Today at Flyball...

[Leslie and Halas]

Today is the first of 3 days at CanAm, a huge flyball tournament in Indianapolis. Our team has 4 races today, but Halas only ran in the first 4, so he's done for the day. He ran 5 heats in the first race, but took a very long pause between jumps on his 4th run, so we decided to only have him run 3 heats in his other 2 races. That worked out well. Our last tournament was in early June, so it's been awhile since he ran. He was pretty slow a couple of times, but his runs were clean, and that's what we were hoping for. On one run, the box loader forgot to load his ball, and he just stopped and stared at her when she told him to get his ball. She looked down, cussed, and loaded his ball. So he grabbed it and came back, just like he's supposed to. All in all, a good first day of racing for him. Now he can start resting up for tomorrow and Sunday.

By the way, we've seen several discussions about pit bulls and other bully breeds. There's a team here made up entirely of bully breeds. They formed the team to prove that the breeds are highly trainable and can be great dogs. They just need the right owners. Their team runs well, and I've never heard of any problems with other dogs or people. They are just like any other dog here. It shows what a dig can be when treated with love and respect. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It certainly sounds like you had a great weekend with Halas, and that he did really well.  Do you have a facility where you train with Halas between events?  I'm thinking it must take a lot of time and a real commitment to keep his skills up.  Also how did the mini Doodle do?  Sorry to hear about your wrist, Leslie.  This must be getting really frustrating.

[Leslie and Halas]

We practice Thursday nights at our obedience club.  We can get a lot done in practice, but there are just some things we can't recreate.  We only set up one racing lane for practice, so we don't have a lane of dogs right next to us like you do at a tournament. And the noise and chaos of 6 races at a time and 800 barking dogs (like this weekend in Indy) just can't be recreated in practice.  Even the atmosphere of a small tournament is hard to duplicate.  That's why it can take so long to get over a hump of any kind.  Practice is one thing, but tournaments are a lot different.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

It sounds like Halas is lowly but surely working through his fear. It is good to hear that he is still having a good time with it.Sorry about your wrist issue!! But you did a great job typing this update so I know it is improving!! Hope it is back to normal soon!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Leslie, I am in an alliance with Ricki, so I just wanted to add that she meant "slowly" not lowly. Sometimes we help each other out like that....LOL! Sounds like Halas did a great job. Hope your wrist gets better soon and you can put all that behind you.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Thanks for watching my back Laurie!! LOL!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I stay glued to that front page, just in case something like this needs my attention :)

[Leslie and Halas]

Thanks for clarifying that.  Halas would be crushed if he thought Ricki called him lowly.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Never!!!