Penny is now a flyball dog

Well, our first real flyball event was an eye-opener to the human part of the team!

Who would have thought there would be so many rules?

Who would have thought that the team has to provide stewards, who have to sit by the side of races and make sure those rules are obeyed? And that everyone, no matter how new, has to take a turn?

Above all, who would have thought you get into big trouble if your dog wees or poos in the ring? (Penny didn't, but I was on tenterhooks all day, and I don't think I've ever spent so much time convincing her she wants to wee - before we went in each time.)

But, horror of horrors, we were late for our first ever race! I was nervously hanging around the enormously complicated-looking list of events, trying to work out when we had to go over to the start, when I heard the nightmarish announcement that our club's team would have to start with only three dogs. I thought, 'Oh, please, don't let this be my event!'

And then our captain came running, shouting, 'Where's Penny? Where's Penny?"

Thank goodness I had her out of her crate and ready to go. We ran full pelt into the ring, just in time to run in third position in the team. No explanation to Penny about where the ball was, just shove her in the general direction of the box. Of course she ran in circles and our team lost the heat.

And this is where our captain showed me what a great club I've joined. No recriminations. Just 'Settle down, it's okay, that's past history, forget about it.' In the rest of that group of heats (best of five) we ran with the team and all went well.

Not one person told me off. No-one blamed me for the loss.

What a great team spirit.

The rest of the day was tiring but enormous fun - I think, for Penny as well as myself. She got lots of runs and also lots of nice pats from junior humans in our club.



And now Penny has letters after her name. She is Penny, FDX. (Hmm... I'm such a beginner I don't even know what it means. But it sure sounds good.)

Here's a shot of another dog going over the jumps, just to give an idea of the day. (It's taken with my phone, so it's not very clear.)

lure coursing is lots of fun for dogs

Penny loves lure coursing. I've just received a notification from the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Victoria that their next lure coursing day will be at KCC park in Skye (Melways 128 J 12, for Victorian readers), on the 10th of August from 12 noon - 4 pm.


I'll rephrase that first sentence. Penny ADORES lure coursing. The problem is to hold her back as we wait our turn. One time she managed to tear her way through the plastic fencing around the course, but we hauled her back. She hasn't come to terms with the concept of waiting your turn, such an important part of the Australian psyche.)

The photos here are not of lure coursing at KCC Park, but of the same sport at Lilydale. It was organised by Animal Aid. That's the place where Penny goes to training each week.


I enjoyed looking at a video clip of a dog in the US running a course. I found it at Spot On K9s, after following a link from Bark Blog. At Lure Coursing Fanatics there's a good explanation of this sport and its history. I like the fact that they emphasise the safety aspect.

I've been happy that the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club and Animal Aid both maintain good safety. Every time we've participated they have made sure only one dog is in the field unless owners wanted to run two compatible dogs, and they manpulated the plastic-bag lure to suit the ability of the dogs.

canine fitness routine for the city dwelling dog

Penny and I went for a walk in Darebin Parklands this evening and we both took the opportunity to improve our level of fitness (me by strolling around and her by racing all over the place, chasing balls and swimming in the creek). I think we’re incredibly lucky to have an open area at the bottom of our street where she is allowed to walk off-lead. I’m sure that if she had to toddle around the streets on a leash at my middle-aged pace, she’d be overweight and unfit.

We city dwellers have to work hard to find opportunities to keep our dogs fit. I’ve just read an article in the magazine ‘Dog World’ about finding places in a city to exercise a dog. The author, Liz Palika, is a dog-trainer, behavioural consultant and AKC CGC evaluator. She says that one of the advantages of living in a city is that the dog gets plenty of chances to experience different surfaces, such as grass, asphalt, sand and dirt – this will increase all-round confidence when faced with new experiences.

There’s also a photo of a dog in what seems to be a small backyard, standing up on its back legs to get a treat. The caption under the picture says that when a dog goes from a sit to a stand the rear legs and core muscles are exercised. Cindy, the teacher at K9 Kompany in Lilydale, where Penny and I go each week, also emphasises the usefulness of stretches for maintaining a dog’s health. It sounds rather like ‘Pilates for Dogs’, now that I think of it. This is the first time I’ve heard the expression ‘core muscles’ used for a dog, though I’m familiar with it in my own exercise classes.

The article also mentions an exercise routine that Cindy uses at the start of many classes. It’s ‘sit-ups’, doggy-style. Penny goes from a sit to a drop and up again. The writer of the article says that the idea is to get some speed on this so that the dog does lots of push-ups in a very short time. Hmmm… I’m pretty sure Penny’s ancestry involves lounging around in a Tibetan monastery looking to see if anyone is coming up the valley. She’s not easy to convince that she needs to do exercises quickly. Have to think about that one…

However, the exercise that sounds like fun is the one that Christine Zink, author of a book on dog fitness called ‘The Agility Advantage’, recommends. The dog gets into a beg position and then rises onto the back legs without putting the front legs down. It sounds as if it would be great for Penny because I sometimes think she is not using her rear legs strongly when she runs. We've practised it in the past with her rising up once to get a treat but haven't tried it as an repeated exercise.


The article is from the June 2008 edition of Dog World, volume 93, issue 6, and it’s on pages 36-40. At the DogWorld site there are five great tips for increasing a city dog’s fitness and general agility.