzbTxitSw6ej3FRm5xTQx-vp6Z7PO600_samtxJ8DiLcdICXyzA1R8eQoLzVDYnjPQ7OpNtgObzZ9ig3nn8-FSOss6BQt-WZFitdtXUrFTibHMJ2hEsz65e_e-u0G_nllD-QWD/s400/521971_429166350431089_100000131829654_1776113_101324437_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh.. and dad says not to worry.. because there is still a couple of days before he has to finish up those taxes this year.</div>jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-56562210787220435012012-04-09T10:33:00.000-05:002012-04-09T10:33:00.691-05:00The Humiliation Factor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpWrHSR3Fg-EeTVU-AZ4bmJy_ds95y40Ne-hjRLk-T9IoiuL4_upgmrMGLGSRErAuTtUW6HeVtvcKpFSIoJyM2QqGWC4_oAJ7rRA_e3v0jQ6939_Q6nEg_gHtEXWoVSxFv3eCMpJYti_H/s1600/557794_3085848545457_1241209165_32048079_363355365_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpWrHSR3Fg-EeTVU-AZ4bmJy_ds95y40Ne-hjRLk-T9IoiuL4_upgmrMGLGSRErAuTtUW6HeVtvcKpFSIoJyM2QqGWC4_oAJ7rRA_e3v0jQ6939_Q6nEg_gHtEXWoVSxFv3eCMpJYti_H/s400/557794_3085848545457_1241209165_32048079_363355365_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Ricky is a happy dog. Ricky is a fun dog. Ricky knows not to eat things off of the kitchen counter. Ricky will give way on the couch if you ask him and has learned to share space with Kassa. Ricky will lay down on command and will line up beside me when asked. Ricky wont try to eat food off my plate when I'm eating while watching TV. Rather he will plop down on the couch beside me and let me eat in peace. Ricky will come to you at speed when off leash (in a fenced area). Ricky loves loves loves to play fetch. Ricky is very affectionate. Ricky loves routine. Ricky is stubborn.<br />
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Ricky hates to go for walks. It is bizarre, and I think it is a combination of the his fireworks phobia and the fact that he overheats easily. He will mule up or lay down on the bed after I have put the collar on him in protest of a walk. I have largely suspended leash walking Ricky because neither one of us enjoys it particularly much when he decides to be a mule before we even go out the door. Also because I largely suspended our walks, he has become willing and easy about just taking him out to the turn out area or walking around the back yard to do his business. He also gets a lot of exercise zipping around the field, so I'm not particularly worried about his health in this regard. Ricky has trouble loading in vehicles. He will with some protest or confusion load into the cab of the pickup truck with me, but he will not jump into the back of an SUV. I have tried and am trying high value treats that he is absolutely dying to get. He puts his front legs up and tries to step up but cant get his back legs high enough to step in. Ricky boy wont jump.<br />
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So Ricky and I were pretty set with our arrangement. I let him run in the field, work with him on loading into vehicles and don't take him on long walks, he poops on command and maintains good indoor dog manners. Unfortunately I forgot one little thing: The humiliation factor. Now I have always prided myself on spending a lot of time with my dogs and having generally well behaved, healthy and happy pups. You know what they say about pride. It comes before the fall. I took Ricky to a meet and greet at 100 Oaks in Nashville. It was being held in appreciation of Todd, who had hosted it religiously for the past 4 years so a lot of folks showed up. (Thank you Todd.) When it was time to go, Ricky decided it wasn't. He muled up and would not walk with me. This of course provided much amusement to everyone and we were showered with boisterous laughter. Now I have a fairly self deprecating sense of humor. I lead, and point out a particular weakness before someone else can, thus we can have a good laugh together. This however I was unprepared for. This was not fear or phobia, this just stubbornness and defiance. This was not his failing but mine and my training of him. I became the guy who has to plead with their dog to follow. So I boosted his bum until he decided to jog with me to the truck. Thank god he climbed in with out too much protest.<br />
