Mia Luce Mahatma CGC TT SGRC RE VCX

Born: May 30, 1999 (est. - actual date of birth unknown)

Came into my life: December 22, 2001

Deceased: December 31, 2010

My heart will never be the same without G in my life.

2009 Updates!

• November 28 - Gandhi earned his final leg for his Rally Excellent (RE) title - and placed 2nd in his class.

• August 30 - At the end of the 3-day Northland Sprint Challenge, Gandhi won High Point Italian Greyhound Veteran for the 4th year in a row.

• August 15 - Gandhi earned his second AKC Rally Excellent (RE) leg - and placed 2nd in his class.

• July 18 - Gandhi earned his first AKC Rally Excellent (RE) leg - and placed first in his class.

• June 7 - The SGRC and TT titles qualified Gandhi for the Versatility Certificate Excellent (VCX) through our breed club.

• June 7 - Gandhi passed ATTS temperament testing (TT).

• May 2 - Gandhi completed his LGRA Superior Racing Champion (SGRC) title at the age of 10.

Gandhi joined us as IG #3 when he became my second 'foster failure.' Gandhi, a lean and lanky guy, came to me for fostering December 2001. Prior to that, he'd been in a Florida foster home, and before that, he was in abandoned at an animal shelter. Gandhi's a reactive dog who was bounced around due to his severe separation anxiety. After fostering him for 9 months, I adopted him September 2002.

A superb athlete, Gandhi began his racing career in 2002, but his anxiety and stress level made it hard for him to concentrate on the lure and ignore the other racers. After he received a disqualifying foul, I stopped racing him. He went back onto the field in 2006, at the age of 7, and won a three-point race meet to finish his Gazehound Racing Champion title. Since then, he's never run anything but clean races.

Gandhi competed at our racing club's 3-Day Northland Sprint Challenge the past three years and was High Point Italian Greyhound in 2006 and 2007, and High Point Veteran for 2006, 2007 and 2008. He was in the Top Ten Italian Greyhound year-end standings in LGRA - #6 in 2002, #9 in 2006, and #7 in 2007, with a very limited racing schedule.

Gandhi and I worked hard towards decreasing his reactivity and anxiety. With his progress, he was able to successfully test for his Canine Good Citizen award March 2008, achieve his Rally Novice title June 2008, and his Rally Advanced title (working off-lead!) September 2008, with qualifying scores at every trial. These successes qualified Gandhi for a Versatility Certificate from our breed club, the Italian Greyhound Club of America.

There have been many positives from my work with Gandhi. While he hasn't been an easy dog to train, he's made me a much better trainer. I have increased my level of understanding of him and we've deepened our relationship together. Gandhi's a true canine athlete, and I've been privileged to train and handle him throughout his career.

Gandhi finished his Rally Excellent title with a second place score on 11/28/09.

Gandhi and his favorite person.

Gandhi receiving his qualifying & 3rd place ribbons, along with his Rally Advanced new title rosette from the judge.

Go, dog, go

Flying dog

Photo at page top copyright (c)Jenny Hatten. All photos at page bottom copyright (c)Barb Steinlage.