Tommie Porter and Y NOTZ Whippets are featured today and Tommie has a great story about her start in the whippet breed, here is what she shares with everyone: About 10 years ago while I was enjoying the leisure of staying in bed on a Saturday morning, one of the rare times that I didn't have to work the weekend, my husband decided to run into town for something. Ok! I said as I turned over and went back to sleep..About a half hour later my husband enters the house all excited shouting HONEY! HONEY! GET UP!!! there are a bunch of people down the street with all kinds of dog's running out in old man Kapin's field. They are chasing something out there and boy is it exciting!!! Soooo! I got up, rather intrigued that he would be so excited about dog's chasing something. When we met we had Irish Setters, I found his lost setter and well that's a whole other story. So we went down the street and watched what was going on. My hubby came back home for the video camera and we ended up spending the whole weekend watching our first lure course and meeting the people. I had spotted a very nice Borzoi I liked he was 11mos old and was so excited about the lure. I thought that I would like to have one of those, but Mr. Roger McKibbin of Blarneystone Kennels started telling me about all of the different things you could do with a Whippet, and then he started telling me about how hard it was to find good fields to run their events in. Well having been in my town for about 15 years, I had come to know several people who had good acreage that might be interested in renting it out on weekends for such an event. Roger told me that if I could get a field they could use, he had a almost year old male Whippet that he would give me. Well needless to say, that got the old juices going.. and within a week I located a field that was 30 acres of excellent coursing field. The clubs in our region used this field for about 6 years. Free of charge!!

FCh Blarneystones Sidewinder LCM IV first picture is best of breed at 94 International invintational Colorado and winner of the Tom Leone trophy and second picture was taken at the International in TX the wet muddy one.

Roger was good to his word and I was given my first Whippet. He was beautiful although a little large, but still within standard. Blarneystones Judgement Day FCH. became a member of our house hold and my lure coursing dog. He was a phenomenal running dog we lure coursed, raced both ARM and NOTRA. Just about every weekend we were either racing or lure coursing. (those were the good old days) The following year Sleeper (FCH Blarneystones Sidewinder LCM IV) joined us and I was coursing/racing two dogs. Well the potato chip theory was in full force with us by now and we just had to have more. We'r lucky in the fact that we live in the country and have 10 acres to play with. I have had Arabian horses, shown them, bred them and enjoyed them, but it was becoming more apparent that those day's were coming to an end with my very bad back. So the horses went except one and the dog's took over our lives.. We bred our first litter in 1996 and Y NOTZ Whippets was born, we knew that we might not sell all of the puppies and were willing to keep them all if need be, but sure wasn't expecting 10 puppies WOW!. We ended up keeping 6 of them, and to this day do not regret it one bit.

Through the years we have also been given/aquired a brother and sister to Sleeper, and have purchased some Lyth dog's as well. Beverly and Roger McKibbin (Blarneystone) have always been there for us and the dog's, answering our many questions and supporting us in just about every way. Bev and I are traveling companions and we attend as many lure courses as we can. I have traveled to Colorado twice for the II then to Texas for the II and have attended the Grand National in Colorado a few times. I have also gone to California with my dog's as well as Canada. Since the beginning I have always enjoyed the performance part of the breed, and am so sorry to see the split between the show and running bred dogs. I for one am breeding for the dual dog, one that can win in the ring and win on the field. I do a little racing, but it's not as available here now as it was 10 years ago.. I am worried about what's happening in my region, lure coursing is dying out here, with less and less events being held every year. One of the biggest problems is finding places to run the dogs. My first boy is still with us and just fathered his first litter of puppies. They are 5mos. old and beautiful. Of course I may be a little bias here.. I can't wait to see them on the field. Then my Ibben (FCH. Y NOTZ Ibben Shawn LCM III) has sire his first litter and they are almost 2mos old now... I wasn't really planning on two litters this year, but as they say! S***t happens! this should be a very exciting litter on the field. Our goal is the dual Whippet and our motto is "Beauty and Speed it can be done!" We believe this and breed for this. We will continue to work towards our ultimate dream with the fine bloodlines we have been so fortunate to obtain.

Where is the Whippet going today? I think there are many people out there who feel as we do and are also working for the dual Whippet. It's not going to come easy as the split is very big and some feel that only the show ring is the proof of quality. I hole heartily disagree!! Only when the breed is being put to the test of the field does it meet what the breed was originally attended to be. A running dog, a hunting dog, a racing dog! the correct form for this will follow... but it will take time!

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