Animal House

Vivi's breeder brings us up to speed:

<<UPDATE TUESDAY JUNE 20, 2006

    Last week’s possible Vivi sightings, at least some of which seemed reliable, produced a general feeling that we were getting “close” but did not materialize into something more tangible. I am impressed that more than four months after Vivi’s disappearance there are still volunteers who are willing to help put up posters, etc. Other than that and making sure that the “Lost Dog” ads keep running in the local newspapers there is not much anyone can do.

    The media is still interested. A journalist from Associated Press’ National Desk requested interviews with Jil and Paul, Honi and Bonnie last week, and Denise Flaim had an excellent nearly full-page article in Newsday on June 5 about the “continuing saga” of Vivi’s disappearance. She points out that “Vivi-mania” still rages, with up to 5,000 hits per day on her blog (www.newsday.com/animalhouse).

    George Bell who has a long experience of Greyhounds and Salukis makes a suggestion that won’t help Vivi but may be useful for those who ship dogs or let them run in unfamiliar areas. George gives Westminster Kennel Club’s Dave Frei credit for bringing this up. He writes:

    “The so-called telemetry devices used in open field coursing could be used with frequent flying show dogs. We have done a great deal of research on different types of devices to locate lost dogs. It has  been years since we have lost a dog in the open field ... The type commonly used in the field are tiny transmitters made for falconry. The dog wears a lightweight elastic harness and the antenna/transmitter attaches to the harness with velcro and weighs about an ounce.”

    My concerns about the transmitter getting stuck while the dog is in a crate are apparently not founded. “It is a very tiny antenna made of spring steel and would break away if somehow it got stuck in a crate. The harness is made of lightweight elastic and would also break away if somehow it got snagged.”

    John Burchard explains further: “The antenna is only about seven inches long and sticks straight up from the dog’s shoulders. The whole thing is in a flexible mount (a baby-bottle nipple, in fact), so it folds back if the dog goes under something, and then springs up again afterward. It’s held on the dog by a harness made of inch wide elastic webbing which in the field is additionally held in place by the usual coursing blanket (typically lycra). I don’t suppose it would be a bad idea to put a fluorescent pink or orange blanket on a dog in shipment, anyway. It makes a dog easy to spot at a great distance. The transmitters cost on the order of $200 each. The directional receiver costs around a thousand, but you wouldn't have to buy one of those. Just phone the local falconry club if you actually lose a dog. There is a falconry club in nearly every state.”

    Perhaps this suggestion may prove useful to those who fly dogs often.>>