5 months ago I lost a rather large chunk of my heart, My Andretti was cut loose his mortal coil, far far too soon.

He will never leave me; he is my heart, he is my soulpartner and I am his. 

Windrock Sin City Playboy, CD, RE

"Andretti Ducati" Stine

06/10/2004-02/19/2013

5 months ago my heart, my love, Andretti passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. My tears have not stopped falling, I think of him almost everyday. I miss his soft browness and his unflagging dedication to making me think I wasn't the #1 in his life. But I was, and he was my #1, and we both knew it. I pine for the connection he and I had at a very base level; he was mine and I was his, there was never one moment in our lives that I questioned that. 

For 8 1/2 short years Andretti was my constant companion and a great ambassador of the breed. He was a confident, happy and outgoing soul who wore many hats and excelled in so many ways. He could course, but loved the lure maybe just a bit to selfishly. He was a fiend for agility, but was far to accident prone to ever participate without giving observers heart palpitations. He was an obedience champion, but told me when he was finished showing off to judges for titles to prove it. He only thrived in the conformation ring once he became a veteran and people would clap for him due to his age, otherwise he found it mind-numbing. He taught more veterinary students more things than anyone cares to remember, and saved so many lives by donating fresh blood every time he was called upon. He loved children madly, even though we have none. He tolerated cats, a lot. He worked the ranch like a professional, supervising all tasks horse, sheep or chicken related. He managed the pack flawlessly, policing all fun and reporting any and all insubordination. He was a peacekeeper, setting the example for all newcomers, permanent or transient, human, canine, feline, equine. No matter, Andretti set the flavor and tone and nobody ever challenged it. 

Andretti was the perfect dog for me. When I was asked what I was looking for in a puppy, I said personality. I wanted a confident and clever dog, I got that and more. I'll never know how Kim knew that he and I were meant for each other but I am forever grateful for her matchmaking skills. 

Andretti died in my arms, it was just him and me and the silence that comes with death's passage. The moment his heart stopped beating, a piece of my heart died forever. He was my first greyhound, and he will forever be my best greyhound.

Godspeed, Andretti, I'll see you on the flip side. I promise.

Pretty nice for a bunch of ranch dogs......

The Fall GCNC specialty was especially special for my hounds! They swept up in Sweepstakes with DSquare (shown by my sister Laura who's NEVER shown a dog before, or even been to a dog show for that matter!) getting Best Veteran in Sweeps. Gulp....they're VETERANS now, when did THAT happen?!? Oh well, I'm very happy with Dee; she's a Dual Champion and is aging very gracefully. Shes EXTREMELY functional, she earns every win she gets. Kudos to DC Windrock Luck be a Lady Eldomar, SC (her fancy name)

We're not going to tell her she's 'old'

Andretti got Best Opposite Sex Veteran being shown by 15 year old Shelby, who also has never shown a dog or been to a dog show. Andretti is an awesome teacher dog, Shelby was elated to be able to handle him and win win win at this show. I'm so very proud of my Brown Dog, he is my most wonderful boy and will always be my heart. I'm secretly tickled that hes a veteran now, because I can show him in veterans classes at specialties. I had him neutered before he finished his championship and I regret it, if only because prancing around the show ring with Andretti is fun. He has a sense of humor and is a pretty good snob, and that's fun to show. And although he's not the 'ideal', he is a handsome and well put together dog, and I'm proud of that. Go go Windrock Sin City Playboy, CD, RA, JC! It's a rare occasion I get to shout out his 'fancy name', so there you go!

Andretti thoroughly enjoyed hanging out in the ring with Shelby!

As always, Dretti injured himself just in time for the specialty. Go Andretti! If it's not one thing, it's another with him.

Andretti showed in conformation, but not in obedience. Apparently you can show in the 'stand and look pretty' classes with stitches, but any type of performance class strictly prohibits any stitchery. And we're okay with that, I didn't want him jumping with stitches anyway (although I had no problem with him zooming around the yard and jumping up and down retaining walls with stitches. Go figure.)
Darby Crash won Best of Opposite Sex (to Best of Breed!) in regular classes. There was a fair entry of greyhounds, and I'm more than a little proud of him. Big Handsome!

Not even 3 years old yet! GCH Aragon Aroi Silver Lining, RA (or Darby Crash, it's less of a mouthful). 

After regular classes there was a costume class, I went all out this year and got everyone dressed up. It was pretty cute, and probably the largest costume class the GCNC has had that anyone can remember. Even Q got into the act this year. He makes a damn cute bat.

Q-Bat

Andretti was a farmer. Agricultural Brown. And none to pleased about it.

