My nod to mastercard: (All $ are estimates because if I actually go over receipts and tally things up...I might faint!)
Adoption fee: $120
Flyball classes: $300
Flyball gear and dues: $400
Reactivity work: $300
Obedience classes: $500
Watching your reactive dog pass another dog at full speed from 37 feet back, not bat an eye or swerve off course AND make your team captain do the "oh crap that is a tight pass" dance = PRICELESS!!!
After 3 long and at times challenging years, Sophie is no longer solely a start dog!!
I could not be happier with how we did this weekend. Saturday she ran start dog and we had some good starts/runs. Both our teams took third in their respective divisions. We had our green dog graduate to full racing and she wracked up 400 points on her first day of racing!!
Sunday: There was a special division/game "Whose on First". 4 heats and non of the dogs can run start more than once per race. This was our big challenge of the weekend going in. Sophie had done decently at the demo passing Max but that was once in a non race setting. She is much more amped when we race and I worried that the excitement might lead to some reactivity on her part. And at the demo she would swerve to give Max room and added seconds to her time.
But oh man did she rock it!!!!! I could not have asked for more. Our passes were tight and she nailed them. She will probably keep running first because, I am better at knowing when to release for starts than I am passing another dog. But knowing she has come this far, I could cry and even did get a little teary eyed.
Videos and photos to come later. But I did get two photos courtesy of a former teammate. Love my girl!!
Nice! That must be a huge moment for you guys. Part of what I love about flyball is that when you get to those big moments, you have a whole team there to celebrate with you.
ReplyDeleteWow - that's awesome! You must be so proud. Having a reactive dog myself, I do know how easy it is to get a little teary-eyed when they have such a moment of achievement. Congratulations and thanks for sharing that moment with us. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome Patty, and a true testament that reactive dogs can really overcome their issues.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you and Sophie and all who helped you along that long road. :-)
I love great flyball weekends with good progress, congratulations on yours. It is nice to hear about Sophie settling in. This post made me smile.
ReplyDeleteDonna (kileyemmie on lab board)