A VERY NAUGHTY DAY

My mum has 3 sisters and I know them all but I know Debbie the best. I went to her house and played with the Cousins after the BoorowaIrishFlyballFling. The sister called Jackie has been to my house once (my mum said she lives a long way away in Perth) and the sister called Marianne came to my house from the long way away called Brisbane when my mum was in hospital after she broke her wrist that awful day at Flyball.

(the lady with the blonde hair is the sister Marianne. She's standing next to my mum in the sunglasses.)
I was frightened of Marianne when my mum was in the hospital but I felt happy to see her when she came this time. She likes to play throw the squeaky toy and throw the jingle bells a real lot, so we had lots of fun on Friday night and on Saturday night and on Sunday morning.

Marianne taught me a new thing to do, when she makes a shape with her hand she wants me to bark loud! Usually my mum doesn’t want me to bark loud, she tells me ‘Quiet’ if I bark at the man next door.

I was excited when we all went to Flyball yesterday, me and my mum and the sister Marianne and Beazli. But when we got there I didn’t want to do Flyball, I just wanted to play with my friends and with Marianne.

Mum asked me to do 8 Overs but I only did 1 and then ran down the side. She asked again and I only did 1 and then ran down the side. She asked me to do 6 Overs and I only did 1 before I saw Abbey and went to play with her.

That time my mum took me quietly and didn’t even put me in my house she put me in the Berlingo all by myself. I looked out the window and I saw my mum take Beazli to do some Overs. He’ll do anything for food. He did all the Overs my mum asked him to.

(Beazli: Moist balls of lightly steamed beef and vegetables coated in coconut were on the menu today. Very tender, delicious aroma, melt in the mouth, a wonderful treat. As soon as I realised what mum had in her bumbag I was more than willing to do 2 Overs, 3 Overs, 4 Overs. I put on a bit of speed, too, for a dog of my years, I can tell you.)

When my mum got me out of the Berlingo and back to do Overs it was with Alex, instead of Ian, on the box. We started at 5 and I did them, then we tried 6 and I did them, but when my mum asked for 7 I saw Marianne and went to play with her instead, I thought she might want to play that barking game.

I couldn’t believe it, my mum put me in the Berlingo again, and did more Overs with Beazli, instead of me.

That’s what happened all day. I spent a lot of the day in the Berlingo. It wasn’t much fun. The only fun I had was running away when my mum and Lisa asked me to go Around for the ball on the Box. I had a look at the Box but I didn’t feel like getting the ball, I felt like chasing the boys I could see on the other side of the park. I chased the boys, I ran to Marianne, I chased the new dog Billy, I barked at Alex, I put myself in my house, and still my mum put me in the Berlingo!

She didn’t call me a Perfect Clever Girl once yesterday at Flyball. She told me I had a Very Naughty Day.

(Beazli:I don't know what she's complaining about. It was a wonderful day, I had so many delicious coconut coated beef balls, I can strongly recommend them, they really were worth the effort of a few Overs and a few turns Around the pole. But the best part of the day was enjoying Pjev's & Rosie's birthday cake, without having to do any activities at all. It was a sublime carrot cake, not too sweet, and I was fortunate that I was able to eat Ebbi's portion as well as my own. She always turns her nose up at cake, silly thing.)

