Westminster Deerhound Wins Best in Show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Coopa Cabana]

I was thrilled to see Hickory win! Just a beautiful Deerhound! It's so great to see one of the large hound breeds in the Winner's circle. I was so blessed to have Lexie, my Irish Wolfhound, for a very long 9-1/2 years. With the large breeds, you just need to start treating and feeding them as Seniors when they are much younger. Wolfies need constant brushing or they will matt, and like any other large breed, it takes a lot longer to housebreak them, as it takes that much longer for their bodies to mature. But they have the absolute sweetest dispositions!
But it's like having a small horse in the house - they have absolutely no idea how big they are - really not a great idea to let them get used to sleeping on your bed! And I remember one time she "bumped" into the back of my leg running to the door to go out - my calf was actually black (not blue!) for a month.
It may still be a couple of years away, but I still plan on getting another Wolfhound!

 

[welsummerchicks]

That would be a long wait too.

And the breeder will probably have an apostle in the US that s/he will send over to inspect your house and yard.

And I do not use the word 'apostle' lightly.

One lady actually counted the number of shade trees in my yard and said, 'You really don't have enough trees'.

And no fencee, no puppy. (from the old 'no tickee, no washee').

And if you don't like it, that's fine with them. That's just how it is.

One of the Scottish breeders had an estate in the Scottish highlands of 17,000 acres, and the deerhounds, 'ate anything they could catch'.

At one borzoi breeders, I drove up the driveway, to see the wife sitting in front of their giant picture window facing the road, banging away and singing at the top of her lungs on a huge loom, buck naked.

When eight borzois mobbed me and took the rabbit fur hat off my head and started ripping it to shreds, her husband waded in, kicking dogs and yelling, 'HIIII!!!!'(and the dogs respond with glad cries and smiles that say, 'Daddy, we brought you lunch!') He was dressed like a Russian peasant. When he rescued the hat, he threw the dogs some live game to chase, and tossed me the hat, which was fairly shredded.

We spent the rest of the day outdoors, it was Zero fahrenheit that day, we spent the rest of the day outdoors, boozing it up and lure coursing.

SO! You are not talking about normal people here.

I'm not so sure the situation with a borzoi puppy or a greyhound puppy would really be all that different.

I did meet one show greyhound breeder who was very eager to send me a puppy by plane without seeing my yard.

The second I got her email, I got about 20 emails from other greyhound people, warning me off.

Getting these breeds is not like going down to the local pet shop and getting a puppy.

With very few exceptions, these breeders are very, very serious. You think dog rescues are bad....mwah ha ha ha ha!!!!!

 

[EweSheep]

I got all mine from Oaklara Borzois and the lady was sweet! She took the drive all the way from Chicago to Decatur to see my premises before she let me adopt one of her show dogs. She looked around and said good fencing but it needs to be taller however for them being house dogs, it would be OK. After I lost my first Borzoi, she gave me two more, both are brothers and they were ubber sweet dogs and loved them both. Alas, both of them passed on, Oakey a year after I had him and Otto, three years later. Just beautiful dogs! I emailed her to find out if she has any left after a few years of not having dogs, and not traveling as much as I used to, and had a newborn daughter. This time she would not sell me a puppy or an older dog because they simply won't do well with a rambious kid or kids and advised me to wait until my daughter reaches almost teenager years before getting another one or adopt one. That is sensible on her part as a breeder and I respect her even I didn't agree with her that Borzois can not be around kids if you get them as a puppy, they would adapt well and grow together with kids. But not all Borzois are created equally.

One thing I didn't like about Deerhounds OR Irish Wolfhounds, is their wiry coats. Its not the "pettable" kind like the cotton or silk like hairs of Borzois.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Oh I LOVE that wiry coat, it's crispy huggin, it's like an old lady that uses too much hair spray, a whole can on each side, too much. You can also arrange their beards and moustaches. It is good to first give them a yogurt container. That dried yogurt is LOVELY conditioner for the beards and moustaches, they hold a shape SO much better then.

