April 2009Monthly Archives

Ali’s Box Turn

Ali Flyball

This is Ali, and she’s on our team! We have some really nice box turns on our team. And, I’ll admit, some crappy ones too. However the bad ones are just from the older dogs who weren’t really trained a nice swimmer’s turn when they started. And, I have to admit, Chase was one of them. I won’t even show you a picture of him on the box, it’s embarrasing!

Ali is a cattle dog and is the litter mate to Apache, another dog on our team. They are both great dogs. I just love them. And Apache is even deaf. And she does such a good job. However, Apache wouldn’t race at the last tournament. Which I thought was really odd. So did our whole team. Even though she had Blue Advantage (our team color is blue lol) to help her through! LOL anyway… we didn’t force Apache, of course. Hopefully she’ll be better at the next tournament. We figured there was something she could sense, that we could not, and we respected that.

I just hope I feel better for the Santa Clara NAFA tournament next weekend. I will feel better. I must feel better! So that’s why I’m resting this weekend, and probably going to go see a Fibromyalgia doctor this coming week. Something is wrong with me, something beyond a normal sickness, I think. So I’m going to research it and figure it out. I am, ultimately, in charge of my own health.

Cynthia

April 25, 2009

Flyball

1 comment

Flyball, Health

Not Liking Mono

Flyball Box Turn

Well, I’m home… still… again…? And not having a fun time with this mono. Oh well. Such is life. I’m taking it easy and watching TV, drinking a lot of chamomile tea, and resting. And trying to eat well so I don’t need to find the best diet pills. Usually when I’m sick I eat badly. This time, I’m eating veggies and staying healthy.

Here’s another picture I took at the last NAFA flyball tournament. Pahrump Nevada. I love this picture. Not sure if this one sold or not. I don’t think so, becuase it’s from Sunday and I didn’t print any pictures from Sunday. So it’s only on the web. I hope to get my timing better so I can get more pictures off the box like this. However, if a dog has a rotten box turn, no picture can make it look good. LOL.

Some people want CDs with their pictures.. and I’m not sure how much to charge for this. What do you think? A couple of bucks for each picture? Or a set price for an unlimited number of pictures? I’m going to set up a PDF order form that people can print and write down the pictures they want, and send them in with a check. But my brain isn’t at full capacity so I’m not sure how much to charge. Any ideas?

Cynthia

April 24, 2009

Flyball

3 comments

Flyball, Photography

Strength and Endurance In Dog Training

I love doing dog sports… flyball, agility, obedience.. and I want to try others such as go to ground (after i get a Farmdog lol), and other things. And I’d love to have more endurance. As I write this, I actually have Mono, the test came back and so I feel like I need to go back to sleep, which I’m going to do after Lucy is done eating her first meal of the day.

Anyway, there is a product on the market called Stemulite that helps endurance and muscle building. It looks interesting and i’m going to be looking into it a bit more. It promotes better sleep, even, as it helps build muscle and gives people the ability to exercise longer. So maybe it’d help me get stronger and have more endurance for dog sports. However, I won’t try it until this Mono is gone.

Stemulite is made with all natural products and is so much better to take than steriods. I would never use steroids, they are much too dangerous and have bad side effects. Those who are using it, are getting great results. So once my body is back to normal, I’ll give it a try!

Didn’t Break Even In Flyball Photo Sales

Flyball

Well, back from another flyball tournament, this one was in Pahrump, Nevada. Oh boy, I’m dead tired. That’s a long drive. I saw a Danish Swedish Farmdog! Makes me want a Farmdog again. But that never really went away!

So I had fun taking pictures. I got mostly box pictures. The downside is I didn’t make enough money to pay for the print cartridges and photo paper I bought for them. Ugh. I started the price at $25 for an 8×10. But I had zero sales for most of the day. In agility we fork out about $65 for an 11×14 so I was thinking $25 was cheap. I guess I was wrong.

