July is here and I’m just getting back to my blog. I’m ashamed of my lack of time as of late and hope to get back on track real soon. It is so easy to fill my blog with all the excuses of why I haven’t entered our disc stories as of late but I’m sure the entertainment value would go down within the first five minutes. In a nutshell my excuse is life just became a little more complicated as of late. Not to bore you with the details, we basically had to retreat to our second home and make new living accommodations for the boys. Not that this is a bad thing but those who know me know I’m not the best in getting up in the morning and my farm is about 50 minutes from my work. I know most of your are saying that is a normal day in traffic. Again I’m use to having a 3 minute drive to work and all of sudden adding 50 minutes to my commute just doesn’t work for me. Plus I find our shower at the farm isn’t as hot as I would like and starting the morning off cranky just seems to stretch into the rest of my day! So the final decision was to split the boys and pretty much put my freestyle dreams on the shelf as my main dogs are now living the good life of just running around on the farm.

Although I haven’t been developing my skills does not mean we haven’t been active in growing the sport. We were working closely with the Edmonton Humane Society to provide a day of entertainment at the 18th annual dog walk. This event is the main fundraiser for the shelter. ARFF hosted our first local trial and focused on distance and accuracy rounds and time trial. It was great to have three junior handlers out and it was great to see the kids playing with their parents in the team events. Aidan Lalonde and his border collies Milly and Mason were awesome and Aidan really has a great throwing arm… watch out for him in September. But not far behind Aidan was Troy Der with Cody a mix breed that was rescued from a local rescue group a few years ago. The pair showed of their skills with precision throws and huge air. Ella Caine joined in the fun by taking the throwing basics 101 instruction before the event and was entered with Sam who is a springer mix. She was our youngest handler and she is 8. All the moms that played in the team events with your kids you ROCK!

Several of us did our freestyle routines for the large crowds and we even found out that Ninja a JRT owned by Gord Donhue really does like sheep. Who new a JRT wants to be a herder rather than a freestyler! Two new presenters were Donna and Bill from our February seminar in Calgary. It was great to see them out and how far they have come in such a short time. Now that they have had a taste of what to expect I’m sure they will be rockin it in September.

Special thanks goes out to Petland and Petcurean for donating prizes for the event. Petcurean manufacturers Go and Now food and is made in Canada, has a great product and a great disc ad that we gave out to general public. Each participant went home with a Legacy t-shirt, Petland gift bag, 1lb sample of Go and a disc. I can’t thank our sponsors enough for making this a great event as our Overall Jr Champion – Aidan Lalonde was very happy to receive a 25lb bag of Go and a special prize from Petland. Gord Donhue had great rounds with Kanga his Australian Shepherd, his final score was 33.5 in distance and accuracy. Not far behind was Kelly Lalonde with Milly and Mason two very nice border collies who placed second and third. Each participant received prizes from Go/Now and the prized Skyhoundz plaques. In the time trial Vapor a mix breed sped home in 18 seconds and Davy a whippet first time out did it in 22 seconds, 3rd place went to Sam a Border Collie at 27 seconds owned by Melissa Forsythe from Innisfail, Alberta. Once the time breaker with Sam and Swift a mix breed owned by Donna McClaughin from Lethbridge, Alberta was determined. We also offered team D/A and team time trial to round out the day of good family fun. Congratulations go out to Conky (Border Collie) with Gary Waselenchuk and his daughter for first place in Team D/A and to Melissa/Bill with Jessie for fastest team time trial with Jessie at 21 seconds. For more results go to the ARFF website.

Our next competition will be another local Skyhoundz trial on Sept 4 and Sept 5 will be the World Qualifier! Entries will be closing in August.

Have a great summer!

In January ARFF had the opportunity to promote the sport of disc at the PetExpo in Edmonton. It was an overwhelming success and a great way to grow the membership. This weekend the Calgary group will once again represent ARFF and perform several demos to promote the sport for their area. In our efforts to enhance our display we purchased some “Disc Dog Rocks” shirts and some videos that will be running throughout the day. Of course we have an arsenal of discs to display which in itself will draw the crowds to the booth. ARFF in advance thanks the Calgary members for their time and contribution to the sport!

