Sunday at Flyball Even Better!!!

[Leslie and Halas]

We were hoping that Halas would pick up Sunday where he left off Saturday, and he did not disappoint. He ended Saturday on a positive note, and Sunday was a great day. He ran in 5 of our team's 6 races today. Early in the day, we decided that we'd keep him out of the last race, because he would probably be getting pretty tired by then. Our races today were 4 heats, and my little guy ran a total of 17 heats in those 5 races. Most of his runs were clean, and in the couple where he messed up and got a little confused, he just looked around a little bit and then ran to me. That's exactly what we want if he messes up. Running straight to me (skipping jumps, not getting the ball, etc.) is much better than wandering off or going into the other lane. And in those heats, I just ran him again, so he still got his clean run in. By his last heat today, he was very tired, and not very fast, but he was still really enjoying himself. He seems to really love running with his team. Other racers and the judge were all very complementary of how far he's come since the tournament 3 weeks ago. I'm finding that flyball is a very supportive community. And the first few awards/titles come quickly, so that the handler has some encouragement (the dogs probably couldn't care less about titles.) So Halas earned his FDX title this weekend, which is Flyball Dog Excellent. He earned a lot of points beyond that, but not enough for the next title. We've got 3 more tournaments over the next 2 months, all in new locations, and all very different sizes and venues. So we still may have some setbacks, but today went a long way towards building his confidence and comfort. What I liked best about this flyball weekend compared to the last one is how Halas reacted. Three weeks ago, he was tired, he didn't want to eat, and he seemed very overwhelmed by everything. By the middle of the day yesterday and throughout today, he ate much better, he was excited, animated, and very happy to be there. He was very eager to get into the building and run every chance he got today.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Congratulations Halas! Way to go.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Way to go, Halas! Jackdoodle and I are very proud of you!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Halas, you rock! Murph and Guinness are so proud of you.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Way to go Halas! This sounds like an awesome community! There aren't many sports where people are so supportive of one who is "just learning" during a competition! I applaud the entire tire for being so supportive of Halas while he picks up the sport. I understand everyone started as a newbie at some point, but some people tend to forget that! I am glad you have found something both of you seem to enjoy!

[Tessa, Ellie and Wheezy]

Wow!! Way to go Halas!!

[Leslie and Halas]

Oh, and a couple of other things. Besides people noticing how much he improved from 3 weeks ago, and how much he improved just during Saturday and Sunday, a lot of people commented to me about what a nice-looking dog he is, and how friendly he is. So that made me smile. Unfortunately, we didn't get any video. We were short-handed this weekend, so we didn't have any extra team members to video any races. My mom was there, but with the distraction issues that Halas was having, we were having my mom sneak in the back door and stand where Halas couldn't see her. So she could watch the race, but she wasn't really in a good position to take a decent video.