Flyball!

Last weekend we all packed up the car and went to a flyball tournament. The tournament was held by some of her friends in the Sacramento Flyball Club and was in Lodi. They called the tournament "Stuck in Lodi", and mom's been humming some annoying song ever since!

We didn't get to run, mom went to help out and we got to go and sit in our crates the whole weekend. I did meet some very nice people and we got a BIG cookie so that was pretty nice. Anyway it beats sitting in the dog run all weekend waiting for mom to come home and feed me.

In case you don't know what flyball is, here's the scoop. Humans make up teams of 6 dogs. They pick 4 of the dogs to run a relay race. The race goes over 4 jumps, then the dog has to hit a box and get a ball. Then they have to run back FAST with the ball and then the next dog goes. You can read more here.

All the dogs on the teams are crazed and bark constantly so it is pretty noisy and exciting. If you ever go to a flyball tournament, my advice is bring a chewie and some ear plugs for your human. And maybe some aspirin.


Here's the lanes where the teams run 


Here's the boxes the dogs run to get their tennis ball 

Practice makes perfect

Of course I am already pretty close to perfect.

Even so, we have been practicing a lot lately. Mom and I had a meeting and decided to go for my Rally Excellent title (RE). So we are entered in another trial this weekend. Just one day. We'll see how we do, and if we do okay, we'll enter what my mom calls the "furnace circuit" in the "north central valley". Mom says she calls it that 'cause it's hotter than you-know-what up there in July. Doesn't sound like fun to me, but if it involves a car ride well sign me up!

There are also a bunch of guys at our house. I may have mentioned that I do not like people outside my house. If they come inside, well that is another thing altogether. But not outside. I don't like the mailman, the UPS man, or the garbage man. Basically, I do not want anything left, and I do not want anything taken away.

These men just keep stopping by. They are not respecting me and my ferocious barking. They are doing something called "landscaping", which makes mom very happy but I cannot see why they are messing up my backyard.

Oh I met one of them once, he was very nice and I liked him. Once he came inside.

RA!

Hey everyone, I just wanted you to know we have been very busy recently. I went to a bunch of dog shows recently. I earned my Rally Advanced title, and I guess the AKC will be sending me another certificate soon. Afterwards, we visited the Red Barn booth and mom bought me a big chewie. I also begged very effectively and got some free treats from them, so that was great.

I have some photos that I will post as soon as mom can find that cable. We are having my backyard done. I liked it fine the way it was, but mom was not happy with something called "drainage". The bad part is, there are a bunch of strangers in my yard, and I do not like it.

It must be spring! 

Jewel does agility too

Last night was Jewel's agility lesson. She worked on the bobble board a lot. She's not as worried about it as she used to be. She also did this drill where mom stands at the side of the jump and Jewel just has to go through the standards. If she does she gets a click. Pretty simple, and she figured it out fast so she got lots of treats. Nice.

She also did a round-the-clock drill with the jump where mom tells her to stay, then calls her through. She is good at that one.

Jewel also did a very nice down-stay while the equipment was being set up.

Mom and Jewel meant to try out the stairs (we don't have any at our house) but they forgot.

I waited in the car and afterwards we went to Petco and mom bought me a Valentine's Day collar. It is so sissy lookin' I am glad I can't see myself.