DIGGER COMES BACK

We didn't go to Flyball today because my Team went to a Competition without us. My mum said there was too much work to do around the house and there must have been a lot of work because Alex came every day for three days and another new lady came too, to help my mum do work around the house.

I kind of didn't really mind because I love it when Molly and Connor come especially Molly we just chase each other around and bark and have the best time.

Every day though my Mum and Alex talked in sad voices about Digger. They said he got frightened of the big thunder with the awful lights, not a thunderstorm but those other scary ones called fireworks at the CanberraRoyalCompetition and he ran away from his Team and his mum and his dad and he was lost at the Competition and everyone was very worried. I know how scary those fireworks are, I was scared last night in a thunderstorm and I was in my house.

Digger is one of my friends we sit down the back of the races together because we are beginners. I didn't like to think about him being lost in the dark at a Competition. He was lost on Friday night and he was lost on Saturday night and he was lost this morning and he was lost this afternoon and everyone kept those sad voices all day when they talked about Digger.

But tonight we are all as happy as we can be because a nice lady found Digger trying to walk home on that big busy road where me and Beazli saw the truck fall over on its side. Alex said it would take Digger a week to walk home but he didn't have to, the nice lady brought him back to his mum and his dad and back to his Team and we don't have to worry about our Digger and we can have happy voices when we talk about him. I can hardly wait to see him at training on Sunday. I'm going to give him a big kiss and tell him how glad I am he isn't lost any more.

This is my tired friend Digger after he was found.

DOING IT WITH MY TEAM

Today at Flyball I did some Good Girl things, some Delinquent things, and some Ebbi Darling You Are Such a Clever Good Best Girl things at the end.

When we started with 8 Overs back from the Box I did them all once but I thought that was enough after being Good yesterday so for a while I did Run Along the Side and then I did Over 2 and Run Along the Side but you guessed it my mum put me on my back and then when I did Run Along the Side again Ian came and got me and tied me up to tree all by myself away from all my Flyball friends and away from Beazli and my house.

I didn't like that at all so when mum asked me to do Over, Around Catch the Ball Bring It, I did it for her and Alex and so Ian wouldn't tie me up all by myself again.

Mostly I did what Alex and my mum asked me to do, even jumping Over very big jumps, higher than I've ever done before. They took a long time asking me to do a Full Run close by to where Jessie and Zeus were practising but I kept looking at Sandi on the other Box and she reminded me of the scary man on the other Box at NowraShowtimeFlyball. I felt much better when they took me away to do it by myself and I did do a Full Run and then I was allowed in the pool.

But that was only a Good Girl thing, not an Ebbi Darling You Are Such a Clever Good Best Girl thing. That came at the end when everyone was doing special racing. It was special because Sydney Psychos has something new, we have our own Watch the Lights. They came from very very far away from a place called America and they are just like the Watch the Lights at competitions, they go Yellow Yellow Yellow Green and then you have to race. No other teams have their own Watch the Lights, only Sydney Psychos and the people who do Competitions, my mum says those people are called the AFA.

I went to sit with my Team and Ian shouted Line Em Up, Team Ready, Watch the Lights and then Kaos went as fast as he could and then Zeus and then Jessie and then Lance and then my mum took me to the new Lights and I did a Full Run and everyone cheered! I did it 4 times, and it was exciting and I wanted to do it and the last time my mum didn't even have to take me to the new Lights, she just let me go and I did it, I did a Full Run and I didn't drop the ball any of the times, I bought it straight back to my mum and everyone kept cheering and that was the Ebbi Darling You Are Such a Clever Good Best Girl thing I did today. You can see a video of how happy everyone is with me.

PS My mum said I have to tell you that the Watch the Lights has a time thing and when I did my Full Run my time was 9.637 seconds. I don't know what that means but my mum says if I keep practising I will go much faster and my time will be different one day and then I can tell about it.

PPSS My mum said to tell you it is exactly 15 months since I started learning Flyball on 20 November 2005. She said one day we will make a list of all the Brave Good Girl things I have learnt from my Team.

LUDDENHAM LOONIES

We're getting ready to go to Flyball today, and that makes 2 days in a row because we did a Demonstration at the LuddenhamShow yesterday.

It was kind of like a competition but there weren't any other Teams, and kind of like the SydneyRoyalEasterShow only smaller. There were lots and lots of horses (they are like ginormous dogs and I remembered them from the SydneyRoyalEasterShow) except at the LuddenhamShow there were people sitting on top of the horses! They kept coming close to where our Team was sitting between the ice-cream truck and the popcorn van, and every time they came close I had to bark and so did Kaos and even Beazli barked because he says he has never seen people sitting on top of horses either.

We sat in our spot for a long time while all sorts of people and kids came to talk to us and I let some of the kids pat me. Kaos kept trying to go into the popcorn van and Beazli tried to take my mum's pear and he kept asking every stranger if they would give him some food. He puts his foot up and looks sad at people but it's hard for him to pretend that he's really hungry because he's not what you would call skinny. (Not like me.)

