Catching up on everything....

It's been NUTS around here - tons going on but before I get started I wanted to share the news on Sharron's boy "Blaine" (from the Leigh x Flynn litter) He took Winners Dog for 2 points last weekend with Sharron showing him herself for the first time - it was his first points. We are SO proud of him and Sharron!

Now for some puppy/litter news....
Dido's pups are doing absolutely fantastic - they are gorgeous and we love the personalities on them. Scarlet's pups have their eyes open and ears and are starting to walk around - will have their first meal tomorrow and will take new pics of them to post on the website tomorrow as well. My Basenji girl Belle will be coming home on Thursday, she's been in Illinois being bred - will post more information on that in another post with pictures and such. The pups will be born here at Shannon Down but will leave to the co-breeders when they are 8 weeks old, but we should have some great memories and pictures during those 8 weeks to share. Leigh got to Kansas yesterday to be bred to Hudson, they had their first breeding tonight! After not having Whippet puppies for over a year and now having Dido and Scarlet's litters, I can't believe how much I missed having babies around. We also got word the other day that Carina IS pregnant by Bosley - we can not wait to see pictures of the future puppies!!!!

News on Tigger - Tigger's leg isn't stable :( If you pick it up and wiggle it around it moves, so on mom's way to Ohio on Friday for lure coursing she will be stopping by the infamous Dr. Radcliffe for him to take a look at it - will post more when I hear of how the appointment goes.

Bitches in SEASON - aside from Leigh and Belle coming in season but leaving for breeding - Helen, GiGi and Viva are all in season as well... so the girls spend part of the day crying because they want to be bred and the boys spend the rest of the time crying because they want to breed them. When bitches are in season it's the noisiest the dogs ever get but we are couping with it all but can't wait until they are out of season!

For other news - I had a phone interview with ASFA tonight about possibly taking over their website, not sure if that is a go yet or not but will post if I hear any good news. I am also going to be doing the 2010 AWC National website and I am excited about that. I took over the http://www.eclipsewhippet.com/ website and will be doing some changes to the http://www.ableaimkennels.com/ site in the next week or two. Also - something that has got me very excited and will keep me quite busy... I am taking over the Whippet Watch magazine after this next issue! I am so excited about it and will spend the next several months getting familiar with it. My first issue will be around Xmas time - so if you don't subscribe right now - get a subscription!!!

I will try and get some other stuff posted tomorrow, pictures and such - but that is it for tonight!

Krys

Puppy update

Well, 2 days ago Dido's puppy celebrated their 1 month birthday :) And Scarlet's turned 2 weeks old! We took pics about 2 days early of Dido's pups - so their pics are already up and I just got new pics of Scarlet's pups up on the site that I took yesterday.

Now for a little update on how they are as I really don't go into detail at all on the website. First Dido's pups - they are just ADORABLE. They are doing wonderful, Dido is weaning them on her own and they are on 3-4 meals a day now. They love attention, if they hear you walk in the room they start jumping up and down trying to get out of their pool. They love to play with fuzzies, the fuzz that is in the stuffed toys. They rip and tear at the fuzz and chase it around when you pull it. Their are a few that stand out vocally, Aaliyah and Caleb are probably the mouthiest though Alexa has barked a few times. Liam and Aidan are very quiet - Liam keeps to himself but is very adventerous and Aidan likes to play with his siblings but just doesn't make any noise. Cadence has about the prettiest head, she's just beautiful. Aurora has big huge eyes that just melt you when you look at her. Milo is adorable - very spunky little girl, always into everything. When I let them run around the room at night when I am changing their pads she goes under the bed and finds fuzzies to play with - she comes when you call to her and they all wag their tails non-stop. They LOVE their food, jump up as soon as they hear the pan clank and dive into their grub. We are very happy with them, personality wise and so far structurely - they are going to be some very nice pups. Aidan and Milo are basically spoken for now, we have finally made our decisions on them. I think that Liam and Alexa will be hanging out here for a while until we can make a decision between them which may take a few months ;)

Now for Scarlet's pups - they are HUGE!!! Scarlet's pups have always been big and fat, probaby because she's had so few. Eyes are just starting to crack open and I walked in earlier to see Cecilia playing with Alastair - she was grabbing a hold of him and trying to pull back and forth, so cute. And at the same time, Lizzie was trying to escape - unsuccessfully :) Another week and they should be tons of fun, that's when the eyes and ears will be open, they will start eating and playing and just being cute. We are so happy with all these babies!!!!

