TOO MANY ADVENTURES

I’ve had so many Flyball adventures since my mum came back from Noni’s house that I hardly know where to start. First we had some normal Flyball days, and some special days with Alex and Molly and Connor in the white-fence park.
Then we had a day when just mum and me went driving for a long time until she found a place she said was like Riverwooddowns but it was called Kioloaholidaypark. When we got there in the dark we went straight to where Missy and Jessie and Little Connor and Maverick were with Jenni and Debbie and John and Sandi and Ian. I sat on Ian’s lap because I’m a bit scared of Jessie. She growls if you look at her and Ian can make her stop growling so it’s good to stay close to him.
We didn’t stay very long and then my mum took me to another house, a big quiet house with no-one else there. At first I didn’t like it, I wanted to go back to my Flyball friends, until Lisa and Linda came with Pjevs! I was so excited I didn't know which leg to stand on!
I love Pjevs, he’s one of my best Flyball friends, and we wrestled and wrestled with each other for hours and hours! He even let me play with his favourite fluffy toy, and it was so much fun I wanted to play all night.
Eventually we had to go to sleep but I made sure that my mum woke up early because I knew Pjevs was somewhere in that house and I could play with him again. After breakfast we drove back to Kioloaholidaypark, with my mum telling me we were going to a competition today, like the Royaleastershow.
When we got there I was happy there were no cows or horses, just all my own Flyball friends together. And millions of other dogs and other Flyball people in their coloured shirts and their tents.
It was a very long day at the competition. My mum kept taking me out of my little house and walking me past all those strange dogs and people I didn’t know to this special part with awful flapping orange see-through walls. I was glad that Digger and Kaos and Little Connor came too, otherwise I would have been really scared.
We didn’t do proper Flyball, like Overs and Arounds. Instead, my mum asked to do unusual things, like jump in a little pool and get a tennis ball out. I liked jumping in the pool except for the lady I didn’t know watching me all the time with a big book and a silver thing in her hand. So I didn’t get the tennis ball, I just kept jumping in and out of the little pool, and mum was happy because I got half a point for going in the pool. She said it was a beginner’s comp and she was happy with me for being a good girl for such a long day until it was dark and cold.

Later there was a party with cake and presents for Alex. I thought maybe we would have another sleepover with Pjevs (more wrestling!). Instead, I got another surprise when Alex and Molly and Connor came with us to the sleepover house. We went running in the dark! I could see Molly and Connor because they had sparkling things on their collars, zooming in the dark as fast as anything.
Inside the house Molly played with me, and Connor played with Molly and they both chased me and it was another night when I didn’t want to go to sleep. And another morning when I woke my mum up very early because I knew my friends were there. We played really good soccer in the big park outside the house while my mum and Alex stood around having coffee. The Albury Advance Flyball team came out of another house, but they didn’t play soccer, they stayed on their leads.
When Alex and mum put all the things in the cars I thought this adventure was over.
But we went to Kioloaholidaypark again, for a walk with Jenni and Missy, over a hill to a sandy park with a big big moving water pool, bigger than the river at Riverwood Downs. Mum said it was the beach. We ran on the sand and chased sticks into the moving water and you can’t believe it the water chased back!