After a long time waiting we finally got to do our Demonstration and we had to walk with our Team Sydney Psychos out into the middle where all the horses used to be. There was tons of horse poo and Kaos and Zeus tried to eat some. My mum tied me and Beazli to our Psycho Slammer which is a special tie down stake, near a little bridge in the middle. Straight away me and Beazli went up on the litte bridge so we could see everything, all the people watching and all the racing and my mum doing Boxloading.

Everyone was a bit excited because we had waited so long and there was some running away and crossing over and missing Overs before there was a good race. I could see my mum laughing.

Soon it was time for the Beginners to do Overs back from the Box and Mocha had a turn but he just did Run Along the Side and Rascal had a turn but she just did Run Along the Side and then I had a turn and I did all my Overs as fast as anything and you should have seen my mum she was so happy that when she asked me to do it again I did it faster than before and Alex came over specially to tell me I am an Ebbi Darling.

Then there were some more races and even though I was tied to my Psycho Slammer I did get into a little bit of trouble because over on the other side of the bridge there was a place where people were riding animals that looked a bit like really fat horses, except with sharp things on their heads and they jumped around and tried to make the people fall off. I was frightened of them and I told them in my loudest bark not to get outside their fence and come near our Flyball. But my mum yelled No Ebbi so I stopped barking and just kept my eye on them for the rest of the time. Well, I did bark a couple more times but I definitely stopped every time my mum said No Ebbi. Later my mum told me and Beazli that those big fat horses were called bulls. They are boy cows and they don't like people sitting on top of them. But my mum said the horses do like it and I believe her because I didn't see one horse jump around in a naughty way to make its person fall off.

ANOTHER FLYBALL COMPETITION

My mum didn't even tell me we were going to a Flyball competition until we got into the little car by ourselves on Friday and started going to NowraShowtimeFlyball. We had to drive a long way and we didn't meet any Flyball friends until we got to a special house where Jenni was with Missy and Rascal and Ian and Sandi were there with Rosie and Kaos and Deb and John were there with Maverick and Jessica. The house had a great big yard and there was tons of room, even enough room for Alex and Molly and Connor and Susan and Rob and Chloe and Mocha when they came, tons of room to chase squeaky purple balls and play rough games.

My mum was tired from driving (and getting lost, she didn't tell me we were lost until later) so she laid in the hammock and had a rest before dinner.

I didn't even mind when we had to go to bed because we had done such good playing, and I was very happy in the morning because I knew we must be going to a competition, and I wasn't scared at all until I had to do Measuring Stick. The man who had Measuring Stick was Trent, he was very nice to me this time, but I still shook and tried to make myself small. He patted me and put Measuring Stick away and then the proper competition day started and it was full of excitement.

I had to do things all day because in the first race when everyone is really excited there was an accident, when Pjevs was swinging on his motivator he swung right into Digger and Digger got a fright and jumped at him and then Pjevs got a fright and jumped back and I saw them do scary teeth at each other. And then Pjevs got upset and wouldn't race any more. And then Zeus ran to the other team's hurdles and did Overs there three times and the Judge man held up a black card and Zeus couldn't race any more. So that left just Kaos and Chloe and Digger and me. Chloe is a good Flyballer, she does fast Overs. And Kaos is good now too, he's really fast, and he Brings the Ball and swings on his motivator and wants to go again.

But Digger and me are just beginners and we're only used to sitting in the back of the ring.

When it was Digger's turn he was very Brave even though he had been in the accident and he did all the Overs but he forgot to get the Ball and just came back to Larry. When it was my turn, I did 2 Overs and then I stopped and looked around and saw everyone watching me, even the Judge man, so I quickly went back to my mum.

The whole day long when it was our turn to race my mum kept asking me to do a Full Run and I kept thinking about it, I really did. But whenever I got past the 2nd Over I would have a quick look around and see different people looking at me and the other team racing and the Judge man and the ladies with their red flags and I would just think, I have to get back to my mum.

Until the very very last race, when I saw Alex calling to me from the Box, and I thought 'do Brave, Ebbi' and I went Over 1, Over 2, Over 3, Over 4, Around on the Box, and got the Ball. But I dropped it! I had to chase it, and catch it, and I wanted to get back to my mum so I just ran down the side past the first 2 Overs. My mum was still calling me 'Over, Ebbi' so I went Over the last 2 and she was so happy she kissed me and gave me yummy chicken and I could hear everyone clapping.

I went in the little pool with my team Kaos and Chloe after that race, and I went with them to get our ribbons at the end. And then we went back to the special house for more playing with squeaky toys and cuddles with everyone.

And I had the best time until there was a scary thunderstorm and Molly and I had to go and hide in our house because the noise makes us shake. At least my friend Molly was there and I knew my mum and everyone else was close by. And that we could play again in the morning, which we did for hours and hours before we had to drive home and tell Beazli everything he had missed.