Lorene

Maybe while other ladies are out to lunch in Summit or enjoying the relaxation of getting their hair done in a salon there, I am trying to keep my Silken Windhound, Kensie, amused by taking a long hike on a warm summer midday not far from where we live in the Scout Field in Watchung Reservation. It is too early for the social crowd that gathers there, so it is just us two, the way she likes it. It was too hot to run so she stayed close to my side. I walked along the perimeter as I often do, as I am often interested in the flora that is growing along the field’s edge. Today I found a spectacular sight: large, dense thistle plants as tall as myself, a pale blue color, but also with a large amount of bumble bees among the open tops. I was right on top of them, but they never noticed me in their orgy of sucking up the nectar of the flowering thistles. Neither did I have any fear of them stinging me. Kensie of course was oblivious of this encounter, as her face was much lower to the ground, and she missed the entire thing.

A dog’s perspective is so different from ours by virtue of their size being so much closer to the ground. They see the world in an abbreviated perspective, and they are so much more dependent on us to see the world for them and keep them safe. I knew she was safe from the bumble bees, that they were more of a threat to me. But I was brave in my encounter with them and recognized they were focused on their life’s work, the life of a bumble bee, and they had no business with me and my hound. I was safe standing there among them, and I felt like laughing out loud because they were letting their guard down at that moment and in another circumstance, they would have stung me, to my detriment, and that would have been a terrible problem, indeed.

Although I live in New Jersey and I love the splendid New Jersey coastline, known as The Jersey Shore, there have been many summers of my life when I have never been able to go there. Worse, I am a Cancer for my zodiac sign, a water sign, and that makes the pull of the ocean stronger for me. That is very sad because being there, so close to the sea, being in the wind, and breathing the ocean air so pure and ameliorating, is very healing to me. The reasons why I am kept away are many, and there is no need to enumerate them now, but they mostly center around the need to be working or attending to responsibilities at home, making the departure to the sea impossible for me. But that was then, and this is now, and I am so pleased to share the happiest of news that I have just now returned from two days in my favorite New Jersey sea shore town, and the one designated the best and the oldest, that being, Cape May. It is the furthest south, so it takes the longest amount of time to get there, but the ride is well worth it. The biggest attraction in the town is a large district of authentic Victorian homes that have been saved. Many of them are bed and breakfast inns that are very authentically preserved and an enormous amount of fun to stay in. You truly do feel as if you are in another time and place when you are there. You can feel the worry and distress dissipate from you with every mile south that you drive, knowing you are getting that much closer to the enchanted town of Cape May. I consider it my own shore hometown I go there so often. Several times I have gone with my borzoi, and with Kenzie, my Silken Windhound. There is a pet friendly Victorian inn in Cape May West called the Highland Inn where dogs are welcome. I am home now, and the first few hours were difficult because I missed it, but now I feel happy and grateful for having been in Cape May and I feel as if I was so lucky.

A wonderful friend of mine took me, and together we attended an art show of paintings by Elan LeithZingman, who formerly owned a Victorian Inn where my husband and I used to stay before we had our borzoi, called Leith Hall. He and his wife sold it and it is now a private residence. It must have been difficult to walk away from such a magnificent house, so eminently Victorian. I used to enjoy listening to Elan talk about the decor of the house, and how he decorated it so authentically to the period in which it was built. It was truly a living museum and an honor and a privilege to stay there. After my husband and I had borzoi, we stayed elsewhere where dogs were welcome, but we were invited in for tea at Leith Hall whenever we came to town. Elan and his wife Susan were curious about our dogs, who were in the van parked outside. One of our dogs was invited inside the doors of this extraordinary house. We had one dog who was especially suited for the privilege of being a guest at Leith Hall, our one and only, “Mikhailya”. You can look at her photographs on the Blysskennels.us website to see how extraordinarily beautiful she was.