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This of course all got me thinking about a few things. One is that for a grown man, I'm still remarkably thin skinned in certain circumstances. Now I'm sure that the people at the meet and great were just enjoying an amusing moment, but within these communities there exists joyful support but there can be a scandalous undertone and competition. Dogs are too fat, too thin, nails to long, eat the wrong thing or don't exercise enough. When people are passionate about things they tend to have strong opinions about how things should be done. They want to do the best in their circumstances and sometimes the downfall of others serves as self validation. I realized I have been guilty of such behavior from time to time. I need to be sure to celebrate others successes and be encouraging not judgmental in their failures. I also need to walk my dog more, whether he likes it or not!jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-14395826298693248462012-04-02T08:32:00.000-05:002012-04-02T08:32:17.394-05:00Spring Fever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How I enjoy Sunday grey play days. The pups were not quite so active yesterday because it was a little warm in the sun. We may have to start having them run earlier in the day again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGaLiPiCCGe5QJHEgTIvyJdr4LBXfRleVd3yKvPmDJ7HNCVyWl2H5ipB858FBGMNTj7cy44fQYbG2dXP8-g80q5Ki08D2jwfxHYRYoPJnFtMZ9j0qPwLFyyW8KA1YuA41IMZ1NeJKdw16/s1600/thegrassisalwaysgreener.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGaLiPiCCGe5QJHEgTIvyJdr4LBXfRleVd3yKvPmDJ7HNCVyWl2H5ipB858FBGMNTj7cy44fQYbG2dXP8-g80q5Ki08D2jwfxHYRYoPJnFtMZ9j0qPwLFyyW8KA1YuA41IMZ1NeJKdw16/s400/thegrassisalwaysgreener.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
We had seven dogs out Sunday. Beth Anne, Kassa, Ricky B, Foster Bart, Specs, Java and (out of picture) Tequila.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmzDF5WDtXk7m984IOjQdmI4cbFjvA7DdfRpLmwEiSARpaEim0j4MpZZVhUD0lxY11kJ-BAbN9dS8va90aFcTtK-AST4lYRpm1IwCwfX4gUKGF-gN3TNN_IOa22oLvcu9wms-yBUjVGEc/s1600/bumsup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmzDF5WDtXk7m984IOjQdmI4cbFjvA7DdfRpLmwEiSARpaEim0j4MpZZVhUD0lxY11kJ-BAbN9dS8va90aFcTtK-AST4lYRpm1IwCwfX4gUKGF-gN3TNN_IOa22oLvcu9wms-yBUjVGEc/s400/bumsup.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Each dog has their own joyful quirks. Beth Ann likes to go bums up as she attempts to remove her muzzle. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6jebOI3HxccJMw7eg-geSClCeA7fMdpv4ebvUFhMGzNhoPRjPBlTJ9tVAH9ydX9rOPqaQsvCOjXbFGdLdvrA4so0_XH90DiTLB7mwUXmWhfHQhPe0YcXGV6llz6wNtZUO0Sz5vRPZtn0/s1600/dancininthedasies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6jebOI3HxccJMw7eg-geSClCeA7fMdpv4ebvUFhMGzNhoPRjPBlTJ9tVAH9ydX9rOPqaQsvCOjXbFGdLdvrA4so0_XH90DiTLB7mwUXmWhfHQhPe0YcXGV6llz6wNtZUO0Sz5vRPZtn0/s400/dancininthedasies.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Ricky loves to boogie around the field towards any human in motion. For a dog that hates to go for walks, he sure does love to romp around.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6Ie-vJrTb389bf5Xd223koeobKPmo4QCJucM4hzLPlIbgUne8hVKJmhOkvPORveIApmiyzc7c91S0fKDzGkuBLiUoeFQOzlZ78NuPJAqSfrQxiOxZkSUpjFM1vQIpPIbTLPOkRQq7Trp/s1600/sync.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6Ie-vJrTb389bf5Xd223koeobKPmo4QCJucM4hzLPlIbgUne8hVKJmhOkvPORveIApmiyzc7c91S0fKDzGkuBLiUoeFQOzlZ78NuPJAqSfrQxiOxZkSUpjFM1vQIpPIbTLPOkRQq7Trp/s400/sync.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The groups two big boys are Specs and Ricky. Here they are matching strides.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitj_aWkfBSuVzXPrsj38tGbcw7agYOhjAyJP7yRzTnpnctoxFaML_B7zNyKJGmPr90TM0yM-jmyNV0jHKCQ5FNjsZKn1eqUouvl1TxE9UXy_ddlP_-esh0a1_4rPC-opZKNbFHb7_2MGDg/s1600/thedogwith2tales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitj_aWkfBSuVzXPrsj38tGbcw7agYOhjAyJP7yRzTnpnctoxFaML_B7zNyKJGmPr90TM0yM-jmyNV0jHKCQ5FNjsZKn1eqUouvl1TxE9UXy_ddlP_-esh0a1_4rPC-opZKNbFHb7_2MGDg/s400/thedogwith2tales.