Newark 20th November 2011

Our last tournament of the year saw 4 teams travelling in thick fog to Newark Showground for the Nuneaton Flyers indoor tournament. We had one team in each of the 4 divisions, so it was an extremely busy day - but with some excellent teamwork the day ran very smoothly.

Leaping (Rolo,Riot, Jess, Diesel and Quiz) were the first to run and they did excellently, winning 4 out of 5 races and taking 2nd place. Special mention must be made of Riot, who was able to complete his first full day of open racing and gained the points needed for his Flyball Dog certificate.

 Beating (Buddy, Freddie, Spencer, Teal and Poppy) were the next to run. They were seeded last in their division, but some good close racing, including a tie, meant that they achieved 4th place which was very well deserved, especially as Buddy skinned his paw on the rubber matting and so was unable to run in the last race of the afternoon.

Pounding (Ozzie, Mitch, Flame and Boris) were also affected by injury from running on the matting, as Flame skinned her back feet and had to be dropped for the last race of the afternoon. Unfortunately we had no spare dog to take her place and so we had to run 3 dogs. However, we had won  all of our morning races and we were able to hang on to 2nd place.

Racing (Bonnie, Gus, Puzzle and Charlie) were our final team to run, but they produced some disappointing times. However, they had some very close racing with 3 of their races going to 5 legs. The final result for them was 4th place, but following racing it was discovered that Gus and Puzzle had both injured their paws on the matting so a very respectable result in the circumstances.

A good days racing, but disappointing that so many of the dogs ended up with sore paws. However, thankfully, within a week all of the dogs paws were healed. Well done to all the handlers and dogs that took part.

Starters Newark 16th October

Well done to Hopeful Herts on achieving 3rd place at the recent starters tournament.

The tournament was held as part of the Robin Hood Game and Country Show at Newark Showground. The dogs and handlers all had a fun day and had some enjoyable racing against the other teams. Some of the handlers also had a chance to learn how to do some of the ring partying jobs. It was nice that they also had the time to enjoy the show. Many thanks to Charlie for box loading and Chris for running the line and special thanks to Bryce for running up and down the lane with the dogs that needed a bit extra encouragement!

Well done Chopper, Gypsie, Lulu, Dougal, Bracken and Lola.

Gt. Barford 1st/2nd October

What an end to the outdoor racing season! Hot, tiring and exciting just about sums up this tournament. It was run in the European format of speed trials followed by a double elimination, which was new to us. Thankfully the format meant that the dogs, although they did more races than usual,rested for longer periods between races and in the searing heat of both days we were very glad of that.

We took 4 teams - Racing, Pounding, Beating and a starters team.

The Starters(Jethro, Chopper,Lulu,Bracken,Gypsy and Sampson) ran on Saturday and what a long day it was for them. They started off by winning both of the first 2 races but then the heat began to affect the speed of some of the dogs and they were unlucky not to win anymore races.They worked well as a team, with some close racing, and the 5th place that they achieved doesn't reflect the effort they put in. Well done to them all.

Beating (Buddy, Rolo,Freddie, Spencer, Teal and Poppy) also put a lot of effort into racing and again were unlucky not to be rewarded with a higher final position. They finished a respectable 3rd(of 7) and achieved a very good time of 20.67 in the speed trials.

Racing (Bonnie, Gus, Puzzle, Charlie and Riot) tried their hardest to get a good time in the speed trials, but it eluded them. In the end they had to accept that it just wasn't going to be their day. Luckily they had Riot running with them and he took a lot of the speed trial legs in the morning thereby allowing the other dogs to take turns resting. The first of the afternoons double elimination races was fast and had a very close finish but Racing Herts lost and then went on to lose their next race and so were out of the competition - but took overall 4th place and so still came home with a rosette.

Pounding Herts(Ozzie, Mitch, Flame, Boris, Jess and Diesel) were the stars of the day. They raced consistently well in both the speed trials and the double elimination. They produced a new seed time of 19.20 in the speed trials and then went on to win all of their races in the double elimination thereby taking a  very well deserved 1st place. Very well done to them!

Imber Court 24th / 25th September

An excellent weekend at a lovely venue. 

As we weren't racing on Saturday, those of us that were camping were able to have a very relaxed day walking by the river, and a lovely drive through Bushey Park, followed by a pleasant meal in the local pub.

However, the lack of racing on Saturday meant a very busy days racing on Sunday. Our three teams all had some excellent, close racing and the dogs all ran extremely well. Most of the races went to 5 legs. The lines people did an excellent job juggling 6 dog teams. A special well done to Racing Herts for managing to run sub 18secs again (17.97).

The final results didn't do justice to the effort put in by both dogs and handlers but, following presentations by torchlight (it was such a long day) everyone came away with a well deserved rosette.