By the time Alex and mum said we should go home I was so tired I was glad to sleep in the car on the long drive. I told Beazli everything when we got home, and dreamt about sparkling things on collars, orange flapping walls, and beaches that chase you.
Yesterday was another competition! In a different place, the Holroydpetfest. The first time my mum took me for a walk with my team I thought maybe she was going to ask me to do the pool/ball thing again. I thought maybe I would do it this time. I didn’t know she would ask me to stand right next to a machine that suddenly made the worst noise, like it was going to eat me.
It’s hard to be brave right next to a machine like that, it’s name is a ‘generator’, when the man puts the big silver measuring stick on your back. Boy was I glad to go back to my house after that.
So I was very nervous next time we went for a walk. I stayed as close as I could to Lance, he’s the same colour as Pjevs, but bigger. Walking at Holroydpetfest. was more like the Royaleastershow than Kioloaholidaypark. No cows or horses (thank goodness!) but zillions of people, children holding floating balls on sticks, prams, little tents, big tents, lots and lots and lots of dogs I didn’t know, loud music and noisy machines.
I followed Lance past those flapping orange see-through walls that made a corridor into a place where there were proper hurdles and boxes. Mum took me to the end and we sat on the ground next to a lady in a chair with a red flag. I kept my eye on that lady to see what she might do with the red flag, until I heard Ian yell ‘Team Ready! Watch the Lights! And then there were lights on a stick and a big hooting sound and Phoebe went Over and then Chloe and then Maverick and then Jessie and everyone screamed with happiness and then they did it again. At the same time there other dogs doing Overs and Arounds right next to them but my Flyball team didn’t pay any attention to the other dogs they just kept getting Ready Ready Ready and doing their own Overs and Arounds as fast as they could.
After a while we walked back to our Sydney Psychos place and I rested in my house and then that’s what kept happening all day. We would rest and then go for a walk past all the people and dogs to the competition part and I would sit down the back kissing Lance (he let’s me kiss him a lot!) and watching everything and keeping my eye on the lady with the red flag and watching Jenni pick up tennis balls, and walking bravely past flapping walls and people and dogs back to rest in my house again.

I don’t know how many times my mum told me I was a good girl and so did Ian and Jenni and Sian and Sandi. I must have been a good girl because my mum bought me a new green snake with two squeaky ends.
But I didn’t play with the snake until we got home. The competition was too exciting to play with a snake. Mum told me our team came 1st! And our other Sydney Psychos team came 2nd! That must be good because she was happy when she told me but I don’t really know what it means. Maybe I’ll find out next time we go to a competition adventure. Mum says we are going to Boorowairishflyballfling. I sure hope it’s soon.

DAD TAKES ME TO FLYBALL

My Dad took me and Beazli to Flyball today, because my Mum has been away again, for ages and ages. After our Big Adventure at Riverwood Downs Mum told me she had to go to Noni's house. Noni is sick and has been in hospital. I don't know if she has a big white thing on her arm like my Mum did when she was in hospital. I miss my Mum but I'm glad my Dad took us to Flyball because I miss my Flyball friends too.
I heard my Dad talking to my Mum on his little phone, telling her that I was a good girl and did Over 4 hurdles about a million times without running away.
Later I heard him talking to her again, after I did Over 8 hurdles another million times. And I also did Over, Around and Over, and I didn't run away at all. When I did that everyone clapped. Sandi told me she was going to ring my Mum too and tell her I'm a good girl.
I hope Mum comes home soon. I like snuggling on dad's lap but he doesn't play catch with me as much as Mum does.

OUR BIG ADVENTURE

We couldn't believe it when Robbo got in the cold cold creek to get the Kong!

OUR BIG ADVENTURE

I've just woken up very late, the day after our big adventure. Straight away I kissed my mum, remembering how much fun we had. Beazli and my dad are still asleep, snoring and dreaming about paddocks and rivers and cows and Flyball.
On Saturday morning my mum told me that when she came home from wherever she goes without me, we would all go on a big adventure. The last big adventure we had was when we went to the place far away that my mum's mother Noni lives, and I hoped we were going there.
All the way in the Berlingo that's what I hoped, but when it got dark and we drove for a long long time on a very bumpy windy road with no houses and no lights I got confused. Finally we found a huge house that wasn't Noni's house. There were laughing people having a barbecue like the Newtown Christmas Party. Except the people were my Flyball friends! Linda and Jenni and Alex and Ian and Sandy and Lisa and Debbie and Susan and John and Robbo and Sian...... Missy and Pjevs were there too and we ate sausages and bones in the dark. I played with Pjevs and kissed Linda and jumped on Lisa and tried to lick Missy and jumped on my mum and got tangled up under the bench and barked at the dark. I thought this was a good adventure already but it only got better.
After the barbecue my dad found a funny cupboard that had little beds on top of each other and we had a squishy cosy sleep. I woke up when mum opened the curtain and looked out the tiny window at the biggest park I had ever seen. We rushed out there, me and Beazli and mum, and ran a long way over wet grass. I could smell cows and horses even though I couldn't see them. I ran under a prickly fence and back again, calling mum and Beazli, and then Jenni and Missy and Alex and Molly and Connor appeared out of their cupboard with beds and we all ran around barking while mum and Jenni and Alex had cups of coffee.
Molly found a plastic bag with bread rolls inside. Beazli found the flyball hurdles under the house. Ian and Kaos and Rosie found us and we played frisbee. Connor growled at Beazli and then Ian made Connor go on his back to stop him growling. Connor was good after that, he went to my mum and put his head on her lap.
The day just got better and better. My friend Pjevs came with Linda and Lisa, and then everyone came and we did Overs and Arounds and Team Ready.
I only had 2 brain snaps, once when I thought I should run to my dad instead of doing Over, and once when I had to go bark at Rosie and Kaos instead of going Around.