Some of us have been thinking about gearing up our outdoor practice as the snow has been on the fast track to disappearing, however this morning we woke up to another couple cms of snow and ice which does put a damper on the spring training regimen. Thankfully this return of winter weather is only suppose to last a few days and the melt down will begin again. I can not help but get jealous hearing about the competitions in California, Florida and Texas that have been going on as of late. Our season seems so short in comparison to our friends down south. But there is no point pouting about something you can not control, so with that, we are going to start the group throwing nights at one of the local fields for humans only. We are all anxious to get outside and do some left, right left dance work to get our mega distance throwing going. Okay for some of us we need those fancy steps to get past 30 yards. I can see it already Peter shaking his head wondering who will be leading this group. Don’t worry Peter it will not be me. I’m still trying to analyze if I am closer or is my dog closer and to your amazement my partner and I do argue about this point. It does make me question my advanced education that I earned. I should have dropped beer chugging 101, 202, 303 and 404 and taken physics more seriously. With my lack of physics knowledge I will endeavor to figure out when to use more hyzer or not. Or my brain will just keep reinforcing the fact I don’t need to know and just go outside and have fun with my two legged and 4 legged friends. I’m pretty sure by now my friend’s fat lip has resided, my dogs realize my accuracy will not happen over night so just enjoy the great times we have together and laugh at all those discs that were aimed for the trees intentionally…. Right.

Until next time duck!

Who needs Vancouver 2010, the real action is in Calgary, Alberta far far away from the hustle and bustle of our winter athletes going for gold. Twenty-four participants from across Alberta and even one brave sole from Vancouver will be ascending upon Calgary tomorrow.

Our games begin Friday with our own trip to Calgary’s Olympic Park. We wanted to send Peter down the bobsled or try the luge event but unfortunately they only do this on weekends. So instead we will venture the streets of Calgary’s tourist spots and enjoy the Chinook weather. For us a great treat during the winter months, a rude awakening for Peter. I’m starting to think Jeff and Peter tossed a coin to see who ended up with the short stick for having to go to Canada in February. On Tuesday, Peter will brave the Canadian Rockies and go for his own gold at one of the best ski resorts (Sunshine). Sounds like the sun will be shining! Blackmail photos can be arranged.

We are all looking forward to learn how to throw and gain a better understanding of the foundations. Four filled pack days of education will hopefully earn us a degree by the end of our Family day long weekend. Stay tuned for our closing ceremonies.
Yahoo.. let the Games Begin.

The weekend has come and gone and ARFF made its first appearance at PetExpo which is a major trade show that features demonstrations of agility, flyball, and now freestyle disc. Exhibitors of reptiles, cats and a petting zoo rounded out some of the activities that families could enjoy with admission. Once again Nancy, our member extordinaire, from Calgary helped enormously by providing pictures and display boards to get our zero budget booth ready for the weekend. Our marketing department grew by one with a kind donation of a professional banner promoting our club name. The banner looks great! My clothes were just a tad dirty from rolling around in the horse manure mixture.

More importantly Hyperflite provided ARFF with banners and some great tips for products to have on hand. We had the 2008 World’s video playing and the common comment was that looks difficult. Well our best selling feature was just wait until you see us demonstrate and guaranteed you will be able to do this. I’m pretty sure you get the drift of this sentence. The catch ratio was not amazing by any means, nor were the routines stellar as the slippery floor did not provide the dogs much ability to dig in but we all persevered and showed various throws, overs and lots of failed vault attempts on Saturday. However on Sunday we looked like champs and the dogs were more comfortable with the surface and the routines began to come together and the crowd was cheering everyone on. Our demonstration did bring lots of people over to our booth and in leaps and bounds the interest in the sport grew. We officially added 20 new members in the Edmonton and the surrounding area. That deserves a yahoo.

Vapor even scored a picture in the Edmonton Journal on-line version. I’m not overly on-line paper savvy so by the time you look at this it may be in cyberspace but it was a good picture (http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Gallery+EXPO+2010/2477804/story.html. Once again it was a great weekend and the true meaning of ARFF came to life. Nothing is better than disc jamming with friends from Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer. Thanks PetExpo for the venue and look out Edmonton dog parks the Jawz invasion has begun.

Katherine Ferger doing what she does best

With it feeling like spring outside I have been taking advantage of the perfect conditions and have been working on my toss and fetch. Now if only I had the energy and the physical fitness to run in the deep snow and leap in the air and catch a disc repeatedly. Oh to be a border collie, maybe in my next life I will follow that line instead.