Now for other news, my Basenji girl "Belle" came in season - she left on Saturday to go to her breeder Gale - from there she went home with her co-owner Jerry who flew her out to the stud dog and they got the first breeding yesterday. There will be 4 breeders on this litter and it should be incredibly exciting, we expect some beautiful babies from this litter. Probably just black and tri colors to expect. They will be whelped here at Shannon Down and the pups will leave to the co-breeders at 8 weeks.

Also, Leigh came in season and she is leaving on Monday to go to Hudson to be bred. Mom was very impressed with his puppies that she saw at the National this year (I didn't get to go to this one). So we are really excited about this litter - not sure what to expect with numbers as she produced 3 pups with Face and 9 with Flynn! We will have a fun puppy filled fall and winter this year!!!

Krys

Eragon books - MUST READ

Okay, I know this has nothing to do with Whippets or even dogs - but I am in LOVE with these books. If you haven't read any of the Eragon books, you must! The third book is JUST out and I have it pre-ordered, just have to go pick it up. You must read the first book, Eragon, and the second book, Eldest, and then get the third book, Brisingr. They are incredible books and I have been DYING waiting for the third book to come out and now I am going to have a fit if I can't go and pick it up soon. There is one more book after this, not sure when it will be released but I don't think he's even done writing it yet. I have even gotten my little brother, Stuart (who will be 14 in a few days) to read the books and he just finished the second book and can't wait to start on the 3rd book. And I couldn't even get this kid to read the Harry Potter books (also AWESOME, not even comparable to the movies). My sister Kassi is now reading the first book and loves it and is almost done with it. They are wonderful books, and the author starting writing the first book at SIXTEEN years old!!!! Author, just in case you are wondering is Christopher Paolini. If you are into fantasy, dragons, magic, anything like that - you will love these books!

Okay, I have rambled along enough about the books, but I could go on all day about them!!! READ THEM - they are AWESOME.... enough said.

Krys

Porter & Monroe pics

Here are the new pics of Porter, there are more of them on his page on the website under Extended Family. And new pics of Monroe taken at 7 months old, there is also a front shot that you can see on his brand new page on our website under Extended Family!

Porter at the Shelton, WA shows this past weekend

Monroe - 7 months old

Catching up on the weekend news

First we will start with Porter who was showing out in Shelton, WA with his owner Debi Adams. On Saturday he was Winners & Best of Winners for 2 points under Ms. Patricia Trotter!!! Then on Sunday he was Winners Dog for another point under Mr. George Boulton! He now has 8 poinst and a major at 7 months in I think only 5 shows that he's been too!!!! We are so proud of our grand baby. We also got some pics of him that Sandi Rolf took of him in the ring that I will post in a bit. For anyone that still doesn't know, Porter is out of Heidi, that we bred (sister to Anna) and Porter was bred by Janis Castle & Susan Vernon. But we are so proud of him as one of our grand babies!

Okay, AKC lure coursing up in Virgina with George & Michelle Evans and Joanne Ronning. On Saturday Ripley won the Open Stake and went on to Best of Breed for a 5 point major!!! Trick also ran an entire trial and finished his SC title! On Sunday, Ripley placed 2nd in Open for 2 points to finish his AKC Field Championship!!! His sister Sunny was 3rd for her first point. Trick placed 4th in Open and ran really well from what we heard! Derby won the Field Champion Stake of 8 dogs for 3 LCX points and Aren placed 4th in Field Champions. Ripley, Sunny & Derby are all Brooks kids out of "Kira" of Joanne's. Trick is one of our Leigh x Flynn kids and Aren is a Murphy son!

On Friday, mom took Leigh, Rupert and my younger brother Stuart (who's 13) to a UKC show in Hickory, NC. Rupert was Best Male, Best of Breed and Sighthound Group 1 and Stuart showed Leigh to Best Female and then showed her in Juniors and was 2nd out of 4. This was his very first time showing.

