Piedmont - Dog Daze

Well, Remi, Sugar and myself arrived at the Park, found a parking space in seconds (we were lucky, I'm sure) and proceeded to walk to the dog park where the Dog Daze activities were being held. It was about 2:30 p.m. or so. We saw quite a few IGs, a few whippets, and a few greyhounds.

We found our first greyhound within 5 minutes or so, stopping to chat with her human for quite some time. She was a new adopter (from Carl) and had only had her hound for a week. All was going well, she said. She had actually perused our site and had downloaded our member application. Being the membership coordinator of SEGC, of course I encouraged her to get that thing submitted and just went on and on "selling" SEGC to this person. I truly think she'll join us. She is interested in pet therapy (particularly at the VA Hospital as she is a veteran herself), meet and greets, volunteering and socializing her hound with others. Possibly even coursing as her hound just retired from the track at 5 years of age. She's anxious to see her actually run at full speed.

Our next greyhound encounter was with Scarlett (aka Jetta Erie) and her mom, Julie Monforte (a fellow SEGC member and SEGA adopter). We chatted for a bit, right before the first monsoon arrived. Everyone took cover as best they could. I swear it looked like Woodstock . . . all the wet people and wet dogs. At least that is what I imagine Woodstock looked like as I was not actually there. Anyway, that monsoon finally ended and everyone came out again, enjoying the sunshine. Remi and Sugar had their first treat, a Lick A Lot (frozen yogurt concoction which they adore). From that booth, we meandered around some and found a booth touting homemade dog cakes. Of course, they had to taste. Then, at another booth, we found some dog food samples including some raw samples from Nature's Variety. They snacked on a few venison samples. Umm, umm. They thought they were in dog heaven. All these dogs, the mud, the treats - they couldn't have been happier!

We finally made it into the off-leash area. I surveyed the area and decided it was not as crowded as it could have been (probably because of the rain) and decided to let Remi and Sugar off leash. A guy was throwing a tennis ball to his two yellow labs and on the next throw, Remi was off in pursuit. She made it to the ball in seconds. Everyone was saying, "Where the heck did that greyhound come from?" She was fast, that's for sure. They wanted to watch her over and over again. We played the game for awhile and then some other dogs seemed to want to gang up on Sugar, so I retrieved everyone and departed. It was fun though. I always love showing off what our breed can do, especially to those who have never seen a greyhound!

I then ran into a lady with two beautiful fawn salukis. She is a member of SONG (I can't find their website, so if anyone has it, please let me know). She said they do alot of coursing practices up in the Alpharetta area. I'm sure I'll see her again at Cartersville as she said she courses up there as well.

We were heading back to the vehicle when we made one last stop at the raw food booth. She gave me three large bags of medallions. I'm gonna try them with Remi and Sugar. They loved the samples so I have no doubt they will love these, too. We'll see.

About halfway to the SUV, it started pouring again. Yet another monsoon. We had no umbrella. We were soaked. They girls took it in stride. I was miserable, soaked completely and chilled to the bone. We got to the vehicle and loaded up. Traffic home was horrible due to the amount of rain on the road. When I made it to I-20, the cars on the eastbound side were actually swooshing water up over the wall. Amazing. There was a car on my side, in the farthest left lane, driving pretty fast in the 3 inches of standing water. I was watching and saw their front bumper fall off the car, completely! They hesitated a bit and then changed lanes and proceeded on. Amazing, again. I imagine the bumper caused quite a bit of trouble for other motorists. People just don't understand the danger of standing water.

We arrived home, wet and tired. Everyone had an early dinner (the girls had a very light snack) and we headed to bed. What a day but I'm glad we went. I met some great people, some of which I'm sure I'll see again. We have some wonderful samples to try, as well. All in all, definitely not a wasted afternoon.

Chance Meeting

Last night I attended my first www.refocusoncareers.com area job networking meeting. I believe the time was well spent. I obtained quite a few contacts with contacts in the Atlanta area who may or may not be searching for someone with my qualifications. The guest speaker was Jim Stroud who is an IT recruiter at Google. Topic was "Blogging Your Way Into Your Next Job". Pretty interesting since that is what I am hoping will happen! I actually ran into an ex co-worker whom I worked with at Security First Network Bank. It was so good to see her. Seems though, that her position was eliminated so she is also looking for a position. I hope she is successful!

Unfortunately the dogs were crated the whole day and night, so when I got home they were so happy to see me! They are wonderful animals. So flexible, it seems and so willing to please, like most dogs! It's a complete turnaround from the cats and their behavior!

Tonight I have kennel duty which means I meet another volunteer at the kennel to let the greyhounds waiting to be adopted out for their last potty break for the night. This is something I do two nights out of the month, along with my Meet and Greet location, my pet therapy group, being membership coordinator and pet therapy coordinator. But I love it. Anything for the dogs. They deserve it!

Virgin Blogger

Well, I have decided to jump on the blogging wagon and create my own blogging area and get started. Hopefully this will be advantageous to someone, perhaps even myself.

Not much happening so far this week, except that traffic continues to such in Atlanta, I sometimes wish I had a helicopter (with a nice, young, handsome, pilot). But alas, I only have my Honda Pilot to whisk me back and forth from D'ville to the far ends of the earth just so I can earn a decent living!

The weekend proved to be productive. Alot of yardwork on Saturday, followed by a trip to Cartersville so that one of my greyhounds could get certified to lure course. Hounds must be certified to enter an ASFA field trial. Certification is earned by practicing with a hound of similar running style, which is evaluated by a judge. Sugar did excellent and did receive her certification. I am most proud. Now, to get her in shape for the April 2-3 SEGC trials being held at the same field. It is quite exciting watching her run around the field and she enjoys it so much.

The ultimate goal is to win titles. After a hundred points for placements, as well as taking at least two firsts, or two seconds and a first, a sighthound earns its Field Championship (FCH) title. With further placements and another three hundred points, the hound earns a Lure Courser of Merit (LCM) title. Subsequent LCMs are earned in the same way, and currently the highest achieving sighthound is a Whippet, an LCM 18.

Hounds are normally run in trios, in yellow, pink, and blue colors. Judges assess performance based on each hound's abilities, identifying hounds by their blanket color. The hounds run a preliminary course and a final course, and then may run for Best of Breed. Finally, the Best of Breed run for Best in Field, as an optional stake. The hounds are scored by the following criteria:

Follow - 15 points
Enthusiasm - 15 points
Agility - 25 points
Speed - 25 points
Endurance - 20 points

I'll be posting here on her progress as her 2nd career gets underway. My other greyhound, Remi, is going to straight race. A whole different ballgame, but still great fun for the dog. And it keeps them in shape and doing what they love to do - run like the wind!