2012 National Award of Merit winner!!!

Today I am both Proud and Honored to announce that Spirit was awarded the 3rd Award of Merit at our 2012 National Specialty in Huron, OH, under breeder judge Connie Brunkow!    It was a thrill to see our Dual Purpose girl be honored in such a way.  That same week, she placed 3rd and 2nd in the Special/Field Champion stakes at the AKC and ASFA lure coursing trials and was awarded the High Scoring Dual Champion Stake and High Scoring Bench Champion Stake both days as well.

I want to not only thank Connie for this recognition, but Spirit's breeders (Robin Horner, Donna Richards and Dora McDonald) for entrusting this special red girl to us.  Our goal from the moment that I decided to get my first show whippet was to strive for versatile whippets.   I wanted to succeed not only in the show ring but on the coursing field.   I still believe that you can be successful in multiple venues.... Spirit is our first step to prove it:

• #1 Whippet/ #1 Sighthound 2009 and 2010 AKC Lure Coursing
• 2010 AKC National Lure Coursing Field Champion
• 2011 #1 Dual Champion AKC Lure Coursing / #3 Whippet
• 2012 AWC National 3rd Award Of Mert Winner

Thank you to Mike for some of the great photos below!

We love this red girl...... Run on Spirit, Run On!!!!

Deana

Second Major Win Photo

Here is the win photo from June 4th, 2011 - Taconic Hills Kennel Club Show in Yorktown Heights - Spirit went WB for a major win and then went on to go BOW at an AWC supported entry show under breeder Judge Barbara Rupert!
As always, the two girls look so happy together!
Thank you Phoebe!

Spirit runs for Fun!

Spirit was not happy recently when I tried to explain to her that she was now about to become a "Show Dog".

She said ", What are you talking about, I don't want to hear about this "show dog" stuff.
I am only 3 years old!!! and I still LOVE to run!!! "

I promised her that we would call it "semi-retirement" and that if the situation arised, she would still be able to "get the bunny" from time to time! How can one deny her her favorite activity of all time!
Since we headed down to Calhoun, GA this past weekend to "QC" Amos at the GANG trial there, we let her run 2 of 4 days. She proved that she still wanted to run by going BOB on Friday! Congrats to Miss Spirit - this little red girl loves to run more than life itself!!!


This coming weekend will be hard for me, but I know it will be worth it in the end. She will be heading off to spend time with her new friends. Good Luck to Miss Spirit in her new endeavors, I know she will do great and I hope she will be back home in no time!

Thanks to Mike for the great photos.
Deana

Spirit wins 2010 AKC NLCC

New AKC National Lure Coursing Champion!

This past weekend started out cold and windy! Not the kind of weather that Miss Spirit likes, that is for sure. The NLCC starts out as 2 individual AKC lure coursing trials. Spirit is a very consistent runner and did well, earning a 2nd place in the Specials stake both days, but ended up making it to the NLCC finals event by having the highest combined score (tied with another dog) from both days.

By the time we got to the Best In Event/finals, the weather had changed. The sun was out, the wind was gone and the temperatures had risen. Much better running weather for this red girl. The crowd enjoyed it as well and the hillside was covered with spectators, all excited for the upcoming event. The finals course was set up and the final runs began!

The whippet BOB run was beautiful, all 4 dogs ran their heart out and in the end it was given to Miss Spirit. I was thrilled and overwhelmed with joy that this special girl had won the honor of being the 2010 AKC Whippet Breed Finalist. However, Spirit said she was not done and insisted that she had more to give me.

The Best in Event consisted of 4 runs/10 dogs - Spirit was initially paired with the Greyhound (in the 3rd run) and started out having a gorgeous run that was stopped mid-course because the judges felt that the Greyhound was injured. Since she did not run the full course and it was a run of only 2 dogs, they asked her to run again as the 3rd dog in the 4th course. After the initial runs, the judges brought back 4 dogs - a ridgeback, a basenji, an ibizan hound and Spirit. I wish someone had video-taped this final run as it was truely a sight to see! These 4 incredibly talented dogs, all running together, were breathtaking and a sight I will not forget.

The overwhelming joy of hearing her name announced can not be expressed in words. Knowing the company that she was running with, I am truley honored that Spirit was awarded this prestegious title of National Field Champion for 2010! While this girl always runs with her heart, I know on this particular day she was running for me! She gave me her whole heart and made a dream come true! I hope that the "late" great Lyle and her "late" grandpa Moe would have been proud of her running!

