Meet the Team - Rory, our enthuisiastic Ball Boy

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Flying Scots Flyball Team Members

Tell me something about yourself and your dogs
My name is Rory, I’m 13, and I go to James Young High School in Livingston
My Dog is Jack, he is a 15 month old Border Collie

Why did you want to do Flyball?
My mum started doing Flyball first and I used to go along and help out, I was Ball boy at the Crufts qualifiers in 2009 then I started asking for my own dog, so I got Jack.

Tell me about your dog: Jack
My Dog is Jack, he is now 15 months old, I am his 4th owner, and he was too much of a handful for everyone else. I got him when he was 10 months old. He is a very cuddly lovable dog but he is also really curious and wants to be involved in everything. He has chewed all of Smudge’s toys so we’ve had to buy really tough kong type things.
He is too young to compete just now but I can’t wait till the summer. He loves flyball, just needs to work on his technique. He is a wee bit clumsy.

Which other dogs do you train in Flyball and how are they progressing – Future team members?
My Mum trains Smudge at Flyball, she is great and she and her team one 1st and 3rd place at a BFA competition in Dundee 2009, I was there cheering them on.

Do you enjoy going to Crufts?
This is my first time! And I can’t wait

What other activities do you participate in with your dogs and how have they progressed in that field?
Flyball is the only activity, apart from taking him for long walks and throwing a tennis ball for him to catch.

What are your goals for the future?
I would love him to be in a winning team at Flyball the BFA and to qualify for Crufts next year.

Any other hobbies or interests?
I love Drama and go to Fireflies Theatre Group,
I play the Baritone and the cornet and play in the school wind band
I enjoy playing on my X-box, Wii and playstation

Meet the Team - DC Nimmo & Skye & Asha

The pink princess’s in 2009, Neela at the back lying down, Asha the blue merle sitting in the middle and Skye black and white sitting at the front.

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Flying Scots Flyball Team Members

Tell me something about yourself and your dogs
My names Donna-Claire or DC for short and I’m the technical team coach for the Flying Scots, that basically entails supporting the team by keeping track of every single handler and dog’s performance in training and competition. My dogs Skye, Asha and Neela are fondly know as the Pink Princess’s. In the team I’m the one that shouts “REEEEEADDDDDDDYYYYY REEEEEADDDDDDDYYYYYY” in a really high pitch its great for getting the dogs excited and ready for the racing. If you’re at Crufts this year you’ll hear me J

Why did you want to do Flyball?
I’ve always been competitive and love the thrill of the race. I joined Clatto Clangers way back in early 2005 who introduced me to the excitement of BFA flyball and I haven’t looked back. It took a few more years then the Clyde Valley Flyers/Flying Scots was formed in 2007 and we started doing Crufts Flyball to.

Tell me about your Team Dogs I.E Skye and Asha
Skye: My first Border Collie and my shadow. I owe so much to this very special pink princess. Skye is eight this year and has been my faithful companion and teacher into the amazing world of agility and flyball. Her patience with me as I learnt was unbelievable. For example at the start of my agility career I would fall over a lot normally quite specturelarly, Skye would stop dead where ever she was and just wait til I regained my bearings and off we’d go again.
Asha: I searched so long for the right pink princess N02 and I almost gave up hope but she finally came in 2006. Asha is a dream BC so easy to live with so laid back that unless she is doing something i.e. flyball she is like why waste the energy. Her work ability is phenomenal she is so keen and quick to learn, I swear if she could she’d ebay me off for a better handler she would. Her other passion in life is water (gets this from her daddy Ghost) if she can splash, paddle or swim she will be in the water. I recently started a new job and its right on the coast next to a beach. On my first day I took the pink princess’s out to the beach, it was the first time Asha had seen the sea. She stopped in awe I swear she was saying “OMG mom has found the biggest puddle in the world”. After a moment’s hesitation she was off and swimming for Greenland, thankfully I had a tennis ball the only other thing in the world she loves more than swimming.

Which other dogs do you train in Flyball and how are they progressing – Future team members?
Neela a wonderful wee cracker is progressing extremely well with an awesome box turn, but she does take the princess part very seriously and is a little dainty when it comes to the running part. I’m very proud of her and right now she is taking sometime off to be a mom. Also a wee surprise even to the team might be a new prince or princess on the horizon for me watch this space………

Do you enjoy going to Crufts?
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Crufts, there is nothing to match that feeling of racing on the green carpet centre stage with the crowd roaring you on. Once the racing is over I enjoy the hustle and bustle of it all, shopping for pink presents and anything else pink that my princess’s might like. Catching up with friends, watching all the other displays in the main arena and not to mention all the other activities going on throughout the whole of the NEC. There is just so much to pack in I’m exhausted when I get home.