I did Cross Overs with Pjevs and with Chloe.
I played with the squeaky baby Mocha, who's very funny, he's so little and fluffy.
Then we had a huge playtime chasing the frisbee again and then a drive in the Berlingo to another part of the park, then a walk and a run down a hill until we found a sort of big swimming pool with stones in the bottom. The water was moving, not like the pool where it is still, and it was freezing! No-one cared though, we all jumped in and made big splashes, especially when Robbo started throwing the Kong and everyone swam fast to see who could catch it. Once the Kong sank and the only one who could get it back was Beazli. Everyone cheered and clapped when he got the Kong back.
Another time when it sank Beazli was trying to fish a leaf out of the water and he didn't see it, so Robbo took off his jeans and walked into the cold water to get the Kong. We couldn't believe it.
He was the only person who got in the water, otherwise all the splashing and playing and Kong chasing was dog friends.
I didn't want to stop, even though I was shivering. And we didn't stop for a long time, we just kept playing in that cold water, chasing each other and the Kong and having the best time ever.
By the time my dad brought a lovely towel I was kind of glad to get dry and warm and snuggle in the back of the Berlingo with Beazli to catch my breath. We cuddled all the way home, with him snoring and me staying awake to see the cows in the paddock on the side of the windy bumpy road. Beazli only woke up to get inside the house and then he fell asleep again, straight away. I stayed up with my mum, while she told me she thought I had a lot of fun on my big adventure at Riverwooddowns, especially in the creek (that's what the cold moving pool is called) with my Flyball friends. She was right.

MEASURE UP, ROUND UP

We arrived at Flyball early today, before everyone else except for Jessie and her dad. I've got a soccer ball of my own now and I tried to show Jessie how to play soccer, how to punch the ball with her nose. She wouldn't do it, no matter how many times I showed her. Instead she kept chasing me, going round me in circles, sometimes swooping in really close, sometimes doing little barks at me.
It's the same with Rosie and Missy and Digger at playtime, except Digger keeps wanting to sniff my bottom as well. Mum says its because Rosie and Missy and Digger and Jessie are all border collies and they like to pretend I'm a sheep. I don't know what a sheep is. Maybe it's like the cows and horses I saw at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
After a long time of trying to show Jessie about soccer I just got sick of all the rounding up and ran away and jumped in my house. Jessie couldn't round me up in there so it was a good place to hide.
And my house is a good place to rest too, in between all the Overs and Arounds I do at Flyball. I did lots of stuff today, Over 4 hurdles, Over 8, Over 2 and Around and Over 2.
Elaine came with Phoebe and Taffy - she hasn't been to Flyball for ages- and she saw me and couldn't believe her eyes that I can do all these things, and that I go back to my mum now when she calls me. She told my mum she can remember when I used to spend the whole time at Flyball just barking and spinning on my harness.
I was hungry today, so every time I did something good mum gave some chicken or some bacon. For the longest time she made me sit in front of the Box while she hit it and made tennis balls pop out and then gave me chicken. I didn't have to do anything except be Brave. We do Brave at home all the time. That means going close to any of the shiny silver things I'm scared of, like the thing that blows out warm air and the noisy sucking thing and the chair with silver legs. All those shiny silver things remind me of something really awful that happened to me before I came to live with my mum and dad and Beazli.
After I did some of those strange Overs with Pjevs (the ones where he jumps Over towards me - they're called Cross Overs), Alex came near me with a REALLY scary shiny silver thing, a big silver stick. She tried to put it close to me and I was so scared I just laid down and closed my eyes and shivered, hoping it would go away.
When I peeked it was still there, and I was so glad mum let me go in my house, away from the silver stick. Alex brought Connor over and then she picked up the stick and for a minute I thought she was going to hit him with it. He just stood there (he's very Brave) and let Alex stand the stick next to him and slide a part of it up and down until it touched him. He didn't seem to mind, but I was still glad when they took that silver stick away.
I had the best playtime again, mainly with Pjevs and Chloe and Abbey, but sometimes Kaos and Rosie and Phoebe and Taffy joined in too, and Beazli came at the end when my dad came to pick us up.
Pjevs and Chloe like to chase my jingle bells. Abbey likes to chase Pjevs. My mum and Jamie just laugh and laugh at Abbey rounding up Pjevs, pretending he's a sheep. What I don't understand is that Abbey is not a border collie, she's a kelpie like me, except that I am a kelpie cross. How come Abbey likes to pretend about sheep, like the border collies? Maybe one day I'll get to see a sheep and then I'll understand.