“Mikhailya” was always a wonderful ambassador for her breed and she was especially so when she was a guest at Leith Hall. I was always so proud of her whenever we went anywhere with her. She had a light that shone from within and made everyone she met feel happy and loved. “Mikhailya” was magical. She was a once in a lifetime dog. She had one litter that produced one male that went on to become one of the best producers and show dogs in the breed. He sired a daughter, “Lucy”, who is the top winning borzoi in history, who is Mikhailya’s granddaughter. Her name is in the five year pedigree of hundreds of borzoi around the world. My life was blessed to have her. I am so glad I got to share her with my friends in Cape May.

Today, many years later, I am looking back on yet another brief getaway to this special and magical place, feeling so grateful! I am grateful to my special friend who took me there, grateful to Elan and his wife for meeting up with us, and for the gorgeous weather we got to enjoy as we walked around and toured Cape May! We enjoyed the splendid Victorian district, different beaches, bird watching on special observation walkways newly built, trolly tours of the Victorian district, and other fun things to do in Cape May. Undoubtedly, it is the best Jersey Shore town, located at Exit 0, on the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey, USA.

A borzoi was born in Japan almost unnoticed in 2015 to a lovely borzoi bitch named “Lucy”, our “Mikhailya’s” grand-daughter, and daughter of our Magnus, or Max as he was called there. Lucy, or CH Int CH My Sassy Girl, then traveled to the USA and given over to the handling team of Valelrie Nunes-Atkinson. Valerie would go on to write the following on the day of returning Lucy to her Japanese family. The following appears in Blyss Blog on Lucy’s page but for convenience I will repeat it here.

May 8 at 9:52pm

“The time has finally come, forced to say our goodbyes, The Lovely Lucy is on her way
home.

We’ve dreaded this day as we have done in the past and no doubt will in the future. It’s
the hard part of opening our hearts to those that come to us, those that we welcome and
take in as family.

Lucy, with us for over 2 years exceeded all expectations…2015 Top Dog All Breeds in Japan with her great handler Shota, AKC’s All Time Top Winning Borzoi, the #1Hound in 2017, National Specialty BISS, 3x BOB winner at the Westminster KC, 2x Hound Group Winner at Westminster KC and lastly RBIS at the 2016 Westminster KC….and she has also already produced a National Specialty Winning Son (WD & BOW)….All of that aside, she was just our dog that we loved and adored. She smashed every record and set more but for us she is the dog that stole our hearts with her sweet soft nature, silly snorts, scootie butt zoomies, her glamorous self and her heart that gave us her all every single time she stepped into the ring. And, that says it all considering she IS a Sighthound bitch, lol  When she came to us we didn’t know if she could withstand or have the want to show for what is expected here in the States….we were ready to accept that reality if it wasn’t in her heart. But, after her breathtaking USA debut at Westminster KC and her heart stopping RBIS from Famed Breeder Judge; Richard Meen we decided to see what she could do….. she readily and happily stepped up to the plate and the winning began….her National Specialty came from another Breeder Judge; Ron Spritzer (Carol Spritzer) with her Son, standing behind her, another Honor. Her AKC All Time BIS record was awarded by none other then Icon Mr. Frank Sabella, truly special in that he was a unexpected judge change that day and so thrilled to have USA owners Risky M. Molnar (Michele and Jamie Danburg on hand to celebrate the day with us. Lucy gave Antonio his FIRST USA BIS with CJ going RBIS, another memorable day. She and Antonio went on to be awarded another 9, 10 in total for the Team of Antonio and Lucy. Her BIS total 28 in USA and 13 in Japan, career of 41 All Breed BIS’s. Much of Lucy’s success is a credit to Antonio , it was all on him to keep her in tip top shape mentally and physically. Her muscle was hard, her coat glorious (when in coat after all she is a bitch and was never ever on Cheque drops) she naturally came into and out of coat as any coated female would. When out of coat and breaking the all time record under Frank Sabella….his comment was “all the better to see all her beautiful curves, both a perfect Topline and Underline” from the Man that knows it was indeed a huge
compliment to her outstanding quality and type. So, Antonio, thank you, thank you for all you have done for Lucy in her time with us. She adores you like all the others do a true testament to your soul. For that I’m forever grateful.

