Dogz Rule! Flyball Club

Trixi Trena - The Most Interesting JRT in the World

2011-09-27T19:25:00.005-05:00

Trixi Trena has been nominated for Region 5 MVP. So what better way to start the campaign than use our blog to get the word out?

She's valuable not only in flyball but also in helping around the house.

Trixi also is skilled in social networking. She even set up her very own facebook page.

No Soup For You

2011-03-22T18:59:00.002-05:00

Well, sadly Duu-wain has wised up to the sleeping blog posts. It's like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. Except instead of soup it's sleep. Duu-wain's started wearing his hoodie over his head so NO SLEEP FOR YOU.

Looks like Xero tends to agree with her dad on the topic too.

That's okay though . . . there's always some other unsuspecting sleeping dude in the DR! crating area.

If we run out of our own club members, we may have to bring back Mr. Bill. He's not afraid of venturing into unfamiliar territory . . . No club is safe when Mr. Bill's around. Mu-wahahahahaha.

I Missed You Guys . . . But Not That Much

2011-03-11T17:17:00.012-06:00

That's what Kim said to us when we were recapping the March tournament on our Dogz Rule! yahoogroup. She had to miss the tournament to help run her agility club's trial (she's been trial chair for quite some time).

While she was there, she ran some agility with Pogo, Trixi and Stella.

The highlight was Pogo. While he likes flyball well enough (he'll run for cheese), he sure LUVS agility. And he kicks some a#@ at it.

Here is a link to video of Kim and Pogo completing their NATCH-6 run (that's NATCH 6 times over!). I tried to embed the video on the blog post, but alas, Facebook does not seem to allow this. Darn you FB!

Pogo is one of the few dogs in the USA and Canada that have achieved this title. Not bad for a 10 year guy!

Oh and even though Kim was not at the March flyball tournament in person, she was supporting her flyball team in spirit. In the video you can see her wearing her DOGZ RULE! hoodie.

You rock Kim. And so does Pogo. Big congrats from your flyball family!

"Goals are Dreams with Deadlines"

2011-02-04T18:43:00.000-06:00

The title of this post is fitting. It's a quote by Diana Scharf Hunt. (Google never ceases to amaze me. I found the perfect quote and since I had no idea who the person was . . . I googled her too).

Almost exactly 1 year ago, DR! set a club goal. This ever important goal we were striving for did not include breaking into the 16s (we did), taking a couple of teams to CanAm (yep, we did) or even take 1st in Division 1 at the December tournament (heck yeah - we did), but it was to take a picture of Duwain sleeping at every tournament we went to this past year.

Guess what? We did that too.

January Tournament

March Tournament


April Tournament

June Tournament

July (with Mr. Bill)

August tournament (Kim subbed for Duwain)


On the way to CanAm

CanAm in October

DR!'s tournament in November

December Tournament

Welcome to DR! Danielle!

The Story of Trog aka Boys I'm Taking Charge Here

2011-02-03T19:18:00.006-06:00

So back in October, while we were at CanAm, Kim and Duu-wain gave me a new flyball nickname. Trog.

At first I thought they said "Tron" which got me quite excited because that was a pretty great movie (the original, not the remake. I heard the remake was not so awesome). If only I had one of those bikes that appeared when you leaned down . . . man, that would be sweet. But, no, it was not "Tron" it was "Trog" like "frog" with a "t" Kim said.

Now I didn't know what that meant. Perhaps it meant something cool? Anyway, I didn't have time to ponder such things - we were playing flyball at the CanAm. So I went about the day ~~deciding~~ conferring about lineups, ~~ordering~~ encouraging teammates to push passes, ~~scolding~~ consoling when we early passed and other sorts things a ~~dictator~~ team player does.

Since it was Saturday of the CanAm games, clubs were pushing for their fastest times to get to the Invitational. We came oh-so-close again to hitting the 16s with 4 Dogz, but instead of running really fast, we ended up running clean (even though we were trying for fast). 4 Dogz with Ballz placed 1st and Dogz in Da Hood placed 2nd.

At one point during the day, Duu-wain went shopping and got me a present - a new shirt. It was then when I started to suspect that "TROG" might not be such a good thing.

My new shirt. I like presents.

But, getting a new shirt made me happy.

Later that evening, when Kim popped in her iPod, I learned the true meaning of "Trog." It stems from a Todd Snider song. Todd Snider is a singer-songwriter and during his intros, he tells stories. Trog is mentioned in several song intros, but it is in the song "The Story of the Ballard of the Devil's Backbone Tavern" that we first learn about Trog.

Hmm, my teammates were trying to tell me something. They knew from practice and tournaments, I tend to be ~~bossy~~ driven and ~~controlling~~ dedicated. How could you not enjoy spending three days in a van with me!? Hey, at least I didn't make you pee in a bottle when we were making good time on the drive to Indy!

So the nickname has stuck. If you pass by our crating area at tournaments and glance at our job board, you may see "BY ORDER OF TROG." And that's the story.

DR! Does CanAm Part II - The Arrival

2010-10-17T10:55:00.000-05:00

Ugh. So I wrote this post and then Ctrl V'd a sentence and everything disappeared. Even Ctrl Z did not make it return. Thanks Blogger. Appreciate your every-1-second-auto-save function so you saved the blank post after you ate all my words. It was the bestest, funniest, super-est blog post in the world before it was erased. Now I have to try to recreate it. You will just have to take my word that it was totally awesome and whatever I write now will not live up to the post that once was. Damn you Blogger.

So on Thursday, we woke up in Jackson, TN (at the LaQuinta of course) and prepared ourselves for another day of driving. The hotel had a large open field in the back so we decided to let our dogs run around a bit before heading our for another 7 hours of driving.

