Edmonton Flyball

Donna and Topher

Inseguire Christopher C "Topher"

Well the first flyball tournament of the year is over and done with and as always there were a few kinks to be worked out but on the whole I have to say it was a success. Donna brought Topher (Christopher C) up on Saturday to do some warm ups with her team, the Lloydminster Hotdoggers. I always love getting the chance to see "my" puppies all grown up and how happy they are in their new homes and Topher was no exception. It is quite obvious he loves his family as he watched Donna intently from the sidelines even though I was snuggling him. He was such a good boy and did so well in warmups that he ran the last few races of the day earning his FD and FDX! Congratulations Donna, you have done such a good job with "our" little man!

Sadie had a good start to Saturday but an incident during a pass later in the day left her a little shaky. Fatigue was setting on top of everything else and she was just not a happy camper so I pulled her from the last race and let her relax. Thankfully we had a backup as this was her first tournament back since having the puppies and I knew she was not going to be fit enough to run full time anyway. Sunday morning started off with a fresher dog but she was still obviously hesitant from the incident on Saturday. After some work and some line-up modification we got her running almost like her old self by the end of Sunday and I am hopeful that a few good practices will have her back to form.

Cali was the real star of the weekend, improving vastly on her performance in Souris. Her box turn is almost solidified now and that helped her improve her personal best time to 4.903 even with a 3ft pass! She impresses me more and more each time I put her in the lanes and she may one day be just as fast (or faster) than her mother. She is a solid little dog who even when she makes a mistake will go back and correct it and with a little more experience will be quite a reliable little height dog.

To add to the fun (or chaos if you prefer) I brought along the puppies for some much needed socialization. They, as always, stole the show both days showing everyone how they fetch a ball and trade it for the tuggie at only 11 wks old. I adore the stage that they are in now where they just love everyone and everything and I am hopeful that with enough proper socialization they will be able to keep it up into adulthood. I have to give them a lot of credit they were amazing travelers for the whole 6 hour journey, only stopping once to potty and sleeping most of the way there. They were even good about sleeping in their crate, despite much chaos during the first night, and did not complain about much during the entire adventure. Did I mention I want to keep them all?

Glamour Shoot

Well the time has come to take pictures and evaluate puppies. This is always the hardest part when you have to put personal feelings aside and look critically at each dogs strengths and weaknessess. I am blessed to have the help of two wonderful women, Sadie's breeder Shirley Buist and Gaye Redpath of Conquest Terriers, to help me out. Even though we have two puppies destined for pet homes I like to evaluate the whole litter to see what my bitch is producing and what the cross provides. Inseguire Keepsake and Inseguire Memento (pics one and two respectively) are both outstanding individuals and after great debate I have decided to run on with both of them, at least for a little while. Inseguire Tricuit is an absolute sweetheart and fairly well put together, in another litter she may well be a keeper, but her personality makes her ideally suited to a loving pet home Inseguire Mazel Tov is cute, and feisty, and even though she has some flaws caused by being the runt she has some very nice qualities as well. On a whole I am thrilled with this litter, exactly what I was hoping for in Sadie's curtain call as a brood bitch. I will be excited to watch them mature, and even more excite to put them into the show ring!