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July 28, 2008

Washington Glory Demo Video

David FINALLY sent me the video of my flyball team's demo at the Washington Glory softball game.

Or click here to view it on YouTube.

Posted by Mango at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2008

A Flyball First

Today we had flyball practice at Colonial K9 and for the first time ever, I actually passed a dog on my way to the box. Up until now, I've only passed a dog on my way back from the box. So the order was usually me and then Riot. Well, today, we practiced running Riot first and then me and I did great! I am so focused on the ball that I didn't even notice Riot. See, we're hoping to take me out of the start dog position because with false starts, it gets a bit tiring to be the start dog. After successfully running into Riot, I did some runs with Sam, a golden retriever on the team. The first time we ran, the order was Sam and me and then we ran me and Sam. Well, after four heats, the decision was made that we probably should never do that again. Even though I was good and ran back to Amy, I definitely noticed Sam and had very serious thoughts of chasing and snapping at him. I think we're going to try and stick to the little dogs. Our next tournament will be September where I might debut in a new order on the team. Hopefully with a few more practices in August, I'll feel comfortable in a different spot.

Posted by Mango at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2008

Washington Glory Demo

The flyball demo at the Washington Glory softball game went great! For those of you that don't know, the Washington Glory is the DC area's professional women's fastpitch softball team. We ran two teams, one team performed two heats after the 3rd inning and the second team ran two heats after the 5th inning, then the two teams raced each other in the middle of the 6th inning. Team One consisted of myself, Skipper, Comet and Tilt and Team Two consisted of Torque, Bandit, Lady and Freedom. It was a little hectic for our humans because they had to run out there and set up the jumps and box really quickly. There were also some dogs who preferred not to actually jump over the jumps to get the box. I can completely understand, I mean, it's a lot easier to run straight to the box and then straight back. I jumped all the jumps though! I think that going to Terri's flyball class last Monday helped me because there, I had to do runs in the grass and got used to it. Also, since Riot wasn't there, I had to run with Skipper and then Freedom behind me. We did some late passes and I definitely took a look them as they passed but I was really good and ran right back to Amy.

David came and took this picture. He took some others and some video but hasn't gotten a chance to upload them yet. When he does, I will let everyone know.

Although there wasn't a huge crowd at the game, I think most of the people who were there really enjoyed the demo. Even though it was really hot, we had fun :o)

Posted by Mango at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2008

Practice Makes Perfect

Even though FBI takes a break during the summer from competing in tournaments, it doesn't mean that we stop practicing. We had practice this past Sunday at a new venue, Colonial K9 down in Stafford. This was our second time at this facility which has air conditioning, which is a must for us doggies during the Washington, DC humidity and heat. During practice, Jackie O and Po's human, Dave, took some photos of us and he was actually able to get pictures of me at the box.

Here I am heading for the box.

Here I am doing "The Mango" which is what the team has named my little pause at the box to pose for photos, etc. I would smile more but I've got this darn ball in my mouth.

Back over the jump, we put that there during practice so that I have to hit the box with all four paws. Sometimes when I get lazy, I just hit the box with my front two paws or three paws.

And back up the lane to get to Amy.

Then on the next night, Amy and I headed to Lake Accotink to a flyball class taught by one of our teammates, Terri. There were three dogs in the class and I did my first demo! As Terri was teaching the class, Amy and I practiced box turns and running on our own. Just think, a year ago, I wasn't even close to being able to do a flyball demo and now here I am showing how it's done!

Speaking of demos, my week of flyball is not over yet. Tomorrow, we are headed to a Washington Glory softball game for a team demo. The Washington Glory is the area's professional softball team and their mascot is a Golden Retriever named Gloria. We're going to be performing in between innings, I'll let everyone know how it goes!

Posted by Mango at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2008

Thursday Garden Gathering

Last night, Amy went over to her friend Jeanette's house for a Garden Gathering and guess what? I got to go too! Yup, Jeanette and her husband Chuck bought a house last fall and with a fenced yard, perfect for pups.

I was really well behaved, I even posed for photos. Here I am with Christine and Jeanette.

Even though we went for a bike ride before we headed over there, I still had plenty of energy and was happy to have a yard in which to play frisbee. Christine was a pretty good frisbee thrower, although she did send some frisbees into the tree. She kept on asking me to bring the frisbees back to her, which, if you don't know, I'm not always so good at. That's why I always travel with multiple frisbees.

These are all of the ladies who attended the Thursday Garden Gathering. They seemed to have a good time. I know the food smelled really good. Jeanette made homemade pizzas and there were lots of comments made about how delicious they tasted.

I was pretty happy just chilling out in the yard though, how couldn't I be? I got to play frisbee, catch some bubbles and when it got darker, I chased my laser light, it was a great night! I hope we do Thursday Garden Gatherings again!

Posted by Mango at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2008

Mango the Bubble Crocodile

So until this summer, I hated swimming! I liked to wade in water, but if my paws didn't touch solid ground, I wouldn't go any farther. This was usually as far as I'd go.

Well, for some inexplicable reason this summer, I've decided that I like swimming after all! It started when Amy and I went for one of our typical walks next to a pond, a pond that is a popular spot for geese. Well, she let me chase after them. They of course went straight into the water and I followed, and instead of stopping once the water got deep, I just kept going and going and before I knew it, I was swimming! We go to a few different spots, including a creek near Amy's parents' house. It's there where I become "Mango the Bubble Crocodile."

I have discovered that bubbles not only exist in the air but you can find them on the surface of water too! So, when we go to the creek, I run right in and start snapping up the bubbles. To see me in action click here.

Posted by Mango at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)