Sighthound Sightings

[grizabella]

There really don't seem to be all that many sighthounds around, they're are not the sorts of dogs you see every day.

I thought it might be fun to start a thread to tell everyone about those occasions when you stumble accross a beautiful sighthound out of the blue.


So far this year, I'd not encountered any sighthounds except for greyhoundaddict's greys and one Afghan out on a walk, UNTIL today.
First my mum met me after she'd been in a cafe and said she's seen a couple of whippets with their owner outside. 'Surely not!' I thought, but as we drove back past there were indeed a gorgeous pair of whippets. I was super excited. ;D
Later in the day, I was walking home from the park and saw a chap walking a tall grey dog. I thought that it was maybe a deerhound, but then, I had never seen one around before and they are very uncommon here so it didn't seem likely. BUT as we got closer it became obvious, it WAS a deerhound! I was tremendously excited as I'd never seen one before. What a great day! I hope this means I am becoming a sighthound magnet.

I expect people think I'm weird for getting so excited over seeing a couple of dogs, but it really made my day.

[Gazinghound]

Hey, if I saw two Whippets AND a DEERHOUND (!!) just walking around on the streets in a single day, my reaction would be pretty wild! That's phenomenal. Sounds as if you are a sighthound magnet, lol, what with having been lucky enough to spy an Affie earlier in the year on top of that...

Deerhounds are among my very favorites; you should've seen me when one of them won Best in Show at Westminster this year!

Speaking of shows, I don't have much to report as far as random neighborhood sightings...the one older gentleman who used to walk a Greyhound in a plaid coat near my old middle school hasn't been spotted lately...but I was surrounded by unbelievably lovely sighthounds (mainly Afghans and fellow Salukis) from Friday to Sunday at our three shows! The third one was the charm; we got Best of Winners (meaning Ulla beat the rest of the not-yet-Champion dogs and earned 5 more points, making it her second major--just some more single points at smaller shows and she'll have earned her Championship! Whoot!!) Best in Show went to the Bearded Collie who won Westminster's Herding Group. =]

I fell in love with one little tricolored pup named Hazy, who was more instantly trusting and affectionate with a total stranger (me) than any I'd seen before...her owner thought that she might need me to handle Hazy for her, which I didn't wind up having to do, but while I was walking her around, I just wanted to steal that little girl and take her home with me! x3 She was also obsessed with climbing up on things (tables, chairs, me, whatever) to get a better view...and she seemed to know exactly when she was supposed to be walking with me, watching the rest of the competition, or entering the ring. Crazy for such a young dog. The woman's other bitch (watch that word get censored!) was also a red like Ulla, but with very different looks, a red nose, and another personality entirely (hyper, excitable, playful, sweet, yet a little more stand-offish and couldn't stop trying to run to her person inside the ring.) Gotta love dogs...they're just like people, only more so. xDD It felt odd to be dealing with ones so different from my own. :3 Must be like that with children. And then to compare the catlike Ulla with my very quintessentially canine, hypersensitive, eager-to-please Rusty (the one who's just like Dug!) Sooo funny, those two... xD
And then, of course, there was the enormous polar bear of a Great Pyrenees who sprinkled my bag, water bottles, and Ulla's soft crate through the exercise pen next to us. ^^;; Heh heh. The shows were full of gorgeous dogs of all breeds...I was in awe of so many...including a beautiful Kuvasz who's apparently been doing a lot of impressive winning lately...^o^

ETA: Cool, it didn't censor the word bitch! ;D

[grizabella]

Wow, do you do much showing with Ulla? I'd love to get into dog showing one day, once I'm more independent (I'm not driving yet). Hazy sounds so gorgeous!!!

I've had a pleasantly sighthound-filled couple of days. Yesterday I went to the RSPCA's Million Paws Walk, and let me tell you, I would not be surprised if there were literally a million paws there- it was so busy!!! I don't think I've ever seen so many dogs. GAP SA had an information stall there and some beautiful greyhounds as well. There were loads of greyhounds and little Italian greyhounds, even a few puppies and I lost count of how many whippets I saw after about 12!!! If that wasn't enough, I saw my very first Irish Wolfhound! ;D They are so magnificent, and it was such a surprise to see one!

As well as the hounds, there were so many interesting dogs there, including St Bernards, Great Pyrenees, Newfoundland, Great Dane (can you tell I like big dogs? ), a couple of Keeshonds and so many others. It was very exciting.

Today we passed a whippet when we were driving home, it made me so happy! Haha

[Gazinghound]

We've usually only done about eight shows, or fewer, per year, but we're almost there! I've always wanted to get into the sport, and it's loads of fun, as I expected--but harder than it looks to be a good handler! I'm so grateful to have her breeders and their friend and my close friends and mentors, but everybody else has been extremely helpful, nice, and supportive too. Saluki people are a pretty small and tight-knit community, hehe. I hope you do try it someday. And Hazy was absolutely beautiful. :3

Omg, that walk sounds like a blast! I went to one like that once with my friend; I brought my Maltese and she brought her Westie, so we had two little white dogs. ^^ It was great, though it sounds as though yours was a LOT larger.