The final results were: 

Racing Herts (Bonnie, Gus, Puzzle and Charlie) 4th

Pounding Herts (Ozzie, Mitch, Flame,Boris, Diesel and Jess) 3rd

Beating Herts (Buddy, Rolo, Freddie, Spencer, Teal and Poppy) 4th

British Championships 19th/20th/21st August

The one word to sum up the 2011 Championships has to be 'GOOD' - good racing, good dogs, good weather, good fun, (but not so good toilets)!!

WE took 4 teams to Arbury Hall in Warwickshire for this years champs -
Leaping - Div 31 - (Diesel, Jess, Sirus, Sasha, Quiz and Riot)
Beating - Div 25 - (Freddie, Spencer, Rolo,Poppy, Teal and Buddy)
Pounding - Div 14 - (Ozzie,Flame,Mitch and Boris)
Racing - Div 5 - (Bonnie, Gus, Puzzle and Charlie)

Leaping ran on Friday but unfortunately due to the closure of the M1 motorway we had to run our first race without Sasha and Sirus as Maria was stuck in the traffic chaos. Lisa stepped up to the mark and agreed to run Riot, although he had only come to do run backs and gain some tournament experience. Riot started well and did a brilliant first run. However, there was a false start and when he came to run again he decided that he wasn't playing our game anymore and he came back with the ball having avoided all the jumps on the way back. On the next run he decided to join the dog on the other lane, so rather than push him into making further mistakes we ran just 3 dogs until Maria arrived with Sasha and Sirus. The afternoons racing got off to a good start with 2 wins and then we decided to give Riot another go - and all the team were delighted when he managed a perfect race - in fact even the judge was so busy watching him that she forgot to blow for a false start from the other team!! So an excellent days racing with huge congratulations to Lisa and Riot and special thanks to Louise for letting us take Quiz with us - we couldn't have managed without him. The end result was a very well deserved 4th place.

Beating and Pounding ran on Saturday and both had some closely fought races. Beating got off to a brilliant start winning both of their morning races. Unfortunately things did not continue so well in the afternoon and, even though they worked hard, there were no more wins and they took 4th place.
Pounding also won both of their morning races and some excellent racing in the afternoon led to them winning 2 more  which meant that they finished in 2nd place - a massive well done to them. 

Racing had their turn on Sunday and although they ran very well they were up against teams that were faster. They did very well to take a number of their races to 5 legs, but at the end of racing they had only managed to win 1 race and they took 5th place. However they should be proud of the effort that they put into their racing.

The evening entertainment added to the fun of the champs and Fridays quiz gave us a chance to exercise our brains. We were surprised to find that we had come equal first in a 3 way tie. Unfortunately we were knocked out on the tie break question due to our team captains somewhat vague knowledge of cricket!
Saturday evening saw us all adorned in Mr Men and Little Miss T'shirts for the  disco.

All in all a good weekend and we look forward to the 2012 champs.

BFA Awards

Congratulations to the following dogs and handlers who received BFA awards at the Just Dogs Live tournament.

Catherine and Fly- Graduate

Sue and Bonnie- Advanced

Ruth and Ozzie- Advanced

Charlie and Spencer- Silver

Vanessa and Charlie- Gold

Farnham Royal 21st /22nd May

2 very long days with lots of close racing. Beating, Pounding and Racing all took 4th place in their divisions. Hopeful Herts, our starters team,(Jethro, Diesel, Chopper, Lulu, Willow and Sampson) had an excellent days racing and finished in 2nd place.

Markfield - 4th February

A very cold Saturday morning saw 2 teams at Markfield for the Alpha's starter tournament. We took 11 dogs with us and 8 of them were racing for the very first time.

Our intermediate team, Pack of Herts, raced in the first division of the day. The team, Riley, Pretty, Henry, Dougal, Alfie and Sampson did extremely well, especially as all of the dogs, apart from Sampson, were making their debut. They were virtually faultless all day, and had some close racing. Very well done to them - their 4th place was very well earned.

Our starter team, Hopeful Herts (Winnie, Dougal, Dolly, Marley and Gypsie) had some equally good racing. Again, the dogs made hardly any mistakes and the team took a well deserved 3rd place.

With the threat of imminent snow, everyone was glad of an early finish and we all made it home before the blizzards began. Well done to all on an excellent days racing

Goodbye!

Sadly, Newark was the final tournament for Liz and Bill before their move to Scotland and it was very sad for us all to have to bid them farewell at the end of racing. Good luck to them in their new home and new jobs and we hope it won't be too long before we see them again.

"Thanks" Liz and Bill, for everything, - you will be greatly missed.

Awards

Well done to Ruth and Rolo and Sue and Freddie on achieving their Flyball Dog Advanced BFA awards (5000 points).

