 That's Bronwyn, running a practice with her kennelmate Boudicca at 10 months. We were so proud of them for their lure focus at such an early age! Unfortunately, Bronwyn's career as a runner was largely ruined by a succession of certification runs and JC attempts that were marred by loose Whippets. Even though Bronwyn never so much as looked at the little dogs on the course with her, each time the lure was stopped and panicked Whippet owners raced onto the field, screaming and waving their arms at Bronwyn while they retrieved their dogs. It breaks my heart to see this wonderful, fit, fast dog, who so badly wants to run, but who has had such bad experiences (we had loose Whippets on four out of five of her first full courses--she got a JC leg on the other one) that she will not run alone if there is anyone on the course.
We have begun to run her in practice with her kennelmates, and she will run then, but so far she stays close to the other dog, and is not yet truly coursing the bag. We have not given up on her running career yet!
Despite her lack of a running career, we elected to breed Bronwyn, and she has proven to be a wonderful producer. Her first litter, sired by Beau, show signs of being coursing fools! In August of 2011, they are populating the ASFA top 20: Rhionnach is first (with a BIF); Brigitte is 8th; Righinn is tied for 13th; and Saoirse tied for 18th (with 2 BIFs!). |
