Flyball Vacay

We just got back from a long trip in our trailer with Finley and the three dogs. We picked up our trailer from Tacoma RV, which was getting fixed after some damage that happened in Victoria. After that we stopped for lunch in Centralia at Country Cousin with Dan and Cheryl. Then we went down to Longview, WA for a flyball tournament. This was not one of my favorite tournaments. The venue was not ideal at all. There was no space for crating and the surface was dirt. My air cast got dirty and I felt awful on Sunday and stayed in the trailer. The good things were that Indigo ran well for Brian from TA and Pax did well on Sunday. I've decided that this is my last flyball tournament on dirt. The tugs get nasty and the dogs never run well and it's gross the kneel in.
Despite the difficulty we had at that tournament, we trucked on to Roseburg, OR, then Weed, CA and stopped in Clear Lake, CA. I'm usually not really negative, but this  place was a total dump! I expected a fancy beach house and a cute little town with lots of restaurants and things to do with Finley. We got a double wide manufactured home that smelled like mold and a rocky beach. The water was actually warm for swimming and the dogs had fun. The town was mostly boarded up stores and sad looking people. Not going back there again either!
It sounds like a bad trip..it really wasn't. We made the best of it. As soon as we pulled into Gridley everything got better. We had full hookups, parked right next to our teammates with a huge field to potty/exercise the dogs. The weather was amazing and the building air conditioned to the perfect temperature. Our dogs ran well too. Indigo and Ezri set a new best time with their doubles team of 8.0..something... Indigo proved again that she's not a singles type of girl, but ran wonderfully in 2nd position after Ezri on the team and was part of all the fast lineups.. Goose, who by the way is still in the running for fastest border collie this year, did great despite a ripped up pad and handler with a hurt ankle. I was so proud of Pax! He ran amazingly well the whole weekend. He beat his previous singles time with a 3.77 and did great with his first time in start and 3rd position. He held his ball and got faster throughout the weekend. I couldn't have asked for more out of him.
In other news, we tried dock dogs this weekend. thumbs down. Goose and Indigo wouldn't jump off the dock and we didn't bother to try Pax because he JUST learned how to swim. It was fun to watch, but not a sport we will pursue until we have a dog that loves it.
Indigo and Pax are starting back up with agility classes and Indigo is also getting back into Nosework.


Our upcoming schedule:
October 9 - Breeder Day in Olympia
October 15-16 - Lure Coursing ASFA Roy, WA
October 23 - Flyball Tournament (Goose & Indigo running without us)
November 5-6 -  Flyball Tournament
November 25-26th NADAC agility Argus Ranch

Longview Tournament and Links

Longview Tournament

Bling Costume Contest in Gridley


Gridley Ben Boxloading
Here is a video from last weeks flyball practice.

Here is a video from box practice at our house last Thursday.
And another video showing some of the singles and doubles races from the Gridley tournament

NOTRA debut

We have been wanted to get Pax to either a race or lure coursing for awhile now. We got him for flyball primarily and potentially agility with an occasional lure coursing or oval track race. I am always interested in trying new performance events and the oval track appeals to me because we don't have to do any additional training other than keep him in good physical condition.

We went to Jo Sowards home in Goldendale, WA on Friday night. Everyone was extremely welcoming and helpful and got us set up to do a qualifying run. Pax ran once by himself without the box and once with one of Jo's whippets. He did great in both and qualified easily.

In the race there were 4 programs. Pax was in 2nd place twice and 3rd place twice, giving him 10 points. He was very keen and had tons of desire, but tending to take wide turns and stay toward the outside of the track. He also wasn't happy with the box on his first race. He ended up placing 18th out of 32 dogs, which we expected and were happy with.

We are planning to take him to another even in Roy, WA on Oct 1-2nd. Hopefully after that we will try Lure Coursing, which may be more of his forte.

Also I found this video of Pax's FASTEST time last weekend.

