2007 Cynara RR News

CYNARA RHODESIAN RIDGEBACKS

Excellent Quality & Stellar Temperaments

Healthy and intelligent Ridgebacks for showing, performance sports or loyal companions

CYNARA NEWS 2007

2007 NEWS STORIES

December 29, 2007 - Katie had an ultrasound to try and confirm if she is pregnant. The vet thought she saw several puppies but just to confirm her finding we decided to run a canine pregnancy test even though Katie wasn't as far along as recommended for optimum accuracy. After 10 long minutes of watching the little white strip it finally changed color. Katie is pregnant!!! Due date January 26, 2007.

November 27, 2007 The long awaited breeding between Apollo {Best In Field Dual Champion Tandiwe's Intrigue'n Mission, SC HIC TDI CGC} and Katie {CH Jendaya's Mint Julep of Cynara, RE CGC} took place on November 24, 2007. Due date will be very close to January 26, 2008. Apollo is strong, muscular and very macho looking. He will give the puppies lots of bone, substance and gusto for lure coursing and other performance sports. Katie is highly intelligent with a beautiful coat and expression. Both dogs have long gorgeous ridges. Puppies are the sum of their ancestors. Photos of Katie, Apollo and many of their relatives have been gathered to show potential owners what to expect from this litter. Apollo Katie

October 6-7, 2007 The 2007 AKC National Lure Coursing Championship was held in North Carolina. Each day 102 of the very best lure coursing hounds competed. The 11 breeds of hounds entered were Afghan Hounds, Basenjis, Borzois, Greyhounds, Ibizan Hounds, Wolfhounds, Pharaoh Hounds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Salukis, Scottish Deerhounds and Whippets. After two days of coursing, the three highest scoring dogs in each breed competed for the Championship. Apollo [DC Tandiwe's Intrigue'n Mission] was the 2nd best coursing Ridgeback losing only to Ariel who won Best of Breed. We were so pleased to have selected Apollo to be the sire of Cynara's first litter of puppies.

9/18/07 What a fun weekend! A friend of mine celebrated the grand opening of her new dog training center - the Canine Sports Academy. One of the activities to educate the many visitors was demos showing how to run a rally course and some of the moves dogs can learn to do in agility class. Guess who got to show off the many hours of training? That's right...Katie & I were selected to be one of the demo teams. We did the rally course several times, both on and off leash and Katie impressed the crowds by hurtling thru the tunnel and over several jumps. The Canine Sports Academy is located 10 minutes south of Norman, OK and will be starting classes on October 1, 2007.

8/25/07 All of Katie's health tests have been posted to the OFA online database. Anyone interested in buying a dog should spend time studying the information available for their breed and especially on the parents, grandparents and siblings of any puppy BEFORE making a purchase. Both Katie and Apollo have had their hips, elbows, eyes, thyroid and hearts tested for any abnormalities. Our #1 goal is to do everything in our power to produce a healthy long-lived litter of puppies. Katie's Test Results Apollo's Test Results

8/5/07 Today is a wonderful day. It is my mother's 84th birthday for which I am very thankful. The other great news is that Katie's sister, Maia got her last point today going WB/BOW/BOS under Judge P. Levi Marsman for her championship :-) She is now Ch Jendaya's National Treasure SC CGC. Maia only needs 5 single points in Lure Coursing for a Dual Championship.

7/8/07 It turned out that 7/7/07 was not a lucky day for Cynara. We played the lottery but only managed to pick two of the 6 numbers needed to win $27 million. A much luckier day was 7/5/07. Katie's hips and elbows were x-rayed to check for signs of displasia or other health problems. Our vet was quite pleased with what he saw and anticipates the official evaluation from the panel of 3 radiologists will be a "good" rating. My nails will be bitten to the quick while waiting the two or three weeks to receive the results from OFA. This rating is very important to the future of Cynara. The RRCUS Code of Ethics states:

b. Only dogs screened and certified clear of hip and elbow dysplasia by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, Pennhip or comparable foreign registry shall be bred. Other recommended genetic testing includes a complete thyroid panel* from an OFA-approved laboratory or canine endocrinologist, cardiac certification (OFA or cardiologist evaluation) CERF* and BAER. (*indicates annual re-test requirement)