PRACTISE WITH MOLLY & CONNOR

Another practise day with Alex and Molly and Connor, but today we went to a new park because there were kids playing cricket in white-fence-park.
It took a long time to set everything up. First it rained a little bit, then there was some thunder. Molly was so scared she jumped into our Berlingo with Beazli and me! Connor didn’t care, he just sat outside looking around while my mum and Alex drank coffee.
Boy they drink a lot of coffee. I tried to taste it once but my mum stopped me real fast, and she said ‘the last thing a hyperactive little girl like you needs is coffee’. I wonder if hyperactive means anything like a Clever Perfect Girl?
I was really excited by the time the rain and the thunder and the coffee and the carrying everything down the hill was over and we were ready to start. I had the first go, and my mum wanted me to do the Full Run (you know, Away from mum, Over 4 hurdles, Around-on-the-box-catch-the-ball and bring the ball back Over all 4 hurdles to mum). I went Over real fast but after I caught the ball and turned Around I saw Molly barking at me from a long way away and I had to run to her with the ball in my mouth.
The next time I had to run to Connor and bark at Beazli along the way. After that I just ran to my house. So my mum and Alex gave Molly a turn, and then Connor a turn, and then I couldn’t believe it, they gave Beazli a turn too! Just like on Sunday, at proper Flyball! Is he going to keep learning Flyball all the time? I don’t really like my mum giving Beazli so much attention.
(Beazli: mmmmm today’s Overs were delicious – they involved Sliced Ham, which is one of my favourites. I love that slightly salty flavour, quite different from the Roast Beef we were tasting on Sunday. I was very willing to go Over for Sliced Ham, especially the first couple of times, before my hips started to get tired).
When it was my turn again, we started at Over, Around-on-the-box-catch-the-ball and bring the ball back Over 1, then 2, then 3 and then I did a Full Run – that’s the Perfect Clever Girl thing I can do. Then I did another Full Run, and then next time I got the ball I thought I heard a mouse in the bushes near us and I quickly went to check but there was no mouse so I went back to the Box and then Over all 4 hurdles back to my mum.
Then Molly and Connor (and Beazli again!) had another turn, and then I did some more Full Runs and most of them were Perfect Clever Girl runs. I only had a couple of blonde moments, honestly.
When we got home my mum told me I have to be a Perfect Clever Girl at training on Sunday to show Ian I can do Full Runs. We’ll see.

A FULL RUN IN FRONT OF WITNESSES

It seems like all night long my mum kept asking me why I’m a ‘Delinquent’ half the time and a ‘Perfect Clever Girl’ the other half. I don’t know what a ‘Delinquent’ is, but I do know that my mum thought I was a Perfect Clever Girl yesterday at Flyball when I did ‘Away from mum, Over 4 hurdles, Around on the Box-Get-the-Ball, and back Over 4 hurdles to my mum with the ball in my mouth.

I did it about 8 times, and everyone was amazed. Except Alex because she knows I can do it, she’s seen me at white-fence-park.

But Lisa kept telling my mum she couldn’t believe Ebbi, and Linda said I was a Darling Clever Girl and Larry and Gail said I was a Good Little Girl, like Digger is a Good Boy because he was doing Away, Over, Get-theBall, and back Over for his dad Larry too.

I even did Away, Over, Get-theBall, and back Over once after Connor, with my mum telling me ‘Team Ready’ before my turn, just like Ian does for my team when we are in a competition. But this was different because I got to go get that tennis ball and bring it back to my mum, instead of waiting in the back watching everyone else do it.

And my mum told me I was a Perfect Clever Girl that time with Connor. But there was another time with Connor when I saw some boys I don’t know on their bikes and I had to run and bark at them instead of bringing the ball back. And I couldn’t do 8 Overs at the start of Flyball because I had to chase Zeus. And then another time I couldn’t do any Overs because I had to chase a new little fluffy dog who came with Coco. Oh and there was another time when I wanted to play with Abbey because she’s my friend, she’s a kelpie too but maybe you know that.

And a couple of times I just didn’t want to do it because my mum was paying too much attention to Beazli. She got him to do Overs and fed him lots of Roast Beef. When he comes to Flyball he’s just supposed to sit near my house and howl a lot. But for some reason my mum kept getting him to have a turn every time I went back to my house.

(Beazli: ‘I don’t know why she’s so jealous. All I wanted to do was participate a little. And I do enjoy my Roast Beef, well actually I enjoy most food, well actually it’s hard to think of any food I don’t like. I’m not really that keen on the whole get-the-ball idea, and going Over those hurdles is a bit tricky with my 10 year old hips, but if that’s what it takes to get some Roast Beef, well I thought I would give it a go. And it seemed to make mum happy, so we both enjoyed it.’)

It was a good day at Flyball, even though not everyone was there. One time I was doing Cross Overs with Pjevs and I saw him coming towards me and I thought how much I like him and I had to stop in the middle and give him a kiss before jumping Over. (He stopped and kissed me back).

But another time my mum asked me to do Cross Overs with Zeus and I had to watch his man, I think maybe it’s his dad, I’m a bit scared of him, I had to watch him carefully the whole time. My mum stayed close to me and kept asking me to do Overs and one time that Zeus-dad-man gave me some cheese.

I was glad when those Cross Overs finished. And I was even more glad when Measuring Stick finished, just before playtime. I’m getting a bit used to Measuring Stick but it still makes me shake when Lisa gets it out. My mum asks me to Stand and that’s when I start to shake. Lisa talks in a quiet voice and says ‘Good Stand’ and then she touches me gently with Measuring Stick. It looks so awful, like it could hurt you. I shake and shake but I try to concentrate on playtime, which is coming next. Playtime means jingle bells and Connor’s squeaky toy and everyone running as fast as they can and it’s just the best fun, having playtime with my Flyball friends.