I want to thank everyone who made this day happen. I want to thank her breeders for allowing this special girl to live with me. Spirit is a beautiful girl, an amazing athlete, and a loving companion. This talented girl has proven everything there is to prove about her on the coursing field. I can't ask anymore of this her. Thank you Miss Spirit!! From this point on, she is offically retired. I know you have other great accomplishments to achieve! I can't wait to see what your future holds for you next! I know that you will forever be running in your heart! Run on Spirit, Run on!

Deana

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY SPIRIT

Here is Spirit - Lure Coursing the day after her birthday! She is having a blast as always!!!
Thanks for the photo Mike

Spirit wins BOB in Camden, SC

We headed to Camden, SC this past weekend, our first trip in the motorhome and attended a CLCS AKC Lure Coursing trial. All the dogs had a great time and enjoyed the new "house on wheels!"
As always, Spirit made us proud, going BOB on Sunday (there were 20 open dogs and 11 specials).
Congrats to Spirit and Thanks to Mike for these great photos !!!

Deana

New accomplishments keep coming!

We just found out tonight that as of April 28th, not only is Spirit currently the

#1 Whippet in AKC Lure Coursing,
she is also the
#1 Sighthound in AKC Lure Coursing!

We are thrilled and shocked at this news. What an exciting time for us here - for as long as this lasts at least :)

Deana

Spirit wins BOB at 2009 AWC National Specialty

Spirit wins BOB
at the American Whippet Club's
National Specialty AKC Lure Coursing trial

in Atlanta, GA, April 4th, 2009
This young (only 17 months old) girl never ceases to amaze me and made my first AWC National event a memorable one for sure.

On Saturday, the field consisted of 110 dogs (4 stakes of Open whippets (78 total), 1 large stake of Special whippets (26 dogs) and 1 stake of veteran whippets (6 dogs)). The course was a bit more challenging than normal for us, it was about 840 yards long and consisted of rolling hills.
As the day started, Spirit ran well and ended up winning her open stake (Yeah!) for her first Major win (5pts.)! I was so exited, I was in tears. This the first time I have had a dog go first in an AKC trial, so I was trilled! I knew that meant she qualified to run for BOB but at that moment I was so excited about the major win I remember saying to my husband Mike, "I am so happy for this first place, I don't care what she does from here on today, I just want her to have fun running!".
Well, run she did.
I must admit, her third run of the day, the semi-final run, brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't have asked any more out of this special girl in that run and in my mind I will always remember it as perfection. After a short wait I was told she won her course and qualified for the last run-off, the other winner was "Roger", a 6 year old male from the specials stake. I will admit I was a bit worried about the last and final run. She had already run 3 long, hard runs, and as a young girl I had not pushed her this hard yet. Spirit, however, never seemed to have any doubts at all. As they yelled "Tally-Ho" she bolted out of my arms as if she hadn't even run yet that day, took control of the course and finished strong!!
As expected, they kept me waiting for the final results, but once announced I almost couldn't believe they called her name - "Spirit" - as the winner!

Thanks to Donna and Larry Richards, Robin and Scott Horner, and Dora McDonald for this wonderful girl! Thanks to judges Ian Davies and Katie Kaltenborn for noticing my special girl. Thanks to Roger (the other semi-finalist) and all the other whippets who participated in the trial for wonderful competition! Thanks to all the wonderful people that I meet this weekend while coursing, especially David Howton for all of his hard work! And finally, thanks to Mike for all his help, support and of course these photos!

These first few photos of Spirit are taken by Mike on Saturday:

Spirit after her final run wearing her BOB winning collar made by Gail Boyd:
Spirit and Deana in the Hilton Hotel later in the week:
Deana, Robin, Scott, and 4 littermates (Spirit, Missy, Flyer and Double Live) - all 4 littermates placed on both Saturday and Sunday! Way to go pups!
Deana and Spirit in the confirmation ring on Thursday:
Spirit behaved well in the ring and overall showed well for me.


Great job Spirit! We are proud of you as always!!!!
Deana

Spirit enjoying time outside in the yard

In the early part of February we had a really nice day (in the 70s). Spirit and Morgan had a grand time and I was able to get a few photos of them in the yard. I can't believe Spirit is 15 months old already. (She was only 14 months old in these photos).
Oh those ears!! what are you trying to be a Jack Russell?

Spirit!

This is a great photo that Mike took and converted to black and white.
I really love what he did and wanted to share.
Deana