DISTRACTIONS

At lunchtime we went to the white-fence-park, where we go to do Flyball with Alex and Molly and Connor. I think it's important that my mum should know there were millions of good reasons for all my brain snaps today. First the plovers, then the paper bag blowing on the grass, then the children playing on my sliperry, then the man in the yellow shirt walking outside the fence. The plovers came back, I had to have a poo, there was a noisy plane, I thought I saw a dog, there were boys playing soccer, then two strangers watched us, I found some ham on the ground, then Jessie arrived with her father and I forgot his name so I barked at him.
In between all of that it's amazing I managed to do some good Overs and some good Arounds on the Box. I even did Over 2 hurdles, Around and back Over 2. But then the box starting jumping back at me again when I went on it. I like the way the tennis ball pops out but I don't like the noise or the jumping back.
I had a look behind the Box and I couldn't find whatever made that noise. I tried walking on it very carefully but it still jumped back at me. So I went to my house. My mum and Alex came and talked to me and took me back and we did some more Overs and then I went back to my house again. I could tell they wanted me to go Around on that noisy jumping Box.
I don't trust that Box.

Sunday 2/07/06
Linda said I had a blonde day today. I don’t know what that means unless it’s like having a brain snap. From the time we got to Flyball everything was different. For a start Beazli came again and I’m a bit jealous of him when mum pays attention to him instead of to me. There were heaps of Flyball dogs, some I haven’t seen for a while like Jessie and Maverick. A big new one called Spike. And the little new one called Mocha, who just looks like a fluffy brown toy, squeaking and squealing the whole time in his house.
Mum usually takes me for a run around the big park before we start Flyball. This time she just left me in my house and took Beazli and tried to teach him Around the pole! When she came to get me to do Over I went Over 1 and ran straight back to Beazli to let him know that Flyball is my game. Of course mum came to get me and tried to make me to Over again and I did 2 hurdles but then I saw Spike standing near the end and I had to run and bark at him. He’s so big I thought I would bark at him first before he barked at me. The next time I saw the boys playing soccer at the other part of the park and I had to run over there to tell them I can play soccer too.
Mum and Alex gave Beazli a turn doing Over. He went Over 2 hurdles. He’ll do anything for some chicken. When it was my turn I showed my mum I would do Over for chicken too and then when mum wanted me to do 6 hurdles I stopped at 4 where she had dropped some chicken on the ground. It was yummy.
Linda tried to play that tennis ball in the box game with me but I didn’t like the box and its noises and jumping today. I saw Mocha learning Around the pole and ran to tell him to be careful because if he learns Around the pole he will have to go on that jumping, noisy, box and he might get frightened.
And then mum tried to make me do a strange Over with Connor coming at me in the other direction. Even though he’s my friend looked like he was coming to bite me so I had to bark and chase him before going Over. Then Lisa brought Pjevs to do the strange Over and I had to chase him when he came towards me too.
At the end, before playtime, I had another turn at doing Over and Ian made sure there was no-one interesting to chase, so I did 4, and then 5 and then 6 and then I did 8 and finally everyone was really happy with me.
At playtime Pjevs and I chased the jingle bells but Abbey is really funny, she just chased me or Pjevs. My mum said she was rounding us up. Chloe tried to join in (she loves my jingle bells too) and she was running so fast and I was running so fast that we ran into each other and I fell over and had to rest. But only for a second. I wasn’t hurt and I had to get back to be rounded up by my friend Abbey.

