CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Just heard that Hannah Nichols and her partner Whimsy’s Play Me A Tune, have been invited to attend the 2011 Eukanuba Junior Showmanship competition in Florida!  Now, that’s the way to show ‘em!

Also, heard something special about Seven – Serendipity Hark the Lark – again finished in the money at the CWA meets Oct. 1^st and 2^nd by garnering another 5 ARX pts. for the weekend with the Run For Fun crowd. Two weekends later she added another 2.5 ARX points to her total, to finish her first 3 months of racing with 10.5 points towards her title!

And, not to be outdone, the Swepston’s WileE – Nouveau’s Pink Coyote – was BOB and BIF at the ASFA Region 1 Invitational trial hosted by WWWA on Sunday, Oct. 16^th.

So if you have a Whippet that did something outstanding, we’d love to hear about it.

Good neighbors

Aaron, Kerie and Jagur Swepston report on a recent weekend adventure…

WRAG is interested in hosting the 2012 NAWRA/NOTRA Nationals, and invited Kerie and myself over to Goldendale to sponsor/observe their first NAWRA race meet. In order for a club to start holding NAWRA races, they need to have an existing NAWRA club observe them hosting a NAWRA meet, and give the nod of approval that the meet was run properly and well. Even though they have been running ovals for a long time there, NAWRA requires observation for a first straight race meet. We were pleased and honored to attend their inaugural NAWRA meet, and while there were a few things that might need attention down the road, everything went off just fine in spite of the high temperatures and smoke from the nearby forest fires. WRAG, which is primarily Jo and Glen Sowards, has extensive history with performance events dating back to the early days of the WWWA. Not only that, they have a very nice, permanent oval track that they have built on their property, which they have modified to accommodate a 200 yard straight now. They have been running oval races for quite some time now at their own, independent site. They’ve dedicated quite an exhaustive amount of time, energy and money to developing a privately owned and managed race facility, and the performance community is the better for it. Kerie, Jagur and myself had a wonderful time at that meet, finished off our time there with wonderful icecreams before hitting the road back to the west side to finish the weekend off with hang gliding. We wish WRAG the best of luck as they now add straight racing to their calendar of oval races, and thank them for inviting us over to be a part of their straight race kickoff!

Thank you Mary Downing for compiling and submitting “all the news”!

Helen Brettell and Shawna McKay bred Am.Can.Ch. Lost Creek A Taste of Red to Ch. Summit Ironwood Other Sutherland, whelped in March, 2011.

Treadway

Jeanette Dorsey bred her Am.Can.Ch.Kimera GT Shelby to Am.Can.Ch. Morlais Imagine at Whimsy, puppies whelped April 11, 2011.

Aumbreleye

Shirley Konizeski and David Cassell have a litter from their Cassie (Aumbreleye Parkers Girl by VincetVeritas Bobbie Dazzler RCh ORC),  whelped June 11^th, 2011.

A variety of red, blue, blue fawn, fawn and seal!  Contact:  aumbre@earthlink.net.

Alcyon and Whimsy

Christine Hopperstad and Mary Downing bred Alcyon Tykhi Fortuna to Am.Can.Ch.Counterpoint Jungle Drums, FCh TRP DPC.    Whelped Aug. 18^th, 2011.  Lots of stripes!

Look for these pups in the ring or field next year.

Thank you to Mary Downing for compiling and submitting this update!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

…to Heather Nichols for going BEST IN SHOW at the All Hound Club of Bellingham with her V (Ch. Arwen Glamour You) and to Hannah Nichols for going Best Junior, handling Nouveau’s Hoodoo Mojo,  at the same show on Saturday, Sept. 10^th.

…and drum roll please…

Jeanette Dorsey brags that Corry (Treadway North of Sixty) was BOB and Hound Group 2nd  at Olympic.KC’s  ‘B’ match in Aug.  Handled by Jeanette, his breeder and owner.  Corry was just 4 mos. old.

News from Milwaukee and the CWA National…

Kai (Can.Ch.Whimsy’s Swiftsure Kilo Kai) owned and bred by Linda Buchholz and Mary Downing, was BOS Adult at the National Fun Match.  She has consistently won or placed in the matches at each meet and is the #1 CWA Conformation dog in North American.

Seven (Serendipity Hark the Lark) bred and owned by Beth Levine, made her first national appearance at the tender age of 16 months as the sole representative from Washington state. On Saturday, she made it down to the final cut of 8 whippets in the very large and competitive conformation match after the race meet. On Sunday, with a thrilling nail-biting upset in her final race, she launched into 9th place in the meet to earn the bottom ARX point! Seven is certainly living up to her dual purpose promise, with 3 ARX points and two DPC legs in just five meets!

Quinn’s New Job

Pat Younger reports on her new dog, Quinn (Blarneystone Legacy) He is her 2nd re-homed racing dog. From Bev McKibbon’s last litter, he had amassed quite a few titles before an injury ended his racing career. But as a companion for Charm (Dreams Charm Me), he has a new career – together they keep the neighborhood free of those pesky squirrels. I can attest he’s quite a handful at practice where he still gets to show the youngsters what it’s all about.

Thank you Mary Downing for compiling and submitting “all the news”!

They are registered as: Greg, Peter, Bobby, Marsha, Jan, Cindy, Oliver, Mike, Sam (the butcher), Alice (the housekeeper) and Clive. Our neighbor Tony Lewis gave this litter the name.