(Beazli: ‘I enjoy the end of the day as well. I can show how I used to be able to spin quite expertly, and if I approach everyone politely they usually have something delicious to eat in their bumbags.)

PROGRESS?

Molly and Connor and Beazli and I went to white fence park for flyball practice yesterday. It was very hot and very windy and there was a great big truck in the park mowing the lawn. When it was my first turn I couldn't concentrate because of the wind and the man from the truck watching me, so I didn't do proper Overs, I just kept running back to my house.
But after watching mum do fun flyball things with Connor instead of me, and then asking Beazli to do Overs and Arounds instead of me, I thought it would be better to go Over 4 hurdles back to mum.
Then Alex got the tennis ball and put it in the box, and I went Around and popped that ball right out of the box and caught it in my mouth and went back to mum.
She had Connor's squeaky beer bottle and she let me squeak it and tug it, that was fun.
So next time I went Over and Around and popped the ball and went back Over and grabbed that beer bottle right out of my mum's hand.
And then I went Over 2 hurdles and Around, and then 3 hurdles and Around, and then 4 hurdles and Around, and each time I brought the tennis ball back to my mum she let me squeak Connor's beer bottle and hugged me and kissed me.
I only stopped because I was thirsty because it was still so hot.
We played good soccer at the end. Later in the day Beazli and I had a long swim in the pool at home. Flyball is a bit hard when it's so hot even though it's still fun, but swimming is great, you get cool and tired and then you can have a lovely bone.

MY 2ND COMPETITION

Yesterday was a normal flyball day, after lots of great Flyball adventures. Yesterday I showed everyone I can do 8 Overs with single hops in between, that I can catch the ball when the box pops it out, that I can do really good Cross Overs with my friend Connor and that I am trying to be brave when we practise Measuring Stick. But I didn’t want to do Over, Around-Catch-the-Ball and Over because there was a big noisy truck spraying the soccer ground close by and I had to watch that truck very carefully to make sure it didn’t come even closer and hurt anyone (especially me).
It was fun to be at normal training after going to the BoorowaIrishFlyballFling and then to Albury to see Noni. When we first set off for the BoorowaIrishFlyballFling I thought the adventure was to drive for a while, stop and find Flyball friends. We did that 3 times – first we stopped and found Alex with Molly and Connor, and Jenny with Missy. Then next time after driving we stopped and found Linda and Lisa with Pjevs, Susan with Mocha and Chloe, and Sian with Doc. Then we drove and stopped again and found everyone else – Ian and Sandy with Kaos and Rosie, Debbie and John with Maverick, little Connor and Jessie and Larry and Gail with Digger.

They were all together in a kind of park with other people and other dogs and caravans and tents. My mum took me for a long walk with Alex and Molly and Connor and when it got dark all the mums and dads sat in a circle and us kids wrestled in the middle. Pjevs and Chloe do nice wrestling but Doc kept wanting to do something awful to my bottom and I didn’t like it. I had to snap at him to make him stop and Sian told me I was a Good Girl, I was allowed to tell Doc I didn’t like that wrestling.
While we were playing everyone kept talking about a new dog ‘Fabio the most beautiful dog in the Cosmos’. They all laughed and laughed about Fabio and I though he must be a fun dog, I looked around for him everywhere but he was nowhere to be seen. I don’t know why they kept talking about Fabio every time Mocha squeaked his little squeaky bark.
I was sad when my mum put me in my house in the car and drove away. I thought we were going home but instead we went to another place, called a ‘motel’. It was big room with a bed and a table and chairs and a television and a bathroom. At first I was scared but when my mum brought my house into the room I knew we were staying there for a while so I ate my dinner and pretty soon, even though I didn’t want to, I went to sleep.
Very early in the morning we went back to the camping place and then to another place and as soon as we got there I knew this was the proper BoorowaIrishFlyballFling. Our big Sydney Psychos tent was there and our new pool for playing in when we get hot, and there were other teams in their coloured t-shirts and I could see the orange flapping fence that means we have to do ‘Team Ready, Watch The Lights’ inside it.
When my mum said ‘come along Ebbi, let’s go with our team’, I knew we had to walk a long way past a lot of other people and dogs I didn’t know and go inside that orange flapping fence. I was ready to walk down the back and sit and watch my team do ‘Team Ready’ but I saw my mum talking to Ian and she always has some surprises after talking to him. My mum gave me to Lisa and then she went to the end of the hurdles and called me and I ran to her but she took me straight back without saying Good Girl and I realised I had to do Overs like at training. So I did my Overs real fast and my team was happy and then I saw Digger do them too and then we both sat at the end of the ring watching our team racing.
I can’t tell you how many times we did that, just like at HolroydPetFest, except I was with Digger this time instead of Lance. In the middle of the day, we stopped and put on our Indian Feathers. I had been practising Indian Feathers at home, so I wasn’t scared and I didn’t try to eat them like the first time. Everyone in my team put on Indian Feathers and our mums and dads put on new clothes too, with big purple Cowboy hats. The new clothes were for the BoorowaRunningOfTheSheepParade. Everyone was dressed up, but Sydney Psychos were the only Indian Feathers and Cowboys.


