One
thing I love about owning an ex-racing Greyhound is all of the information about
our dog and her history that comes with it.
I
have already told the story about Mila’s racing DVD and her fortuitous appearance
on the podium in third place. Having access to that kind of thing is a whole
heap of fun.
Oddly enough, the dog does not show any interest in watching herself
race on the telly (lucky there is no barking involved in those races, otherwise
we would be beside ourselves with excitement!)
Another
thing I love is having access to websites with her history as a racer – with information
about all of Mila’s races, including dates, venues, distances, placing, race
weight, and winnings.
All
of Mila’s race info can be found at this site: http://www.thedogs.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx.
Her race name was Bronze for Macos. As a side note, does anyone know how racing
names are chosen?! There are some fantastic ones out there!
 |
| It's not quite racing, ma - but it's fun all the same!! |
Mila’s
last race was 10 July 2011 (so we might have a little 1-year retirement party)
and she came to us in October, which is a pretty good turn around. She raced 26
times – which I am told is a lot for a dog that isn’t winning or placing. If I
know Mila, she must have at least had the enthusiasm to give it a go each time –
and I am proud to say that she only came last once. Based on the information on
the website (and my non-existent knowledge and understanding of greyhound
racing), I can see that she was carrying a little bit of extra weight for that
race (it was December after all, and the excesses of Christmas season can be
forgiven) and that tends to slow down even the best of us!!
The
other site that absolutely fascinates me, is one called “Greyhound Data” where
you can research the family history of your hound – see here: http://www.greyhound-data.com. There I
found Mila’s family tree dating as far back as 1820 on her father’s side and
the 1780’s on her mother’s side to her 47x great grandmother “Hansome” who was
born in the UK. Mila’s mum’s side of the family shifted from the UK to
Australia in the 1870s and then to NZ in about 2003. She has a brother and a
sister born on the same day as her – and six half brothers and a half sister (6
of whom were apparently born on the same day in sunny December 2007 – poor mum!!)
The site is full of information about all of Mila’s rellies through the
centuries (!!!) – including birth dates, sex, colour and where they were born.
I could seriously spend days on that site without getting bored. If I had that
much information about my own family – then it might start to explain a few
things!!
So,
there is my interpretation of the information available on my doggie – admittedly,
through the eyes of a human (of course, I do appreciate that 6 puppies in a
litter is not a terribly dramatic thing to have happen). The moral of the story
is that having access to that kind of information and painting myself a mental picture
of the type of racer my dog was, is a whole heap of fun (and a fantastic way to
waste a day!!) and having everything recorded in such detail is great – even if
the real meaning of it all is largely lost on someone like me!
Any
other interesting stories out there about bloodlines or race histories? There must
be some lucrative racers out there who are now spending their days relaxing in
their loving “retirement homes”…
hello there! Not sure whether you know that Mila's Mum Dotty (Tent Top) was homed by GAP aswell and now lives in Carterton? :)
ReplyDeleteYou can see her on my blog here: http://greyhoundsnz.blogspot.com/search/label/Tent%20Top
Dotty is GORGEOUS :)
Names are given to racing dogs by their trainers...If you contact Maxine, I am sure she can explain Mila's name :)
Thanks Fatima - I remember hearing from Sonja and Irene that Dotty is a lovely girl. Like mother, like daughter :) - I didn't realise that she was out in Carterton though...I have a couple of other friends with Greyhounds out there. I might try to arrange a trip out there one day.
DeleteWow, you're blogging up a storm in January:) I'm loving reading about Mila. She's such a fun girl. Beryl has a huge crate too, which she hasn't used since I started letting her sleep on the bed with me and Frankie about 7 months ago, lol. But I'm sure if I needed her in there she would go in ... reluctantly!
ReplyDeleteBeryl isn't on the Greyhound Data site even though she had 17, mostly unplaced, races:( But a blogging friend in England is going to put her up for me when I eventually get the info she needs.
I didn't know Mila's Mum is Dotty. That explains why Mila is such a character:)
Re your comment on my blog about letting Mila run around like Frankie and Beryl ... it took me quite a while to get confident about it and I remember the first time I took them to the beach by myself, I was petrified!! Up til then I'd always had Fatima to 'hold my hand'. I'm always careful about when and where I let her offleash but I actually worry more about Frankie than Beryl now. She is very good, but I still never let my guard down and am always scanning for potential problems. I have to do it for Frankie anyway so it's no big deal:) He chases random cyclists and joggers for fun!! Luckily we don't see any of them at the beach.
Haha - I had better slow down I suppose, otherwise I will have nothing to say by the time February rolls around!!
DeleteAt the moment we have very "selective hearing" when it comes to recall around the house, so we will work on mastering that before we do anything as exciting as going outside into the great wide open!
Would you like to go to Dennis Duggan Park (Newlands) with me and George and Mynx some time? Its really huge, but not close to roads etc. We're doing some runs with Oscar this week, to increase Jo's confidence with him off-lead. It can be easier with a small group because the dogs tend to gravitate back to the pack. Email me if you'd like to.
ReplyDelete