Over at Cowspotdog they are having a challenge to show pictures of the dog beasts loving or hating the water. Now, for us, this is pretty easy. In fact, I may have already shared a number of these water pictures on the blog.
Since I can't choose just one:
Koira was anxiously waiting for me to get in the water too, she loves going down the rapids with me
The backyard swimming pool is great relief from the heat of the summer
Even the cat likes the pool
And Koira loves fishing for rocks underwater. Actually, I had to start discouraging that behavior because she started obsessing over rocks at the river and beach so much that she would bloody her paws trying to dig them out of the sand, and I worry about her wearing her teeth down on them.
Water-eye view of Koira enjoying some rapids
Pallo generally avoid the water. Here he is gingerly thinking about joining me and Koira in the water (he chose not to in the end)
And, Pallo's favorite activity around water, hunt the fish
Both dogs did awesome at lure coursing today. The weather was being all flirty, bringing out the major thundering rain storm, followed by light sprinkling, followed by brilliant sunlight, rinse, repeat. It meant fewer people showed up to course, which is too bad for them, but meant we were able to get through our two runs much faster than previous times.
Koira was glad of that. Every time I pulled her out of the car, she started yelling at me that it was her turn, she wanted to run.
The other dogs were all eager to go as well. This whippet was not only straining against the leash, but also making the strangest whining sounds I've heard out of a dog.
Pallo ran a zigzag pattern for the first time ever. Previously, we have only done straights with both dogs. The zigzag adds in two relatively gentle turns, giving him a chance to see more what a real competition course would be like.
Here is the video of Pallo running his zigzag:
Koira also did a zigzag run, but it was raining by that time, so no video of it. Just a video from the catcher's point of view of her doing her straight run.
For the people who previously asked about lure coursing equipment, I took a picture of the lure machine today to share.
Basically, we hand pull the lure out, stringing it around the little thingimibobbers like the one at the top of the picture to create turns. The motor on the side, run by a battery, is controlled by the lure operator, who watches the dogs carefully and zips the lure up in front of them, far enough that they can't catch it, but not so far that they lose focus on the lure.
I love watching the dogs run out there. I wish my camera was fast enough to get good pictures of it, but alas, it is not. I did get some good pictures of a few breeds present.
Most striking was probably the Afghan. Amazing to watch too.
The most popular breed, other than greyhounds and whippets at least, was Ridgebacks. They are considered a coursing sight hound by AKC, and we had a whole bunch of them. I managed to get four all in one picture.
Well, after Koira's excitement with the coyote yesterday, I have decided we will have a nice mellow weekend. Our plans include going for a lunch date with my mom on Saturday and heading to lure coursing practice on Sunday.
Relaxing in the sun is also on the agenda. Martha is being great and giving a good demo of what this should look like.
Martha, in fact, has been having a great time lounging around and attacking grass.
She knows how to keep that grass in line for sure.
Martha in general doesn't get much notice on this blog, which is, as per the title, about me and my flyball dogs. Martha, being a cat, doesn't really qualify. But she is awfully adorable.
And I wanted to let readers and followers know that I will be doing a giveaway when I reach 50 followers. The leather collars and leashes I made a while back turned out great, and I have some new ideas for them as well, so when a winner is chosen, I will make one to fit your dog! So make sure to follow along if you haven't yet, and be sure to check back regularly!
