FFF Goes to Arizona!

We packed up the car and made our way to Mesa, AZ today.  Cooper will be racing as start dog this weekend with FastTraxx.  We're excited to see how he does in a limited run back indoors on mats.

It is hot here... Even the sidewalks are too hot to walk on, so Cooper has been exiled to the hotel room for the evening and was exiled to his crate in the car during the 12 hours drive from San Francisco.  Its making him a bit nutty and I'm worried he's not gonna be himself in the morning; we'll keep our fingers crossed...

Tournaments Update..

Both Cooper and Cody have been busy competing the past few weeks and we're so proud of them for running so well full time.  Cooper is settling down to starting and being passed by Cody.  Cody himself is doing a great job at staying consistent while we work on his box.  Its good to see them doing so well and to get some exercise in Truckee, La Mirada and Scotts Valley.  Good job kids!

Supersonic Flyball Tournament

Fun times in Santa Barbara this past weekend.  We had a nice leisurely drive down the 101 on Friday, leaving at around 2pm.  There was a slight timing issue as we were right at the tail end of the Presidential trip and traffic was bumper to bumper from Redwood City down to San Jose.  After that initial 2 hours, things moved quickly and we were within sight of the beach a few hours later.  Sure it took us until 8pm to get checked in and parked at the Warren Fairgrounds, but everyone arrived safely and Paceman finally survived a 5+ hours drive without any incidents... Way to go, buddy.

After an early morning start on Saturday, we joined everyone from Pacific Pups to run Cody and Cooper on an open team.  Even though we only practiced Cooper passing into Cody twice, we tried it and things seemed to be ok, until Cooper went up against Bay Racers.  Not sure what happened but he was insistent on going over to that box with or without a ball.  We tried moving him first, but that didn't work either so we scratched the race against BR.  BUT interestingly, we ran smoothly the rest of Saturday with Cooper in start.

On Sunday, Cooper was fine during the first race, but then he crossed again to Bay Racers but not any other team... So we put him last and he was fine once everyone ran in the other lane during races against BR.. We'll need to continue to train for this.... And figure out why its only during those races.  The good news, however, is that  Cooper measured 7" jump height officially and we're good to go for both NAFA and UFLI jumps...  Next tournament, Truckee....

Cooper's Box Rework

We're slowly making progress on reworking the bad habits Cooper learned from his initial training..  he spent the past two months reworking foundational skills and we're starting to see that pay off on his new box turn... good job Coops!

Paceman goes on the box....

So proud of little Paceman... After what seems like forever on foundational work, we finally started him on the wall with the hopes of getting his box turn down in a few weeks.  7 Days later, Paceman is now triggering the box and catching the ball... Can't wait to see how this turns out as he starts to figure his striding and runs.... Good job little guy... We love you...

Great NAFA Tournament in Carson City

After a long drive through a snow blizzard on top of Carson Pass, we made it from Redwood City, CA to Carson City, NV in an RV by midnight.  The temps went from 60 to 40 to 28 (with snow and ice) and back up to 40 by the time we got to Comstock RV Resort  and checked into our space....

Saturday's tournament started late, but we had a fantastic weekend with both Cooper and Cody running start!  Pulling in some great runs for their teams and having a fun time overall.  While we will miss the back to back tournaments over the past few weekends, it will be a great change to have a few weeks rest...

Carson City....

We are very excited for the Carson City, RFR Flyball tournament this weekend.  Both Cooper and Cody will be running.  There will be 3 teams so hopefully we'll be kept busy during this small tournament.  My only concern right now is the drive up to Carson City, NV in this weather and the potential wind.  AND Cooper has been skipping his last jump of late when running into Max so we want to make sure that he's staying inside the lane all the way....

Mutts Tournament in Fresno...

Cody and Cooper had a great time in Fresno over the weekend with their pals at the Mutts tournament.  Cooper and Cody both ran clean, with exception of my bad passing and not getting out of the lane after 2 false starts... BUT we still ended up with 1st place on Saturday and 2nd place on Sunday.

Las Vegas Flyball Tournament....

What a fun weekend we had in Last Vegas.  Cooper ran time and a half both days and Saturday was a bit of a challenge for him in the afternoon... BUT he pulled through for Sunday and I am so proud of him for getting through back to back to back races in both lanes on both sides!  Good job Coops...

We had a fantastic time with Steve, Anita, Michelle and Connor and bonded with our flyball friends from RFR and SS.  Everyone was awesome and we were able to have enough time to go out to dinner after the tournament... No buffets though.

Fun times in Madera....

Had a great time with our pals from SS and PP.  Cooper did really well all weekend with two mishaps... 1 Cross over because his ball rolled to the other lane and a crash into the dog coming out who suddenly stopped at the 7th jump... I started to hold him from passing, which became a safety action when the dog running out before him starting exiting the lane on the wrong side and ran back to our right... Why?  I don't know, but it could have been really, really bad safety wise.

BUT overall, he did great... All those phasing practice at the box went really well and he's pivoting this butt up and is now parallel to the ground vs being 90 degrees.. Great turn Coops!

Friday night pre tournament...

Cooper is not ready for tomorrow's UFLI tournament.... I think he just wants to nap...

Madera Tournament

Bailey does not look very excited about going to the Leaps of Faith tournament...

Great practice...

Cooper is doing well on re working his box turn and snapping of the box... So far both of our practices with Pups and SS have shown great progress.  He's now transitioning between props and keeping his butt high in the air during box work.  But there's always the wait and see what happens when he goes off to a tournament.... Yesterday he got a special treat from Starbucks for being a good sport!

Fun times at Surf City

Cody is doing awesome so far keeping constant at 5.4 throughout the day without any issues... Cooper is trunking his best to keep his attention on the job at hand and pulled out 527 points yesterday... More fun expected today...

Great first tournament of the year...

Congrats to Cody and his Silver Streaks team on their awesome runs this weekend. Thanks Fast Traxx Flyball for adopting Cooper as your height dog for the weekend and pulling out 3rd Place on Saturday and 1st on Sunday! And our ever awesome boy Bailey tried his darnest to carry his ball.. Mollie Miller, we're sending him home with you until he gets it right! What a great time we had with all our new friends! See you all again in two weeks!

Thanks everyone for making our first tournament as a new club fun and eventful...

Great day one....

We're having a great time at the SoCal flyball tournament... Cody's team placed second and Cooper's team placed 3rd... I'm proud of all the dogs and their efforts are showing through their training... So excited to see what happens this year!

The calm before the storm

So excited to see all the teams here tomorrow!