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>You have heard of the beast with two backs... how about the dog with two tails? I hope you all had a pleasant weekend. This was the highlight of mine!jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-75391439609285191702012-03-07T08:38:00.000-06:002012-03-07T08:38:35.007-06:00Familiars<div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0esxtfI8ZqxXd1TD1mZd3E2edQ4NQGtWhoHPpwthBzvYWUgsarjkr0bJTTisD-XwOJT0ItALlPCBgGJzOLqIj_rbCa4mbNekWgyOpKQlNciGrLfYG8dqlsLHjLB7PP9PauS9-2jwkBJ_/s1600/P2190425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0esxtfI8ZqxXd1TD1mZd3E2edQ4NQGtWhoHPpwthBzvYWUgsarjkr0bJTTisD-XwOJT0ItALlPCBgGJzOLqIj_rbCa4mbNekWgyOpKQlNciGrLfYG8dqlsLHjLB7PP9PauS9-2jwkBJ_/s400/P2190425.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Ricky and I have developed some daily rituals which usually begin with him coming by my bed and putting his cold nose somewhere on my skin to prod me up in the morning. He usually has the courtesy to wait until I show signs of life, but not always. The other day I quickly emerged from a pleasant slumber because he placed his cold nose directly onto my lips. Some sputtering did ensue but I did oblige him with his morning butt scratch before he headed around to my wife’s side of the bed to repeat the process. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
In my youth I used to read a lot of fantasy fiction with main characters of wizards and warriors. One of my favorite series is the <span lang="EN">Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin. Often in these books, great wizards have animals, otherwise referred to as ‘familiars’. For example in Earthsea, Ged had an a small animal named Hoeg, Merlin had an owl named Archimedes, Harry Potter had an owl named </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Hedwig, </span><span lang="EN">and Dumbledore had a phoenix named Fawkes. These animals are bonded to their people very tightly. Some wizards seem to draw their power directly from their familiars where others seem to share a small piece of their souls with them and in some ways are dim reflections of the person. The animals are both a weakness and a strength. They represent a vulnerable area that needs protecting as well as something linked but external that can draw the wizard back from the depths of darkness. They are a friend when you have no others.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">To an extent I think fantasy fiction largely imitates life. True wizardry in books usually results from study and understanding how things work. In our society, there are wizards all around us with varying degrees of skill and understanding. Scientists, Medical doctors, Engineers, Computer Programmers, martial artists and musicians all study and work to master their fields. What they do can seem like magic to those who have not undergone their training. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WNu4P7-rhfv99SlTwDf-fr5g1CfjERq-C5VhyUGaqtyzCjBayyFv-3de9NW7Lsxsg-1WNzO-BjSzKmzGi3EmnxTVRVoshv4FCRPbTKFlXz1PWrHhyXd88_FvyKCft44AJfED7MqxmeET/s1600/P2190426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WNu4P7-rhfv99SlTwDf-fr5g1CfjERq-C5VhyUGaqtyzCjBayyFv-3de9NW7Lsxsg-1WNzO-BjSzKmzGi3EmnxTVRVoshv4FCRPbTKFlXz1PWrHhyXd88_FvyKCft44AJfED7MqxmeET/s400/P2190426.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span lang="EN"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">People who make their field of study a priority over all other aspects of their lives often keep pets, and even those of us who are lower down the pole from mastery involve animals in our lives. Animals in this world often perform similar roles to those in the fantasy realms. I remember when my grandmother passed and I was sitting by myself, Kassa came and sought me out and lay down at my feet. This, and Ricky’s wakeup nudges remind me of Ged’s Otak drawing Ged out of the dark spirit world and back to a brighter place. My dogs always seem to be in orbit about us. When food is involved it is a tight orbit and when not, it is a loose one. They want to be in the room and will move room to room