Yes… three dogs and one human do fit on a couch. Although barely!
Today I took four of our six dogs to flyball practice. It was fun. 
Chase already knows it and does a great job.
Levi.. I’m going to train him up, because he would have fun even if he isn’t fast. He should learn pretty quick. He went away from me just fine toward the box loader who had some treats, but on the way back he didn’t go over the jumps. He went by them! I thought that was odd. So I know what I have to work on with him.
Tatum is catching on to the jumping, she is such a good girl! I was so proud of her! We had her on just the jumps, and I put a lid and treat out on the other side of the jump like we have been doing at home. And she knew it! She went over the jump and got the treat like a pro! Then we did two jumps… then three! And she got them all! But on the way back… she came back to me but then ran off again and bunny hopped around the park again. LOL she is such a goon. I just adore her. I gave other people treats and she went to them, too, though, which was excellent. I want her to learn to go to people because people are good, not mean. No one is going to grab her collar anymore and drag her. Poor dear. I was just glowing I was so proud of her.
And Muffit.. he is too overwhelmed by the whole environment and just needs to be there for a while and get used to it and distress. Poor guy, he pooped in his crate. Realistically I should only bring him, and I should start really far away from the dogs so he can focus on me and think. He gets too excited and stressed to think. I was hoping he would be better than he is. But he’ll learn. He’ll be okay. I have faith. I knew Tatum would come around, and I know Muffit will, too.
All the dogs are sleeping now.. except Lucy. My Husband didn’t take her for a walk today, so she wants a bone. But if I give her one, all the dogs will wake up and the dynamic will change. And so she gets to just relax today and let the other dogs sleep. And I get to watch TV, fiddle with my HDMI switches on my HDTV, and veg. Flyball is tiring!
I just have to post, briefly, about a sad thing that happened at the flyball tournament this past weekend. We love our dogs… and we know (I’d say all of us, but I guess I have to say most of us) that our dogs perform their best when they are happy and when they trust us humans.
When we were running (we are the Thunder Paws in Utah) we saw a member of another team, angry at his dog.. a red border collie, slam the poor dog into the wall. Not once… but three times. The poor dog was terrified. It was a very sad thing to see. The dog, and the person, were members of Atomic Dogs, a team from Las Vegas.
The judge had a word with him, and our captain talked to their captain. Their captain said that this man’s dogs do love him, and he treats them well… but I cannot believe that. If he is doing that in public, then what does he do at home? Actions like that should never, ever be tolerated. If someone on our team, new or not (he was new, they said) they would be told to leave, immediately, and never come back.
It would be best if we could keep the dog.
Ugh.
Oh boy.. the tournement is over. We had an awesome time. Chase did great, as usual. He ran fast and clean and got more points. His team broke out twice.. which is really cool and I’ll explain it later. Okay maybe it’s not that cool because we don’t get points for that run, but it was nice to run so fast. And after we had to slow our passes down and determine what speed we needed to run to still win but not break out a third time.
Tatum also did good today, she played with a few dogs and pooped and peed. Just one poop a day but that is better than none. Two pees a day and that is better than one! She is going to be a great collie doing flyball! She is still shy but when she gets used to being at tournaments she’ll be fine. This was her first flyball tournament she came to socialize in, and he had her tail up a lot of the time and was exploring. Though she did get spooked some too.
I’m tired… had a margarita to drink and now I’ve toast. But it was yummy. Going to go to bed and sleep in tomorrow, then drive home whenever after I wake up. Zzzzzz Chase and Tatum are already asleep.
March 29, 2008 – 10:26 pm
Oh boy.. just got back to the motel. What a day. It was a ton of fun. Chase ran in singles and doubles, in addition to his regular teams. He ran a lot. He needs to be in better shape, as do I, as I say way too often. I wish my back felt better, we need to seriously jog on a regular basis.
Chase has about 1650 points now.. he got over 600 today. He needs 2500 to get his Top Flight Executive I title. He will probably get that in June when we come back down. He ran his heart out and he loves it. It was a lot of fun getting the timing right for being the start dog. I know pretty good now… 46 feet, let him go when the first yellow light turns on. We got some .003 and .142 starts. Not bad. Got a -.004 too, which was too soon!
Tatum is doing well. She peed twice today and just had a big poop before we left the tournament site. Yay! She goes through times when she’s confident and her tail is up, then something might spook her and her tail sucks between her legs. I stepped on some sage brush and that spooked her pretty good. But she is hanging in there. I know it’s a lot to ask of her, taking her to all these strange places when all she knew for the first year, or more, of her life, was one yard with familiar dogs in it. She is being so good. I wish I could turn back time and socialize her as a puppy. She would be unstoppable, then.
I’m going to get the pictures off my camera, not sure if I’ll get them uploaded. I’m pretty tired and it’s pretty late. We had a good dinner at the trailers of our teammates that are parked at the tournament site. It was a lot of fun. Now, it’s time for bed!
Edit… I added a couple of pictures! I hope my back survives tonight and tomorrow, it was hurting me pretty good today when I was running Chase. Ugh!
March 28, 2008 – 10:19 pm
Well… Chase, Tatum and me are in St. George. The internet connection here at the Red Cliffs Inn is not too good… but it looks like my two pictures are going to Flickr now. Hopefully they went… and then I’ll include them here in this post.
