Professional Photographs

These shots were taken by Gary Ellis at the SCGSF lure coursing practice we went to last month. Don't I wish I was a professional photographer with a really nice camera? Yes, I do. Sighthounds are always pretty, but these shots are great.

The five shots of Cyrus are a perfect encapsulation of his experience that day. Except without the peeing (because photographers have class).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/noburbs/5013427423/in/set-72157625014094652/#

One visit, hold the title

This last weekend we had the pleasure of visiting Mike and Georgette, and Cyrus' sister, Layla. Layla had the biggest personality of all the puppies in the litter when we used to visit them as tiny things and she's grown up to be a lovely dog, still sweet and spunky. On Sunday, she earned her Junior Courser title, since she is mad for the lure! In the meantime, our hosts shared with us some prime dog-walking spots, since they have so many at their disposal.

Incidentally, Cyrus declined the lure in favor of peeing on some handy bushes. If only there was a title for that.

Cyrus is very jealous of all the lovely dog-walk scenery.

This is in Golden Gate Park, only a short walk from the house. Aren't you jealous, too?

Before we met up with Mike and Georgette, we checked out the Embarcadero and the wharves. Cyrus was a champ, even when a huge Great Dane barked at him (obviously not in this shot).

Many people stopped to ooh and aah over such lovely dogs.

Here, Georgette is talking to a lady who pulled her car over on the street and jumped out to meet our dogs. Perhaps this has something to do with her work for STOLA, the Saluki Tree of Life Association, the saluki breed rescue. She was very nice, but Layla stopped listening when she stopped talking about parti's.

At San Francisco's single fenced dog park, also within walking distance of the house (did I say jealous?), I met a lovely, sweet Dalmatian who reminded me of Emily. His name is Duke and he would come up oh-so-politely and sit by you for petting.

Run, Layla, run!

Run, Cyrus and white dog, run!

Overlooking the ocean, but the dogs were more interested in watching a poodle retrieve along the path.

Cyrus doesn't really understand the purpose of stepping stones. Then again, it was a nice day for getting your feet wet.

Cyrus struts his stuff with the Pacific Ocean in the background.

So does Layla.

Much fun was had by all.

Half of a Junior Courser

Early this morning, we drove up to Dixon for a lure coursing trial courtesy of the Northern California Whippet Fanciers' Association. It was worth the drive and the early rise, since Cyrus had a great time. We entered him for a Junior Coursing test, somewhat optimistically. He had never run on a lure before, although he had seen a trial as a puppy. Even so, he had a good instinct to chase and took off right away when it was his turn. 800 yards was a bit long for him, but he finished pretty gamely (a bird swooped right in front of him in the last 50 yards or so, but he found the lure again).

All he needs now is one more successful completion to get his Junior Coursing title.

He slept soundly on the way home.

Celebration

Well, we have a house in escrow. Yay! It should close by the end of the month. In celebration, I offer this totally unrelated video of the dogs playing in the front yard with Matt. Actually, I suppose it's relevant...the new house will have a much larger, much better yard for the dogs to run around in. We're all looking forward to it.

Coursing, of course!

On Sunday, we attended a lure coursing event in Gilroy. We brought Mya and Cyrus along and had a ton of fun. Cyrus has decided the car isn't such a bad thing, as long as someone sits in the back with him (that would be me). The dogs that ran were amazing and beautiful (the Irish Wolfhounds were especially regal, as only something that big can be).

Unfortunately, we left the camera in the car and decided not to go back and get it. Now, of course, I wish we had. So, in the spirit of chasing something, here is a snippet of Cyrus hitting the bottle, as it were.