Then we went to the Southern Specialty in Atlant, GA on Saturday (only stayed for Saturday). Nothing exceptional to report, but Isaac was 3rd in BBE dogs. Quincy was pulled out of about 14 dogs in Open to be one of the 5 dogs that made the cut but did not place. I showed Charlize, mostly for the exposure and she showed incredibly well given what she went through at last years National. After a few minutes in the ring she was calm and paying attention to me - no problems with anything, I am so proud of my girl! Helen showed so well, she is incredibly easy to show, just like grandma Leigh - but she started to hitch a little, especially towards the end of the day during Sweeps were the judge REALLY liked her but ultimately put he 3rd probably because she started hitching worse the more she went around the ring (and it was a HUGE ring!). Leigh showed incredible as usual but that was about it. Julie Poole was there taking pictures so I can't wait to see what she got of the kids!!!

That's about it for this weekend! But we were home on Sunday, it was GORGEOUS out so we took Dido's pups outside for the first time and attempted stacked shots - which the puppies did wonderful at. We got some really good pictures of them that you can see on the website (way to many to post here). They were just 2 days shy of 4 weeks - their 1 month bday is tomorrow! Enjoy the pics, we are so happy with them but still can't figure out who we are going to keep :(

Krys

New puppy pictures

There are new pictures of both the Dido and Scarlet puppies on the website - www.shannondownwhippets.com Scarlet's pups turned 1 week old yesterday and Dido's pups turned 3 weeks old. Dido's pups are eating and playing and wagging their tails, just being cute babies!!! There are also 2-3 week candid photos of the Dido puppies on their litter page on the website. To many pics to post here but check out the website and ENJOY!

Krys

Striker news!!!!

Much to our surprise, Striker ran his first ASFA trial on Sunday (the 14th) and won the Open Stake and went on to Best of Breed. He was run by Don & Sally Papin in Oklahoma for his owner Dee Evans - yeah Striker!!!!

krys

Weekend News...

Mom went lure coursing (AKC) in Chattanooga, TN this weekend...

yesterday's results

In the Open A Stake Cuda placed 4th
In the Open B Stake Helen placed 1st and went Best of Breed for a 5 point major!
In the Open B Stake Quincy placed 2nd for 3 points
In the Field Champion Stake GiGi placed 3rd
Spencer ran for his first leg of his JC and got it with ease!

Helen and Quincy only need a major to finish now!


today's results

Spencer finished his JC title and was moved up to Open (A Stake) where he placed 4th!
In the Open B Stake Helen placed 1st and went Best of Breed AGAIN for a 5 point major to finish her AKC Field Championship!!!!!
In the Open B Stake GiGi placed 3rd for 2 LCX points
In the Open B Stake Blaine placed 4th

What a great weekend for the Shannon Down Whippies!!!

Hopefully the photographers there got some great shots of the dogs and we'll have new pics to share soon!

Krys

Lots of pictures and some news!

I have gotten a little behind with the pups and such, so I am posting some news and lots of new pictures we have gotten...

First, I totally forgot to post about some exciting UKC show news! Glenda took Brom & Leo to a UKC show (2 shows in one day) on September 6th. At the first show that morning, Brom won Best Junior and went on to Best Male to complete his UKC Championship!!! He is now UKC Ch. SDW Annadar All About Heart. Then at the second show that evening, Leo won Best Male for 35 points towards his UKC Championship!

Second, we got a training update from Dee on Striker (from the Winnie x Bosley litter). He is currently at Camp Windyglen in Oklahoma with grandpa Don Papin. Don emailed Dee and said that Striker is now coming out of a closed box with other dogs, keen on the lure and keeping up with Atoka and Charlie on the free runs around the property. Hopefully grandma Sally will take some pics of him soon so I can post them here and on the website!

Now for lots of pictures...