I’m blogging from my desktop, using BlogDesk. Hopefully it will upload okay. I need to test this out for when I go on my cruise and I don’t want to spend a lot of money being online.
Anyway… the drive was uneventful. I didn’t get out of Salt Lake until 1:30. Got here at 5:30. Not bad… 4 hours isn’t too long a drive anymore. I even drove through rain! And maybe some snow. Since my latest rollover (I’ve been in 2) I’ve been very afraid of driving in weather. But with all the driving I’ve been doing the last couple of years, I’ve gotten better. I still won’t drive in the snow.
Tatum is pretty nervous. She hasn’t peed or pooped since we left. Which is no surprise. She is sleeping now. She’ll loosen up in a day or two. Chase is just fine, as usual. He loves to travel.
I’ll try to blog tomorrow after the first day of the flyball tournament! Our team, the Thunder Paws, is gonna kick butt!
Tomorrow I’m leaving for a flyball tournament in St. George, Utah. I’m excited… and really, a part of me wishes I could just lie in bed all weekend and let my back get better. Alas… the dogs and the dog sports shall not wait for the measly pain a human, an old human… a busy old and feeble human… might have to endure. Just ask Chase, my border collie, whether or not he would rather stay home while the Mum rests up. He will say ‘Suck it Up Mum!’ LOL.
Chase already has his Top Flight III title with U-FLI… hopefully we’ll get a bunch of points for his next level. Though I’m not quite sure what that level is yet. I should really look it up. I do love titles on my dogs. I figure I’m never going to get any more letters after my name. My school days are over. And the dogs are just more fun anyway.
And I know, I know, these are agility pictures, not flyball… you’ll have to wait until this weekend for flyball pictures. Though I think I’ll be taking more videos than stills. It’s an indoor tournament so it won’t be bright enough for some good stills. But I’ll give it a try.
I need to find all my gear tonight, and pack tomorrow. I need my little fridge that fits in my car and plugs into the cigarette lighter. My tankless water heater so I can keep warm water with me… well, hopefully I won’t need it. It better not be too cold or snow down there! It snowed here today, but I hope the weather 4 hours south is warmer.
So, wish us luck!
I was just looking at my calendar and realized that yes, I am going to be much too busy this spring. As usual, I guess. Lots of dog sports going on. And my Husband wants to squeeze a camping trip in there too… we didn’t go camping at all last year, and we both missed it. So this year we have to squeeze a couple in between my dog events. I’m going to need some vehicle tracking to even figure out where I am.
This weekend is Flyball Tournament in St. George. Then the following weekend is a weekend off. After that, April 12th, I’ll be in Colorado doing agility. April 19th we are going camping. April 26 is a USDAA trial I’ve entered Chase in. May 3 is a 3 day AKC agility trial. May 10 I’m going back to Colorado just with Chase for USDAA trial, and then finally on May 17th I’ll be able to stay home that weekend.
Ugh! The worst part will be missing flyball practice. I wonder if someone would take Chase for me, on those rare weekends when he’s not coming with me.
Well, this weekend Chase, Tatum and me are going to St. George Utah for a U-FLI Flyball tournament. Should be fun… going to be a lot of work with long days, but it’s a blast and Chase loves it. He’s even running in singles and doubles as well as teams, to see how he does.
Tatum is coming for the ride and now that she is a seasoned traveller (since I took her to Las Vegas for the flyball seminar) she no longer gets to stay home and be a house dog. Out and about she goes!
I wont need any exercise equipment to help me lose weight this weekend. I’ll be tired and on my feet most of the days.
I hope my back holds out… maybe the hotel mattress will feel better than my home mattresses. Though tonight, I swear, I’m sleeping on the soft couch.
Yeah yeah, can’t get enough of this new camera. This is Tonks… now that is a HIGH box! LOL… a bit too high, I’d say. They moved the prop way out and she did better (yup, Tonks as in Nymphadora from Harry Potter, I love her name!) She won’t need any family insurance with her magic! 
And this is Keno, she’s the dachshund on the team. Though she may have something else mixed in there. She’s a doll and loves to play with her tennis balls!
And here is the back end of Apache. It’s hard to get the timing just right with these flyball pictures. So this is my slow timing. However, I thought it was a very cute picture anyway, with her back legs as they just pushed off the box. I adore Apache. She’s deaf, and she’s a cattledog, and she is so smart. And has the most gorgeous box turn! Our team, Thunder Paws, is an awesome team and I’m glad I found them!
Here’s a crowd of dogs at flyball practice… you can see Chase and Tatum in the background in their x-pen. And Muffit in his crate. I had him in the pen but… silly boy jumped out, he was too excited. So he got the crate (did I mention I got that crate for free? Driving by a house it was set up in the yard with a be FREE sign on it. Score! Perfect size, double door foldable wire crate. Destiny…).
So anyway we had fun at flyball practice today. I love taking pictures as much as I love running Chase. This is a picture of Whatsit… yup, that’s his name! I love his name, cute as a bug… both him and his name. Not sure what his mix is, but he’s loved by our flyball captain (okay he’s loved by everyone, but he lives with her). He tries his best to do flyball but doesn’t manage to bring the ball back. Goof!
Cynthia Blue