What are your goals for the future?

Over the past few years I’ve taken time out of competing to complete my PhD. This year will be my big year back and I can’t wait. Both Skye and Asha are Grade three agility dogs but we’ve been working hard and have high hopes of progressing a little up the grades in the coming year. As I mentioned before we also do BFA flyball and Skye has gained her Flyball Dog Graduate award with 3729 Points. We’re gonna keep working hard as I’d love for Skye to get to 10,000 and achieve the Silver milestone Award before she retires. Asha has competed at fewer BFA shows than Skye but still has gained her Flyball Dog Intermediate award with 2095 points. I’m really hoping for Asha to be part of a team that goes to the BFA summer championships in August. We will have to wait and see how the team gets on at its first official BFA competition to know if we will get there (Watch this blog for details on how we do). Also not forgetting Crufts flyball we’d love to be crufts champions J We also for fun do a little sheep dog training afterall it is what the BC’s are breed for, Neela is actually pretty good and sometimes helps out my best friend who is a shepherdess, Skye is a natural but started a little late in life and well Asha hasn’t had the pleasure as I’m worried she might like it to much and forget all about the tennis balls J
Apart from the goals set out above, all I want to do after a few years of high work stress is now enjoy my weekends away with my pink princess’s doing what we love having fun. Also I’m looking forward to spending weekends with my friends hopefully celebrating amazing achievements and having just as much excitement toasting those almost wins J What ever the future holds for us I know we’ll have fun and enjoy the pinkness along the way.

Any other hobbies or interests?
I don’t have much spare time that doesn’t involve the pink princess’s. When I do get moments to myself I love chilling out with my family, reading books (right now I’m enjoying the Sookie Stackhouse novels). I love films any chance I get I will go to the movies or be hiring dvd’s. I’m also secretly addicted to computer games I love just switching on my console and immersing myself in the action.

Meet the Team - Claire Bell-Jack & Tsar

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/

Flying Scots Flyball Team Members

Tell me something about yourself and your dogs
Hi! I’m Claire and I run Tsar. Tsar is a 2 year old tri colour border collie. He’s a little mad and over enthusiastic in everything he does, which makes him super fun to train! I got Tsar from a sheep farm in Ayrshire and life hasn’t quite been the same since!
At home I have another four dogs which can be a handful at times. Tsar has only recently been knocked out of his place as youngest in the pack by our ten week old collie pup. However, this has meant that Tsar finally has a friend to play with in the house!
Tsar is probably the luckiest dog I know. Practically one year ago come Crufts, Tsar had a massive accident which nearly cost him his life. Thankfully Tsar made a full recovery and is living life to the full everyday!
Tsar also competes in agility as well as flyball. He’s still in grade 3 at the moment but he’s got plenty time to work his way up the grades. I’ve competed in agility for 13 years and this has been my first year of competing in flyball.
Finally, Tsar has recently become involved in working sheep. Its still early stages but he’s born to herd and loves every second working with his favourite ‘sheepies’.

Why did you want to do Flyball?
I decided to do flyball as I wanted to give Tsar as much variety in life as I could offer him. He is very energetic and needs as much activity as he possibly can get. Plus he’s pretty quick and I thought we might as well use that to the best of our ability!!!

Which other dogs do you train in Flyball and how are they progressing – Future team members?
Unfortunately, my older dog Keela is now retired, which is probably a good thing as although she loved flyball, she was a pretty terrible flyball dog!!

Do you enjoy going to Crufts?
The highlight of my canine year is Crufts. I love the atmosphere and pretty much everything about it. I’ve been to Crufts both with and without a dog and I can see positives and negatives on both side. With a dog you feel like your part of it and you want to proudly show off your dogs abilities. However, Crufts can be a bit busy for the dogs and it means you can’t truly enjoy the experience which is why it can be nice to be there just to observe!!

What other activities do you participate in with your dogs and how have they progressed in that field?
See above

What are your goals for the future?
One day I would love to be able to compete at Crufts not only in Flyball but also in agility. To compete at Crufts in the championship or even to represent your country would be the ultimate achievement for me. However, right now we’re not even close so we just have to be patient and keep working at it.