Ahhh, sighthounds! Eeeee!! ~^___^~ I'd be so happy with all those guys around me, too--or just to spy one at random, which is a great surprise when it happens. When you're in the presence of a Wolfhound, it's awe-inspiring! Just terrific.
And ALL the other beautiful breeds as well, of course. What a variety! Saints and Keeshonden are lovely animals. My soft spot for Danes grew after living with my Casey for nine years <3, and I once met a couple of Newfies who were just these massive bundles of friendly greetings at a boat rental place. At that point my mom had hardly ever seen such huge doggies, and they left quite a bit of themselves on us--it was so adorable. x3

No new sightings to report (though I was very pleased to see a Tibetan Spaniel in Virginia Beach a couple weeks ago), and the weather's too wet to go to the park, but I did see one in my dream last night, lol. For some reason I adopted a light cream-colored Afghan, and she and Ulla became friends. What I remember most is setting up the pillows on my bed for the two of them to sleep. ;D

[grizabella]

I do really hope to get into showing, it'd be when I'm on sighthound number 2 (which would be a saluki) as my first will be pet-only. I've always wondered how you get started into showing, it really must help to have such supportive breeders.

That sounds a lovely dream, maybe it's a sign you are destined for Affie-mum-hood! Haha!

[Gazinghound]

Ahhhh, that would be so delightful, and I can definitely see it happening! ;D Affies were always one of the top breeds that I really, really wanted. I remember telling someone in elementary school that I loved them, and she said, "Oh, me too! My mom makes them." Took me a second to realize she was talking about quilts! XD

=] It really is such a tremendous help having friends involved, especially when you're first starting and are a total newb (and you feel that way even after watching every televised show religiously and reading about the sport ever since you learned HOW to watch TV or read, lol! Everyone starts at that level and it typically takes many years to develop your skills--well, of course, ideally, you never stop learning and developing.) Getting started is technically as simple as obtaining an entry form for any given show in your area, filling it out, and mailing it in with the entry fee...but to stand a real chance of winning it's invaluable to take handling lessons, read up on how shows work, talk to people, and observe them in action. Just walking in there with a dog on a leash would be a huuuuugely embarrassing mistake. ;D The good news is that many reputable breeders also show their dogs or would certainly be able to introduce you to new friends who do and would be willing to take a new person under their wing--particularly young people, because they'll be the future of the sport which is overwhelmingly dominated by older folks. (So far I've always been the youngest handler in any of the shows I've entered.)

And originally I was just aiming to get a pet-quality Saluki as well, and there was a 13-year-old one I wanted to adopt. But since we already had dogs established in the house, my dad didn't want me to bring another adult in, and so he asked that if I really wanted one, I get a puppy who could be raised here. (The old dog I'd wanted did go into a good home!) With them being such a rare breed, I couldn't adopt a pup at the time, so I had to make some online connections, attend a lure coursing trial to check out some Salukers in action, and go visiting with the state breed club's members at a post-show meeting. That's where I first met Ulla and her family--littermates and humans. She was the one I held that day, though little did I know she'd be the one I later brought home. Since her whole litter was show-quality, I had to agree in the contract to allow her to be shown, and I excitedly took the deal because I hadn't even been counting on getting to do what I'd always wanted to do when getting the new dog.

[grizabella]

Not sure if they quite count as sighthounds, but I saw my first Basenjis at doggy day care today!

[Gazinghound]

Sure, they're considered sighthounds! =] When I saw them at a show, they were smaller than I'd imagined, but very cool. Almost kinda catlike, with neat tails!

[grizabella]

I imagined them a bit bigger too, very interesting and unique little dogs!

[grizabella]

I saw the deerhound again today! I was to shy to ask the owner about him/her though.

[Gazinghound]

Stupendous! But aw...maybe next time! ;D
At one show a Deerhound was resting in his crate under our tent, and I was all, "Oooooooh, I love them!!" to his person. :3 It was awesome. And at Meet the Breeds, with the bagpipe music playing at their booth whilst one slept on a tartan blanket and his or her friends greeted us...ah! So terrific.

[Gazinghound]

Finally, a sighting--and a VERY AWESOME one at that!!

As I was driving down the street to the movies (to see Cars 2, which RULED), I spotted a couple standing on the sidewalk in front of a Starbucks, speaking with a few people who were sitting at one of the outdoor tables. At the end of their leash was a SALUKI. I could not believe my eyes. xD I was like, "Ma, we've gotta go say hi to them before they get away!" So I parked and paid the meter in a hurry, and ran over; when they noticed me admiring their boy and turned to me, I told them that I had one, and everybody was shocked. We got into quite a conversation about dogs and dog parks (theirs isn't a big fan of being annoyed by other dogs either, lol) and breeders and showing (which they didn't quite feel like getting into) and such things, fortunately without making me late for the movie or even most of the previews.

They were great, friendly, easy people to talk to, and live just a few blocks from the movies, so I wound up giving them my contact info--figured their Dante and my Ulla both ought to have a friend of their own kind, now that we know of one another's existence. Hopefully they can get together for a first play date soon. =3 Dante, who'd come from somebody in Oregon, was an extremely well socialized, chillaxed dog with a beautiful lemon and white parti-colored coat that I adored. I truly hope this can be the start of a beautiful friendship...^w^

[grizabella]

Wow, you must be so pleased, what are the chances of randomly coming across a Saluki!! That's so lovely that you're going to stay in touch, it must be great being able to talk at length about such things! ;D

[Gazinghound]

I AM...those odds were pretty darned poor indeed! Apparently he gets walked down that main street frequently, but I'm not in that town very often anymore, so it seemed to be sheer luck that our paths intersected. x3 They were great people and easy to speak to (and Dante as well , so I really hope that they'll contact me soon. ^^ It'd be swell for all of us to become friends for regular activities and further discussions of doggy subjects...;>

[grizabella]

You must have gone past at just the right moment!

I came across a Whippet on my walk with Bella this morning, on the other side of the road and going a different way to us unfortunately, but I was very happy all the same!