Friday, September 7, 2012

A Puppy!

Yep, I finally got a greyhound puppy!  My very first puppy ever.  Introducing Maddie (Kells Never Drink Mad Dog 20/20).  We drove to Texas Labor Day weekend to pick her up.

Maddie was born July 2nd along with three littermates.
2 Days Old, Black One in the Middle
9 Weeks, Jack, Maddie, Tia, Sam

Her sire is Huntington's Guliver of Monarch.  Guliver is a Coursing Champion and Courser of Merit.  He was the #1 greyhound male in open field coursing in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons.  He comes from a fantastic litter.  Five of his littermates are also Coursing Champions and Coursers of Merit and two of his sisters have won the Grand Course, an invitational for open field coursing.  I love his shape, awesome feet, athleticism, soundness, and size.
Maddie's mother is Huntington's Cleopatra. Patra is also a Coursing Champion and Courser of Merit. She was the #1 greyhound bitch in the 2007-2008 open field coursing season and the #1 greyhound for 2008-2009.  I also love everything about her as well and especially her size... she is only about 53 pounds or so.
The naming theme for the litter was liquor so that is how she got her name - Kells Never Drink Mad Dog 20/20.  I am not much of a drinker, so I honestly was not familiar with Mad Dog 20/20, but found a hilarious description of it here (click here). It is cheap, so it is a favorite for high schoolers and bums.
Maddie is considered a half and half greyhound.  Most greyhounds are racing or NGA (National Greyhound Association).  A much smaller percentage are show or AKC (American Kennel Club).  Maddie is registered as an AKC greyhound, but her pedigree contains many half and half greyhounds which is common for coursing greyhounds.  I wanted a sound, functional, athletic, moderate sized hound so the coursing lines appealed to me.