Just before the parade started I thought I wanted to run away from the huge noisy truck and the car with wool on it and the noisy motor bikes and the horses and other things I hadn’t seen before. It was too much like the SydneyRoyalEasterShow where everything was terrifying. But I looked at Molly and Connor and they were happy and Pjevs was happy and so I thought I would try it.
It was noisy and hot walking along the street, with millions of people watching us and cheering. They laughed the most when they saw Rosie sitting in a little wagon behind Ian on the bike, and little Connor in his tiny cowboy hat and Missy in her Doggles and Indian Feathers.
At the end of the parade I was glad to jump in our Sydney Psychos pool before going to my house. I wanted to sleep for the rest of the day but there were more Flyball races and my mum kept waking me up to go with my team and do more Overs. In between we had to stand behind Ian and Jennie while they talked to a strange man from the ‘Getaway Show’. His friends had HUGE cameras and they wanted us kids to bark and we were happy to bark for them. (I didn’t look at the cameras too much because I don’t like them).
Boy it’s hard work at competitions. I did everything my mum wanted me to, except for the last time, when she asked me to go Over, Around and Over before the race started. Lisa wasn’t there and I didn’t know the man at the box and I was scared of going Over to him so I ran away instead, right out of the ring. My mum came out too and found me and took me to play in the oval and she wasn’t mad, she told me she knew I was scared of that man and next competition we would make sure there was someone I knew on the box.
She told me that one day I would have my first real race, like Kaos did this time. Ian was over the moon with happiness and kept talking about Kaos getting his first points. I don’t know what that means but it must be good, Ian was so happy.

When the competition was finished we went to sit in the dark like we did at Kioloa. We wrestled a little bit while people talked boring things about ‘who-came-first’. Even Jessie was nice to me while we were sitting in the dark! She used to snap at me all the time but she is nicer now. Maybe she was scared like I used to be? The boring talking made all our mums and dads happy: our team came 2nd and now I have a red medal as well as a green ribbon for coming 1st. Our other Sydney Psychos team came 3rd, and they have medals too.
I had no trouble going to sleep in our motel that night. I was sure we would go home in the morning so you can imagine my surprise when we finally stopped and we were at Noni’s house! I went there at Christmas with my mum and Beazli. This time I was allowed in the house all day, even though it wasn’t the hottest-day-on-record like it was on New Years Day. Maybe it was because I have a red medal.
We stayed at Noni’s house for a week, and every day we went for two long walks as well as going to visit my cousins. This time I got to play with the cousins – they look like little Connor and their house has a big garden like a park and next door there is a big proper park as well. They have squeaky toys and a soccer ball but they can’t play soccer like Molly and big Connor. The cousin called Jasmine chased me a lot and the cousin called Gizmo just looked at me – I think he’s too fat for chasing.
One of the days we went to visit the cousins my mum showed her sister Debbie how to put a stake in the ground with a long rope attached to Gizmo’s harness so that he could run a little bit without being on a lead. My mum told me the cousins are 5 years old and have never been off-the-lead before because Gizmo usually runs away. I played with Jasmine off-the-lead and she didn’t run away, and Gizmo liked the long rope. I knew he would because I used to like the long rope that Ian gave me when I first started learning Flyball.
Maybe next time I visit Noni and my cousins we can all play off-the-lead, without too much running away.
I don’t know what was the best thing about this Flyball adventure, all the things I did, or coming home. Beazli howled and cried and chased me and wrestled and followed me for hours after we got home. I think he missed me! I wonder when the next competition will be?