And there are the problems with PETA! 'Hey! You! Dog abuser! Your dog is STARVING! Don't you ever FEED IT? Don't you ever GROOM IT???? ANIMAL HATER!!!!'

And with the vets! 'This puppy has RICKETS! LOOK AT ITS PAWS! THEY'RE ALL- KNOBBY!!!! THIS PUPPY HAS BRONCHITIS!' Ummm....doc....that's just your scope rattling in its little bony trachea....

And there's the hippies! 'DUUUUUUUDE...Why don't you let your dog lie on the EEEEEARTH, MAN?'

YOU try to get her off her frikkin pillows, blankets, pads and poofy things! She'll go over and lie on your fat flabby dog if you make her lay on the EEEEEARTH, man!

Oh but the wiry coat DOES get SO STANKY. IT IS SO, SO NATURAL! It's basically like a complex and difficult to tame organic MAGNET!

It is very odor-retentive, you never have to ask, Precious, where have you been? That gallop through the black muck in the swamp will be with you for A LONG, LONG TIME! Bathe if you will, and bathe again, mwah ha ha ha!!!!

'Why Wels, your house smells JUST LIKE A FOREST!'

'Why Wels, your dog smells like some sort of very Euro-trash mixture of pooh, rotted things and a wool sweater that has been left wet for a year!'

You will never sleep quite the same again when camping in a tent.

'Wels, did something DIE in this tent?' 'No, that's the dog'. OH BUT I FORGOT! They are not dogs! They are hounds. If you talk to a breeder, they will meet you with horrified silence if you say, 'What a lovely DOG'.

DOG? DOG????????????? IT.....IS.....A.....HOUND!!!! IT.IS.NOT.A.DOG!!!!!!

And the hair under the chin, that big long beard, is 'The Place Where the Fur Never Dries'. The little food particles, the slobber, it is glorious. If you wait long enough, you don't need any yogurt cups.

Furthermore, if they don't gallop through something stanky, they will ROLL in it, it is glorious to see them just COLLAPSE like the leaning tower of Pizza on some disgusting pile of rotted poo/dead thing so it gets right on the side of their neck!

Oh and riding in a car!!! Have you ever driven in a car, with a couple of very tall potted palms, or say, philodendrons, on the back seat? You know how they LEAN when you go around a corner, and then fall over? That's what your deerhound does!

No I don't think it's a matter of all borzois not being the same and it would be ok with the right one, and I think the breeder is right and you are wrong. I just would not have that fast or tall a dog around a little kid.

And yes, actually, even the best sight hound in the world can have that one little moment, one time, where he sees a little baby or toddler crawling outside and something just clicks. It has thousands of years of chase chase chase and hunt hunt hunt in it. I respect the nature.

I had my dog at my sister's, and every one of those little kids got knocked over. It has nothing to do with the dog or whether it's good or not, they just can't figure out how to balance or which way the dog is going, they grab the collar or leash and they get pulled over, before you can even run over and stop it. It just happens too fast.

My sister gave the little one the dog's leash at the park, the other two little ones grabbed the dog at the same time, he started to run with the dog, in two steps they all 3, the bigger one too, had fallen and were bloody and screaming. I was still running, waving, screaming, 'No! No! Don't give Steven the LEA....' WHAM. All three of them.

The dog runs 45 frikkin miles an hour. The dog can't help what he is. If they even JOG they pull the kid over.

Heck they even injure the adults often enough. Ever had a running sight hound that size, hit you when it's running 45 mph? It ain't so much fun.

 

[EweSheep]

Welsummerchicks, how right you are when considering the size of those dogs!

I 've had two of those boys in my Taurus car, Oakey would sit in the back while Otto sits in the front. Talk about LONG dogs LOL! If they had access to your sofa, they would sit next to each other, head on ends and butts together but once in a while one would shove the other's butt to get some room LOL! They are pretty good about in the car, Oakey would lay down. Otto on the other hand, on a short trip, he would sit and drivers around me would gawk or laugh and believe it or not, a few "almost" accidents because they were too busy looking at Otto.