with you. Like the ‘familiars’ in books, animals can also empower us. Certainly some can be physically imposing, but they can also empower us socially. Mrs Tale teller at </span><a href="http://talesandtails.com/">http://talesandtails.com</a> often talks about how her dogs give her confidence in social situations. They create instant conversation bridges and seem to thrive on the attention. In situations where we may feel shy, they are confident. When we feel closed off from the world, they seem to open it, and you end up talking strangers whose circles you would normally not enter. Unlike human to human relationships, human to animal relationships are uncomplicated. Their needs are generally basic. Food, water, health and exercise and structure are the basics. They don’t complicate life with opposing opinions and political views. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheg5cGh2C3OFOZy-F9VqQa3wiTEKswsIeGYADMABFLyWynle6J3vuTqbHZKoE_sOLoVVW8kkP6JFlV-34RknohyphenhyphenlgPbYp8-WI1_1Hv0fsNlrwt_i-0nUsLuVBa5pOvgq6WzRoZglR4kdM5/s1600/P2180423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheg5cGh2C3OFOZy-F9VqQa3wiTEKswsIeGYADMABFLyWynle6J3vuTqbHZKoE_sOLoVVW8kkP6JFlV-34RknohyphenhyphenlgPbYp8-WI1_1Hv0fsNlrwt_i-0nUsLuVBa5pOvgq6WzRoZglR4kdM5/s400/P2180423.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In many ways our animals are a reflection of ourselves. Although I have no statistics to back it up, it is reasonable to assume that people who like to be fit and active will do physical and active things with their dogs. People who like the more fancy things of life will be more likely to dress their dogs in nice collars and pay great attention to their dog’s grooming. (Of course those prior two items are not mutually exclusive.) At the same time, people who are neglectful and self-oriented by nature are more likely to have that reflected in the care of their animals and the bond will be weaker.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtdxCd6-b8GMc5xPizYgs1RgwhCj_N-Kl6_CIWPY64X5lD1sbuSilDEe4gzxvh9y6pdqXr-TLTqmWMjTLEibJKHN0_UVqlPZbTV2Lm8VF88zM-U9qKzknztMa-dFPgBMQRGl21Y5I_nUvY/s1600/P3241096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtdxCd6-b8GMc5xPizYgs1RgwhCj_N-Kl6_CIWPY64X5lD1sbuSilDEe4gzxvh9y6pdqXr-TLTqmWMjTLEibJKHN0_UVqlPZbTV2Lm8VF88zM-U9qKzknztMa-dFPgBMQRGl21Y5I_nUvY/s400/P3241096.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>So as you enjoy your next fantasy novel, consider that perhaps we are all wizards in this world of varying degrees of skill and talent, bonded to our families and our familars, wandering through life both in pursuit of the mastery of our crafts and the betterment of our souls.<br />
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</div>jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-32502313527640648422012-02-13T14:59:00.000-06:002012-02-13T14:59:19.991-06:00We interrupt this program....This weekend was once again the<b> Tennessee State Judo Championships</b>. Once again (for the 6th year in a row I believe) my club was responsible for hosting it. Of course we also used the custom registration, bracketing and scoring software I wrote. We ran three mats this year instead of two and had only approximately 160 competitors instead of the 210 we had last year. I believe that this was largely due to a conflict with another tournament in Atlanta. I tried to setup a greyhound meet and greet booth for the tournament, but I could only have it outside the venue, and it was supposed to be a low of 16 and a high of 37 that day. Understandably, the greyhound volunteers felt that would be on the chilly side for the dogs. I still think it would be a great way to give the dogs exposure to a bunch of people that don't normally see them, but I guess we can do it another year.<br />
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I found a couple of videos of the event on YouTube. A quick simplified summary of the rules of sport Judo are, no kicking and punching, you try to throw the guy cleanly powerfully on the flat of his back for an instant win. If the match goes to the ground you try to defeat your opponent with an arm bar or choke. If you spend to much time on the ground without making any progress, they stand you up again.<br />
