Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Rufus, Meet Bentley.

My mom was recently discharged from the hospital after a surgery involving her lower abdomen. It became very clear (through many conversations with medical professionals and friends) that the most important piece of equipment relevant to her recovery would be something soft to clutch to her stomach. After much, ahem, *bitching* about hospital pillows I had an Ah Ha moment. Rufus.




Rufus was won by me during a weak moment at the River Runners Christmas gift exchange. Since then, he's been sitting on my floor by my laundry. Imagine his sadness. And his utter joy at being put to use for such a noble cause! Not every stuffed dog has such purpose in life (unless, of course, you are a thin black basset hound named Sleepy Puppy).

So Rufus was put into service, and travelled home with my mother yesterday. Where he was instantly attacked by Ben, ripped out of the hands of my mom, and dragged to the bedroom where a serious mauling ensued.

Of course, how serious can a mauling be, if you spend most of it on your back?


Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Twelve Hours in a Cold Arena

Tournament? No. Seminar.

This past weekend a small representative of the River Runners attended the Touch N Go seminar in Edmonton. Touch N Go are a flyball team from Las Vegas, Nevada, and currently hold the World Record time of 15.096 seconds.

So what did we learn?

1. Pack a jacket... and wear shoes!

In the end, Saturday was a 12 hour day sitting around an icy arena in a sweater and sandals. Because smart kids leave their shoes and socks at home. The horror was repeated on Sunday ... for a more reasonable 8 1/2 hours. Sigh.

What did we learn actually related to flyball? Lots! TNG shared with us many tips and tricks that will not only help us gain speed on our dogs (and those up and coming), but will help make our dogs safer and able to run well into their senior years.

Most importantly ... the seminar did a lot to reaffirm not only our teaching methods, but our club philosophies. Could we ever hold a world record? Sure, if the category is "Litres of ice cream consumed by a sports team". I'm sure we could do it.

Will we ever run 15.095 seconds? Not likely. But man, can those 80 second runs be fun!!