Friday 30/06/06
Without any warning today my mum put my Flyball harness on me, picked up our Flyball bag, and drove to a park where Alex and Molly and Connor were already waiting for us.
It was a bit squashy in the Berlingo on the way because there was a Box, and hurdles, and my house all in the back as well as me. All the way I was hoping we were going to do proper Flyball and I wasn’t disappointed.
While Alex and mum messed around setting things up Molly and Connor and me played with a Frisbee. Connor has a brown squeaky bottle that he really likes and he had that in his mouth too.
I had the first turn, running back from the Box, going Over 4 hurdles to my mum and my jingle bells. Then Connor had a turn and then Molly and then it was my turn again. This time Alex showed me a tennis ball and put it in the Box and we did Around getting the tennis ball. Then my mum took me behind a hurdle and I went Over, Around, got the ball and went back Over to mum with the tennis ball. Boy were they excited!
Then mum took me behind 2 hurdles, then 3 and then 4. I went Over all 4 hurdles and got the tennis ball and went back Over all 4 again as fast as I could. Mum and Alex squealed and cuddled me and laughed and let me Catch and asked me if I wanted to do it again and I did so we did it again. And they both laughed and cuddled me and told me I was a good girl and then we did it again. The fourth time I still wanted to do it but I hit my leg on the last hurdle and that hurt a little bit so I stopped. Mum and Alex both cuddled me and thought I should have a rest and I agreed so I ran back to my house all by myself and jumped in so I could get a drink and lie down for a while.
From inside my house I watched my mum played with Connor, asking him if he was ready, ready, ready and I saw him go Over 4 hurdles, Around and back Over to mum. And then it was Molly’s turn and she did it for my mum too. I barked and barked while they were doing it, getting myself all worked up.
When it was my turn again I thought I would see if Alex and mum got so excited if I went Over 1 hurdle and missed the rest but they didn’t seem to like it. They didn’t make a sound which wasn’t much fun so I barked at Alex. She just looked the other way so I did 2 hurdles properly and then it started to rain a little bit. Mum and Alex decided to pack up and while they were doing that Molly and Connor and I played with the jingle bells and the frisbee.
I love those Flyball friends. I love Flyball.

Sunday 25/06/06
Today was fun, then more fun, then scary, then exciting, and then really fun. We took Beazli today, to watch me learning Flyball.
Ian made me go Over 8 hurdles absolutely millions of times. And mostly I just wanted to get to Mum and the jingle bells so fast that I went Over all of them as quickly as I could. (I only ran over to Beazli a couple of times, just to make sure he was watching.)
We did Around on the Box and then we did Over, Around and Over and I had heaps of fun showing Alex and Linda that I could do it.
Every time I rested in my house I reminded Beazli to watch me. Once he tried to get into my house with me, can you imagine, that great big Beazli in my little house with me in there too?
Then the scary thing happened. Mum asked me to do Around and when I jumped on the Box it jumped back at me and made the worst noise! I couldn’t believe it! It had never done anything like that before and I was terrified! Alex tried to give me some chicken but I didn’t want to take my eyes off that scary Box, in case it jumped at me again. I was really glad when mum took me back to my house.
After a rest we went to the Box again, with Linda, and she started throwing me a tennis ball. I love Catch and I loved playing it with Linda. Then she made the tennis ball stick to the Box somehow. And then she made the Box jump and tennis ball popped out and I was allowed to chase it. Then mum stuck the tennis ball on the Box and asked me to go Around. As soon as I put one foot on the Box, it jumped again, and popped out the tennis ball. Mum and Linda were so happy when I chased the tennis ball that I thought I would try it again. They stuck the tennis ball on the Box, I went Around, made the tennis ball pop out and then chased it........and it wasn’t scary, it was exciting! I hope I can do it again next time we go to Flyball.