The 8 dogs racing around created quite a buzz in the little town of Jackson. Residents of the neighborhood butting up to the LaQuinta and fellow hotel-goers stopped to watch 8 dogs race like maniacs around the field. Thankfully, no one asked us if we were taking the dogs to the "euthanasium."

Duuu-wain was throwing the frisbee and tried to keep it low (due to accident-prone Marz). Marz still somehow managed to trip and roll 5 or 6 times across the field. It was like that scene in Princess Bride where Wesley and Princess Buttercup are rolling down the hill bouncing. Except Marz managed to do that on flat ground. That's my boy - safety precautions in place and he STILL manages to find some way to potentially hurt himself.

After stretching the dogs legs and stopping for Starbucks, we were back on track again. We continued the trek to Indiana with Dr. Nightmare leading the way.

Kim's self portrait of our trip. Somewhere abouts Kentucky.

Who is Dr. Nightmare you ask? You can see him in the picture above. He's the little square screen attached to the windshield. That's right, Dr. Nightmare is the Garmin. We had started out with Matt, the Australian cyclist, as our guide. However, after 13 hours of the same random comments ("Is tomorrow a rest day?" and "Did you remember to put the box on the roof") over and over again, we decided it was time for a change.

Now Kim has this nifty little contraption that allows her to surf the web on the road. The only drawback is It. Is. Slow. I. Mean. Really. Slow. Slower than dial-up. At least with dial-up you can go make yourself a sandwich, come back and the page is loaded. I think we would have had time to make some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese before this thing would load a page. But hey - we had internet while driving through the boonies so that is pretty darn cool.

Anyway, Kim used her internet contraption to visit the Garmin website. 45 minutes later, Dr. Nightmare came to life and led the way.

Dr. Nightmare is a little creepy (wanted to make stops at the graveyard, asked for us to pick up rope and a shovel) but somewhat concerned with safety (warned us to be wary of hitchhikers . . . especially after midnight). Every once in a while Dr. Nightmare would throw in an evil laugh (mu-hahahahaha). He is quite pretentious too. But, he did get us to our "miserable destination."

Yep! We finally made it Indianapolis after something like 20 or so odd hours of driving! We stopped to drop our luggage off at the hotel (LaQuinta of course) and then hopped back in the van to head to the tournament site at the Fairgrounds.

Kim called Veronica & Stephen to let them know we had ARRIVED and to meet us over at the tournament site for unloading. Veronica & Stephen were already in Indy (they flew) and had spent the day sightseeing. One of their stops was, of course, Walmart. Did you know Walmarts in Indiana carry liquor? Good thing Kim, Duuu-wain and I planned to go to the Walmart later.

Anyway, we made it to the Fairgrounds. Kim and Duuu-wain made me get out of the van and scope out the joint to find our crating area. They waited patiently in the van while I wandered through the West Pavilion to find our spot next to Texas Heat and Alamo Racing Canines. Once I located our spot, I waved them over so we could start setting up everything.

Meanwhile, Veronica & Stephen had arrived and were meeting up with some folks from another team to pick up their new baby, soon to be named "Tempest," a border-stack (borderjack X staffy). Little did they know, Tempest would turn out to be part pterodactyl. Her ancestors must be from the Mesozoic age because no mammal emits the sounds this little pup makes.

Looks can be deceiving. This dog is part dinosaur.

Then, after most of the heavy stuff was unloaded, Kim and Duuu-wain decided they would take the dogs for a walk. I continued with setting up the crating area (put the balls in the buckets, taped down the extensions cords, etc.). Yes, I worked hard whilst they played with their pups. Perhaps this is one of the reasons they affectionately named me "Trog." (more on the story of Trog later).

Finally, we were done and ready to head back towards the hotel for dinner and then a cup of pillow. Kathy & David had arrived so we met them at a little "Mexican" food joint near the hotel. Being from Texas and having real Tex-Mex available on a regular basis, this little restaurant did not compare. We probably should have clued in when the menu said "Carne Guizada." What is "Guizada?" We still don't know.

After dinner, we walked the pups and headed up to our rooms for bed to prepare for day 1 of the CanAms.

DR! Does CanAm Part I - The Drive

2010-10-16T14:37:00.008-05:00

A small portion of DR! members hit the road and headed out for NAFA's CanAm tournament in Indianapolis, IN October 8, 9 & 10. Some (Veronica & Stephen) were lucky and took to the skies. Kathy & David have been touring the US so they started heading towards Indiana earlier in the week.

The others (myself, Kim and Duwain) loaded up ourselves, 8 dogs, 4 laptops (yes, Kim has 2), 3 iPods (and not the cute ones like iPod from TDR), 2 Garmins, flyball equipment, luggage, chairs, tables, etc. in the "band van." We left early Wednesday morning to begin our trek to the tournament that would soon become a Guinness World Record for largest flyball tournament in the world.

Since I live, breath and eat flyball, I of course was ready to hit the road and get driving. We (me) had planned to leave from my house at 7 AM Wednesday morning. I loaded up crates, equipment and most everything I could several nights in advance. At about 6:45am, I loaded up my dogs and waited. About 6:55am, my phone rang. It was Kim.

Apparently Duuuu-wain had left something back at his house in Buda, TX. Homey say what???!!!

Now I live in North Austin. In rush hour traffic, a trip down and back could take hours. So, being the lovable OCD, bossy, need-to-be on schedule gal that I am, I asked what it was . . .

Medicine for Eris

Well, that's good news! Like every self respecting multiple dog owner, I have a supply-o-doggie drugs. What kind of meds ? . . . Thyroid meds.

Damn, the one thing I don't have.

Then giggles ensued from the other end of the line. Apparently my teammates found my unbridled enthusiasm a perfect opportunity to make a funny on me. They were 5 minutes away. Har-har-har.

Me: You guys suck.

