Well, I think Audrey has to go in the record books for travelling the furthest to a flyball competition - from Hondurus to the B & W Showground!! We all went after work, so arrived late afternoon / evening. Having 'set up' camp, eaten & walked dogs, we were off to bed at a reasonable time……..
Friday morning was 'perfect' flyball whether…………..Due to lack of teams/people/dogs, the Bandits decided to just put on fun events on Friday, and we started off with a 4 breed competition. Our judge for the morning was Pete, who was 'captured' by a Bandit whilst standing at the ringside! Dave & I were commandeered for box loading duties, and Jeff ran a dog for Maple Leafs, so we were all quite busy, but it was an enjoyable morning - even if the judge thought differently!
Our team was Tosh, Angel, Skie (first time at a show) & Bailey. We ran over 10" jumps and put all wings in! Although we didn't actually need them in he first race, as Lucie had got herself lost wandering around the show!! So we started off with 3 dogs, until Neil (Molton Magnets) went and got us a spare dog! Angel & Bailey obviously raced well & were feeling on top form, as we apparently recorded a time of 19.29!! (Just a thought - maybe that time was for the first race with 3 dogs……??)
Lucie & Skie had caught up with us in time for the 2nd race onwards. We put her 3rd after Angel, as they had been practicing the Tues beforehand. Unfortunately, racing was a little too exciting for Skie, and she managed to run around the wings and didn't really want to go up to the box (just like Breeze used too!!). We recorded several no times, until we changed plan! Dave 'ran' Skie, whilst Lucie stood at the box end to encourage her up, then had to race Skie back. This worked well, and we finally recorded a best time of 26.43. Although Angel & Bailey seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves, I wasn't sure what Lucie & Skie thought of their introduction to flyball racing - but they both turned up the following Tuesday, so I guessed it wasn't that bad!!
We were due to meet back in the afternoon to decide what we were going to do. So off we went for a long lunch break & a wander around this huge show………………and then the heavens opened. It didn't just rain, it absolutely poured down. The showground was flooded with in an hour. The flyball ring was under water, and funnily enough, no-one turned up to see what was happening…………….
By Saturday morning the water had drained away, and the ground had softened a little. We had both teams in Div 2. We were racing a 7 team div, with only 4 dogs in each team………….It was decided to keep Molly & Spencer together with Katie & Tosh, making up Hotdogs, and Ollie, Meg, Beau & Alfie making up Allsorts. Due to lasts weeks hiccup with Molly (Broadlands), Chris decided to box load, and as Vicki was coming for the day (without Tess), I thought it would be good practice to have a go at racing an experienced, if hard to catch dog!!!!!!!!! So Spencer had a new handler for the day (and didn't she do well!!)
Race 1: Hotdogs 'v' Molton Metals: A good start, Molly raced well, best time 19.14 (although looking on the sheet, it looked like 19.00 was our actual best time)
Race 2: Allsorts 'v' Bristol Ballistic Extraset: Another good start, winning with a best time 19.94
Race 3: Hotdogs 'v' Allsorts: The 'dreaded' race, which actually turned out to be quite close. Hotdogs managed to win, as the box was playing up for Allsorts. Best times………………Hotdogs 19.41, Allsorts 19.49
Race 4: Allsorts 'v' Barkshire Bandidos: Keeping up the good start, another win, best time 19.70
Race 5: Hotdogs 'v' Bristol Ballistic Missiles: Not sure what happened here, but we lost 19.96.
Race 6: Allsorts 'v' Molton Metals: Just not enough speed, lost with a best time of 20.24
Race 7: Hotdogs 'v' Molton Meteors: Some close racing, but unfortunately Katie saw Chris bending down to put a ball in the box. So stayed to bring that one back as well!! Lost, best time 19.88
Race 8: Allsorts 'v' Bristol Ballistic Missiles: Dogs beginning to tire, lost, best time 20.78
Race 9: Hotdogs 'v' Bristol Ballistic Extraset: Not to be outdone by the Allsorts, all went to plan, and won, best time 19.05
Race 10: Allsorts 'v' Molton Meteors: Meteors had raced well all day, and we just didn't have any more 'fuel in the tank'. Lost, best time 20.58
Race 11: Hotdogs 'v' Barkshire Bandidos: Again some good racing, and again, more bad luck, as Katie spied that box loader out the corner of her eye, and waited for that 2nd ball!! Lost, best time 19.14 (same as first thing in the morning…………..)
So Allosrts came 5th with a best (and new seed time) of 19.49, and had a lovely goodie bag for the dogs! Hotdogs came 3rd, with a best (and new seed time) of 19.14, and we had a small pot of food………
I think it was one of the best w/e's we've had in a while (almost as good as the 'old days'). The whole w/e was fun and relaxed. And the dogs all ran well.
'Play' was halted for about an hour, due to Maple Leafs somehow hitting a water pipe, when staking their box to the ground!! Another first for flyball………..as if we hadn't had enough water the day before!!
And congratulations to Beau on gaining his FD Advanced title. And to Alfie on gaining his FDI.