Shooting Stars Flyball Tournament

I always like to enter the Shooting stars tournaments as it was all thanks to them we got going as a team so even though we weren't really ready we headed off down to Kent with 2 brand new dogs, Barney, Angel, Maddie and Campbell. First race in was a bit of a mess, Onyx wouldn't go down and get her ball so we had to run Maddie. She is not running well at the moment as she is really slowing down on the way back from the box since being attacked. She did better this week than last week but still no where near as good as she should be. Thankfully Onyx decided flyball is actually fun and ran fantastic from the second race onwards. Harvey who is Maddie's brother got quite distracted by the dogs in the other lane. When he was running well he was great and when he wasn't.... well he was a pain in the bum! i can really see he has a stubborn streak too like Maddie but also shows so much promise.

Barney was good again this week but has really lost his confidence on the way back. He used to be much faster coming back than going out but that has all changed now. Hopefully with more practice he will get his confidence back. As Maddie was running so slow we had to call in the reserve reserve Campbell. I dont like to run him much as he gets tired quickly and then switches off and isn't really into flyball. He just does it because i ask him nicely! Well apart from dropping the ball once he was actually quite good today. He did some nice starts and also ran in 2nd and 3rd position fine. Hopefully he is starting to enjoy his flyball more and will have more drive and speed as he does more shows.



I really wanted to give Cai a run today as he hates missing out so entered him and Angel into the Mini/Maxi pair just for a bit of fun. I wasn't really bothered about getting a good time as Angel had already run 17 legs in starters and she is not used to crossing tight with Cai. Well we did our three legs in what felt like an ok time and i went and put Cai back in the car. Suddenly after about 10 mins they are calling us back in as we were through to the next round. I hadn't realised it was a knockout so was not ready at all. I managed to grab Cai quickly and leg it back to the ring and couldn't believe it when we went and won again 3-0. This put us through to the finals against Janice and Roger from the Shooting Stars who had two very experienced dogs. The racing was very close but we lost the first two legs and then won the third. As it was best of 3 we came second overall with a best time of 10.34 seconds. I couldn't believe our two managed to pull it off so well. Angel really was best dog of the show this week.

Hailsham Lions Agility Show

Well i didnt think i was going to make it this year as i had planned to do flyball this weekend but the team i was running Cai with had to pull out so i managed to squeeze a last minute entry in. All three got to have a run today as the rings were netted although i am feeling more positive about Cai by the minute as he is really focused and just loves to work and i feel he will be ready to run out of netting by spring 2010.

First up Campbell had grade 1-3 agility. It was a nice flowing course without any weaves and he did a cracking round to finish 5th. Chico was up next, he didnt put that much effort in but got round without any sniffing with just 5 faults on the dog walk. Last up was Cai. Well what can i say! hes a little star and he managed to pull a clear out of the bag... yes it was messy but he has only had 1 proper training session this year and one other agility show to date. I was very pleased to find out he had come 3rd! not a bad start to agility shows for him.

Last up was grade 1-3 jumping. Campbell did a messy clear to finish 6th, my fault not his! Chico should have been eliminated (as he jumped an extra jump) but the judge wasn't looking so just gave us 5 for a refusal! And Cai was just a bit mad! i tried to get him going like i know he can and went a bit far as he was totally mental and i didnt have much control so really need to keep him a bit calmer until he is more responsive in the ring.

Four Paws Flyball Tournament

We took one starters team today made up on Skye, Barney who has had to go back to starters after his big crash in Kent, Maddie, Chico and Campbell as reserve. Skye was a star and didn't make one mistake although slowed towards the end. Barney just ran out once but that was probably the handlers fault and my 3 well they were just naughty! Maddie did her usual thing of going to the box and lying down, Chico started well but got bored quite quickly and Campbell was like a rocket for a few legs then kept slowing down to have a nose in the other lane! Its very frustrating having 3 dogs who are very very hard work and then Cai who is a star and lives for flyball. We did well though with the dogs we had available and finished 2nd with a very slow time of 27. something seconds! Not our usual standard but we all had fun and cant wait for next weekend.

Cai did the singles and was back on top form today. I had to run him from 53 feet as anything closer and he got a false start. He did 3 runs over 7" getting 3.955, 3.971 & 3.976 to finish 1st. I then asked to run him over 14" to see how much the higher jumps slowed him down and he did 4.247, 4.143 & 4.144 so not a huge difference. These times would have also put him in 1st even with all the other dogs running over 7" so im very proud of my boy today.

Dundee Flyball

Well i must have been mad. Michelle offered me a lift to Dundee in thier van for the two tournamnts this year and i said yes! 550 miles EACH way and a total of 12 hours driving... but it was worth it. First up on Saturday was the Clatto Clangers tournament. It was our first time camping this year and ive really missed it. It makes such a difference to just get up and roll out of bed and you are there! It was a really lovely venue and all the other teams were friendly and it was great to see another southern team the Wimbledon Wizzers make the journey. Cai was on the lights again and he is getting better each time out. He was running very slow for him(around 4.5 seconds) but didnt put a foot wrong. We lost one race on speed to finish 2nd.

Maddie got to have a go in starters pairs and actually did it! i really didnt think she would because she can be quite spooky and stubbon at times. We only made it through to the second round but it was nice to know she is ready for starters now.



Sunday saw us travel a few miles up the road to Caird Park for the Tayside Roadrunners tournament. Wow what a lovely big park with huge trees dotted about, it was great for dog walking. All the dogs were tired from the day before but ran really well and i was pleased as Cai's average was about the same. We had sorted out our crosses more as a team and ended up winning all our races to finish 1st.