Oh I had my fair share with P***A and they told me if I don't fatten those dogs up, they will call the humane society. I told them GO AHEAD! They would lose everytime! I had to watch Oakey's diet because he is built more of a collie than a Borzoi (one of the good things both boys were neutered) and making sure he didn't over eat his brother's food. Otto is a slow eater, daintly picking up one kibble at a time while Oakey would just "hoove" it up and blech!

Borzois are neurotic about furnitures, they gotta lay on them! That is what the breeder said if you want to save your sofa, either put a throw on it or "plastic-ized the sofa". I put a throw on it and no problem!

Camping was great between me and Sparky. She loved it! However rabbits are fair game to her and would give chase if I let her.

Oakey and Otto loves to go into the horse manure pile and roll in it. Phheeeeeew! However taking a dog into a standing shower only, well, you only have so much room to wash the dog and wash yourself twice with both dogs. I love them when they smell so good! Take two wet dogs, look out, they shake, face roll into the carpet and side of sofa, rubbing themselves silly. Wet carpet, side of sofa wet, well, smelled like dogs!

Otto and Oakey love kids, the previous owners were elderly, had grandkids all the time so they loved my nephews which they were around six and seven years old. But they did a good job knocking them down when they love to get some petting and rubbed all over them like MORE MORE MORE, please! They were so happy and had fun with the kids chasing the dogs or go play hide and seek.

Yes, I am going to wait a good while before I get a Borzoi...just common sense and when hubby's job is more secure for awhile. No need to get one now if job security isn't there or company is being unpredictable with the work flow. The downside, the huge vet bills because most meds go on weight, so a 120 lb dog is quite a bit, not to mention dosages of vaccinations and heartworm meds.

Oh yeah, they ARE FAST! Just absolutely goreous to watch.....zoooooooooooooom! They love it!

 

[welsummerchicks]

(pondering memories of sister's kids looking like KITES holding onto dog's collar screaming, 'MAKE IT STOoooooooop.....' with voice fading off into distance.)

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:

It could have been worse!

 

[Inkheart]

Deerhounds are great dogs and i think it weerent for their size more would have them - gentle seet - until they get in the field! LOL I used to show one when i was a handler and she was just a big dollbaby! Plus as i have wirehair Dachshunds - love the wiry bearded ones!

 

[welsummerchicks]

"gentle, sweet, until they get out in the field"

(laughs maniacally)


ahahahh ahah ahahhhahaaa hahaahahhhhahhahahahahaahahhahahahah

'Hun, what's that on the horizon?'

'That's my hound'

'But there seems to be something in front of it'

'Yes. Yes, there is'.

'What is it? It looks like an Olympic level track and field star. Gol! Look at him go! He just hurdled that rock in perfect form!'

'It is a child. They adopt a pretty efficient technique when under pressure, you know...'

'Really?'

'Yes'.

'What is it?'

'It is a locally occuring male child of thirteen or so, I'd say' (files nails and whistles...)

(Child comes into view, running at a world class finish line kick pace, and hurdles the low fence around the field with a PERFECT split steeplechase technique. The child's mouth is in a classic 'O' and his eyes betray the last vestiges of horrified panic before exhaustion sets in)

(Deerhound, loping along casually, stops at fence and wags tail slowly and gently, with a disappointed expression that says, 'but we were having FUN and I was barely warmed up. Why did he go away?')

(wels finishes by pondering the spectacle of hound LOPING ALONG looking back over her shoulder from time to time, with burly slavering vicious attack dog galloping after her, growling and barking savagely....hound SLOOOOOOOWWWWWS down her casual lope, because it appears slavering vicious attack dog is losing interest and is in the process of blowing out an aorta.....'Come on there, darlin, chaaaaaaaase me, chaaaaaase me.....awwwwww....')

 

[EweSheep]

Well those kind of dogs are not quarter horse racers can only go a quarter of a mile. Not sure how much they can go and how long they can keep up with the stamina.

I would not be surprised if they are like the cheetahs, short distance but lot of speed.