What a Difference a Month Makes!

[Leslie and Halas]

In October, Halas and I went to a huge flyball tournament in Indianapolis.  Besides ducking out because he's afraid of another collision, he also ran very slowly.  He was really apprehensive, but also tired.  So we got as many positive things out of the weekend as we could, and we worked on a plan going forward.

For the next few weeks, we worked a lot on his drive.  He was apprehensive to leave me to run to the box, so he was running really slowly towards the box.  His speed coming back to me was good, but he was really slow going towards the box.  So, at practice, we'd have him run alone, not with his team.  Someone else would release him from the start line, and I would stand up by the box.  With me at the box, he would run really fast to get to me.  Just as he hit the box, I would take off towards the finish line, and he'd sprint to the finish line to catch me.   After a couple of weeks of just doing that, we added team runs into the mix, but I ran all the way to the box with him to get him to run as fast as he could.

It really paid off this past weekend.  We had another big tournament in St. Louis this past Saturday and Sunday.  It wasn't as large as the one in Indy, but there were still 3 races going on at a time (6 at a time in that Indy tournament).  Saturday, we just ran Halas for the first 2 heats in every race.  He did great!  He was still ducking out at the beginning of his run, but his drive and speed towards the box were great.  In Indy, a full run was taking him anywhere between 8 and 9 seconds.  This past weekend, he was regularly running between 6 and 7 seconds.  So it was a huge improvement.  To earn points in a U-FLI tournament, your team needs to run under 25 seconds.  We were usually between 23.5 and 24.2 seconds, so those extra couple of seconds from Halas made a big difference for us.  We didn't win a lot, but we at least earned some points towards titles.  In fact, Halas earned another U-FLI title on Saturday for reaching his next points level.  But, most importantly, Halas was having fun!

On Sunday, we ran him 2 heats in the first race, but then decided to try all 5 (races were best 3 of 5) in the 2nd race if necessary.  Well, they were necessary, and he ran well in all 5.  I took him in for the 3rd race, but was planning to just watch, and give him a rest from running.  But another dog on our team started chasing stray balls after her first run, so her owner pulled her out of the other heats.  Halas stepped in and ran the last 4 heats in that race, too.  He was pretty tired after that, so we went back to just running him in 2 heats for the rest of the day.  He was really slowing down by the end of racing Sunday, but it was due to tiredness, not apprehension.  His tail was still wagging, and he was ready to run when I moved him into position.

Overall, he had a great weekend of racing.  He never bobbled, never went around a jump, never seemed scared.  Oh, there was one funny moment.  In one race, he went over 2 jumps, and then just stopped.  He looked ahead at the box, looked at me, looked at the other lane, looked at me, looked at the box.  The whole time, I'm telling him to go get his ball.  Finally, after about 5 seconds, he ran fast over the other 2 jumps, got his ball, and ran really fast back to me. I don't know if he was tired, or saw something out of the corner of his eye from the other lane, but something made him decide to stop and assess the situation.  I can live with that, as long as he doesn't run out of our lane and towards another lane.  You still get credit for finishing, even if it takes a few extra seconds.

His stamina and energy were good, especially on Saturday.  Since the October tournament, I've been able to play with him more and take him running with me.  And since Mom got Barley, he's been playing with Barley, too.  All of that has helped his stamina and energy.

But I do have one problem that you guys can help me with.  When we travel, whether it's for flyball or any other reason, Halas doesn't eat much, if at all.  He gets turkey for his treats during flyball tournaments, but that's not enough to sustain him.  He may have eaten a little bit Friday morning, but he didn't eat Friday night, and he only took a couple of bites of his Orijen on Saturday night.  So by Sunday afternoon, he was just really wiped out.  He was running, but he just didn't have the energy left.  I'm thinking that maybe I need to take some canned food or something to tournaments.  Maybe he'd eat something like that, because it's different than his usual kibble.  I need to do something to at least keep his energy up.  I see that TOTW makes a canned food.  If he normally eats Orijen kibble, and I try to give him canned food once a month, is that going to mess with his stomach?  I don't want to give him a stomach ache just to get him to eat.  Or maybe I can just take canned pumpkin with me and put some of that on his kibble.  He'd at least get a little of the kibble while eating the pumpkin.  Please share any ideas you might have.

There was a photographer there that got some pretty good pics of Halas.  I should get the pics in about 2 weeks, so I'll post them.

Thanks for reading this really long post.  I'm just so proud of my little guy.  He ran fast and with confidence!  I haven't seen that in quite a long time.

[BG and Gavin]

This is a great report!  WRG Halas!!

[Jennifer and Jack]

Yippie Halas. Jack eats TOTW canned or Evangers canned and I just add a little into his Orijen, he does great with it...

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Hooray Halas!!!! I'm so glad that he is regaining his confidence!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm so glad that Halas did well and seems to have regained his confidence! WTG, Halas, JD and I are very proud of you!

I recently had to purchase some canned food for JD because of possible dehydration due to meds, and after some careful consideration, TOTW is what I ended up buying. As you know, JD also eats Orijen. We ended up not having to use any of the canned food, so I can't tell you if it will cause any digestive upsets, but I don't think so. I would try it well before your next tournament, just to be on the safe side.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Way to go, Halas!  It sounds like he had a fantastic weekend...all your work is paying off Leslie!  My guys don't eat well when things are "different" in their lives.  I usually don't worry too much because it all evens out, but I understand your concern about keeping up his stamina.  When all else fails, I spring for the roast beef at the Deli and sprinkle little pieces over their food.  They love it, and it's usually enough of an incentive for them to eat their meal.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

OOH I can't wait for those pictures!!!! Sorry no food advice. Good job Halas!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Oops, forgot to say congrats for Halas' fine performance.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

A topper would be good.  Ned is not an eater and usually I just out wait him, but sometimes I really need him to eat when the others do so I will put something on the kibble.  I have even smashed a dog cookie into tiny pieces and mixed it into the kibble - this is the least effective solution for me to use.  I have also used yogurt, bacon grease (works EVERY time), grated cheese.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Congratulations. I guess you could try some toppings on his food first since that would be a smaller change than going to all canned.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

How about a peanut butter kong or something?