Sunday18/06/06
Ian told my mum a good thing today, he told her he thought I was scared when she twirled that big thing around her head so fast at the end of the hurdles. So she took the jingle bells off the end of the big twirly thing and just waved it so I could see it, and when I came straight in after going Over 8 hurdles she let me Catch it and we were both happy.
How does Ian know so much? He watches everyone and helps all the new dogs and all the big dogs. And Kaos is getting to be really good at Over, Around, Over - he does it like the big dogs do even though he was just a baby when I started Flyball.
We had heaps of things to do again today. Lots of Over 8 hurdles and Over 4 Hurdles and Around and then Over 4 hurdles again. In between I tried sitting down to avoid going back to my house but instead of picking me up my mum just sat down each time and called me to her. Then she would get up and walk a bit closer to the house until I sat down and then she sat down again and called me to her.
It took so long to get back to the house that I just gave in and jumped straight in there. I hate to say it but it’s kind a nice place to rest. My water is in there and I can watch everything that’s going on and no-one bothers me. And I know that when I get out it will be my turn again to do some Over or Around on the Box, or even to play chase at home time.

Sunday 11/06/06
Today I went Over 8 hurdles heaps of times. My mum has put a jingle bells on the end of a twirly thing and she kneels down at the end of the hurdles so that I can see her twirl the thing around and I want to go Over as fast as I can so I can get to the jingle bells.
The only thing is when I get there that twirly thing looks like it might hit me in the head so I do a big circle around her until she slows down. She’s still happy when I come in. It doesn’t matter how many times I do it everyone is still happy with me.
We did Around on the big black Box again today too. It’s great, so much better than the pole. A couple of times I went Over, Around and back Over to mum and then did a tug of war with the jingle bells.
We did a lot of hurdles and Around today. Some of the time it was 8 hurdles, some of the time it was 4 hurdles. Some of the time it was Over, Around and Over and some of the time it was just Around. The only brain snaps I had today where when we had to go back to the house. I just wanted to keep doing everything today, so every time mum wanted me to go back to the house I just sat down and wouldn’t budge.
Mum picked me up and carried me back to the house and Ian wasn’t happy with her. He told her she was teaching me that I could get my own way. Well.....sort of. I still had to go back in the house.

Sunday 4/06/06
Hooray! Today Ian said I don’t have to go Around that stupid pole any more! He saw me doing ‘Around’ on the Box and he says I can just practice there. I’m so happy I just want to go Around and Around on the Box all the time! (Sometimes when my mum tries to walk me back to my house I show her I would rather go Around or Over but she still makes me go to the house).
We learnt a new thing today, called ‘Take’. We sat in a circle (me, Kaos, Jessie and Digger) and everyone had to do the same thing with a tennis ball. We’ve never had a tennis ball at Flyball before.
First I didn’t like it because I thought my mum was just trying to teach me to lick the tennis ball. That’s not very exciting and most of the time I’m not hungry at Flyball anyway.
I didn’t want to lick the tennis ball so I turned by head away. But my mum showed me she wanted me to pick up the tennis ball from the ground when she said ‘Take’. I got that! I thought, I can do that! So I did it and everyone thought I was clever!
Then I had to give mum the tennis ball when she told me to ‘Give’. I already knew ‘Give’ so that part was really easy. I did it and everyone thought I was REALLY clever.
I LOVE Flyball. We had a really long playtime at the end today. I like playing with Pjevs, and Kaos, and Digger is fun too but he’s a bit rough. Molly is very intense. Missy is really good at Flyball and very nice except when she gets the jingle bells, because she just keeps it. She won’t Give it back so we can keep playing. Jenni gets down on the ground and has to talk to Missy for a long time before she Gives.