As promised our next feature member of ARFF is Keanna Wong. Keanna is our first junior member. She is 13 years old and an amazing trainer. For all of us in the 30 year plus club she is a true inspiration to the sport. She will be attending her first disc seminar in February, watch out all the Kirby’s in the world Keanna and Scooter are on the fast track to being Alberta’s Junior Disc Queen. I’m pleased to introduce Keanna and Scooter’s bio written by Keanna.

“I’ve been an animal lover ever since my dad put the stuffed bear in the cart with me at Costco when I was 8 months old. Don’t ask what happened when he tried to take the bear out of the cart to put it back on the shelf- he ended up buying me that bear. I think animals know I have special place in my heart for them as every stray in the neighborhood follows me home.

When I turned 10, I was desperate for a dog of my own. We already had three family dogs but none were truly mine. I was ecstatic beyond belief when my parents agreed that I could have my own dog BUT I had to be 100% responsible for it: I had to pay for it, I had to pay the vet bills, I had to walk it and I had to brush it every day. As it seemed strays were taken to me, I knew immediately that my dog would be a rescue dog. The search began and for two months, I spent every spare moment on Pet finder to find my “perfect” dog – just the right size, right temperament and with a group that would be willing to ship to Canada.

When I finally found him, I counted the seconds until he got here. He came with the name Scooter and as soon as I saw him, I thought the name was perfect for him. Scooter was picked up as a stray on the streets of Los Angeles. We figure that he must have scavenged behind a Mexican restaurant as we discovered Scooter has quite a liking of jalapeno peppers!

Scooter was due to be euthanized on Valentines Day in 2006 and a rescue group in Fresno went and saved him just before his time was up. He lived in a foster home for 8 weeks with a girl my age. He became a Canadian citizen on Good Friday 2006; it was the best Friday ever! Scooter came with quite the zest for life and was quite a wild child. With time, I’ve managed to train him to competition level in agility, flyball and scent hurdle. We are excited to add Disc to our activities.

Scooter is a natural and I think this will soon be our favorite sport. Scooter is my once in a lifetime dog, he is my heart and soul mate. I think I’m the lucky one that he found me. He has made my life a joy and I’m sure that we have made his a joy as well. He came as a dog that didn’t even know how to chew a bone, and he made up his own rules as he went along. As the years passed and he matured, with every little thing he learned, he has become an amazing sports dog and a great companion. As he started learning many different kinds of sports, our bond continues to grow deeper and deeper. He is definitely a dog that loves adventure in his life: there isn’t a moment spent that he does not love everything and everyone around him. He loves any attention he can get. The more Scooter and I take on, the more he becomes one of the most amazing sports dogs. His thrill for adventure and his fearlessness make him a wonderful dog to work with, teach, and watch.”

Great Job Keanna, I’m looking forward to meeting Scooter and seeing all the amazing things you have accomplished with him. FYI, I heard at the Skyhoundz Banquet in September that the junior program is going to be awesome. That can only mean one thing lots of Junior Bling Bling. In all seriousness, Scooter is very lucky to have joined your family. Look out disc world Senor Scooter knows how to catch tortillas.

Yo Queiro Taco Disc

The Christmas shopping rush and the family festivities have come on gone. Only one more evening to gorge ourselves and then say those famous words; I will go to the gym in January. Thankfully I stopped making New Year’s resolutions as it is always the same goal to stay away from the candy jar. Year after year I fail my resolution within the first three hours of the New Year. Is it a weakness or is just a bad resolution? The experts say make a goal that is attainable otherwise the probability of failure is high, I have to agree. Other experts say after 21 days it will become a habit, I have no experience to agree.

This year I do plan on setting a short term goal which does not require me to give up any sweets, or for that matter even get off the couch. On February 12 -15, ARFF is hosting Peter Bloeme and Katherine Ferger in Calgary, Alberta for another great round of disc education. On January 21st I plan to start throwing 25 discs a day from one couch to the other couch, basically across the family room for 21 days. After 21 days of tossing the total throws will equal 525 tosses. I can only hope I have improved and my arm is steady and ready for the seminar. With all this tossing going around, I can only guess my urge to splurge into the candy jar will diminish and the urge to toss a disc should now be a daily habit. If it works the experts are right, and I achieved my goal and I reduced my need for a treat. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

In Calgary the buzz over Christmas was that Santa delivered discs of all colors and sizes to many deserving dogs. Oh what a Christmas it was for so many good disc doggies. As Calgary is going to host our seminar in February it only seems appropriate that we begin introducing our members from there first. Our first profile is Nancy Thornton.