Glen and I are still in a shock stage but are adjusting to this large litter.  We have homes for some but didn’t plan on this many.  We were told there were five or more.  We got the “or more” in spades.  But they are all big beautiful puppies and we have been gifted with healthy ones.  They come in colors of Black, Black & White, Blue, Blue & White. O’Brady is eating three meals a day with a snack of goats milk during the night.  OB just paces and want to see what the heck is going on in the nursery.

-submitted by Glen & Jo Sowards, Goldendale, Washington, shadowrunwhippets.com, wragclub.com

We decided to go to the competition on Sunday and I entered him in both of the “Big Air Waves” available on that day. We practiced the dogs while waiting for the competition to start, getting them used to the noise, the dock and the pool. Everything was good to go with both Cochiti and Chili handling the atmosphere of the day well.

The dogs get to jump twice in each wave with the farthest distance being the official score. Placements are determined by the distance within the different classes. 5 qualifying jumps within each class earns a title in that class.

In the first Wave Chili jumped over 8 feet putting him into the Novice class with a 2nd place! Cochiti jumped 14.02 putting him in the Junior class for 4th place.

In the second Wave Chili jumped to earn his 2nd piece of his Dock Dog Novice title! Cochiti improved his distance (and I improved my throwing) to jump 18.10 feet earning an 3rd place in the Senior class and a place in the Amateur Class finals!

Cochiti’s 1st jump was a whopping 19.01 feet to win 1st place in the Amateur Class competition!

This was the most fun I’ve had in a long time and it’s great to find something else to do on those non race weekend! We will definitely be looking for more Dock Dog competitions in the future!

-submitted by Diane Salts, Farseer Whippets

While Shadow Run Marco ORC, won the meet with 3 National points.

It was a fun relaxing day and we had a lot of winners taking points from the Puget Sound area.   Susan Shusterman’s Amazon won the 2nd place spot and earned her 3 ORC points and  China, Kim Swans girl, took the middle dog prize. All the entries won a prize of a printed towel and lots of fun doggie toys

On Saturday we had a fantastic holiday BBQ, and some practices and box training, along with a demonstration of hydrotherapy by our own Shadow Run Blocker ORC  who is a master water whippet.  We had a number of whippets test the 89 degree pool for the first time and seemed to enjoy it as well as their owners on this beautiful sunny weekend.

We want to thank all the volunteers that helped put on this meet for without them it wouldn’t happen.

-submitted by Glen & Jo Sowards, Goldendale, Washington, shadowrunwhippets.com, wragclub.com

She is very nice with the other whippets, and is so grateful for attention it’s heart breaking. As the summer came to a close, we worked her on the oval track and starting box’s since she is a tall girl and would be a “Sunday Only” racer. I could tell she was very quick and a speedster. But had no idea how fast she was.

Earlier this spring at the WWRC NOTRA in Molalla, OR. we entered Polo not knowing what she would do. Well, she did very well, winning her first race, then her second race putting her in the high point for her 3rd and 4th races. Polo in her inexperience won her first ORC point and placed in 4th place right behind and in front of some of the fastest whippets in this country…

We were so happy and proud of this forgotten whippet Glen cried as she came off the track at the end of the day. Polo was so happy, and I was so happy, for this plain black girl that went unnoticed for almost two years.

-submitted by Glen & Jo Sowards, Goldendale, Washington, shadowrunwhippets.com

On 1/22/2011 Rico was awarded WD/BOW/BOS for a 3 point major over specials at the Portland Rose Classic under Judge Alberto Berrios.  The following month at the Linn County Kennel Club Rico was awarded WD/BOW for his second major under Judge Kathy Beliew.

~We are so proud of this dynamic duo!  Rob and Heather Nichols

Saturday:  Hannah Nichols, was Best Jr. Handler with Rico – Whimsy’s Play Me A Tune

Corbin won the Open Dog class

Sunday:  Hannah Nichols won her Jrs. class with Rico; Corbin (Whimsy’s Swiftsure Coruba Gold) won the Open Dog class again and this time was WD to finish his Championship.   Corbin is handled by co-breeder Linda Buchholz, owned by Chadd & Misti Bowen

Monday:  Hokum (Serendipity Malarkey at Whimsy) was Best in Sweeps at the supported entry.  WD/BOW from Open was Whimsy’s Over The Moon owned/handled by breeder Mary Downing. and RWD from BBE was Whimsy’s Swiftsure Cruzan Gold, co-owned & handled by Linda Buchholz.

And then….

The following weekend in Portland Hannah Nichols piloted Whimsy’s Play Me A Tune to a 3 pt. major going WD/BOW/BOS.

-submitted by Mary Downing, whimsywhippets.com

And on December 29, 2010 we were blessed with two Solar/Chief boys that we will keep here in Goldendale for future racing ….. And guess what,  one was black and one was white.  stay tuned for more from these boys.

Today is the first day out of the nursery and Hawk and Hoot are like wild indians.  Jumping and running all over the living room.  In attendance to baby sit is Tenner and Bell,  they are like doting grandparents and the babies love their new play area.  As soon as the snow melts and the temperature warms up a bit I will open the pet door
off the nursery so they can get some fresh air.  Mom, Solar is hovering around her 5 week old kids and enjoying all the sun shining through the windows.  Pray for spring.  The last photo is what we woke up to yesterday.

-submitted by Glen & Jo Sowards, shadowrunwhippets.com, Goldendale, Washington