Stephen wants everyone to know he took this photo. Thanks, Snookums.
Last week, we traveled 14 hours to Texas to hang with our friends, Kelly and John (Maddie's breeders), and to compete in a three-day agility trial.
On the first day, we headed to Kelly and John's greyhound farm. We got to see a few litters of greyhound puppies at different ages. They were super cute! We saw Maddie's siblings. I had seen Maddie's brothers, Sam and Jack, a couple of times in the last year or two, but not her sister, Tia. I should have taken a picture of her, but had forgotten my camera. Lets just say that Tia is the short, big boned sister. Ha! Maddie and she are complete opposites. We got to see Maddie's parents, Cleopatra and Guliver. They both are doing well.
Cleopatra, Guliver, and Maddie
On Thursday morning we got to see them school the young dogs on the training track. John's goal is for the dogs to have a super positive experience and to really feel confident about what they are doing. They school on Mondays and Thursdays. He keeps track of their times so he can evenly match dogs the next time out. Matching a slower dog with a fast dog does nothing to build the confidence and speed of the slower dog so he pairs them with other slow dogs so they each have a chance to win the race to the lure and be successful. Positive reinforcement is the name of the game.
After schooling, my girls got to play a little on the track. Riley was especially cute! Even though there was no lure, she took off around one turn before heading back. She loves sand under her feet. Seven sprinted back and forth between Stephen and I. She was all business as usual. Stephen and I took turns having Maddie chase us down on the long side. She had a blast!
On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we competed at an agility trial near Austin, Texas. It was fun to compete somewhere new and where no other greyhounds run. The girls ran well and received lots of wonderful compliments. We even met one blog follower which was really fun!