Nancy has been involved in the Calgary dog scene for many years. She is a core member of ARFF and has been a huge asset in growing the sport. Her two partners in crime are Oakley and Tally. Tally is a tiny tiny Jack Russell Terrier and Oakley is an Australian Shepherd. The three of them have participated in all of ARFF’s seminars and during the summer promoted the sport at various demos throughout the City of Calgary. Nancy is full of energy and enthusiasm that makes all her routines a joy to watch. Tally wishes there would be a category for under 12” as her little legs do not always want to do the long throws but when she does, she motors out on to the course and grabs those plastic coasters right out of the air. She is a real inspiration to all the little ones out there. Stink who is officially known as Oakley is Nancy’s rescued Aussie. I’m sure at times Oakley can stink but his nickname is more for the fact that he can be real stinker with his pranks and keeps Nancy guessing all the time. We have all heard the saying “take one for the team” well Nancy really has taken one for the team. If you haven’t noticed he is a big dog and having a big guy like that launch off a bare back really does show dedication for the sport. Thankfully skin does grow back eventually! For 2010 my short term goal for Nancy is to continue spreading the gospel of ARFF and continue to search for her new disc puppy. Remember it only takes 21 days to have a new habit, so in 21 days Nancy I’m sure you can house train any new puppy that is so lucky to end up in your home.

The next profile will be on our first junior member! Stay tuned for the adventures of ARFF. Happy New Year to all and may 2010 be prosperous and healthy for you and your four legged pals.

As always please do not Drink and Drive.

Oakley Doing What he does Best.

Oakley the Rockstar

Tally can Fly

Tally also a Rockstar

For almost 11 months I have had significant time at work to watch disc videos, shop on-line and of course dream about winning the lottery and how to spend those Canadian loonies on a daily basis. Since my blog access has been created my work day has been incredibly busy and I haven’t had a chance to properly introduce myself, my canine pack or the members of the Alberta Redneck Furry Fliers. For the next few months I will be featuring some of the newest disc partners in western Canada. I’m sure some of you will be able to relate to being at ground zero and the triumphs our group is experiencing.

I would like to formally introduce myself, my name is Lara, if you are unsure of how to pronounce my name; think of “Lara Croft the Tomb Raider”. On the other hand if you can not remember it, do not worry, the majority of people do say my name incorrectly so do not stress about. I can guarantee one thing; I will correct you and charge you a $1.00 for every incorrect time there after. I have been doing this fundraiser since Junior High School and at first the fee was $.25 but as you know there is inflation in everything! Over the years this fund has been used for many social gathering activities. Now it seems more appropriate to use the fund for my next disc adventure where ever that might be. By all means please continue to say my name incorrectly!

So now that you know my name and willing to donate a $1.00 to the cause, my formal introduction to disc was at Cynsports in 2007. I purchased my first disc at this event and watched amazing canine partnerships perform; flips, vaults, catches and dazzle the crowd with innovative throws. I was determined to learn how to do this with my black & white pack. With all the ambition in the world the reality was winter in Alberta was just around the corner. So needless to say, my introduction to disc wasn’t until late 2008.

A core group of us invited Katherine Ferger from Ontario, Canada to Edmonton to provide us with our first disc seminar. That was the first time I actually took out my Cynosport purchases and used them as an object that flies not a coaster for the table. It is pretty fair to say we were all hooked and looked forward to developing our skills and eventually being able to put a freestyle routine together. Before you new it another year had passed and with out pointing any fingers it was pretty evident that we all forgot what we learnt in our first seminar with Katherine. So once again we brought Katherine out in Feb 2009 to southern Alberta for 3 incredible days. However, this time we all decided if we are going to do this right we should plan to have a competition. As well as the need to have our own disc club that encourages the growth of the sport in a friendly competitive environment. The creation of ARFF which stands for Alberta Redneck Furry Fliers was born. (http://arffdisc.webs.com/)

Our enthusiasm was infectious to many and once again we found the need to bring Katherine back in the spring of 2009. She once again provided the new players with a strong foundation and helped the core group with the foundation of routine building and massive words of encouragement that we would be ready for our first competition.

From not believing we could do this, we all realized very quickly we should believe, and it was apparent each one of us had a special talent and a special bond with our canine friends. Stay tuned for the adventures of disc is Western Canada.
All of us at ARFF would like to wish you a Very Merry Christmas.