Farnham Park 16.96 :-D

Urmmm do I really need to write anything else?! ;-)

Ok, we had 4 teams in. Extraset and Rockets ran Saturday. Extraset were on 1st in division 7 with a team of Jemma, Perry, Smartie and Jamie. Things all started well, Jem was really focused and all the dogs were running consistently. We won the 1st race with a best time of 19.90 (0.05 off our seed time). Unfortunately Jemma got injured in the last leg of the 2nd race which meant we were down to 3 dogs for the rest of the day. Amazingly those 2 wins managed to get us 3rd place as we were in a 3 way tie and had the fastest time!

Rockets were in division 6 with a team greatly strengthened by the return of thee Diefer (and everyones fingers, toes and just about everything else crossed that he would do 12")! Team was Dief, Merlin, Elliot, Sonny and Loki. As Sarah was there to run Mr E I was in charge of the team. It was a real pleasure, all the dogs ran so well. So happy for Claire that Dief ran over the 12, and he looked really good running 4.4s. He's not at race fitness yet either so hopefully there is more to come from him. Merlin was flying, he ran consistently at 4.6s all day which is about 0.2 faster than he was running when he came out. Elliot ran around 4.6s and box turn seemed better than at Anstey Park but again improved through the day. Sonny was good in the early races running around 4.7s but tired towards the end of the day. Loki was awesome, he is just so strong coming back and really proved himself in our race against fantastic 4 when he was going out just behind their last (v quick) dog and managed to run a new PB of 4.17secs to win us the race. I hope he keeps this up, then he might be shifted up a team! The team managed to win 4 out of 5 of their races just losing 1 race on silly lights to come 1st with a best time (and fastest ever for Rockets) of 18.30secs! Yay! There was definitely still some room on the changeovers too!

Ballistics and Missiles ran Sunday. Unfortunately they were both on at the same time (in different rings) which meant I didn't get to see much of the Missiles racing. I think they managed to win 2 of their races and came 4th. Ballistics were 5th seed in division 1. We had a team of Asher, Shani, Luna and Lacy in that order. 1st race against Shooting Stars we finally managed to get our act together to run a new fastest ever time of 16.96secs and enter the 16s club, woohooo! And I was late on my start with a 0.13, terrible! We lost very narrowly to Shooting Stars, they hit a 16.92 in the same race. We continued to have close racing for the rest of the day and we were fairly conistent with our times running low 17s. We also did a 16.88 with a very small light on Shani due to Asher slightly fumbling the ball. We managed to win our races against Jets, Bassetts and Lightning. We lost very narrowly to High Flyers on a light on the 2-2 deciding leg! Jolly Jumpers beat us pretty convincingly but annoyingly that was the race where our changes were the furthest out and we weren't that far behind! So we finished 4th. Although I couldn't really of cared less, the time was enough for me :-). Asher ran 3.8s in the 1st race of the morning and afternoon but got really tired as the racing went on. I'm now thinking it might just be fitness as maybe I've wrapped him in cottonwool and haven't pushed him as much as I should out on walks. I've rectified this now and I don't think he quite knows whats hit him! Shani ran sooo much better in the pack and went back to running 4-4.1s. Luna was flying, running quite consistent (so I'm told) 4.3s. Lacy was a touch inconsistent as it was her 1st time running anchor and she was relishing the opportunity to race the other team. This meant for the 1st couple of races she was coming quite wide off the box. She was alot better in the afternoon so hopefully the wide turns won't continue or she won't be able to go last either! Other than the turns her foot speed was really good and I understand she hit a few 4.2s which is excellent for her.

I'm so thrilled to join the 16s club and I'm so proud of my team and how far we have come over the last couple of years, lets hope we keep on progressing and getting faster. Thanks to everyone who has sent messages of congratulations, it really means alot!

Laika 6 1/2months

Just a quick post with a new pic of Laika from today. I think she's really pretty but then maybe I'm a bit biased :o). She's really enjoying coming to competitions as she gets loads of attention and sometimes I actually let her watch the flyball which sends her completely loopy. She decided after watching for about 5 mins that she could do it better and since then goes crazy to get in the ring. Even at prizegiving she is constantly trying to head towards the ring although isn't too sure what to do when she gets in there! Crazy puppy :-D!

Oooh and whilst I remember, just because I've been asked a few times, he name is pronounced Layka (basically sound the 'a' not the 'i')!

Alton

We had a bit of a depleted team for Alton but still managed to put out 3 teams. Rockets and Missiles raced Saturday.

Missiles did really well in division 6. Ruby was the most focused I've seen her and is getting speedier. We have starting working on the catching and she is progressing well. Unfortunately we have a conflict of interest as obviously her owner wants to continue racing her but that means she can't transfer what we are training her over to racing as she hasn't done enough reps yet. Just one of those things I suppose, and if it doesn't improve over the Summer it'll just be something for Winter training. The rest of the dogs also did really well, they just lost 1 race and finished 2nd.

