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December 30, 2007
Racing Foster
So I mentioned last week how at flyball practice I raced against Riot and Foster. Well, at tonight's practice, I raced against Foster again. It didn't start out so great because Foster got a bit too close while she was walking to her lane and I sort of lunged and barked at her, but I was able to refocus and do a bunch of runs. Racing against Foster made me want to run better and Foster is fast! She's 10 years old and has had surgery on both of her back legs but she runs like a bullet.
Here's our first race.
Here's a video of our second race.
Then I did some by myself because Foster had to rest her legs. She's starting her return to flyball after her latest surgery, but she was able to serve as a huge distraction for me in this next video. She was standing in the next lane barking at me but I managed to ignore her and do my run! Here's that clip.
You can't really see it on these videos but my reward for running back to Amy is, of course, bubbles! Most dogs run for food, or a tug, a toy or even a laser light, not me!
Oh, last night was the flyball team party and even though only two dogs were in attendance, Po and Jackie (the party was held at their house), Amy tells me it was a lot of fun. She made FBI tennis ball cupcakes.
Posted by Mango at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2007
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone! I had a great holiday weekend. It started with flyball practice on Sunday night when I raced against Riot again AND another dog, Foster. They are brother and sister and they are really fast and I did really well! I didn't even chase after either one of them. Okay, so I might have thought really hard about chasing after Foster but I didn't :o) Racing against them made me want to run faster.
Then Monday was Christmas Eve. Amy's cousins all came over to her parents house like every year.
One set of her cousins brought their Wii and everyone played it non-stop. Here is an intense game of Wii tennis.
In addition to the Wii they also brought all of their presents!
But only one was mine :(
That's okay though, I had fun opening it. If you want to see a video of me ripping it open, click here.
Posted by Mango at 07:26 PM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2007
Teeter Time
So tonight I went to agility class where we did weave poles, which were a little different because there were more poles and there was gating guiding the dogs through the poles. We also were introduced to the teeter totter. That is the scariest piece of agility equipment in my opinion. When I had that agility class a couple of years ago, it scared me, but this time around I didn't mind it so much. We went really slow and the instructor was practically feeding each of us a whole hot dog! One of the dogs in class, Lexie, actually broke free from her owner after her turn and tried to get back on the teeter to get more hot dogs :o)
I also got another toy because Amy brought our class syllabus. I picked another tug toy but this one is all rope. Look, it's another holiday one!
Posted by Mango at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2007
Racing Riot
Tonight I had a really good flyball practice. There were two lanes set up and guess what? I ran some full runs with a dog racing in the other lane! Remember Riot? He's the one that Amy got to run a few weeks ago at the tournament in York, PA. If you want to see more pix of her and Riot go to the Swift Bennett web site, they were the professional photographers at the tournament. There's one where she looks really confused, it's pretty funny.
So, anyway, he was running in the second lane. The first time we ran, I didn't do so well. After clearing the jumps, I ran into his lane and chased him and nipped his bum. His owner caught me, but after that we ran several more times and I stayed in my lane. I eyed him when we both got down to the box but other than that, I did really well! Everyone was so happy, they were all clapping for me :o)
Tomorrow, we've got agility class. We're being introduced to the weave poles but I already know them! After Amy and I took an agility class a couple of years ago she bought a set of weave poles from our instructor. We've practiced on our own off and on. Here are two videos from our backyard weave pole practice.
Clip 1
Posted by Mango at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2007
New Tug Toy
Last night I got a new tug toy at agility class! So far I love it!
Class was pretty good. We practiced the tire, chute, tunnel and table. Then we were introduced to the A-frame and the wobble board. I liked the A-frame but I can't say the same of the wobble board. I am not a big fan of things that move under my paws. I started flyball in January and it took me till now to get used to the feeling of the box triggering. With enough practice, I should get used to the wobble board and maybe, eeek, the teeter one day.
Posted by Mango at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)
December 10, 2007
More Flyball Updates
Remember how Amy got to run Riot two weekends ago in the tournament in York? Well, our FBI team member and one of our All About Dogs trainers, Eileen, bought a picture of Amy racing Riot from the professional photographer hired by the tournament. So she looks a bit crazy but hey, flyball is a crazy sport!
And in more flyball news, we had a pretty good practice last night. We had to use a smaller building because there was some kind of Spanish cowboy polka dance fiesta taking place in the building we normally use, but it went pretty well. I've posted two videos on YouTube: Clip 1 and Clip 2. Thanks to Dianne for taking the videos!
Posted by Mango at 09:33 AM | Comments (0)
December 06, 2007
First Snow of Fall
It snowed yesterday! Actually, it snowed a lot more than anyone had anticipated. As you all might know, I LOVE snow. I think it's the greatest thing ever. If you haven't seen it yet, go back to my January '05 blog entry and watch videos of me desperately trying to go back outside to enjoy the snow.
That year there was a lot of snow, like feet of snow, not just inches like yesterday. It was still enough to stick to my fur.
I got a chance to go run around the snow and chase snowballs and bubbles. Did you get a chance to go out and play in the snow?
This morning, Amy made me wear my Muttluks boots and I have to admit, it wasn't too bad. It kept my pads from getting all cold and wet from the snow.
Oh, there's another video on YouTube, here's another view of my flyball boxturn.
Posted by Mango at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2007
Tricks!
Amy's put some videos of me doing tricks on YouTube. Check them out:
Posted by Mango at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)
Flyball!
Amy and I are back from my first flyball tournment. We went so that I could be exposed to the crazy flyball environment and I did pretty well! I worked in several short sessions throughout the day. Amy would bring me out and at first we'd walk around the building, then we moved inside the building in areas farther from the races and then by the end of the day I made it to the crating area! There are tons of dogs at a flyball tournament! I saw them walking in and out of the building and could smell them when I was inside. There's also lots of barking, it gets pretty noisy but I wasn't too bothered by it. Oh and you know what else there's a lot of at a flyball tournament? Border collies! As far as the eye can see. In the real world, the most popular dogs are labs or golden retrievers. In the flyball world, it's the border collie, so I was just another one. But I have an all white face, which makes me pretty unique.
Amy's camera battery died within the first ten minutes but here are some photos she shot before it died.
This is the crating area. The building was huge! The races took place in front of the crating area. See that far right hand corner? That's where Amy and I worked for a little while. That was the closest I got to the action, but I did really well.
This is Riot, he's a border jack (border collie/jack russell terrier). Amy got to run him in two races. He's the most ball obsessed dog ever. He's figured out how to hold a tennis ball between his front two legs.
Posted by Mango at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)