But I guess since a weekend of flyball for one dogs is $45, and a weekend of ASCA agility for one dog is $132, I guess maybe agility folk can afford more..? Well, whatever. At $15 for an 8×10 I sold about 10 of them.. I think. Not enough to pay for my expenses. Yuck. However, I am probably going to take pics and sell in Santa Clara, St. George Utah in two weeks. I won’t buy any more supplies, I’ll just see if I can use what I bought to break even. Of course I’d like to make a bit of a profit, too.

I have more pictures online on my PrintRoom shop. I’d love if you went to look and gave me your honest feedback of the pictures: Printroom Album Saturday April 18, 2009 Flyball. I’ll get Sunday’s pictures up in a couple of days, probably.

I love this picture of this very pretty light red Aussie off the box. I’m glad that her person bought this one. I would have! I love her eyes, too.

Tatum and Training

Tatum and Chase

This is a picture of Chase and Tatum at flyball practice last summer. Ooo summer! I want warmth and sunshine!

Anyway… Tatum’s training is going really well. She’s starting to understand heel, I think. Though we only do it in very short bits. Four or five steps. But I also randomize how many steps we take so she won’t think it’s the same amount all the time. And I put the target stick right in front of her eyes. I still think she has problems with peripheral vision. But she can still read diet pill reviews for me if she wants to!

We are also working the stand for exam. She can stand okay, and when I walk away, I have to do it in a very matter-of-fact manner. No coddling her or asking her to please stay. I just put her in a stand, put my hand in front of her nose for a stay, then walk away. And she seems to be getting it pretty good, actually. The stand stay is one of the hardest things for a green dog to learn!

Her recall is doing really well too. I havem mostly been running from her to keep her speed and enthusiasm up. We are also working fronts a little, and finishes a little. Though not at the same time. Those are all the things for novice… we are still doing some dumbbell work for open. I hope she can get into open! I have faith in her.

She’s also doing really well in agility class. She loves the contacts. I want to start to get her out where she has more room to run so we can start to sequence obstacles. Her A-Frame four on the floor is gonna be nice!

Last Saturday she had the big job of going to a puppy class and being the big girl to teach puppies how to behave! There were 3 German Shepherds and one Portuguese Water Dog. They were all bigger than her! But she was very good with all of them. Then she crashed in her crate when I worked Chase in a private lesson. Playing with puppies is super hard work!

All in all I’m very happy with how Tatum is progressing!

Goin’ For Some Flyball

Muffit on the Cam

Well, this weekend we have a flyball tournament. It’s NAFA, and I’ve only done one NAFA tournament before. Should be fun… but I think I like U-FLI better.

It’s in Pahrump, Nevada, which is about 8 hours from Salt Lake City. I’ll be pulling the trailer down, going with a friend who is going to golf while I race. Hopefully we won’t need any AED defibrillators while down there, LOL. Even though my heart will be a racin’ too!

I may or may not post again before I go. I’m taking Chase down to race (he gets to be on two teams, he’ll love it!) and Tatum to watch. And she’s my baby girl anyway. I also get to pick up Oreo and bring him down. He’s a border collie we need on a team but his people can’t go. I hope Chase doesn’t hate Oreo too much. Oreo will be crated in the trailer, or away from Chase. Oreo is a sweet wonderful dog… but a bit too exuberant for Chase.

Should be a fun trip!

This is a picture from our webcam.. the dog shelf, with Muffit in the foreground and Lucy in her chair in the background.

Past Camping Photo

Camping

I’ve been having my old photo as a slide show on my background on my laptop while I work. And I like to glance over and see all the old pictures.

This one came up and it just makes me laugh. My husband is on the reclining chair and Levi just HAD to have a spot on it, too. LOL and Levi just doesn’t care if a person is in his way. He climbs right up. Just like when he wants a spot on the couch at home, he whines until he gets one. Yeah I know I know, he has us well trained.

I haven’t been posting on my blogs much lately, been focusing on doing some Niche Blogging going instead. I hope to make a bit of money off it. I can hope! Maybe then I’ll be able to afford the best diet pill! He he. Well, I am still trying to lose weight too.

So anyway, I’ll be here once in a while! I have to post about my latest training sessions too.