Thursday 25/05/06
Today we went to another ‘demonstration’. It was in a small park in ‘Ultimo’ and only a few of my Flyball friends were there - Rosie and Kaos, Missy, Molly and Connor, and Pjevs.
There were lots of people that I didn’t know, people without dogs standing really close. Ian did some talking and then my mum tried to get me to walk in front of the people to do Around the pole. I laid down instead. Who knows what those people would have done? They were making heaps of noise and didn’t seem to know anything about Flyball. I was actually glad when mum put me into my house away from those people.
When I was in my house I watched Kaos going Around, and then going Over for Ian. He doesn’t seem to be scared of anything. I think he’s always lived with Ian and Rosie and Sandra, and has never lived with awful people like I have. Not my mum, she’s good to me and I love her - but the other people I lived with when I was little were horrible and you don’t want to know what scary things they did to me.
Anyway I watched Kaos and then all the others do some racing and I thought maybe it wasn’t so frightening after all. When mum got me out of the house I had some turns doing Over, and mostly I did them all. There were just a couple of times when I thought it was more fun to run at some of the people who were watching and bark at them. After my turns we all played until we were tired, and then went to have coffee sitting around a bench.
It was great fun, but I was so tired I was glad to get into my house for a rest on the way home.

Sunday 21/05/06
We got to Flyball late today because first my mum took me to a big shop where there were dogs inside and lots of dog toys and food that smelled good. Instead of letting me play with the dogs, or smell the food, she took me to a part in the shop where there just lots of horrid dog houses.
She made me get in and out of different houses and I hated all of them. Finally she let me go back in the Berlingo and I thought I had escaped but no such luck. The shop man put a hard grey house in the Berlingo too, and all they way to Flyball I just knew mum would make me go in it when we got there.
And sure enough, that’s what happened. What’s even worse, I couldn’t get out of this house. It’s made of hard stuff, even the front part that you can see out of. And there is no zippy thing that you can open from the inside.
So when mum got me out of the house I thought that if I was a really, really, good girl and did everything she wanted, she might not make me go back in there.
I went Over every time she asked me to. I even went Around that stupid pole a couple of times. But she still put me back in the house.
The next time it was my turn I went Over 8 hurdles really fast, 5 times. Then my mum showed me a new thing - going Around on a big black Box. She sat down and told me to go Around and when I did it I was allowed to play with my jingle bells, my favourite toy. And then she asked me to go Over, Around and Over back to her for the jingle bells and that was great fun. Much more fun than that silly pole. So I kept doing it because mum thought it was fun too, and was really, really happy with me.
She still put me back in the house at the end of my turn, but at least I was allowed to get out for a long playtime.

Sunday 14/05/06
No Flyball today. My dad says it’s because it is Mother’s Day. My mum is with her Mother in Albury. I wish that she took me with her this time.

Sunday 7/05/06
I figured out how to get out of my red house today. It’s simple really, I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out. There’s a kind of zippy thing that closes the front of the house and all you have to do is push it with your nose from the inside and the net bit comes apart.
As soon as it was open I ran out as fast as I could to chase my friends, Missy and Pjevs and Rosie and Cleo. They were doing Team Ready, Watch the Lights and were really excited to see me. Mum was talking to Sandra and it took a while for her to realise that I was out. Boy was she surprised!
She put me back in the house and did something that made pushing the zippy thing quite hard to do. So I just chewed it all up and escaped again!
That meant that mum had to keep me on my lead with her all afternoon, in between practising Over. I like it when she keeps me with her but she doesn’t like it if I try to pull her to any other dogs, or if I spin around on my harness. I wonder why?

Wednesday 3/05/06
Today mum took me for a river walk by myself and found Alex and Molly and Connor! They had flyball hurdles and poles! In a park on our river walk! I was so excited I barked and barked and jumped and span and tried to get Molly and Connor to play with me but all they wanted to do was Flyball.
They kept having turns, and then it was my turn. And would you believe they just wanted me to do that stupid Around. I looked everywhere else and there was a man with some dogs who looked like they were more fun than Around so I ran after them. But of course mum and Alex got me to come back instead and made me rest near the fence.
The next time they asked me to go Around I heard some good noises that needed chasing - whistling and people shouting. But of course mum and Alex got me to come back instead and made me rest near the fence.
So the next time they asked me to go Around I just sat there. That seems to work. Alex said we should play Soccer instead and she got a HUGE tennis ball that Molly and Connor punch with their noses. I watched them for a while and then tried it too - it’s great fun because the tennis ball was much too big to catch in your mouth.
After Soccer we all went for a river walk and when we got to the playground I showed everyone how I can do Slipperies - I go up the stairs, over the little bridge and then slide down. Alex asked Molly and Connor to do it but they said ‘No Way’.