A few minutes later, they pulled up and we loaded the rest of the luggage and 5 dogs. After a quick stop at the gas station and then Starbucks, we hit the road and were on our way.

Our first stop was in Temple (yes, only about an hour into our trip). But it was for good reason . . . we stopped at the LaQuinta to get one of their nifty little books that listed locations all across the US. We debated about joining the hotel-goers to partake in the continental breakfast, but since we were a bit behind schedule, decided against it (much to Kim's dismay) and continued on our route.

About noon or so, we stopped in a stripmall in some tiny Texas town for a dog break and lunch. While Kim and Duwain were ordering their sandwiches, I went back outside to eat and wait with the dogs (we left the van doors open so the dogs wouldn't cook in the car).

Pic of the van taken when we were leaving Indiana, but you get the idea

I was happily enjoying my 6" inch roastbeef sub when a female employee exited the Verizon store next to Subway and headed over towards me. I prepared myself to answer the possible questions - "are these all your dogs" or "what kind of dogs are those" or even "are those show dogs" - you know, the regular questions when you travel with a big pack? Well, she did not ask any of those. What did she say?

Are you taking those dogs to be euthanized?

Ummmm . . . what?

After I repeatedly assured her that these dogs were all loved and owned and not being transported to the "euthanasium" she went back to her store. I suppose in this little town a big van, packed full of dogs and junk could only mean one thing . . . . Anyway, gotta give her props for willing to help pups in need.

The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly. Most of it like this:

Kim catching some zzzzs

Haven't you guys learned to not to nap in the proximity of a camera? Or at least do as I do and put a hood over your face. Or else you'll get caught in the act.

Ahhh, Duwain doing what he does best - napping somewhere abouts Memphis, TN

Day 1 was done. 13 hours of driving with somewhere around 5 or 6 stops. We ended up in Jackson, TN for the night (at a LaQuinta of course, good thing we stopped in Temple for the book!). Stay tuned for our continued adventures to Indy!

Random Foto Friday

2010-09-10T19:42:00.001-05:00

Mr. Bill Does Reliant.

Nuff said.

Flyball is a Full Contact Sport

2010-08-29T09:39:00.009-05:00

DR! returned to Huntsville August 14th & 15th for Texas Heat's Great Balls of Fire tournament. In past years, the August tournament has been a little bit smaller since some clubs are still recovering from Reliant. Not this year - there were something like 40 teams!

We took our regular traveling teams - 4 Dogz with Ballz and Dogz in Da Hood. No new club bests, but a highlight of the weekend was Pooper (fka Velvet - see previous blog post) running in BOTH lanes! Pooper is a smart dog, new to the sport and realized how much quicker it was to bypass the jumps when racing another dog. Pooper only did this in the right lane. With the help of Kim's agility expertise (normal handler Duwain was out braving the treacherous rapids on a river), Pooper ran pretty much error free.

Pooper did, however, need to break in her new handler.

It's all fun and games until somobody loses an eye

Now the club *may* try to blame the injuries on me as I have been known for things like shoving teammates into to the ring gates (Marcy) and punching folks in the mouth (Kim), but there were very good reasons for my violence -

Marcy cut in front of me when we were racing (she forgot she was not running anchor). I had a split second decision of her or me - I chose me.
During one of those "oh crap I think I am going to early pass" moments, I hesitated for a split second, threw my arms back and felt my closed fists collide with something . . . I thought "now that doesn't feel like a dog" . . . my suspicions were confirmed when I heard the scream

So despite my history, I promise you I was not involved in the recent bout of injuries.

Anyway, back to the topic of the tournament. BOTH of our teams took FIRST place in our respective divisions (Regular II - 4 Dogz & Open II - Hoodz). Yep, we rock.

Newer member Alissa caught the fast flyball dog bug by running the ride which we call Marz. And if I do say so myself, she did a spectacular job! Even got a 3.94 on the clock with him. Awesome job Alissa!

Oh, and even though Duwain was not in attendance, we managed to get a sleeping beauty pic. Though this one is staged, me thinks Kim did a great impersonation. The ball cap and ever so slightly opened mouth seal the deal.

P.S. To go along with the Flyball is a Full Contact Sport topic, apparently Veronica may have a torn ACL. How'd she get it? My dog. Yep, Marz is as gentle as I am with our teammates.

Mr. Bill does Reliant Nap Time

2010-08-11T12:34:00.000-05:00

Flyball can be exhausting. That's why it is a good idea to catch some shuteye in the down time between races. Except when Mr. Bill's around.

Even other clubs are not safe from Mr. Bill's inquisitive nature.

However, Mr. Bill does prefer the ladies. He's a bit of a peeping tom.

And how could we resist . . .

Mr. Bill Does Reliant . . . DR! Style

2010-08-10T18:56:00.005-05:00

Well kiddos, sorry for the late tournament synopsis. This weekend is the August tournament so I figured, whoops, I procrastinated a bit too long so better get cracking.

It's been a couple of weeks since DR! returned from a weekend at the biggest Texas flyball tournament held during the Reliant Series of Dogs Shows. It was a bucket o' fun.

This year we tried a new home away from home at the La Quinta Galleria. It was high class. Even had an elevator.

How many dogs can fit on an elevator? Apparently a lot.

Misfitz ran during Friday's 1 day tournament. I did not arrive until that evening (all by myself thank you very much Garmin) but Kim was really good about texting updates. I especially liked the text about Pooper (the dog formerly known as Velvet). Pooper ate a bunch of Xero's Evo dog food and pooped non-stop ALL WEEKEND. Misfitz lost their very first heat because Pooper fouled in the ring. Pooper fka Velvet, you may have the title of being the "Dog Most Full of Poo," but Mim still reigns as the "Only Dog able to Poop and Run Flyball at the Same Time and Still Beat the Other Dog."