There are several Ridgeback breeders who don't worry about breeding dogs and bitches with a "fair" hip rating. Cynara's mission is to strive for excellence in health of our puppies. Cynara will NOT breed any Ridgeback with fair hips, autoimmune thyroiditis or serious eye problems. We neutered our first champion Ridgeback male because of allergies and autoimmune thyroiditis even though he is gorgeous and easily finished his championship. The odds of passing down these health problems are much higher than ever winning the lottery so why take chances? Are you willing to gamble on the health of a dog purchased from someone who hasn't tested the sire and dam for health problems?

6/30/07 Katie's Show Record
1 point 4/15/06 Judge James R White
3 point major 6/29/06 Judge Charles Olvis
Canine Good Citizen certificate 6/30/06
2 points 9/16/06 Judge Loraine Boutwell
1st leg of Junior Courser 9/23/06
SG-1 Rating (SG-1 is the highest rating a puppy can receive) Junghund class 10/7/06 Judge Bud Haverstock(Canada) plus Puppy Group 2 at the IABCA show
SG-1 Rating Junghund class 10/7/06 Judge Nelson Huber plus Puppy Group 1 IABCA show
National JHA title - SG-1 Rating Junghund class 10/8/06 Judge Richard Samide plus Puppy Group 1 IABCA show
International JHA title - SG-1 Rating Junghund class 10/8/06 Judge Pat Huber plus Puppy Group 1 at the IABCA show
1st leg Rally Novice 10/14/06 - 2nd leg RN 10/15/06 - 3rd leg & Rally Novice title 11/3/06
1st leg Rally Advanced 11/4/06 - 2nd leg RA 2/19/07 - 3rd leg & Rally Advanced title 4/1/07
2 points 3/4/07 Judge Dr. Robert Berndt
1 point 3/5/07 Judge Roger Hartinger
4 point major 3/24/07 Judge Dr. Richard Meen
1st leg Rally Excellent 4/1/07 - 2nd leg RE & 3rd place 5/22/07 at Ridgeback Nat'l - 3rd leg & Rally Excellent title 6/30/07
4 point major 4/7/07 Judge Joe C Walton - AKC Champion

7/2/07 Katie and Dozer had a great show in Oklahoma City at the end of June. Katie was awarded a Best of Opposite Sex award and earned a Rally Excellent (RE) title. Dozer earned two legs toward his Rally Novice title with scores of 92 and 88 out of 100. Dozer also had his eyes and heart tested for abnormalities. Katie only had her eyes tested since she just recently had her heart checked. All health results have been submitted to CERF and OFA and should appear soon on the OFA database.

5/26/07 We recently returned from the 2007 Ridgeback National Specialty dog show held in Ohio. It was a fun trip where we met many of Katie's relatives, including her dam, sire, sister, two grandsires, great grandsire sire and several other assorted relations. The real purpose of attending the Specialty was to scout out potential sires for Katie and let the owners admire Katie's great potential as a performance dog and a dam. It was simply icing on the cake when Katie earned 3rd place in the Rally Excellent A trial for her 2nd leg. Later in the week our joy increased when Katie, Gemma (dam) & Maia (sister) made the cut for Best Brood Bitch. The last day there were 92 dogs and 71 bitches entered in the Best of Breed competition. The very talented Helen McCune showed Gemma, Katie & Sheikh (grandsire) in the class. The wonderful toplines, expression and side-gait of these Ridgebacks were shown to perfection and all three made the first cut. What a way to end! The long drive home just flew by.

Contact Cynara

Cynara Rhodesian Ridgebacks * Elaine Hudson, Nicoma Park, Oklahoma - 405-514-0394 * For more information about Cynara, purchasing a puppy or older dog, or for other Ridgeback
related questions, e-mail us at CynaraOKrrs@gmail.com Member of the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States and the Tulsa Sighthound Association.