Sunday 30/04/06
I thought I would try to invent some new rules for Flyball today, to make it interesting for everyone. When mum asked me to jump Over 4 hurdles I thought it would be good to jump Over 1 and then run away.
When she asked me to do it again I went Over 2 and then ran straight to her instead of jumping Over the rest.
When she asked me to do it again I went Over 1 and then chased Kaos. So mum put me in the house for a while which I didn’t like at all.
Mum wanted to do Around but I just sat there. I HATE doing Around. At least playtime was good.

Sunday 23/04/06
More new things at Flyball. Instead of 4 hurdles we had to do 8. That’s a lot, that’s a long way to run and do Over. I watched everyone else doing it but didn’t believe mum would ask me to do all of that without a lead.
When it was my turn I went Over 4 and then ran along the side of the hurdles to get to her. She wasn’t happy. She doesn’t get mad or anything, she just doesn’t tell me I’m a good girl, that’s how I know she’s not happy.
The next time she went and stood behind 4, I went Over 4 and she was happy.
Then she went behind an extra one so I went Over 5 and she was happier.
By the time I went Over all 8 without running along the side my mum was over the moon, kissing me and cuddling and rolling around on the ground with me. I love it when she is so happy. Jenni and Linda and Alex and Lisa are all happy too when I do something good. And Ian. He gives me nice food when I do something good, and he talks to me in a nice soft voice, different from the angry voice he first used that first day when I tried to run out of Flyball park.
Even though there are all these good things about Flyball, I still hate going Around that stupid pole. We have to do it every week and it’s so boring you can’t believe it. Mum even tries to make me do it at home.

Sunday 16/04/06
What a day! Mum got me up really early in the morning and packed all our Flyball things but instead of going up the stairs to the Berlingo we went down the stairs as if we were going on a river walk.
But then you’ll never believe it instead of going for a walk she opened the back door of that black car that lives downstairs and put me inside a little red house inside the car! I didn’t want to go in there but I had no choice. We drove for a long time before she stopped and got me and all the Flyball things (and that awful red house) out of the car again.
Then we went for a long long walk, on a road with no rivers and no grass, it was really boring, until we went through a gate and suddenly we were in a place where there were these HUGE dogs that didn’t smell right and didn’t bark, all walking around making funny noises with their feet. My mum told me they were horses and though I was relieved to learn they weren’t dogs I was still scared of them.
Then just when I got used to the horses we passed some new huge creatures that didn’t look like horses and didn’t look like dogs. My mum told me they were cows and boy was I glad to get away from them.
But we weren’t safe yet. We kept walking and met more and more and more people – more people than I had ever seen before, some wearing big strange things on their heads, some carrying giant floating balls, some walking on tall sticks. They were all laughing and talking and walking fast, and there were too many of them and for a while I wasn’t happy that mum brought me to this place.
I thought about slipping out of my harness and running away but I knew I would have to go back past those cows and horses to find my way to the car. I sure didn’t want to meet them on my own so I just stayed with mum and I’m glad that I did because she suddenly found all my Flyball friends in a new park! Everyone was there! I was so glad to see them in this strange place I almost wet myself with excitement. All my Flyball friends were all in their own little houses so when mum made my red house I went inside and talked to Abbey through the window.
After a while mum got me out and showed me around. There where there absolutely millions of other dogs and mums and dads in this new park. They all had little houses and when they weren’t resting in them they were playing Flyball. But not just any old Flyball - a big competition called the Sydney Royal Easter Show. I was allowed to watch some of the races from outside the fence. I could hear all my friends barking with excitement when it was their turn. When they came back to their houses they were exhausted from racing. Pjevs ran so fast he hurt his leg and everyone got upset for a while until he felt better.
We didn’t stay at the Sydney Royal Easter Show all day like everyone else because we had to go to Nonna’s and see the chickens. I really like seeing the chickens (not as much as Flyball). But Nonna has good things to eat so it was a good way to end the day.