To Michele and Jamie, we were so honored to have you join our team. Without your help, encouragement and never ending support Lucy would not of had this amazing career. We all love you both.

To Shota Hirai, Mai Hirai, Kyoko Ozeki Minoru, thank you for choosing us. There have been many others in the decade of showing for you and no doubt many more to come but there will only be ONE LUCY.( We love you all To all that cheered us on through the years, we thank you. The fellow breeders that supported us we are forever grateful. And to all that was on Team Lucy, thank you. We have cried tears of joy many times with her, today the tears of sadness from our hearts, as she heads home to Japan.

The accolades are many indeed but today our hearts are breaking as we must say ….see you next time Lucy, forever Team #welovelucy.

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Since Lucy’s return to Japan, she has had another litter that I am aware of and as far as I know, she has lead a happy, healthy life. However, while she was campaigned in the United States, she was sometimes accompanied by her son, Vinto, who was born prior to her becoming an international champion, and he did exceedingly well. I had the fortunate opportunity to see him ringside on several occasions. He was always magnificent. However, since Lucy returned to Japan, and especially after Magnus (Max) died in 2009 and the grief I fell into, I never heard another word about Vinto. The Ozekis sold him to another person, I would later learn, Shigeru Iwakiri. I believe I was sitting ringside at a borzoi national specialty in Maryland several years ago and was suddenly surprised to see a stunning, pure white male borzoi being examined, and running in the ring. I glanced at the handler’s band number, and checked it in my catalog. To my absolute shock and surprise, it was Vinto! Then, I looked next to me, and sitting there was a Japanese man, Shigeru Iwakiri, and it was Vinto’s owner! I introduced myself and we shook hands! So Vinto was alive and well at that time and being shown. However, that was several years ago, and I never heard of the dog again. Never. I assumed the worse, that he was in retirement somewhere living as an unknown old dog, or worse, dead. I was not silent on the subject surrounding the less than ideal conditions of Magnus’s unhappy demise when I learned of it in 2010 from a total of three unrelated individuals, all of whom sent me photographs of Max’s final days in decline. Of course, none of them informed me of it while he was still living and I could have helped My Boy, I only learned about it after he was gone and it was too late. I would have arranged for his return home to me in New Jersey myself, and gone to Japan to bring him home. But that opportunity was denied to me by the silence and treachery of others who threw him away in a hot, damp kennel and let him die, needlessly young.

I was on Facebook on Facebook on Sunday, May 17, 2023, and Shigeru Iwakiri had put up a win photo of Vinto at the Sakura Annual Dog Show of 2023, to be his last show, that he won Best of Breed as a nine year old, from the Veteran Class, no easy feat, and a tribute to his greatness and good breading. He is the Great Grandson of my Mikhailya, and Grandson of my Magnus (Max). He bred true. It had been so many years since hearing any news about Vinto that I assumed he had died.

My new concern was for him in retirement. I suddenly was seized by a manic obsession that Vinto would suffer the same fate as Magnus. I wrote to his owner directly and told him of my concern and that I would be glad to get him and bring him to New Jersey. He treated me kindly and sent me 23 photographs of Vinto in all aspects of his life, including living inside the home with his family. I told Shigeru my fears were allayed, and the borzoi truly looked healthy and happy. He kindly sent me 23 photographs which are on the website under his name. Slowly, I calmed down, but it truly took several weeks. It was like seeing a ghost, or finding a lost friend, or compensating for the terrible, painful loss of Magnus. I will never get over that travesty. However, the Japanese dog show professionals have shown an improvement in the treatment of these noble creatures who win them so much status and pride, that they can do a better job for them in their years of retirement.