Pooper fka Velvet did redeem herself and ran spectacular the rest of the day with lots of potty breaks.

After Friday night awards, we all gathered for dinner. The Fart Machine was not in attendance this time, but we did have a special guest. Duwain was very thoughtful and requested a booster seat so our new friend could see above the table.

Oh noooooo, Mr. Bill

The atmosphere of the restaurant was very relaxing and casual. It did have its perks being a Mexican food restaurant - there was live entertainment. Mr. Bill enjoys a good mariachi number.

Ooooooooollllllllleeeeeee Mr. Bill

Mr. Bill even fronted us some cash so we could put in some requests. We picked songs that Mr. Bill was familiar with so he could sing along.

The food was pretty tasty. There's nothing like cheesy-going-right-to-your-thighs-enchiladas after a day of running flyball. Some of the folks took advantage of our choice of restaurant and got themselves some of those gigantor margaritas. Mr. Bill was one of them. Boy is he frisky when he gets a little liquored up.

Naughty Mr. Bill sneaks a peek.

After dinner, we left the restaurant and headed back to the La Quinta so we could get a good night's rest before the Saturday / Sunday tournament. Stay tuned for details on the weekend results . . .

Gearing Up for the Big One

2010-07-18T08:11:00.001-05:00

Next week is the biggest Texas tournament of the year. Lone Star Ruffnecks hosts Let Freedom Run during the Reliant Series of Dog Shows. It truly is a Texas-sized tournament with tons of doggie stuff to see and do.

Texas teams look forward to this event every summer. There's lots of good racing and more importantly, lots of good shopping. There is every type of doggie vendor you can think of . . . plus some. You can end up spending tons of money on things you didn't know you needed.

Also, flyball isn't the only event - there's agility, freestyle, frisbee and of course, conformation.

This year we'll be heading to Reliant with 3 teams (yes, we finally have enough members in attendance to form 3 teams!!) and some new members. It should be a flyballin' fun time (especially if Duwain brings along the Fart Machine).

swimming for strength/fun

2010-07-01T14:35:00.000-05:00

Scrapbooking design customized with Smilebox

Flyball Tip #1

2010-06-21T20:07:00.001-05:00

TRYING TO SAVE TIME BY RE-RUNNING ALL YOUR FLAGGED DOGS AT ONCE WILL NOT HELP YOU WIN.

*Side Note: No Dogz or People were hurt in the making of this video. Okay, well maybe some people. But the dogz were okay and that's all that really matters.

**Side Note II: Had we re-run in order (Marz then Velvet) we most likely could have won because the dog that re-ran on the other side flagged on his re-run and had to do it again. We were laughing too hard to even attempt to finish that heat.

***Side Note III: If the height dog tags along, that's okay. As long as the dog that was flagged finishes, you may get the win.

Smells Like DR! Spirit!

2010-06-20T21:39:00.007-05:00

After missing the May tournament, Dogz Rule! was more than ready to get back out in the rings and have some fun! Oh, and we also played a little flyball too.

Hot Rod Hounds hosted this one and they did a fantastic job. This time the tournament was back in Huntsville. Did you know that Huntsville has the oldest TX prison facility (opened in 1849)? It's a true fact - I googled it to make sure. Check out Wikipedia if you don't believe me.

We fielded two teams - 4 Dogz with Ballz (Division II) and Dogz in Da Hood (Open II). Da Hoodz had it rough in their division; racing format was 3 of 3. Once you get warmed-up after running a couple of heats, the race is over! However, with several close races, they fought tooth and nail to snag a SECOND place win. Pretty darn sweet!

Veronica and Boxloader Extraordinaire (aka Stephen) napping between races

Trixi was running lots of sub-6 times and even posted a 5.7 on the clock. Perhaps she is like a fine wine? Gets better with age? Or perhaps it was because Kim actually got to run her some races - I can't even remember the last time Kim got to run her own dog. We likey when Trixi gets a fire under her bum.

The other Hoodz dogz (Nico, Eris, Sisko, Stella, Scooter) also ran really well. Nico, the canine face of Hotel Contessa in San Antonio, pulled a new personal best of 4.67!! Nico's trying not to let his modeling career go to his head. But sometimes it is hard to be a celebrity.

Don't Judge. Tis De Fame, De Pressure. Tis hard to be bootiful.

Our 4 Dogz with Ballz took third in Division II. Well, we actually tied for second in tournament points, but LSR had one more heat on us. BUT, that's not the good news! DR! set a NEW CLUB BEST of 1~~7.221~~ ~~17.111~~ 17.092! Line-up was Remix, Marz, Ryp and Velvet. Not bad for Velvet's second tournament.

Other points of interest:

Newest member Alissa proving she knew how to party DR! style by showing up to dinner Friday night and getting pulled over by Huntsville's finest for having a headlight out. She sweet talked him in to letting her off with a warning. Atta girl!
Duwain brought our newest FAVORITE toy to dinner . . . The Remote Controlled FART MACHINE. Hilarity ensued. We remotely activated those fart sounds throughout dinner. It's amazing how fart sounds have the potential to bring people together. They even enticed the nice young and impressionable children at the table behind us to start making fart noises with their hands. The parents were none too pleased with us.

Tears of Laughter due to the Fart Machine. It really is new and improved!

Flyball Newbie Stephen (BLE=Boxloader Extraordinare) boxloaded for both teams and did a fantastic job! He didn't even flinch when 3 dogs came running down the lane at the same time (more on this in a later post).
Kim calmly stating "It smells like farts" in the lane right as the lights started going up the tree. I do believe I was a little late on Remix's release I was laughing so hard thinking about the previous night's dinner (see Fart Machine above).

And, what you all have been waiting for . . .

Sleeping Beauty

Puppy Awesomeness!