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Start watching at 2:48 if you don't want to see the whole match:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/qoPNutYt5dk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Start watching at 1:23 if you don't want to see the whole match:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/yzG24OS6R68?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
You can see my scoreboard software there in the background.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">Start watching at 1:23 if you don't want to see the whole match:</span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/KjR1dQQX4nA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
I was really impressed by a competitor named Doug Tono. He was the oldest competitor in the room at over 50, the lightest man in the room, and he dominated both the Senior (17-29 year olds) and Masters (30 and up) in his weight class. These were not just two person or three person brackets but full brackets with many matches. Javier who you have viewed above is a fierce competitor in both Judo and Jiu-Jitsu. Mr Tono had an excellent match throwing Javier for 2 half points to equal a win.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/fZ5L3vdTOgo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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Many thanks to all the volunteers who made this event arguably the smoothest running one we have done so far.jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-81949512849432664102012-01-22T20:21:00.000-06:002012-01-22T20:21:16.716-06:00An alluring AdventureThe forecast for Saturday was for rain, and the forecast did not disappoint. Saturday morning we headed down from Tennessee to Atlanta Georgia. The final destination of our trip was to be a day of watching dogs chase plastic bags in Cartersville. I've wanted to see some live lure coursing for some time and this weekend the South Eastern Greyhound Club was having a trial. Given the weather was to be less that favorable for grey activities on Saturday, we opted to do some Atlanta based things on Saturday and watch the dogs on Sunday. I have to give a shout out to a Persian Restaurant we tried called <a href="http://www.persepoliscuisine.com/">Persepolis Persian Cuisine</a>. Darn fine food and my wife (who is Persian) verifies its authenticity. We also hit a little cafe near Cartersville for some refreshments. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmy4pqFwACulZSvymDPT_72FdEjhkKmYnEWyQ0lgcLFhRVbqK4MtSI4R7oDk6asUF7apFi4NMMCw-XDLxVR1vMxDCsNOpZ-VlusQh615MYpmRMz9JLe3rLIYk2TRBJ7seecXgylVjoGzy/s1600/P1210396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmy4pqFwACulZSvymDPT_72FdEjhkKmYnEWyQ0lgcLFhRVbqK4MtSI4R7oDk6asUF7apFi4NMMCw-XDLxVR1vMxDCsNOpZ-VlusQh615MYpmRMz9JLe3rLIYk2TRBJ7seecXgylVjoGzy/s400/P1210396.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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By the end of the day Saturday we were all pretty tired but excited about what was to come.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ykn9gCC0w2pE7AfIg5f73C208k4Rauv1w9uOJql-IRSlhPtxUmeXFtU8t5OOIwu7f3iVWZKQa4EvC8-LD-hi-812WsTsuU4ontd5Abf2V7-eT14sos0DjMJh48FREj5T7nrpvVRxGPVD/s1600/P1210403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ykn9gCC0w2pE7AfIg5f73C208k4Rauv1w9uOJql-IRSlhPtxUmeXFtU8t5OOIwu7f3iVWZKQa4EvC8-LD-hi-812WsTsuU4ontd5Abf2V7-eT14sos0DjMJh48FREj5T7nrpvVRxGPVD/s400/P1210403.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The coursing club are a group of fine people. The atmosphere was relaxed and reminded me a bit of our own grey play group. They were well equipped though, with a full lure coursing rig and tent shelters etc. The field was an expansive 20 acres and the ground was not hard.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYW5z-14qHGllhZlvjZeDAwLgJbF03VSh3RMkBJtcxU59ZTkMdmReAewYsi3CPg3PmeQpIM_gZo8AyNVYxZsSZ1LS2K5q6zmOyEP-hot2j38ri_x1l532nwhhJweQ5ptCi3k5OPRnXEscS/s1600/P1220413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYW5z-14qHGllhZlvjZeDAwLgJbF03VSh3RMkBJtcxU59ZTkMdmReAewYsi3CPg3PmeQpIM_gZo8AyNVYxZsSZ1LS2K5q6zmOyEP-hot2j38ri_x1l532nwhhJweQ5ptCi3k5OPRnXEscS/s400/P1220413.