Pre-Drax Flyball Training
Mollie came back from her walk on Thursday looking a little bit lame, nothing drastically unusual as Mollie has no body awareness or respect for things like walls, trees, solid banks of earth, so she does occasionally come back a little stiff from her walks. Unfortunately, one recall and one run at flyball training this morning proved that it’s not a little stiffness and is looking like a muscle injury. Being the panic-stricken pessimist that I am when it comes to injuries, I immediately assume it’s a horrific injury like a cruciate or iliopsoas tear, because I have been waiting for one of those two to happen for years and it’s my worst nightmare.
Vet check Monday, anyway.
Dylan looked wonderful. I can’t stop talking about his adjustment because it’s been so noticeable; even little things like how much tighter he is off the box. We assumed he was going wide as he was slipping into old habits, but apparently not. He was so much more relaxed at training anyway as he was running with dogs he trusts (and had someone he knows well on the box!), bar a re-introduction to Biba. Dylan has known Biba since they were puppies, they’ve grown up together. But he hasn’t run in the same team as her for 6 months and hasn’t seen her since last December. First run, Biba into Dylan, Dylan bails 2 hurdles out with his “oh hell no, Beardies!” expression on. I was so unsurprised. (He has a special expression for Beardies. They’re so unpredictable and weird).
Once he realised who it was, he was happier, and he was even happier still when we put Buddy in as a buffer between Biba and Dyl. It also makes me happy too when people listen to me, as I have been adamant that this season, Dylan needs to run with the same dogs as he is getting too stressed about switching between teams. It may not be easy to spot, especially if you don’t know Dyl, but I am running him, holding his harness and on the other end of the tug, and I know my dog. No stress for Dylan unless unavoidable, please.
Kim got to play a little too, racing Norah, and so she was happy as well. And Rio got to do a few flat recalls off the box! She’s actually pushing off the box now which is great, and right now she’s a crazy little speedster as well. Hopefully we’ll keep all the enthusiasm and speed as she grows up!