2010-04-21T17:34:00.002-05:00

The Longest Tournament in the World

2010-04-19T19:40:00.007-05:00

Well, maybe not the longest tournament in the world. Though fun, it was a long weekend. It's been a week and I think I am still recovering. It kind of reminded me of the good ole days of flyball . . . yes, kiddos, back in the day when we would travel through snow to the tournament site with crates strapped on our backs, time by hand and the judges would start the races by flailing their arms.

But, seriously, DR! thanks TX Twisters for putting on a great tournament. It was packed full of racing and all the flyball anyone could ask for.

Marz over the jumps. Photo courtesy of Ruetz Dogz Photography

As in usual DR! fashion, the weekend started off with our regularly scheduled drama - except this time when I called Kim, I was able to say "It's not one of my dogs for once!" This time it was our flyball running machine, Eris, the Goddess of Discord and Strife. She suddenly came up with an intermittent limp on her front leg . . . although I think that since all my pups were healthy, Eris took it upon herself to make sure we stressed out a bit. She takes her job as Goddess very seriously. Even if we don't.

Photo courtesy of Ruetz Dogz Photography

With some last minute lineup changes (thank goodness it was two 1 day tournaments!), Our Hoodz team was able to secure SECOND place on both Saturday and Sunday in Division V with running dogz of: Sisko, Scooter, Pogo, Trixi AND the recipient of the first Harry Houdini award, , Velvet. Yes indeedy - our very own Velvet made her debut and did fantastic for her first time achieving her FD and FDX! With a P.B. line-to-line of a 4.18, she'll be a fantastic addition to the A team!

4 Dogz (Remix, Marz, Ryp and Stella) ran well in Division II taking THIRD on Saturday and SECOND on Sunday. We ran multiple 17 sec runs and were oh so close to setting a new club record. Stella was so rev'd up by Marz that she forgot she was afraid of the whistle. And her smack talkin' got Marz going, he ran a good majority of his runs sub-4 line-to-line (thank you to Karen from TDR for sharing the secrets of video timing! My type-A personality is in heaven!).

4 Dogz - them's fightin' words. Photo courtesy of Ruetz Dogz Photography

Even more exciting was the warm-up debut of Sena's pups - Nick and Rue. With Sena's hard work and dedication, it won't be long until we see those two in the lane!

With what little downtime we had, we spent it as we usually do - reviewing video and of course . . . causing trouble.

Be verwy, verwy, qwiet, I'm hunting wabbits . . . er, rubber chickens.
Dey like de wine - brings em out of hiding.

Thanks again to TXT for a fun weekend!

Sleeping Beauty III

2010-04-16T20:20:00.002-05:00

Spring Fling III, April 10-11
Special Guest Appearance by Sam Ford

Shamrocks + Greasy Cheeseburgers = Good Fun

2010-03-10T18:35:00.007-06:00

Dogz Rule! is home after another flyball-filled weekend in Huntsville. Top Dog Racers were our hosts at their annual Shamrock Showdown tournament and as always, they did a fantastic job. It's the little things they do - like hand lotion and good smelling soaps in the bathroom - that make the tournament all that much more fun.

Just a handful of DR! members were in attendance - The Ruetzes, Sena, Kathy, Duwain, myself, Veronica and her newly flyball addicted man, Steve. Welcome to the world of flyball Steve. Yes, we are crazy dog people.

L to R - Veronica with Nico, Ben with Ryp, Kathy with Marz, Me with Remix. Those are Steve's legs in the background. Yes, we put him to work.

Photo Courtesy of RuetzDogz Photography

The day started out with the luck of the Irish behind us . . . we were able to win our first race against LSR's A team (haha! That's what you get for GOOSING us last time!). Then things were a bit sticky. We lost one race due to ball dropping (um, Ryp, it is called flyBALL) and another due to an itchy trigger finger (if the early pass hat was there, I'd be wearing it).

After a couple of not-so-pretty races, we recovered and were able to get it together. The Misfitz (a bunch of team dogz that normally do not race together) ended up placing SECOND in Division II. We even ran in the 17s several times!

Some of the good times included:

Large Greasy Cheeseburgers (no false advertising here)

ERIS, Goddess of Discord and Strife, achieving her FMCh (15,000)

Photo Courtesy of RuetzDogz Photography

Ben learning not to get your appendages between a terrier and the toy
New-to-Dogz-Rule! but not to flyball, Nico, making his debut with the club.
Ryp walking away with his FM (5,000) and Remix earning her FDCh (500)

*Shameless Brag Warning*
My little Remix did spectacular for her second tournament. She was running mostly 4.0s and then, on Sunday, ran some 3.9s over her own jump height!!! Now if I can only tighten that turn . . . (sigh) flyball truly is like crack.

Sleeping Beauty (part Deux)

2010-03-09T19:40:00.002-06:00

Shamrock Showdown, March 6-7, 2010

Crack that Back!

2010-02-28T09:01:00.001-06:00

A couple of Thursdays ago, Marz twisted his back playing fetch at the park. I threw the ball for Marz, turned, threw another ball for Remix, turned back to Marz and saw him coming down the hill doing an odd twisting motion. It was one of those movements where you think to yourself, "Uh-oh, that didn't look good."

I stretched all his legs and examined him for any injury - Marz just wanted to get up and play more ball and seemed fine. We stopped the game and walked around a bit when I noticed a bloody pawprint on my jeans - alas, Remix had torn a pad. So, we packed up and went home.

The next couple of days, Marz showed no indication of discomfort or pain. We went to flyball practice as usual on Sunday. His box turns were poopy, a little more poopy than usual. When I was reviewing the video, I noticed that Marz was taking 2 strides between the jump and the box. Normally he takes one and throws himself at the box. We've tried EVERYTHING to teach him to take two strides and nothing ever took (reverted back to muscle memory). I wish I could say it was our re-training working, but, I knew it wasn't . . . something was wrong. I stretched, prodded, flexed his legs and I could only elicit discomfort when I rubbed his lumbar muscles. Ugh. A back injury.