Rocket Relay Seminars 22nd & 23rd October

Vanessa, Liz, Sharon, Chris, Heather and Sue attended the flyball seminars at Newark.

The seminars were given by Aaron Robbins and Kelly Robbins-Walt from the highly successful Canadian team, Rocket Relay. 

Both seminars were extremely informative with lectures and practical demonstrations and provided us with lots of ideas for training etc.

Thanks to Flyball Fever for organising the seminars.

BFA Awards

Congratulations to the following dogs and handlers who received awards at Imber Court

Jenny and Mitch  -  Flyball Dog Advanced (5,000 points)  

Sue and Boris    -    BFA Silver Award (10,000 points).

Anstey Park 4th September

This was a tournament of very few teams and because of the low entry it became just a 1 day tournament. It was a new venue for us - but what a good venue. It was a pity we didn't get to camp as the park was ideal for camping - short grass, plenty of space and lots of dog walks. The weather, however, wasn't so good with very heavy rain. Luckily the heaviest of the rain fell during the lunchbreak and racing was able to resume in the afternoon.

We had 3 teams in the tournament - Racing (Bonnie, Gus, Puzzle and Charlie), Pounding (Ozzie, Flame, Diesel, Jess and Boris) and Beating (Freddie, Spencer, Teal, Poppy and Riot).Unfortunately Rolo couldn't race due to damaging a claw the day before.

The days racing began with Div 1 which was the only 6 team division of the day. With almost 2 secs between the first and last seed there wasn't a great deal of close racing, but Racing Herts ran some consistent times eventually finishing in 4th place.
Pounding and Beating Herts both ran in Div 2 and the first race of the division saw them racing against each other. A light by Pounding led to Beating winning the first race but this was followed by 3 wins for Pounding who went on to win the division with Beating taking 4th place. Very well done to Pounding Herts on their win.There was some excellent teamwork throughout the day, especially when our two teams were in the same division.

By the end of the day the rain had passed and the sun actually shone for presentations!                                       

Just Dogs Live, Peterborough 9th/10th July

4 open teams and 1 starter team raced at the Just Dogs Live tournament at the East of England Showground at Peterborough.

On Saturday, our starters team, Hopeful Herts (Jethro, Chopper, Lulu, Dougal, Willow and Sampson) took part in a European style racing format as there were only 4 teams in their division. This took the form of round robin racing in the morning and a double elimination competition in the afternoon. After the mornings racing they were in 3rd place but after a confusing but exciting afternoons racing they managed to pull back and finish in an excellent 2nd place after running in three races in quick succession. Well done to handlers for coping well with the different format and to the dogs for keeping going through a long session.

Racing Herts also ran on Saturday. They had some very close racing often going to 5 legs, however, they were unable to produce a repeat of their recent sub 18 time but were happy to finish with a rosette in 4th place.

3 teams raced on Sunday, Beating (Freddie, Spencer, Rolo, Poppy and Teal) Pounding (Ozzie, Flame, Mitch and Boris) and Leaping (Jess, Diesel, Quiz, Sirus, Sasha and Riot). Beating and Pounding both ran well and had a good days racing but both finished in 6th place. However, Leaping Herts, who were only racing as a team for the second time, won all but 1 of their races and took 1st place in the division. Very well done to all the dogs- but especially Leaping Herts.

Awards

The following handlers and dogs received BFA awards at Farnham Royal:

Sue and Freddie - Flyball Dog Graduate

Jenny and Mitch - Flyball Dog Graduate

Chris and Flame - Flyball Dog Graduate

Well done to all.



Flyball dog Graduate

3 BFA Flyball dog Graduate certificates were presented to team members at Brentwood.
They were :

Ruth and Ozzie

Ruth and Rolo

Louise and Quiz

Congratulations and well done!


Leatherhead - 26th February

A hectic but enjoyable days racing at a venue that was new to us. Unfortunately the weather wasn't particularly kind and we spent a lot of the day getting wet on the long trek from the car park to the indoor ring and the wet weather led to quite slippery conditions on the running surface. The very short run back area was also a challenge for both dogs and handlers. However, everyone coped very well and we had some excellent racing.
Beating (Rolo, Spencer, Freddie, Teal and Jess) were the first of our teams to race and they won two and lost two of their races achieving 3rd place overall.
Pounding (Ozzie, Flame, Mitch and Boris) had some very close racing and were unlucky not to get a rosette, finishing in 4th place.
Racing (Bonnie, Gus, Charlie and Puzzle) found the slippery matting in the box area a bit of a problem which caused some fumbled balls, which in turn led to some early changes. However, they won two out of their four races and came away with a well deserved 3rd place.
All in all a hectic, noisy, but fun days racing!