Dutch Salmon's "Pack Hunt", 2008 Results.

A tie. Details in a future Performance Sighthound Journal.

OK.. a little teaser: The weather was perfect, and everyone got their money's worth.

The Doors Are Open. A Crack.

It will be a while before we have a "Grand Opening", but the Shot On Site store is now open at Cafe Press. The storefront needs some work, but the page you all will be interested in is the linked page.

We're starting with a bumper sticker,

an old favorite in fact, but updated. Eventually there will be so much more. Apparel, ceramics, totes, notecards, etc, etc, etc.

All images on the work are by Dan, and all the designs spring from Margaret's fertile imagination.

Currently we have the bumper stickers in Salukis, Longdogs, Galgos, Greyhounds, Borzois, Whippets, Ridgebacks, and Basenjis, with more to come. Each is available in several color schemes as well. We're looking forward to seeing them on a lot of cars in the coming months' trials. Enjoy!! And Pass it on!!!

(The copyright watermark will not be on the product you buy).

UPDATE: We've added the storefront link to the linklist on the sidebar.

Fun House.

While I babysat five dogs and a cat, Margaret was having fun in the Big Apple with her grown kids. They did all the touristy stuff, including attending this very weird off-Broadway show:

Looks like fun, in a kind of disorienting way. Looks like more fun to be in the cast!

Even DeMille Had to Start Somewhere.

OK, Dan gets a little out of control with Windows Movie Maker. Don't do what you do when you go out to the movies and rush out as soon as the movie is over. Sit there while the credits roll!

We may have to invest in a real video camera... this is too much fun.

Get ready... the dogs move out in a hurry, but don't miss Randir's "cameo"! And watch how smart Sandia (pink blanket) runs; doesn't use it all up on the runup, but starts to move up through the pack as the course gets longer. Smart dog. In this case, when the hare came back toward our postition, he had a huge lead and we were able to call the dogs off. We'll do more of this.

Coming Soon.

Margaret's getting fairly competent shooting movies with the little Fuji camera. We'll post some live coursing videos as soon as she gets them on a stick so I can load them on this computer. She also shot some ah... interesting... footage at a Broadway show when she was in New York. I think it's worth sharing.

On a commercial note: we're about to launch a storefront at Cafe Press. Margaret's been very busy this week working on some designs that you are going to want. Seriously. Stay tuned, and I'll post a sample and details before the weekend.

Money Pit.

That's the new name for the greyhound formally known as Rally.

After checking with friends in the Las Cruces, El Paso, and Albuquerque area for advice about vets, we decided to just take her to the local (and only) vet in Deming. Since she's shown a propensity for not staying sound for more than 6 months at a time, we were just going to get the most basic (read: cheap) repair, and retire her from running competitions.

Unfortunately, the local guy admitted he had little experience in repairing this type of injury... which by the way, was that the achilles tendon had completely separated from the calcaneaous (heel) bone. He set up a referral for us to a vet in El Paso.... one whose name we already knew from our previous search, and came with a glowing, albeit expensive, reference.

Tuesday, we'll take Ral Money Pit to Crossroads Animal Clinic, where Dr. Koschmann will do his magic, and she will either come out the following day with a splint, or an external fixator. I'll post some before and after pictures at that time. Our wallets will be some $1200-$1500 lighter. Money Pit, indeed! At least this way she may be able to run in next year's Pack Hunt with Sandia!

Oh, that the local guy could have done it... the office call, exam, and referral were a whopping $31.00! And we walked in without an appointment.

Update: So I don't need to tell you, those Google ads around this site are more important than ever. Who wouldn't want to look at the Patriots' cheerleaders in bikinis.. huh? You know you would.

Lethal Weapon 4

I just wanted to post one more shot of this jackrabbit, since it was kind enough to give me lots of good close-ups this morning.. Look at those back feet; in fact look at the whole rear assembly. Like an athletic sighthound, that's the "engine" that makes this critter second only to the pronghorn in pure speed in North America. Add to that the agility to turn on a dime at that speed and you've got one formidable prey species.

Yeah... we got skunked again today. What of it?