Meet the Team Pauline Sinclair & Spook

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Flying Scots Flyball Team Members

Tell me something about yourself and your dogs
I work as a dog warden in west lothian and have 3 border collies. As well as flyball, I compete in agility. My dogs often come to work with me and help with school talks - the kids love meeting them. The are also quite useful when I want to catch a stray thats not co-operating - they are handly lures!

Why did you want to do Flyball?
It looked like the kind of high energy fun activity that me and my dogs love. As soon as I tried it out for the first time, I knew that I was going to be hooked!

Tell me about your Team Dog ie Spook

Spook came to me at about 1yr old. He belonged to a sheperdess, but things didnt work out - he was too much of a softy for the sheep! He is a really genuine dog and gets on with just about anybody and anything. There is not a bad bone in his body! He is the class clown and gets a little carried away sometimes, but thats just part of his charm. There are two sides to spook - the side that is super intelligent, quick to learn and agile and fast, then theres the side that gets under your feet and trips you over (I have the bruises to prove it) or knocks over anything thats not nailed down because he isnt looking where hes going.

Which other dogs do you train in Flyball and how are they progressing – Future team members?
My oldest dog, Jura, is retired from flyball (although shes not happy about it!) and Dhillon has not yet been trained on the new style box. He has had a leg injury thats hindered him a bit, but Im hoping to get him started over the summer months. No plans yet for any more dogs so Spook is my main flyball dog at the moment.

Do you enjoy going to Crufts?
I love going to crufts! Theres no other place like it and the atmosphere in the main arena is electric, not to mention the stalls. Its a shoppers heaven! Whenever we come back home it takes me a week or so to 'come down' from the excitement of it all!

What other activities do you participate in with your dogs and how have they progressed in that field?
I also compete in agility. Jura is semi retired and sometimes has a shot for fun (although she quite often gets a high place), Dhillon competes in grade 5. He has nearly won up to grade 6 on several occassions, only being beaten by a few hundredths of a second. Unfortunately,a bad injury to his leg set him back, but he is doing well at training again and I am hoping to start winning some rosettes with him again soon and get him up to grade 6.

What are your goals for the future?
Be a better handler! My dogs are super talented - I just need to catch up a bit!

Any other hobbies or interests?
I love photography, especially action shots of dogs working. I often take pictures at agility and flyball shows. I am also interested in dog behaviour and have attended many workshops and seminars by top behaviourists.

Meet the Team - Annette Wadey and Lucy

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Flying Scots Flyball Team Members

Tell me something about yourself and your dogs
I'm Annette I'm 43 and live in West Lothian. I'm originally from the North East of England so always a Geordie at heart. I've owned dogs for 22 years. I'm currently owned by four dogs, Meg, Bella, Lucy and Diva.
Meg is a cross lab and about 13 years old and came from a rescue centre in 1998, she was originally found as a stray in Glasgow.
Bella is a 5 yr old collie who I got as a puppy via a dog rescue site, she currently competes at grade 6 agility. She loves flyball but unfortunately takes the quickest route back to me missing out the jumps.
Lucy is a 3 yr old collie who is one of our team, dogs.
Diva is my latest addition and is 1 yr old collie, I rehomed her from a friend who could no longer keep her. She's currently training both flyball and agility and is doing very well, when she's not behaving like the tasmanian devil.

Tell me about your team dog i.e. Lucy
Lucy has just turned 3 years old and I got her as a ten week old puppy from Four Paws rescue in South Wales. She was from a litter if six puppies found dumped in a box.
I spotted her on a dog rescue website and travelled to Nottingham to meet her. Her KC activity registered name is Four Paws Heaven Sent as I got her just after one of my other dogs was sadly killed in an accident.
She's a very loving cuddly dog but quite sensitive and can be jumpy at times. She is the clown amongst all my dogs and makes me laugh, she's a bit gormless and not the brightest collie on the planet. She is very large in size for a bitch and can be clumsy at times.
Lucy currently competes in agility at grade 3 and is a bit manic. She loves flyball and is much calmer doing flyball than agility, which is very strange.

Which other dogs do you train in Flyball and how are they progressing – Future team members?
See above

Do you enjoy going to Crufts?
This year will be my first year at Crufts. Lucy was not part of the original team but when sadly Maddie became injured I was asked to go in her place.
I'm delighted to be going, but very sad for Lynn and Maddie at the same time ,as they have worked so hard. I'm hoping Lucy and I won't let Lynn and Maddie down.