Our upcoming schedule:

9/17-18 NAFA tournament - Longview, WA
9/24-25 UFLI tournament - Gridley, CA

10/1-2 NAWRA/LGRA/NOTRA/ISWS Roy, WA
11/25-27 NADAC agility Argus Ranch

Victoria Tournament & Kennel Names

We just got back from an extended flyball weekend + family vacation in Victoria.

The dogs had a blast on the beach, including running up a steep sand hill for a ball and then cooling off in the water after.

In the days leading up to the tournament we went to 3 flyball practices and one agility practice! Pax has a pretty bad ball dropping issue, so we wanted to work on it a lot before his debut without burning him out. We did some short practices and really focused on ball holding and passing. We ended up not needing to worry about passing luckily.

It was a small tournament with few teams seeded in the 16 second range. On Saturday of the tournament Indigo & Goose ran with Skye & Remy from JCJ and Havoc and Reckless from Total Anarchy. We were able to run the fastest lineup 3 times and ran a 15.90 in the first race of the day. We didn't get there again because we pushed it pretty hard. Also on Saturday Indigo and Pax ran in singles. Indigo got first place with a 3.853 and Pax was in second with a 3.853, making him tied for the 8th fastest whippet of all time in UFLI singles.

On Sunday we lost Reckless and got Topo, a 7" height dog. Our fastest time was 16.3 with that lineup. Goose and Pax ran singles, coming in first and second places respectively. Goose shocked us all by running a 3.740, making him the fastest border collie in singles so far this year and the 22nd fastest dog of all breeds for all time. Pretty amazing for a dog that we got at 1.5 years without any flyball related training as a pup. Good boy! Our teams won division 1 both days.

I'm very happy with how our dogs did and very grateful to Total Anarchy for letting us borrow their dogs, so that we could debut Pax just in singles and keep him successful.

Photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39511107@N06/sets/72157627325396689/


We are considering breeding dogs in the future and hoping that Pax will be used for breeding. We think he is a great representation of his breed and it would be a shame not to carry on his amazing traits. Indigo & Goose are spayed and neutered, only because we weren't planning on breeding our dogs when we got them. Anyway, with we decided that it's time to pick a kennel name for our dogs and potential future breeding that we might do. We picked Spectrum Kennel and will start a website soon. More updates about this in the future...

be careful with your dogs in the summer!

Death on the trail

It was one of the saddest experiences imaginable. A man was running up the mountain trail, looking through the brush on each side, screaming over and over again, "JACK" "JACK." His bike could be seen in the distance further down, tossed to one side and abandoned as the man retraced his path, searching.

I stopped my bike and asked if there had been an accident. The man started crying and sobbed, "My dog...I can't find my dog. He was right behind me." He continued running back up the trail, yelling his dog's name. I turned around and followed in case help was needed. As the man ran out of sight where the trail curved, there was an agonized scream, "Nooo! Jack, NOOO!"

Around the curve, I saw my help wouldn't be necessary. Jack was past any help. His body lay in his owner's arms, the tongue lolling from his open mouth. His eyes were open, but glazed. His beautiful long furred coat still gleamed in the hot afternoon sun. He had run after his beloved master's bike until he could run no more. He ran himself to death.

It's something that happens more often than most people know. A training run or bike ride can be much more fun when your pooch comes with you. But when it's the hottest part of summer, running for more than three or four miles can be deadly for a dog. Canines can fatally overheat quickly, resulting in organ failure or heat stroke.

When humans overheat, they can cool off by sweating, drinking or being splashed with water. But dogs only sweat through the pads on their feet, a very small area in relation to body mass. They only release heat by panting, but if the dog is also breathing hard because of exertion, that limits their ability to use panting to cool down - and panting also dehydrates the animal. A dog will dangerously overheat before a human even feels uncomfortable - and there's an even more tragic aspect to it. If a canine's internal body temperature reaches 107, it will not cool back down. The dog will die. Nothing can be done to save it.