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Greys weren't the only dogs their either, Whippets were also in attendance and they had a ball.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil26y0OehFF0FDK5hn1fCC2N4tSB5DizAdSodwncFc7D7JPlVL4OSFGLVogYN12naN4Yb5AzUJJCpFdSDJYgK89k7derc0orVCr8bhnltCUMxee33oObVleFPuxy0vvz_TfpRqkyY6mVB9/s1600/P1220420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil26y0OehFF0FDK5hn1fCC2N4tSB5DizAdSodwncFc7D7JPlVL4OSFGLVogYN12naN4Yb5AzUJJCpFdSDJYgK89k7derc0orVCr8bhnltCUMxee33oObVleFPuxy0vvz_TfpRqkyY6mVB9/s400/P1220420.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They greys had a pretty good time too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcVIPogrFRJmgpEGLbruJ4z2QHVRL05baiRyzam2ltogl4YWrH34YZoYW41g86xjL5MrRWMtGJrb1pj3mW-x6Yh06sCY7XxxfXJOwSKi1VEnPSCYspN8D-yrxRrSQphBRdPKsAlwYE0Jgd/s1600/P1220425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcVIPogrFRJmgpEGLbruJ4z2QHVRL05baiRyzam2ltogl4YWrH34YZoYW41g86xjL5MrRWMtGJrb1pj3mW-x6Yh06sCY7XxxfXJOwSKi1VEnPSCYspN8D-yrxRrSQphBRdPKsAlwYE0Jgd/s400/P1220425.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Visitors to the group had the opportunity to do a fun run. It was a straight line run with no turns across the field. Ricky was raring to go and just as I was supposed to release him he slipped his collar and went all on his own. Ricky was all over this run and I think did really well. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifR6UWsXZkCZZaTQkXWMXcaDwam0bfveDvgoS9FN5T_AhUUyQDcuiZPOHELYyCX-uAOf6I4HDNkop_0kmhLeYSYZW7Oo8iM7m3Z2iAfUJwwIFS0ljf-Q4p2AbFNOjTlveGn68HtpmoWE3g/s1600/rickychase1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifR6UWsXZkCZZaTQkXWMXcaDwam0bfveDvgoS9FN5T_AhUUyQDcuiZPOHELYyCX-uAOf6I4HDNkop_0kmhLeYSYZW7Oo8iM7m3Z2iAfUJwwIFS0ljf-Q4p2AbFNOjTlveGn68HtpmoWE3g/s400/rickychase1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfcEYYneuVJqyUPd7j2FuUKOjm0fxg-ehvvoWwe5B5vvzyFiVaoUOP_dnSR5At3OggFOcojS4b_tMAKrz5gX5_CpkqDOchGf0Njiza-6cbhLf7x3hJ8QZHHp1TByTokCsorvtnn4-l1jU7/s1600/rickychase2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfcEYYneuVJqyUPd7j2FuUKOjm0fxg-ehvvoWwe5B5vvzyFiVaoUOP_dnSR5At3OggFOcojS4b_tMAKrz5gX5_CpkqDOchGf0Njiza-6cbhLf7x3hJ8QZHHp1TByTokCsorvtnn4-l1jU7/s400/rickychase2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kassa staged a little protest at the beginning by sitting facing away from the field. Truthfully he just puts his back to the wind when it's cold, but it looked pretty funny none the less. He wasn't much interested in the lure when it was laying on the ground but when it started moving he was after it. Over all I think I was a less overwhelmed at the straight line runs then some, because I have seen my boys boogie before under different circumstances. All in all though we had a great time, and I can definitely see my boys trying out a full course sometime in the future. We didn't stay till the very end of the event as I needed to get back to a few things in Tennessee while there was a little daylight left. As such, we got to enjoy the trip back through Chattanooga in much better than the zero visibility that we had on the way down.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaF7qK6T_T6yahuC5ohTbvbt1Kof54YZtN8vcQlJVDaX78xVWWjxmTk0zpZfUPVQcpiVgVbm5j5Ab8T9syQOpGuQ7JI64Mez2QsVoQhGxc1O_qLrxPNr6y1uDW9ogeUs6c7KGYzVdCwaco/s1600/P1220447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaF7qK6T_T6yahuC5ohTbvbt1Kof54YZtN8vcQlJVDaX78xVWWjxmTk0zpZfUPVQcpiVgVbm5j5Ab8T9syQOpGuQ7JI64Mez2QsVoQhGxc1O_qLrxPNr6y1uDW9ogeUs6c7KGYzVdCwaco/s400/P1220447.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Many thanks to John Parker and the other folks at the <a href="http://www.greyhoundadoption.org/">Southeastern Greyhound Club</a> for holding a great event.