Qashani Hurrat al-Sina - 'Hurra'
1.3. 2003 - 3/2005
Owner - Andy Oldfield

Hurra was the only one in the litter to be born with a solid black pigment. She remains ahead of the game in many respects and is always the first to try and discover new things, including the comforts of a good sofa ;)

Cute as a button she was known as our Little Miss Thang for a while ;) As a baby she was very opinionated and was not shy about voicing her views, preferably loudly. I particularly remember the first time she was served goat's milk from a plate. Somehow she managed to tip the saucer and get herself soaked. She was NOT amused and spent a good while marching around the whelping box making her displeasure known to all ;)

Luckily age (!) has mellowed her and she is no longer as vocal. Instead she has certainly earned her name Hurrat al-Sina, Noble of the Sinai. Her nobility is apparent in her utter confidence in herself and her ability to handle the world. She's a fearless explorer who examines new things, people and animals with great curiosity and a positive attitude.

Her forthright nature no doubt served her well when she made her long journey to her new home in England with Andrew Oldfield in February 2004. She was almost a year old and it was terribly difficult for me to say goodbye to her. She is such a good, sweet soul you cannot help but love her.

I think I was more upset about her trip than she was, as Andy told me he greeted her calmly with a wagging tail when he met her at the airport. I hope she'll be the coursing hound he is hoping for. It is a source of great pride and joy that one of my pups will have the chance to hunt properly!

A couple of months after her arrival in England Hurra began exhibiting strange symptoms. Cortisone was used with apparent success, but she experienced relapses of odd symptoms. Hurra finally underwent treatment with cortisoids and doxycyclin for possible tick borne disease. It seemed to have helped and all medication was discontinued. Her heat could have been a stumbling block as it could have caused a relapse but luckily this did not occur. We truly hoped that Hurra would get to enjoy a long and healthy life. It was not to be. She had relapses, then rallied only to succumb to the problems again.

In March 2005 she died of apparent heart failure - the struggle had taken its toll :( We never got a conclusive diagnose; but with the subsequent autoimmune arthritis of her brother Hajum I think we can be fairly certain that Hurra's illness also was an autoimmune one. I will not be breeding from the H-litter or their dam, Farha.

Sleep well our darling Hurra - you were the sweetest little girl. We miss you dreadfully :(

sire:

Zafran Asli (s)

imp. Israel

dam:

Farha al-Faifa (s)

imp. Israel