Runway Races!

It was so unbelievable driving down to NJ this past weekend.  Once you get just a little bit south of NH there is NO SNOW on the ground.  There were actually buds on the trees and bugs flying around in NJ.  Ridiculous!

Anyways… it was the first race meet of the season and we had a great time!  Michele and I packed up six greyhounds and our mascot whippet and drove down to our friend Andee’s place on Friday morning.  Running this weekend was Jammin’, Chili, and Wicca.  We also brought Hootie, Sizzler, and Runway for practice.

The weather was picture perfect on Saturday, probably in the high 50’s, sunny, a little breezy but not too bad.  Perfect running weather for the pups.  The races were fun, Jammin’ won and remains undefeated for something like 26 races.  Wicca, of course, won the turtle.  However the real excitement for me were the practices!

Hootie ran for about 100 yards without any complications.  He had ended his racing season early last year with an avulsion fracture to his accessory carpal bone.  He had surgery in October and has been doing physical therapy ever since.  This was the first real impact on that leg.  It was very exciting to see him running again.  Hootie also ran a full 200 yards on Sunday without any complications.  I am beyond thrilled. 

The real champ of the entire weekend.. from beginning to end was Miss Runway (aka spooky, acid queen). She did amazing on her first road trip.  The first time I opened her crate when we arrived at Andee’s, she immediately cowered in the back so that I had to reach way in there to pull her out.  By the end of the weekend, she would practically run out of her crate.  She did fantastic socializing all weekend with Andee’s family and dogs, she sniffed out a couple of strangers at the field when they weren’t looking, and she was crazy to chase the lure. She slept out of a crate for the first time and did pretty well.  The coolest thing about Runway is that she went into her Auntie Michele’s room at 4:30 am and woke her up to go outside.  Now that is a good dog right there!

Anyhow…I was sort of afraid to let her go the first time, not really knowing for sure if she would be easy to catch at the end or not.  Well, after seeing her first practice I knew she would be fine.  I entered her in the races for Sunday and she came in 3rd place and was the high scoring, first time entered dog.  She received her first ribbons and her first .5  point towards a GRC title.  She breaks out of the box like a shot and she is pretty quick down the track. She gave Jammin’ a run for his money in one of the races.. but I’m not sure that she has to speed to beat him. We’ll see!

The very best news is that when we arrived home.  Runway was so happy and bouncy… she greeted Aaron so differently that he noticed right away.  This morning, Runway calmly came into the house through the bulkhead with me standing on the stairs looking at her and to top that off, she was alone.  I don’t know if there are many out there that can appreciate how hard that is for her to do.  But after this road trip, Aaron and I are both seeing some positive changes in her and I can’t wait to take her again!