Rockets were 3rd seed in division 2. We had a team of Jemma, Merlin, Elliot, Smartie and Bonnie. All the dogs were great, the judging however was not. I wouldn't usually say anything as it takes balls to go in and judge but I was getting more and more frustrated as the lights were playing up and decisions kept wrongly going against us resulting in unnecessary reruns and losing legs. It was Jemma's (and Sarahs) 1st competition this year, Jem was off her rocker in the 1st race especially as we didn't have time to warm up properly so we left her out of that one but she was great after that and didn't look like running across at all. She tired a little bit towards the end of the day but then it was also her 1st time over 12" so we'll let her off! Sarah also did well on her starts (and her ankle held out... phew!). Merlin's box deteriorated a little from last weekend which I think was partly to do with the ground (dip infront of box) so we're going to do some reps on Friday before Farnham to remind him, other than that he was focused and consistent as ever. I ran Elliot who was great, I find it difficult to judge how fast he's running as I'm trying to run away with such enthusiasm! The interesting thing was that at training last weekend he spit his ball nearly everytime for the tuggy but I had real trouble getting him to spit his ball from the start this weekend which kinda dispels our theory that he won't spit when he's tired. Looks like a competition issue! Hmm now how to fix that...! Mark ran Smartie and she found it very exciting watching her owner Carol run Merlin before her which meant she was flying! Bonnie was awesome as anchor dog and ran fantastically. I think the 12" really suited her as it helped her striding and slowed her down a touch which made her box turn significantly better. So we were really pleased with the dogs and only lost 1 race to come 2nd. We had a best time of 19.16secs and that was in the last race of the day so pretty good going!

Ballistics were 2nd seed in Division 1. The team was Piper, Asher, Luna, Loki. We had a successful but slightly frustrating day. Our 2 main races were against Dream Team Supreme and Bassetts as the other teams were in the 18-19s. I tried getting my team to push it in the early races but as we were comfortably winning this proved difficult! We managed a best time of 17.33 but it could of been so much better, every changeover had room. Infact we didn't manage 1 leg all day where everyone was bob on. We did do a 17.04 with a tiny light (from moi) in the 1st race and Luna and Loki still had room so we know the speed is there, just gotta coax it out! After Asher we were on 8.04 and after Luna 12.53. So we won all our races up until our last against Bassetts. They got a light on the 1st leg but we were quite a bit up on them going in to last dogs so I think if Loki hadn't fumbled (blooming red lane with the dip infront the box lol) we would have had them on speed anyway. They got a leg back after that but then managed to get 2 lights handing the win to us! Thanks Bassetts! Asher ran ok, his box was a little better than it has been. He still doesn't seem as quick as he was last year. I keep getting super paranoid that it's his leg but I know I would be able to tell if he was even slightly lame as I spent the majority of my time staring at it when he was actually injured. He is completely sound and happy so I think I just need to chill!

Looking forward to Farnham now, going to be a very tight div 1 and I'm a little bit nervous! We only have 4dogs aswell (no Piper) which is a shame. Lets hope we are on it!

Babies Video from Acremead

Dogs are in order: Shani (WSD), Merlin (Collie/Cocker cross), Loki (WSD) and Ruby (Terrier)

Acremead take 2

Due to the babies having successfully come in to open we were able to put out 4 teams for Acremead this time. Missiles and Rockets ran Saturday.

Ruby managed to gain her 1st flyball points on Missiles which was very exciting for everyone, it's taken a long time to get her this far. Big congratulations to Joy. Now if she could just catch the ball she'd be dangerous! We do have a plan of action so I think it's just a matter of time! Unfortunately despite winning 2 of their races Missiles finished 5th.

Rockets were 5th seed in Div 2 on a declared of 19.30secs. We had a major reshuffle of the teams after finding out we didn't have Diefer and after how well Loki and Merlin ran last weekend. So the team ended up being Merlin, Sonny, Elliot and Loki. Sarah was stuck at home revising so I had stolen Elliot to run. He was such a good boy for me bless him. The team ran really well, it took a couple of races for us to get it together seeing as it was the 1st time this combo had raced together. Merlin was well cute running start and was very consistent throughout the day, again his box held up. Sonny also coped well with suddenly going up to 12" and I think with a bit more race fitness will be really strong. Elliot's box turn got better as the day went on and he seemed to be running speedy. Loki was awesome, he is just getting faster and more driven. He ran quite a few 4.3s and is cracking as anchor dog as he is so strong on his return. We ended up winning 2 races and coming 4th with a best time of 19.11secs but there were a couple of races that really could of gone either way and I feel there is a lot more in this team.

Ballistics and Extraset ran Sunday. Extraset were top seed Div 4 on a declared time of 19.75secs. The team was Bonnie, Perry, Smartie and Jamie. The team seemed to gel really easily and ran smoothly and consistently all day. I had the pleasure of running Perry which was lovely. Bonnie seems to have come back from her injury really well and was flying running start. Smartie was happy to be back running for her mum and Jamie looked alot better than he did last weekend at Fairview. We had a couple of close races but managed to win them all to come 1st with a best time of 19.85secs.

Ballistics were 2nd seed in Div 1. The team was Piper, Asher, Luna, Lacy, Shani. I would say at the moment this is what we would call our full strength team so I had high hopes. We decided to put Asher up to 2nd to see if that would help his speed and try Shani Anchor. Putting Asher 2nd (and start when Piper was out) defo helped him and he ran quite a few 3.8s, he's still not fully flying but I think that'll come in the next couple of weeks. However Shani anchor did not work, she was running nowhere near the times she ran last weekend. Luckily her box turn stayed lovely but I'm afraid she will have to go back in the pack as she wasn't driving back. Looks like it's going to be Luna or Lacy that will be anchor. It's a shame in the sense that in terms of speed they are slightly weaker than the others but it's overall speed that counts. Hopefully it will make other teams get lights as they will be down on us going in to last dogs! Anyway Piper was cracking and ran a few 4.1s and Luna and Lacy were consistent as ever. Our changes were all over the place and we kept messing up potentially good times. We finished 2nd, just losing to Bassetts with a best time of 17.14secs.

We've now got a weekend off before Alton. Hopefully we'll get some training in this weekend and can try some combinations to see what works best!