There are symptoms to watch for if you take your dog with you on outdoor training sessions, but first, some common sense precautions: If it's over 90 degrees outside, don't subject your dog to more than a few minutes at a time of strenuous exercise. Always carry water for your dog on a hot day, as well as one of those lightweight collapsible fabric dog bowls that will allow your pet to drink from it; don't count on being able to pour enough water into a dehydrated dog's mouth from a bottle. Stop and rest often, and stay alert for symptoms of overheating in your best furry friend.

Those symptoms include trouble with balance - an overheated dog may lose coordination. It will start to slow down and seem confused, unable to obey if you give a command. The signs may be subtle at first - a lurching step here and there - but be on the lookout for it.

As the overheating gets worse, the tongue will hang further out of the mouth than usual, and it will be curled at the end and widened. If the tongue starts turning red, it's a very serious sign that the dog's internal temperature has reached the danger point. The dog will start panting hard, and there may be a frantic thirst.

If you take your dog outside with you when it's hot, always pay extra attention, so that you both return home, tired, but alive.

Wina Sturgeon is the editor of the online magazine Adventure Sports Weekly (adventuresportsweekly.com). For the latest in training and workout information, go to: adventuresportsweekly.com

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/03/3054073/death-on-the-trail.html#ixzz1TzFIpkA2

"once in a lifetime dog"

I was going to post on the results of our Maple Ridge tournament and another new flyball drill, but I couldn't bring myself to do it this week. I'm too sad about the sudden death of a dog on my flyball team, Riker. Riker was Jeff's once in a lifetime dog and I've been meaning to post about this topic for awhile...

I don't even know if I believe in a “once in a lifetime” dog. I'm not the type to treat my dogs like humans. But since Indigo came into my life and every day I have with her, I can relate more and more to the idea of a dog soul mate. I know that of the 5 dogs I've had in my life, there is one that no other dog can compare to. Despite my intentions to see all my dogs equally, she tends to be held above the others. She is the dog that stole my heart.

I know when I lose her some day, there will be other dogs in my life and I hope that I don't compare them all to Indigo. What makes her my "heart dog"? She just gets it. She has been easy from the day we picked her up from the airport, learning everything we taught her with ease and trying to do the right thing. She never chewed anything she wasn't supposed to, tried to run away, or caused any trouble at all as a pup.

As an adult dog, she is an amazing dog around the house. She wants to cuddle, but isn't needy. She wants to play, but knows when it's time to settle down. When I got her I was looking for a dog that would excel in any performance event that I wanted to try and she has performed way beyond my expectation. She is one of the fastest, most solid flyball dogs that I know. She shows great potential in agility and is only limited by the amount of time we have to train her.

We formed a close bond when I took her with me to Massachusetts for a year. She was my companion for that year and I felt as if I was there with a close friend. We explored together and made friends together. I don't know if I would have made it without her.

When I'm stressed or upset, the first thing I do is put Indigo on a leash and go for a long walk. She is a calming force in my life and I am beyond blessed to have her.

I can only hope that I'll have other dogs like her in the future, but I have a feeling I won't. I still don't know for sure if I believe in a "heart dog", but I do know that she came to my life at the right time and she's my best friend in a fur coat.

Knowing the bond I have with her and the bond that Jeff had with Riker, I can't imagine what he is going through. It's a reminder to appreciate everyday I have with my girl.

a new flyball dril

I'm always looking for new ideas for ways to improve box turns, speed, passing, drive etc. I have a list of drills that I use during practice. I try to cycle through them, repeating the ones that work really well and putting aside the ones that don't seem to help.


Every dog either needs to improve speed to the box or back. I like to time both and see which needs improvement. This drill I tried this week is especially for dogs that need to work on speed toward the box.

We put the box in the run back area, just slightly to the side of the mats. We did regular restrained recalls over jumps, but the handler ran full speed past the box. The box is supposed to serve as a visual to convince the dog that they can drive harder toward the box. It seemed to work really well. Perhaps I'll try putting the box in the lane the next time and have the dog get the ball and have a 2nd person ready to run back.

I'll try to get video next time.