What other activities do you participate in with your dogs and how have they progressed in that field?
See previous post

What are your goals for the future?
To bring the Crufts Flyball trophy back to West Lothian of course !!!.
I would love to get Bella into grade 7, she's a good honest dog and all the mistakes made on the agility course are my fault.
In agility I would love to get Lucy around a course clear !!! I also want to do more BFA competitions with Lucy to build up her experience .
With Diva, well, it would just be nice to come away from one training session with my arms still in their sockets.

Any other hobbies or interests?
I don't really have a lot of spare time for other interests out with the dogs. I train either agility or flyball 3 nights a week and during the summer months and compete at weekends when I'm not working. I like cooking but enjoy eating even more !!

Meet the Team - Sara Hawkswell & Zip

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Flying Scots Flyball Team Members

Tell me something about yourself and your dogs
I live in West Lothian near Bathgate, on a smallholding, married, three step children and three grandchildren. Self –employed working with my husband Alastair as a wildlife consultant carrying out wildlife surveys and working on environmental polices.
I have three dogs – Scrooble who is almost 8 is a border collie, he has a cute spotty face with ear up and the other down and one blue eye. He competes in flyball and agility and is the dog I dreamed of having when I was 10 years old. Loves his hugs but most of all wants to play. Scrooble had serious lymphoma (cancer) in 2006 and missed going to Crufts to compete in flyball that year – however he has recovered and competed at Crufts in 2008.

Why did you want to do Flyball?
I love doing things with my dogs and I’m quite competitive – my dogs adore flyball and its great fun being part of a team where the handlers have to work really wel together.

Tell me about your Team Dog ie Zip?
Zipperdee Doodah ( Zip to his Friends) is a 4 year old Working Sheepdog – he was unwanted farm puppy who came to life with us a 10 weeks old. He has a very high drive and sometimes gets overwhelmed by too much going on. However he is happiest when he has a job do to and is obsessed with tennis balls – favourite hobby at flyball training is going round picking up the balls that other dogs have dropped.
He really likes to be outdoors and can be nervous around people but doing agility and flyball has helped bring him out of himself.
He has fantastic handle bar ears.

Which other dogs do you train in Flyball and how are they progressing – Future team members?
Scrooble – Crufts team 2008 (remember the tennis ball & bucket incident) Loves to compete, not properly trained on the new box and will only be used as a filler for teams this year. Also does agility – has his KC Agility Warrant silver
Fiz – Pyrenean Sheepdog – don’t know of any other in UK doing flyball. Still a baby but doing good run backs and just learning to do the box. Will make a height dog for BFA teams. Has a very scruffy wild look and a right little madam but gets away with it by looking cute. Also learning agility and is shown – at her only Pyrenean Sheepdog class at a Championship show last year she won her class as a puppy. Has qualified to be shown as Crufts but won’t be going as she has just come into season.

Do you enjoy going to Crufts?
No – sorry thats the wrong answer isn’t it?? Just joking! My warped sense of humour, I'm afraid!!
I love going to Crufts each year – as well as the chance to compete in the main arena so much to see and do that 4 days isn’t long enough

What other activities do you participate in with your dogs and how have they progressed in that field?
See above – message to self – read whole of questionnaire before you start filling it in!!

What are your goals for the future?
Zip – to win up a grade in agility this year, compete at he BFA summer championships and qualify for Crufts flyball for 2011
Scrooble – to win his KC agility warrant gold
Fiz – to be the first successful flyballing Pyrenean Sheepdog in the UK

Any other hobbies or interests?
I’m studying a dog behaviour/training course at the moment
Run a smallholding in West Lothian and breed Shetland Sheep ( which I occasionally show if time allows) and keep Maran hens as well as growing the family’s fruit and veg

Meet the Team - Lynn Lawrie & Maddie

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Flying Scots Flyball Team Members

Lynn Lawrie – Box-Loader with Maddie

Tell me something about yourself and your dogs
My name is Lynn Lawrie and I live with my hubby Dougie and 3 Border Collie bitches, I have owned BCs for 20 years and have competed in breed, obedience, flyball, HWTM and agility. The oldest bitch we have is Tiz(nearly 9) who competed in flyball ,breed and agility from which she is now retired due to spondilosis in her back. she competes in HWtM but not very often. Luna who is only 18 months old and hasn’t competed yet although she has started agility and flyball training and hope to compete with her later in the year. Also we have Maddie who’s about 5 years old and competes in agility and flyball.