So, Monday we went to our vet and Dr. Wilson confirmed that indeed, he had torqued his back. One week of rest, some Metacam, and return to exercise to see how he does. I also asked her about seeing a doggie chiropractor to see if this might give him some relief. Dr. Wilson said it would be okay if we wanted to try an adjustment as well.

Kathy and her dogs go to Love Pet Hospital which offers acupuncture and chiropractic services as well as traditional care. We decided to give them a try.

Marz went to work with me (where he was spoiled rotten and loved by all my coworkers) since our appointment was at 10:40am in South Austin (about 10-15 minutes away from my work). When we got to the appointment, the hospital staff was very appreciative that I brought fully completed paperwork (typed up in Acrobat - yes, I am THAT anal retentive and OCD). We were escorted into the room with little to no wait.

Our appointment was with Dr. Davenport and she was great with Marz. She worked well over his body to find the areas where he was uncomfortable, felt him moving, discovered there was a bit of subluxation in his shoulder (but it popped back no problem) and was very thorough. After her initial exam and our consultation, Dr. Davenport did the adjustment. The impact on Marz was incredible. He stood still and silently and with each adjustment a wave of relief washed over his face. I could actually see the results in his expression!

We also did acupuncture - Marz kept trying to roll over for belly rubs, so next time we'll do "cold laser" acupuncture. It apparently has the same effects, but the wiggly squiggly dogs do not have to worry about popping out their needles.

Our next appointment is Tuesday and Dr. D. will assess to see if he's well enough to compete next weekend. I think I will also see about setting up a monthly chiropractic visit for ALL the competitive dogs - I know how I feel after getting adjusted and saw how Marz felt. Makes sense to give all the dogs the benefit of regular chiropractic maintenance.

So, we're sold on the back cracking for dogs.

Agility Brags

2010-02-10T23:21:00.004-06:00

Pogo earned his ADCH title last weekend at the USDAA trial in San Marcos. We had been chasing our last Q which had to be a Snooker Super Q for 10 months. I had just decided to give up! Then Sunday, in our Snooker course, instead of asking Pogo for four 7s in the opening I picked a course that flowed well for his skills and we finished the course! But only took one 7, one 5 and two 4s, so I knew we were well below all the four 7 dogs and there was no way we would be in the top 15%. I notice Jane, looking at the score sheet and she looks up and motions to me that I’m in second place. I suddenly got weak in the knees. There were still at least 10 more dogs to run. It was a long wait to see if we would get completely knocked out and a lot of “Oh, Darn, too bad” (with an uncontrollable smile) as each competitor knocked a bar or went off course. We ended up 3^rd Place out of all the 22” and 26” dogs.

Then, on Monday, I found out that both Pogo and Trixi had finished in the Top Ten dogs for their breed in the country for NADAC agility.

My dogs rock!

Sleeping Beauty

2010-02-05T19:20:00.008-06:00

The new goal for each tournament will be to see if we can snap a pic of Duwain snoozing.

Shouldn't be too hard.

Duwain and Xero January 2010, Huntsville

Duwain and Xero, August 2009, Huntsville

Duwain and Eris, sometime 2009, Hutto, TX

Don't worry though - if we catch other members in the act of napping, we'll post pics of that too . . .

We'll be honest . . . the wine bottle was planted. Surprisingly, Denise didn't wake up when we did it.

Better watch out! We may have to graduate from just pictures to permanent marker . . .

Good Times! January 30-31 Tournament

2010-02-04T17:58:00.023-06:00

After a long fun weekend, DR! is home and resting their flyball muscles (you know . . . the muscles you only know you have because they ache after a tournament?). It was a successful tournament in Huntsville and co-hosts Electric Dawg and Flat Out Flyers did a spectacular job. Good times were had all around.

Both 4 Dogz with Ballz and Dogz in Da Hood took 2nd place in their respective divisions.

Highlights include:

4 Dogz getting GOOSED by LSR. Not once but twice.
Karl finishing his provisional judging hours and applying to become an APPROVED judge.

Duwain's BC, Velvet, made up for the last Huntsville visit (where she decided playtime was not over and took a tour of the fairgrounds). She ran several full runs in warm-ups. Lookin' good Velvet, lookin' good.
Kim boxloaded for the first time in 11 years of flyball! Though difficult to resist, she made sure not to pet the dogs as they ran by and there were no flags on our boxloader!
Trixi ran sub-6 line-to-line the majority of the tournament. She even has a new PB of 5.5. Perhaps Kim will be boxloading more often???

Ben ran Ryp on 4 Dogz for multiple races. After a couple of near collisions with Jenn & Hawkeye (running anchor tends to make you forget there are dogs behind you), he found his spot, got some good passes AND allowed Jenn to see for the pass.

You may ask why I wasn't running Ryp for these races? It is because REMIX made her debut and earned her FD & FDX! Aside from a couple of no-balls due to excitement, she did great for her first time in the lanes AND first time over her height of 9".

Sandra - Flyball Photographer Extraordinaire - launches RuetzDogz. With a brand new camera (Sandra only got it the day before), a crazy huge zoom lens, low light settings and fast action, she was able to get the hang of it in no time and snap some great action shots! Unfortunately for her, this means we will be bugging her for photos of our dogz in action!!!

Overall it was a great tourney. The Hoodz dogz and 4 Dogz ran well and were solid. We're looking forward to March with the Misfitz team.

Flyballing in the New Year!!

2010-01-13T10:24:00.006-06:00

DR dogz & handlers are gearing up for the Jailhouse Rock Flyball Tournament in a few weeks. What a great way to rock in the New Year!!