I think the baling twine collar and leash made the outfit. It earned him a placing in the costume contest. 

Dee was a ballerina. She didn't like it much at first, but warmed up to it when she realized everyone was pretty tickled with her.

She was blinding in her bling

Girl dog in a short skirt. Very wrong, I know. But it earned her 4th place in the costume contest!

Darby Crash went as Count Darbula, and even had his own bat! I can't believe he didn't get a prize for that. Nobody else had an accessory dog. Feh. Whatever!

I have exceptionally tolerant dogs. 

There were clowns (Mariska and Sonny!)

and a ladybug

a hula dancer and sort of twisted butterfly

Evil, toothy clowns. 

It was pretty busy that weekend, but the dogs had fun and the weather was really decent (last year it poured rain and was MISERABLE). Darby Crash came close to passing his first Novice Obedience try, but oh well. I was pretty stressed out showchairing this specialty, and I'm pretty certain he picked up on that. He did a decent job, and I'm extremely proud of him for giving me the effort and a good attitude. He's a really fun dog to work obedience with, he's wicked smart and goofy happy. That's a winning combo for a greyhound in the obedience ring. We're gunna try again in January in Palm Springs. ;)

Hello hello hello, welcome to the blog with a side order of disclaimer.

Welcome to my All Greyhound All the Time blog! I have another blog, rockdogdesigns.com, but it is a general family blog that my husband Art and I maintain that covers a wide range of topics. This blog is only about my dogs, my greyhounds to be exact. Andretti, D-Square, Darby Crash and Q. That's them over on the side-bar ----------->
You won't find much here other than dog stuff, so if you think it's boring or silly, too bad. It's my blog so I get to post what I want to, read it or don't. That's what blogs are all about!

Because I'm moderately lazy (actually not so much lazy, just an extreme multitasker with underlying Attention Deficit and a nasty little procrastination habit) this blog has been a long time coming, and will be a constant work in progress. I will be posting things about the dogs that I have posted elsewhere in years past in an effort to play catch-up to the present, mostly just things that were funny or that explain a series of photos, etc.

The primary goal of this blog is entertainment, for you, the reader. I want you to read the posts and laugh. Or cry. Or be inspired. Or curious. Or completely shocked. Whatever the reaction, so long as the content entertains you and makes you want to come back for more.....mission accomplished! And then there's the pictures. Lots and lots of greyhound pictures. PLEASE DO NOT COPY PHOTOS FROM THIS BLOG WITHOUT PERMISSION. All greyhound photos were taken by me with a variety of cameras, any greyhound photo that was not taken by me will be credited to the photographer, if known. All greyhound photos are property of rockdogdesigns and Lisa Stine and may not be used for advertisement or published without permission. I don't usually have a problem granting permission to use photos, but I do like to be asked. :)

My greyhounds are our kids. Art and I don't have children, we have the dogs. My greyhounds are all AKC registered hounds, they are not retired racers (although they have close friends who are!). The Italian Greyhound, Q, is a rescue from a puppy mill in Missouri; he's not trailer trash, but he isn't registered with the anyone, even though he's probably the sturdiest and most even-tempered 100% all Italian Greyhound I've ever seen. Andretti, Dee and Darby are currently AKC show dogs who participate in conformation, lure coursing, obedience, and rally.

I do not represent any breeder; I have greyhounds from two completely separate and polar opposite kennel names. Two of my dogs are Windrock dogs and one of them is an Aragon Aroi dog. I DON'T CARE. A beautiful functional dog is a beautiful functional dog, and through the generosity of both Aragon Greyhounds and Windrock Sighthounds, I have 3 really wonderful dogs. I know it's silly, but the reason I mention this is that sometimes people (greyhound fanciers in particular) will look at the registered name of your dogs and automatically assume that you are 'tight' with the people you got the dogs from. This is not necessarily true. My relationship with the breeders of my dogs is very different for each of them, as you will see in future posts. But beyond their genetics, my dogs are the product of the time and effort I put into them. Some may run better than others, some may show better than others. I may sing praise for one dog's qualities and not another's, I will compare them to each other, and needless to say, their personalities are COMPLETELY different regardless of what kennel they come from. The bottom line is that I have my own mind and my own opinions. I represent me and my dogs, always have, always will.

Okay, all disclaimers have been claimed. This is the best introduction I could come up with, stuff from here on out should be pretty fun to read. I hope. I like to write, and as one of my friends has said "Geesh, Lis, that's a flippin' novel" and she's right. But hopefully my novel like posts will be entertaining, and keep you coming back for more. Now, on with the show!