Last Practice Before the Texas Tournament

Today was the last practice before the Texas Tournament. The dogs did well. Spoiled One and Weasel were consistant at the box with the prop. They both did well at the full runs. The new Jack is a little firecracker of enthusiasm. There were some handler issues, though. I forgot to insist on a prop for Spoiled One for his last full runs. I still need to refine the way I hold Weasel so that I can actually get my fat little tushy moving to run after her up to the line. The worst problem, though, was people weren't keeping track of their dogs.

We practice in a fenced, grassy field. It's so easy to get in the habit of letting the dog out of the crate, letting it zing all over the field and bounce around the flyball lanes and take a potty break while we decide the running order, set the camera, chatter, get a drink, then meander over and call them to us to line up. It's a bad habit, though. The dogs are obsessed with the flyball lanes and wander back and forth in the ten to twenty foot runback, or gallup up for a trial run over the jumps to see if there might be a tennis ball in the box. They also play games with each other, like keep away with the flyball lane. Today, when Weasel was released for a recall, one of the other dogs decided to meander across the lane and got clocked in the head by Weasel going full speed.

Weasel seems unfazed by the incident, but the other dog was visibly stunned, then erratic. I was concerned that she was concussed or maybe even going to have a seizure. She seemed fine after a few moments of panic, but what a horrible thing to potentially happen to one of our pets! A little while later, we were running the other team, and one of the owners was distracted and walked across the lane in front of Spoiled One in his recall. Spoiled One managed to miss him, but 60lbs of dog colliding with you at top speed could do a lot of damage.

Honestly, even without the potential for injury, it is simply frustrating to have someone's dog dancing around and deliberately getting in the way for recalls and warmups. The owner usually has no idea because they are distracted, and then, when they are ready to go, the dog zips right over to them.

Grumble, grumble, grumble.

I'm just as bad, though. I need to be more aware.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the tournament. I hope Weasel does well and earns a new best time in singles, and I hope Spoiled One does well on the pick-up and earns lots of points. I also really hope I don't screw up and make a complete idiot of myself.