"One for the height dog, two for the team, three to get ready - now go dogz go!"

Trixi stars in educational video

2009-12-26T12:05:00.005-06:00

We all knew Trixi was talented in flyball, agility, snake killing and tree climbing. She now stars in an educational video. Check out "How to Clean Your Comforter" on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nszsKJi-A4

Posted by her manager,
Kim

Wikazri Practice

2009-11-22T19:24:00.034-06:00

On the rare occasion when the Texas weather is tolerable, we'll hold practices outside at Wikazri field in South Austin. Our normal flyball haunt, Austin Canine Central, was booked for a T-Touch seminar today. So, some of us flyball addicts packed up our dogs and equipment, and headed to practice in Kim's backyard (literally).

Practices at Wikazri tend to be more laid-back than those at ACC. Perhaps it's the nice weather that gets to us and we often find ourselves eating peanut brittle and drinking cucumber water while the dogs play amongst themselves.

When we first arrive at Wikazri, there is usually the initial chase game.

Neener, neener, you'll never catch meeeeeeee!

Then there are those like Marz, who entertain themselves.

Must fit in mouth.

All the while the chase game continues . . .

Ha ha! I zig and zag like the wind. You'll never catch meeeeeee!!!

Eventually we get on to actual flyball training.

Sometimes the little ones make a break for it . . .

Muwhahahaha. I SAID you'll NEVER catch meeeee!

Then it's time to cool off in the pool . . . that is if someone else is not already hogging the water.

And then another game of chase and fetch.

I bite bottoms.

What better way to end the post than with a picture of a cute puppy?

Introducing FALCON

2009-11-21T18:45:00.008-06:00

Thanks to some quick thinking by Shah, our endless search for Benjamin's border collie puppy is now over. We introduce you to FALCON, our two month old smooth coat B/W from a long line of working BC's. She's a bundle of energy with lots of tug drive. Falcon definitely has the BC herding instinct and we have the holey pants and ankles to prove it.

Pogo Takes Special Award from national Championships

2009-11-18T23:11:00.002-06:00

NADAC contacted me last week to let me know that Pogo was awarded the Highest Scoring Versatility Dog with Zero Course Faults at the NADAC Championships in Tennessee. They didn’t do the calculations until after they got back into the office and then just sent me the award but they sent it to the wrong address so I’m finding out about it late.
Versatility was the designation they used for the dog competing in all classes at the Elite level.
I’m really proud of the little guy. The award came in the mail yesterday.
Kim

Pogo Earns NATCH 5 & Wins the Red Hot Summer Challenge

2009-09-16T22:57:00.007-05:00

Last Saturday, at the New Hope Agility Trial, Pogo earned his NATCH 5 award. A NATCH stands for NADAC Agility Trial Champion and requires 490 points at the Elite (most advanced) level. Pogo just earned his 5th one! (Yes, that's 2,450 Elite points) Rumor has it that he is the first dog in Texas to have earned that many NATCHs.

Mimosas were injoyed by all, except for Pogo, who had many sticks of cheese covered with peanut butter.

Then Sunday morning, they gave out the awards for the Red Hot Summer Challenge and low and behold, Pogo won the 20" division. They gave us a wonderful embroideried bag.

We were riding high on the hog! Check out the picture of our crating area.

A Great Weekend of Flyball Indeed!

2009-08-31T07:28:00.012-05:00

Dogz Rule! had a great weekend of flyball in Huntsville. We're all home and boy, are we pooped!

4Dogz held onto a strong second place in their division with some really tight runs, even sweeping one of Top Dog Racer's teams at the end of the day on Sunday in three clean heats. We had 10 exciting runs in the 17's!

After a scary first race where they broke out TWICE, Hoodz swept their division (they gave up a few heats but no races except for that first one all weekend) and took first place. No doubt about it, we stomped the competition into submission.

Rumz was in an Open division with a large spread in seed times. With two seconds between the first seeded team and their own seed, it would have been difficult to win on time, so our principal goal was to run clean (and thus win on consistency), give the six dogs as much mat time as possible, and have a good time. By forcing the other teams to fight for their wins and taking heats here and there in every race, we mixed up the placement order by the end of the weekend. It's great to be a spoiler!

Here are some weekend highlights:

Harry got his ONYX title with 21 points to spare (more on the circusk9 blog).

Ryp and Sisko got their FDCH-Gold titles.

Lauren punched Kim in the mouth. I'll let one of them provide gory details.

Marz ran a personal best of 3.88 seconds. I was honored to handle him all weekend.

Bad dog Velvet ran away and half a dozen DR! people mobilized to look for her. She was found; it probably took longer to find all of the DR! people and get them back to the arena.

Kim wants to be The Most Interesting Woman in the World.

Duncan raced all weekend (he ran in 7 of Rumz' 8 races), had some great saves from box bobbles, looked very hard at a JRT in the other lane, and still decided to return to Jenn. We won't be able to call him a green dog for much longer!

Ben box-loaded for Rumz all weekend. I think he now better understands one of the basic box-loader tenets: after the fourth dog comes through, always reload the box with a ball, any ball.

Ivy is looking fantastic, completing several full runs in her warm up slot with Hoodz.

Thirteen-year-old Wich ran two error-free races, both of which included four heats, with beautiful four-foot box turns. He was so excited to be racing with his buddies. Old Dogz Rule!

Our prez Karl is being fast-tracked for NAFA judge certification and it seemed like he was in the ring all weekend in his black-and-white stripes. He judged quite a few DR! races and has to be commended for his professionalism and calmness. Of course, he was also tapped to judge Human Flyball on Sunday. Karl, does that count towards the certification?

Hoodz was undefeated all weekend, except for the first race where we broke out twice, beating the other team on time although NAFA didn't quite see it that way.