Leigh's Group 4 show photo

Porter at his second show winning 2 points
Porter at his first show winning WD/BOW & BOS over specials for a 3 point major!
Imagene's show photo (major win) was emailed to us last night!
Cheeks (from the 2006 Scarlet x Chief litter)
He is owned and loved by Martin Beally
Cheeks - "We ready to go yet, I'm driving right?"
Cheeks - Snow storm
Pictures of Dave taken last night - with his bestest buddies

Just to darn cute!
Birdie, owned by Sheila Hungerford - from the Brooks x Lily Litter

Sailor (from Bosley x Lily litter) and Birdie - both owned by Sheila
Sailor & Birdie sunning themselves
New Mercury photos - with her happy ears!

I just love this pic of Mercury! Quincy x Gali baby

That's it for now - hope you enjoyed all the new pictures! We certainly love getting them :)

Scarlet puppies have arrived...

Scarlet's babies arrived early this morning around 4am via c-section. A VERY big girl was holding up the show and her shoulders were back making it even harder. Our wonderful vet came in and our vet, mom and I performed the surgery and welcomed 3 beautiful babies, which was very nice as I was only expecting 2 at the most! We also spayed her at the same time as this is her last litter. Puppies are pictured below....

"Cecilia" Shannon Down Atonement (14.2 oz girl)

"Alastair" Shannon Down The Edge Of Love (8 oz boy)

"Lizzie" Shannon Down Pride & Prejudice (11.7 oz girl)

Cecilia, Alastair & Lizzie

Also took new pics of Dido's litter - a group pic of them below but you can see individual pics of them at 2 weeks on the website...

Some slideshow videos

Check them out, some slideshows of our favorites pics I put together to some good music ;)

Slideshow #1 - candid shots to "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf11Wf6mxK0

Slideshow #2 - lure coursing shots to "Forever" by Chris Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhFpJL1RGgc

Slideshow #3 - puppy shots to "Lovebug" by The Jonas Brothers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uobrQ2uK8A

Enjoy!!!!

New Apoll photos

Thought it was time to finally take some new pics of Apoll, she is just over 4 months old and wasn't very cooperative as she is a naughty, sassy little girl. But we got some good pics anyways :) She is so full of herself, with some training she is going to be a show stopper in the ring and a lot of fun to show! I am very happy with my little girl!

New Lola pictures

New pictures of Lola we took today - we are going to work on setting up an area to take pictures of the dogs out front which hopefully we will do in the upcoming weeks. When we do, we will be taking LOTS of pictures of all the dogs to share with everyone :) For now, here are new pics of Lola, enjoy!

Porter News!!!

Porter went to his second show in Euguene, OR yesterday with owner/handler Debi Adams and was awarded WD/BOW for 2 points!!! In two shows he now has 5 points and a major. He has today off but he shows on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Judge was Ms. Linda Scanlon. We are so excited to see his win pics and find out how he does the rest of the weekend!

krys

New Scarlet pic

Here is a new picture of Scarlet taken the other day - she will probably have her pup(s) within the next 24-48 hours and the web cam will be on her then :)

As for the other pups - new 1 week old photos have been added to the website! Check them out :)

Krys

Pics of Layla and Mya

Pictures of Layla and Mya taken this weekend with poppa Bosley...

Layla - SDW Kismet Can You Dig It? JC

Mya - SDW Kismet Golden Colors JC

Weekend Results

Okay, so I posted about Saturday already...

So Sunday - lure coursing in Hanover, PA
Helen placed 5th in Open and Rupert placed 2nd in Field Champions
Steve showed up with Mya and Layla and Layla earned the first leg of her JC - Mya already has hers but didn't course this day.

Avery completed her CR where ever it was that Joanne was running :) Hard to keep track of them all.

Nothing in the show ring with Leigh in Raleigh and Debi didn't enter Porter this day.

Monday - lure coursing in Hanover, PA
Rupert placed 2nd in Field Champions and Bosley placed 3rd behind him. GiGi placed 2nd in Open for 3 LCX points.
Mya ran but after a few weeks of foot rest (dislocated or popped toe) she wasn't in the condition to do to much, but she ran great mom said! Just needs to get her endurance back up. And Layla finished her JC title!!!!

Leigh won the Breed in Raleigh today and made the cut in the Group but it was a very strong group - so no placement :( But the kids did great!

We are off this coming weekend.

Pics of Layla and Mya in the next post!!!

Krys