Halas' 2nd Flyball Tournament

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas and I finished up our 2nd flyball tournament earlier today. The first one was back in May, so it's been over 3 months between tournaments. He's been doing great in practice - not bobbling the ball, not skipping jumps, passing other dogs really well, running with the regular line up of dogs, etc. So we were all expecting big things from him at this tournament. It didn't go exactly as we had hoped. This tournament was much bigger than the first one. It was in the same location, but they had 2 races going at a time, so 4 lanes were going, instead of only 2. And the 2 lanes racing against each other were much closer together than they were in the first tournament. This also means that there were twice as many dogs racing at once, and twice as many dogs waiting for the next race. Twice the barking, twice the people, etc. That, and the fact that the 1st race was 3 months ago made it all pretty overwhelming for Halas. His first warmup recall on Saturday was great, but when he ran a warmup race with his team, he got distracted and wandered off. We just went ahead and did something easy at the end of the warmup, so that he could end on a positive note. Our team had 6 races on Saturday (each race is best of 5, so a dog will do up to 5 full runs in one race), so he had several more chances. We just did a recall and a full run in the warmup before the 2nd race, and that went well. On the 3rd or 4th race, he did well again during the warmup, so we put him in the line up. And he did it! He ran his first real race with his team, and earned his first flyball points! I was so proud of him! He wandered off again during the 2nd run in that race, so our success was short-lived. The rest of the day was about the same. I could get good warm up runs out of him, but if we tried to run him in a race, he got really distracted by everything else that was going on. Sunday was more of the same, but he did get 5 more really good warmups in. The warmups let us know that he can definitely do it. We just have to try to generate more distractions for him in practice, so that he can get used to it. It's never been a problem before, but I think there was just too much going on. He was also really tired later Saturday and most of Sunday, and he didn't eat his dinner Friday night or Saturday, so he was probably a little weak, too. Because his practices have been so great, we were expecting a lot from him. But our expectations weren't very realistic. It was only his 2nd time at a tournament, first time with 2 races going on at once, and a 3-month gap between tournaments. So several good warmups, and one or 2 successful full runs with his team is actually pretty good. I'm really proud of my little guy! He just let us know that there are some situations that we need to work on in practice. In any case, he is officially a flyball dog now!! He is sooo tired now. He might sleep for a couple of days.

[GBK]

Congratulations Halas, good job! We don't know any flyball pups either, way to go :) It is always so different in the competitions than at practice.

[Penny, Comiskey & Beemer]

Congrats Halas.....just like your namesake....focus is sometimes a problem.....you have made us proud!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Congratulations!!! Halas you are awesome - and lucky to get to do flyball!

[Leslie and Halas]

We didn't get any video of Halas this time. My mom was trying to take some, but it was crowded, so tough to get a good angle. We weren't expecting him to run his real race when he did. He had a good warm up, so someone said, "Let's leave him in." She was not right by us at the time, so she had no idea he was going to run. Later, when he wandered off, he didn't go straight to my mom, but he did eventually end up by her, so then we had to have her stay in the back, so that he wouldn't try to look for her. So videos were really tough after that.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Way to go Halas!!!!! GREAT JOB!!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Congratulations, Halas, Guinness & Murph are really proud of you too!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Way to go Halas ..... we are proud of you too! I've seen these events at a couple of dog events, and I'm not even sure I could stay focused ..... lots going on!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jackdoodle and I are proud of you, Halas! You are the only real flyball dog we know, and we're sure you're the cutest!
Any videos, Les?

[Donna K & Quincy]

Congratulaltions Halas, Flyball sounds like lots of fun. I don't think Quincy would be much good at it though, he'd have no trouble going to get the ball but he'd probably stop for a chew on the way back. Keep practicing, it sounds like your mom is really proud of you.