Dogz Rule! Off To Huntsville

2009-08-25T13:11:00.003-05:00

The club is heading off to Huntsville, Texas, for a great weekend of flyball hosted by our good buddies Texas Heat. They are trying out a new facility there and we are all excited about checking it out.

As usual, most of us are staying at the always-pet-friendly La Quinta!

Allow me to share a personal La Quinta story with you. I drove to Utah this past December with three of my dogs to spend the Christmas holiday with my good friend Gosia. The weather was threatening to become horrific--giant snow storm on its way down from the northwest. I was racing west and north as fast as I could. On our second day, I made it from Amarillo to Moab but found I just couldn't drive any farther. It was December 23 and I was worried about getting a room. Any room. As I was cruising down the main drag in Moab, I saw the familiar LQ sign. I parked, went in, and found they had rooms available! The woman at the desk was welcoming and friendly, and pulled the latest weather reports off the internet after she checked me in. The hotel had a large, clean, fenced potty area out back (with a stocked potty bag dispenser and a large trash can nearby) where the dogs could stretch their legs. As usual for LQ, the room was clean and quiet. We woke the next morning at 5am to heavily falling snow, but that's a whole 'nother story!

My red Dodge rental in the Moab LQ parking lot, December 24, 2008.

Anyway, we are certainly not expecting snow this weekend in Huntsville.

DR! is taking three teams to this small tournament. Stay tuned for results!

Trixi, Warrior Princess

2009-08-11T17:42:00.005-05:00

Trophies.

I'm posting this for Trixi, our very own Warrior Princess. Who could believe that tiny little dog could kill an adult coral snake (scary, poisonous, and most certainly pissed) and what may be a juvenile rat snake (not poisonous but has a nasty bite and also most certainly pissed)? In the same morning! Whew! I guess that silver tooth has given her super snake-killing powers.

The postscript to this event is that I convinced Kim to go back out to the field, brush the ants off the carcasses, bag them up, and stash them in her freezer! Ew, ew, and ew. I am still surprised she went along with this.

I have a professor friend at UT Austin, Chris Bell, a vertebrate paleontologist, who studies living species of snakes and lizards in order to better understand fossil species. He is particularly excited about getting his hands on the coral snake, head and guts intact, because he can study skull morphology (important in identifying snakes in the fossil record) as well as what it ate (gives us an idea of the kinds of environments that snakes live in).

Sometime in the next few days, I expect that Kim and Chris will meet up in some hot parking lot of some fast food joint somewhere in Austin and transfer the precious goods from her car to his!

Not only did Trixi make the field safer for all of us and our dogs, she's made a valuable contribution to science!

Just For Fun

2009-08-10T22:07:00.006-05:00

A little video of Ryp and Remix from January (? I think?). We were having fun goofing off during a lighthearted training session.

What cuteness!

--La

Border Collies are Crazy aka the Wiggley Giggley Incident

2009-08-10T21:56:00.008-05:00

Usually when I clean out the dog room closet I'll find various toys buried (hidden) under random things. I tend to forget why I have them there in the first place. After bringing them out . . . I remember why.

The wiggley giggley is one of those items.

Marz is a pervert - he violated that poor bowser bed.

--La

2009-08-10T18:48:00.001-05:00

I found the blog! FUN TIMES!
Amy Shan

Talk about a Dog in Da Hood!

2009-08-05T23:10:00.001-05:00

Trixi's new tooth. No diamonds, but sparkling silver.

DR Photo Collection

2009-08-03T21:20:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-08-02T12:25:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Brand New Flyball Venue

2009-07-27T06:00:00.006-05:00

DogzRule! will be introducing a new Flyball venue for Central Texas at our tournament in November. The new venue is the Bell Country Expo Center Assembly Hall in Belton, Texas. This new venue features plenty of paved parking, potty spots for dogz, large clean restrooms for humans and... best of all... freezing cold air conditioning.

Since the venue sits right on I-35, the Flyball world will be visible to thousands of drivers every day on the bright, new color marquis.

The DogzRule! engineering team is working on different layouts to bring two ring tournaments back to Central Texas.

The staff at the Expo Center had never heard of flyball and they all seem very excited about seeing their first tournament.

Here's hoping for a long, and fruitful relationship between NAFA Region 5 Flyball and the Bell County Expo Center.

Welcome Amy and David to the addiction of flyball

2009-07-26T20:07:00.002-05:00

At Reliant last week, Amy ran Carrera in her first flyball tournament and they did great. I don't think there was one flag on Carrera! Welcome to our addiction!

Reliant 2009

2009-07-26T19:25:00.006-05:00

Dogz Rule! as usual brought all we had to Reliant.

We fielded four teams, one on Friday designed just for two of our green dogs, and three teams on Saturday and Sunday.

Four of our dogs picked up new titles! Many congratulations to

Carrera, FD, FDX
Duncan FDCh
Hawkeye FMX
Rudie FMX

Way to go, everyone! It takes a village to run a flyball team.

Soon-To-Be New Judge for NAFA Region 5

2009-07-26T19:10:00.007-05:00

Dogz Rule! is super proud of Karl who has been going through the many required training hoops to become an official NAFA judge. He should be a provisional judge by the time our own tournament in November rolls around.

Here's a picture of Karl doing his thing in the ring at Reliant, with Lawrence back at the score table keeping an eagle eye on things.

When Kim and I were line judging and Karl was there in the middle of the ring, I leaned over to her and said, "Look! Our little boy is all growed up!" He looks so, well, so official out there with his black and white referee shirt and whistle.

Here's Karl, steady as he can be amidst the usual chaos that is a typical flyball ring.

Karl, you bring honor and lots of great attention to Dogz Rule! and we all thank you for the time and money you are putting into this effort. You da man!