</div>jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1931312687544994492.post-90844714571679129592012-01-15T20:20:00.000-06:002012-01-15T20:20:58.439-06:00Winter Gathering<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Every winter GPA-Nashville holds a greyhound event called "The winter gathering". When ever I hear that title I think that I should be donning a dark rob and heading for Stonehenge. In reality however it is just a bunch of greyhound crazy dog folks gathering together to shop for greyhound paraphernalia and let the dogs play together. Winter gathering is also the time of the great greyhound race. Last year I was very proud that Beth Anne (another grey-play dog) won the fastest run at 34mph. I was also not so secretly devastated that my boy Kassa, who is normally a very motivated runner, basically trotted up the track while high five-ing all his adoring fans on the way. This year I had Ricky as well, and my boys were the first two race. Now Ricky has been training himself for this moment. I don't have to do much as I throw the Frisbee once and he runs around like a bucking bronco for a while until he decides I need to throw it again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">So Ricky and Kassa lined up together and I stood at the other end of the track and held the dog that was running around loose without a watcher. My friends Tony and Lisa provided me with their most powerful sqeeky toy which the boys found entirely captivating.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiml_WHtoRbrnZC5_aLMDLCFGBsxGEBP9dPrPwdYjTBax1j3_OBfvihnMcnz8QkmrUXaedgtEkDhYY7F05Ay3z1O-3wOQ4Z6OatJ7VRZYjbDNqcEK5n_iKxppZ9PCP8CvtJaejwN_2j0wir/s1600/P1150362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiml_WHtoRbrnZC5_aLMDLCFGBsxGEBP9dPrPwdYjTBax1j3_OBfvihnMcnz8QkmrUXaedgtEkDhYY7F05Ay3z1O-3wOQ4Z6OatJ7VRZYjbDNqcEK5n_iKxppZ9PCP8CvtJaejwN_2j0wir/s400/P1150362.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They called the start and off they went. It was over before we could get in an actual action shot, but Kassa clocked in at a respectable 28mph and Ricky clocked in at 31mph. Truthfully I think most of the dogs can and do run faster than those rates, but in that short distance, before they put on the breaks, that's where they are at. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Through out the heats Ricky's time held. Most of the other dogs outside our grey play group also did really well. Specs and Beth Ann ran 30mph and 29mph. Tequila also ran in the mid to high 20's. At the end of it all Ricky was tied with one other grey (whose name sadly escapes me) at 31mph. They had a run off. They clocked Ricky at 31 again and the other dog clocked at 30mph. Yeah! Ricky Wins!. Now I will point out that the accuracy of this is somewhat sketchy as they only had one radar gun so I'm not sure how they know exactly which dog hit 31. It may be that the top speed was 31 and Ricky ended in front. Anyway... at a minimum Ricky clocked in with the fastest time, and that time was shared with one other dog.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSq6vYYY7U0FC3Lb-nj5VqSasBnVt0-WiL07SZu50nvaGWhVp8T78yQrtgzmco4taXOQyqLMDwFRnCS3SuQkTMirgiOvl6qlrfvHy3Lx0Y2-ZowyFY9KFK3zeSA17Rem5DzSfKVpXrh4-/s1600/P1150353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSq6vYYY7U0FC3Lb-nj5VqSasBnVt0-WiL07SZu50nvaGWhVp8T78yQrtgzmco4taXOQyqLMDwFRnCS3SuQkTMirgiOvl6qlrfvHy3Lx0Y2-ZowyFY9KFK3zeSA17Rem5DzSfKVpXrh4-/s400/P1150353.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp69pJOmdyAyA41RmrfeRA1OKVANkTqrWj5cASZ4BRS9g_UOCnyabzCXgeT4Wokno1Wyc3T6hYUahzKI0Eas8IF09agII6Ga5_f_cxLJdfRhznfElocX1bF_oIxJsqmojXo34js4ItjQJj/s1600/P1150356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp69pJOmdyAyA41RmrfeRA1OKVANkTqrWj5cASZ4BRS9g_UOCnyabzCXgeT4Wokno1Wyc3T6hYUahzKI0Eas8IF09agII6Ga5_f_cxLJdfRhznfElocX1bF_oIxJsqmojXo34js4ItjQJj/s400/P1150356.JPG" width="400" /></a></div> After the event, when all the zipping around and sniffing had ceased, Ricky and Kassa hit the dog beds.<br />
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</div>Now I know it shouldn't matter how fast your pet runs, and that it is all in fun...., but I'm going to enjoy the bragging rights anyway :).jcphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634965215700887428noreply@blogger.com5