last flyball tournament of the year

The first weekend of December was the last flyball tournament of the year, held up in Abbotsford BC. Despite the very cold temperatures the weather was dry and sunny, and with the nice heated barn we were perfectly comfortable during the race day. We had a good time with not only our teammates but many of our flyball friends from other clubs, and it was a great way to wrap up the year of flyball. Our next tournament isn't until mid-March, which is one of the longest breaks we've had since we began attending tournaments regularly in late 2004.

The border collies relax in their e-pen between races...well as much as border collies EVER relax!

Phoebe has her own crate for tournaments, fondly referred to as the PCU - Phoebe Containment Unit. This way she has her own space, much warmer coverings, and doesn't get stepped on (and therefore pissy) by the border collies. Incidentally, she is now up to number 47 on the top-scoring Jack/Parson Russell Terrier list with NAFA. Flyball does end up being her main redeeming quality, and she is very, very good at it!

We worked together with our friends from Muddy Paws A'Flyin (Salem, OR) to enter three teams into this tournament. As you can see, our board was quite full of races - and the day before, Jadzia ran on the Portland Tail Blazers team, making it four teams we were involved with! All of the dogs ran really well, especially since so many of them had never run together before, and a good time (and many points!) was had by all.

Finally, what would a tournament be without neat prizes? First up is one of the "I <3 Flyball" keychain/pulls that the hosting club (Dogwood Pacesettters) made for all attendees, which are super awesome. My husband wasn't particularly attached to having one himself, so I got to keep his too - I have a green-bead one that's on my Can-Am tote bag, and this purple-bead one that's on the messenger bag that I carry for work.

And secondly, I did a favor for some friends who are also artists, and as a thank-you they made me the most delightful Christmas tree ornament - a replica of our flyball box, loaded with a tennis ball on the side Ezri takes from! It's really amazing, just a few inches tall and with tons of detail, and I absolutely adore it!