Practice Results

A decent practice for Zio yesterday.  We set up early and did an extra session on the box with just the gutter.  He was turning VERY wide, so I had to add more "junk" to get him to turn tight again.  His last turn was perfect.

During his regular sessions, he ran twice with the Speeding Sheepdogs (Zio, Maverick, Lucy, and Wisp).  The first time, we tried to have Katie racing Luna in the other lane while I ran Zio, but Luna isn't ready for someone else to run her.  The thought here is that if Lucy comes into heat at the wrong time, Zio and Luna may need to be on the same team.  Katie and I switched up so that I could run Luna, while she ran Zio.  He did okay for Katie, but the props kept changing at the box and he had gone back to doing wide turns.  He was also mouthing the ball on the wall back instead of running hard to catch me. In hindsight, I should have explained what props should be there and let her verify before each run.

The other racing session was with Speeding Sheepdogs again (wish we had Jean-Luc to practice with too).  I ran Zio this time, since we raced against Cruise Control.  Zio did pretty good.  Although he was tending to straddle the gutter going to the box, he made nice, tight turns.

His box work was more of the grab the tug as soon as you turn off the box exercise.  He seems to like this work and I think it helps him be tight off the turn.

Happy 4th Birthday!

Never in my wildest dreams did I suspect the changes that Zio would make in my life. Not only did he introduce me to canine sports, but he became my inseparable buddy.  Always waiting at the door to enthusiastically welcome me home each day, he can make any day better.  He has been incredibly athletic in his drive to compete, whether it is frisbees or flyball.  The years seem to be passing too quickly!  Happy Birthday Zio!!

Good Practice!

Zio had his first full practice since mid-April today.  His turn had reverted to more of a punch and grab rather than a swimmers turn at the tournament, so we went back to basics with the gutter dividing the lane.  During box work, he did an awesome job of sweeping to the right of the gutter to do his turn and it looked really good.  During full runs with Maverick and Lucy, he kept his turn, but was tending to straddle the gutter going to the box.  I'll have to see what props I can add without putting too much garbage in front of the box.

The other exercise we did was to do the warm up turn at the box.  Someone else releases him from about 20 feet, while I line up at the box.  The idea is that I start off running just as he gets to the box so that he turns really quick to grab the tug while it's still there.  

The championship team is going to come from Zio, Maverick, Lucy, Jean-Luc, Wisp, and Luna.  Luna is pretty much a plan B in case Lucy comes into heat at the wrong time for the championships.  If that happens, it may influence whether I run Zio.  It could happen that I'll have to have someone else run Zio while I run Luna.  Then again, it could work out the other way around.  Plan A is Lucy as our height dog though, so let's hope that works out.

He's Back!

Well, not all the way, but he did run all weekend without any sign of injury!  He has only had half a practice since mid-April, so I'm not really surprised.  To say his turns were rusty would be a generous statement.  His stamina was down too as he got slower each day as the heat and fatigue took their toll. 

I think I'll invest in some gutters and make a few props for him.  We'll also work on getting a better punch off the box.  I'm piecing together a lineup for the championships and have a lot of questions that I'll have to make a best guess at.  

A few more pictures...

Fingers Crossed!

Hopefully optimistic with Zio after his first full runs since mid-April at practice yesterday.  I was really expecting to see him limping again last night, but I didn't see anything that I could definitely say was out of the ordinary.  I was really scrutinizing him whenever he would get up from resting.  There were a few steps when I thought I might have seen him favor it, but then he would walk normal or go off running.  I think I may have been just looking too hard.  Fingers crossed for Bonham this weekend...

Beach Dog

It appears that I've fallen behind in keeping this updated.  Zio is still not out of the woods with his knee yet.  I played a little frisbee with him on Memorial Day weekend and his limp returned for a few days afterwards... mostly after he would rest a while and then try to start moving again.  I had limited his physical activities for about 6 weeks at that point.  I called Dr. Morey to see what she thought and was referred to Dr Tanger, who is supposed to be the premier orthopedic surgeon in the area.  I'm still not convinced he needs surgery though, so I've held off making an appointment with him.  I still have him penciled in for the next tournament, so I think I may give it a go and decide afterwards which path I should follow.

In the mean time, we went to the Mississippi Gulf coast and played on the beach last week.  Zio was obviously a waterdog in a previous life and loved it!  Here are some pictures of him playing.