Porphyry's Pedigree

Breeder: Bonnie Dalzell and James Saklad MD

DOB: January 14, 2000 - June 17, 2011

Porphyry was the Princess Royal here at Celeritas. She knew she was beautiful and figured you should notice this. She also figured that her rightful place was on the couch. After all, who could expect her to recline in the dirt and grass?

Porphyry was a beautiful blue dilute brindle. The blue dilute gene caused the dark part of her brindle stripes to be softened into slate gray and gave her coat sparkling highlights that just glisten in the sunlight. I will never forget the day at a lure course when Porph was in the hairy part of her cycle, I was talking to a friend with Porphyry by my side. The sun was shining on us and it just made her coat glisten. Our conversation kept being interrupted as people stopped us to comment on how beautiful Miss Porph's coat was. Her coat was strikingly beautiful and quite poofy, hense her pet name, "Poofy Porph."

Porphyry was very sound and had a breath-taking side gait. I have never owned a borzoi that had side movement like hers. She truly had an effortless, reaching trot. And when I say effortless, that is exactly what I mean. I discovered this one day when I came home at lunch and discovered that Porph had contracted an ailment brought into my kennel by a rescue. She was obviously very ill and was lying in the middle of the yard during a freezing rain. I finally was able to encourage Porph to get up so I could take her to the vet's office. I expected her to totter with me to the car, but instead, Porph rose up and launched herself into her usual beautiful floating trot. I was so shocked that I almost second guessed myself on the seriousness of her illness. No, she was a very sick dog and the trip to the vet's confirmed this. Porph just moved like she did because of the way she was built, not because she worked at it.

Unfortunately, Porphyry was not particularly interested in chasing the lure, though she would occasionally deign to run. When she did run, she was quite fast. I suppose Porph figured that anyone as beautiful as she was should not have to work for her dinner. She was so right. I did love to pamper her. Proph prefered all the froofroo associated with showing much more than she did running for the lure. I remember one time when the B litter was just a few months old. I'd had Porph up on the grooming table for a thorough coiffure. Finished, I had her jump off the table so I could start to work on the puppies. Every time I would turn around, Porph was back up on the table. She was so funny. I realized at that moment how much she missed her periodic pre-show froofroo sessions.

Porphyry had a very funny behavior that I called "melting." If you were petting and messaging her properly, she would slowly sink into your lap no matter where you were. It would start when her head would collapse in ecstasy onto your lap. Then slowly, her shoulder would sink down, then the entire front of her body would collapse into your lap followed quickly by her hips. Melting. Porph managed to melt into two laps at a dog show once, which provided her with a total lap experience. I am sure that was one of the highlights of her life since it is very difficult for an adult borzoi to experience complete lap contact with their entire body unless multiple laps are involved.

While Porphyry was definitely a princess who enjoyed the finer things in life like couches and being coiffured, there was another side of her that would show up on occasion. Porph never showed any interest in the squirrels or birds that would venture into my yard. While Flyte and Hay Luz would spend hours stalking Texas Tree Rats and Sartre reveled in the challenge of snatching unwary birds, Porph preferred to recline. However, one day, as we were out on our walk, we scared up a jack rabbit. Porphyry exploded after it. Taken completely by surprise, it took all I had to stay upright and hang onto her leash. Porph kept leaping into the air trying to break free of her tether as she screamed ancient threats at the bounding beast. We could not resume our walk until the jack rabbit had disappeared into the distance. Until that moment, I had no idea Porph had so much passion for the hunt.

Prophyry surprised me another time. One day I came home in a rental car. My car had broken down and had to be towed. I had stuffed all the dog blankets, leashes, etc. into a plastic bag and thrown the bag and a hat I also kept in my car into the rental. I parked the rental just outside my fence, gathered the plastic bag, plopped the hat on my head and stepped out. I threw the bag over my shoulder as I negotiated the gate lock. Porph rounded the corner of the house, saw the evil humpbacked thug coming into her gate and ran straight for me, roaring and showing lots of teeth. Yes, she was roaring and I have never seen so many teeth in my life as she was pointing right at me that moment. I was a bit worried. "Porph, it's me!" I announced. Porph stopped for a moment and then became very contrite when she realized who I was. Of all my dogs, I would never have guessed that my poofy princess would defend her territory so dramatically.

On the morning of June 17, 2011, I fed the dogs as usual. And as usual Porphyry gobbled her food up. Then, she went over and ate the food Hay Luz had left. I usually do not allow the dogs to eat any food but theirs, but for some reason I did on this day. After feeding the dogs, I did some chores and then left to meet with friends. When I came home several hours later, Porph was not in her usual place. I went looking for her and found Porph on the north side of the house where she usually could be found in the morning. She had passed away sometime while I was gone.

The initial cause of death posited by the vet after completing the gross necropsy was sudden death due hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Unfortunately, the comforting thought that Ms. Porph's death was quick was shattered by the results of the pathology. Porphyry died due to complications caused by laryngeal paralysis. My heart is broken that I wasn't home to be with her. I am so glad I let her have such a bountiful meal that morning though. Proph enjoyed eating and her last meal was as she would have wanted it.

Goodbye sweet Porph. I miss you.

Yes, well, I know the Borzoi standard states something about these dogs being aristocratic in nature. Actually, Porphyry does this to signal to my subconscious that I need to scratch her stomach and chest and give her a general Borzoi massage. In fact, when I am working in the yard, Porph manages to strategically position herself in places I will be walking past. I can't resist it, when she is looking this cute, I have to give her a scratch. Are these dogs manipulative? What do you think?.

Here is a better example of what Porph's color looks like than the other photos on this page. You can see how the black brindle striping has been dimmed or diluted to a softer, slate blue grey color typical of blue dilutes. You can see Flyte's head at the right border of the photo for comparison. She is not a dilute. Photo taken on December 20, 2006

A funny picture I took on a whim when Porph was gazing up at me trying to convince me that she would die if I did not let her go into the house immediately. After all, the couches are all in there. This photo also provides a good example of what the blue dilute gene does to eye color. You can also get a close look at her nose and eye rim color as well. This photo was taken on December 2, 2007.

Here is Porphyry watching me as I was trying to maneuver to get a photo of Flyte and her daughters. As usual, she has positioned herself near the front porch where she can will me to let her into the house where the couches are. This photo was taken on December 13, 2008.

Porph posing nicely for me. This may be Texas, but what is behind her is not an oil well. As you can tell, Porphyry has a very thick plush coat.