Why did you want to do Flyball?
I first saw flyball a number of years ago and thought it would be a great way to get my dogs to use up their energy so decided to give it a shot, the dogs loved it!

Tell me about your Team Dog ie Maddie
Maddie is a rescue border collie who came to us at the age of 6/8months. She has lived up to her name and has been the most challenging dog we have owned! She has a great temperament with other dogs but doesn’t trust strangers! Maddie never sits down and is always busy! She is a workaholic and loves to stalk the cats when she’s not training or playing with the other dogs! She is prone to injuries and we believe this is due to her flying around everywhere at 100 miles an hour not caring where she lands! She loves chewing on a pigs ear and it’s the only time she’s quiet!

Which other dogs do you train in Flyball and how are they progressing – Future team members?
Luna has been training flyball since she was 11 months and is progressing nicely although she thinks it is very exciting! She is a very driven dog although she’s not like Maddie and much more easy to live with! I believe with more confidence Luna can make it to be a team member!
Do you enjoy going to Crufts?
I think Crufts is very exciting and thoroughly enjoy going down, a great way to see how dogs and humans can participate together in whichever discipline they choose! Shows how versatile dogs can be. However over the years it seems to be getting more and more busy. I don’t enjoy the last day cause its just TOO busy and not very comfortable for us never mind the dogs! And there is no Flyball on that day!!!!

What other activities do you participate in with your dogs and how have they progressed in that field?
As a youngster Tiz was shown in the breed ring and qualified for Crufts. She has twice qualified in flyball teams so has had 3 appearances at Crufts. She has gained many places in the agility ring and has won a starters class in HWtM. She is always trying her best to please you and is a very easy dog to live with. Luna and Maddie also do a bit of HWtM but they are overly keen and if you’re not fast enough they make up their own routines!! Maddie competes in the agility ring and has a few rosettes of her own and we hope Luna will follow in her footsteps!

What are your goals for the future?
My goals are to have fun with my dogs and to keep their minds and bodies active and agile and to move up the grades in agility and of course to make it to team members in the flyball.

Any other hobbies or interests?
I don’t have much time for any other hobbies or interests but occasionally like to go for dinner or the cinema and, of course, weekends away in the caravan - a must for all doggy people!

Petplanet.co.uk Flyball Teams

Petplanet.co.uk Flyball Team participates at Crufts 2010 for the 3rd consecutive year!
How proud am I to let you all know that our Flyball dogs and handlers have done it again! At Prestwick in June 2009, our fabulous dogs raced their paws off to come second in a nail-biting competition, qualifying once again for the privilege of competing on that famous green carpet!
And that happened despite the change of box from the old Crufts’ box to the new BFA box. The new box is totally different: no longer is style and technique as important, it is all about speed and precision.

Our sincere thanks go to DC for all the intense training she gave the club members and their dogs. DC was the only member of our group who had participated in BFA Flyball and knew their box inside out. She has played a huge part in the success of our team.

Last year’s team, then known as the Clyde Valley Flyers, included Maddie, Asha, Zip and Spook who all had to learn the new box. (Asha and Skye are both owned by DC so they already knew what they were doing!)

The team who qualified were:

Handlers and Dogs

Lynn with Maddie
Sara with Zip
Claire with Tsar
Pauline with Spook
DC with Asha
Amie with Skye

Those of you who have followed us in the past know that there is always some disaster waiting to happen to us and this year was no exception! And it had to happen to poor Lynn and Maddie – yet again:

2008 Lynn slipped on ice and broke her ankle 4 weeks before Crufts and could not compete

2009 Maddie went lame and could not compete at Crufts
2010 Once again poor Maddie has gone lame and will not be making the long trip South.

My heart goes out to Lynn. She has worked so hard to train Maddie and once again she will not have the pleasure of competing with her at Crufts.

I was not box loading for the team this year due to personal reasons so Lynn stepped in to take over. At least she will be part of the team and be able to enjoy all the excitement and hype that is felt competing in the Main Arena. Albeit a very small consolation!

So the team went back to the drawing board to decide who would take the magnificient Maddie’s place.

After careful consideration it was decided that Annette and Lucy were the most suitable replacements: Lucy having proved herself at a previous Flyball competition last year (More details will be posted about this later as one of my own dogs, The Fabulous Mr Bud, was also in that team!)

So that’s the line-up for Petplanet.co.uk Flyball Team for Crufts 2010.

Now that my Blog is up and running, more updates will follow along with the history of our small club and all the thrills and heart-aches which we have encountered on the way to Crufts 2010.