Touch This Tournament

Las Vegas, Nevada
January 18 & 19 2003

By Bev Wiedlin

Pictures Video

The Bay Racers were eager to arrive in Las Vegas for our first tournament of the year, the Touch This Tournament. Diana, Dawn, Amy, Shelley, Sherrae, Lauren, Nique, and Jeanine left Thursday night arriving in the glittery city shortly after sunrise. I heard rumors that deciding what to eat at that hour after being up all night was a challenge, but I think they solved the problem with hearty food along the lines of beer with eggs (or maybe bloody marys). The more conservative faction of the team, Steve, Karen and her spouse Jeff, myself and my husband Bob arrived Friday afternoon. Liz attended a morning work meeting and then sped to Vegas arriving Friday evening. The length of the trip did not seem to be bothersome to anyone.

Malibu Suites provided lodging at very reasonable rates for many of the visiting teams. And how exciting to see the "Welcome Flyball!!" sign across the front of the building. Friday involved naps for everyone in some form, a few brave souls venturing to the strip, visits to Celebrity Ranch where the tournament was to be held to set up, and then most of the team met for dinner. Excitement filled the air, and Lauren was bubbling with optimism about the Barnacles running as a regular team and the possibility of the new dogs earning some points. It was an early night so everyone would be well rested for the busy day ahead.

Celebrity Ranch had plenty of room to spread out. Two lanes were set up in a central location with nicely padded mats. The weather was wonderful. Mornings were cool enough to wear our Bay Racers jackets, but the afternoons warmed up considerably. We were very cautious to make sure the dogs were well hydrated. The only real negative were the port-a-potties, but at least they were clean!

Saturday's Racing

The first challenge of the day came when our box failed the check. We did not want to use the back up (the one that had been hit by the tree), so Dawn was under pressure to make the adjustments, which of course she did. The team was running three racing teams on Saturday:

Running three teams meant that there was very little "down" time. Everyone had jobs on every race. Karen was the new box loader for the Spinnakers. Her husband, Jeff, took incredible video throughout the tournament. Bob Wiedlin set jump heights and shagged balls. Everyone else was busy taking splits, calling passes, box loading or assisting on those jobs.

Check In and Measuring took place at 7:00, box check was 7:15, and the captain's meeting was 7:45. Barnacles was happy when Buster measured 13" (setting 9"). We had a quick team meeting before the first race. The captains explained that before each race we would have time for a recall and a practice full run. They stressed that it was critical to be successful in the warm up in order to have the dogs focused and ready for the race. Spinnakers were the second race up and they looked like pros on the track. Barnacles were race number four and that was a different story.

The idea of sometimes running in the right lane and sometimes in the left is confusing, especially for new dogs. When we started the practice runs Taz made a beeline for the right lane box even though she started in the left lane. After a couple of attempts at correction we ran out of time. The first race involved four heats and the Barnacles were unable to complete even one clean run due to different individual errors. Lauren was full of encouragement and optimistic that with a smoother warm up we would see improvement.

The Salty Dogs ran after a little break. They included several of the Barnacle dogs and it seemed like each race made them faster and more focused. Taz and Oliver received their Flyball Dog title fairly early in the day, followed shortly after with Flyball Dog Excellent. Every race and every title was cause for celebration for the whole team.

Shelley made a delicious sausage and pasta soup for lunch. Everyone seemed re-energized after eating and the day flew by. With three teams running, who had time to notice?

Spinnakers ran very competitively all day. Their biggest challenge was to slow the team down so they didn't break out. Kami got faster as the day went on and showed no signs of tiring. In typical terrier fashion she showed the world that she was as strong and fast as those "big" dogs. Summer didn't want to let any dog beat her no matter how far ahead they might be when she started her leg of the race. Tipper was getting baby food treats after her runs and she never lost her regal poise. Katy was probably the most revved up dog on the team. Amy had to really brace herself to keep from being launched over the jumps as a human participant.

The Salty Dogs turned in increasingly fast times as the day went on. There was only one division for the Multi Breeds so the seed times had a big spread. Rory was the start dog for both the Salty Dogs and the Barnacles and he was solid all day giving the teams excellent starts. Taz had been confused about which lane she was supposed to be in, but as soon as we ensured her practice run was successful, with the help of human blockers, she contributed her speed to clean runs. Griff held on to the ball as he cleared those 10-inch jumps, which is challenging when you are only 14 inches yourself. I think the equivalent for the human counter parts on the team would be at least 4 feet jumps, and that would be difficult even without a ball in your mouth.

The big moment of the day was the heat that gave Griff his Flyball Master Title at 5,000 points. Diana was tracking each heat with points and on the heat that earned him his title Sherrae put in a ball with 5,000 written on it for Griff to give to Dawn. At first Dawn thought we had someone else's ball until everyone cheered and told her to look at the ball. It was an exciting moment and epitomizes the team philosophy, celebrating the individual accomplishment of the dogs and working to make sure they reach their title levels. Ollie and Tessie were just all out happy dogs. You could see their grins even with balls in their mouths. Joey had nice flat jumps and was really running fast except for the one race when he was so far ahead he decided he would just wait long enough to let the other dog catch up, such a gentleman just like Steve.

The Barnacles improved tremendously as the day went on. The dogs started really getting the idea of how to play this game. They began to win some races and their times started to drop. Even their mistakes showed they were learning. Buster's ball popped all of the way out of the ring on one run. He chased it out, found it and then had a hard time finding his way back into his lane. He probably would have brought it back over the jumps if Diana hadn't panicked and ran in for him. At least he wasn't lost in a sea of golden retrievers, but that is another story. On one run Abby grabbed the ball that Buster dropped as she headed in over the jumps. Sherrae saw her coming, ball in mouth, and yelled, ÒAbby drop itÓ. Abby spit the ball out, grabbed the ball out of the box and came back over the jumps, a legal run. We won that heat and Abby didn't see why we were worried. Taz and Oliver were running on two teams so they were the first to receive both their Flyball Dog and Flyball Dog Excellent Titles. Abby and Buster reached the Flyball Dog Title before the end of the day.

The races concluded as the moon rose and the sun set. The awards were given and Spinnakers took 3rd in their division. The dogs won giggly rainbow colored plush toys. Jeannine brought out a cake with a 1-year candle on it for the 1st anniversary of the team. The team huddled around the cake and reminisced about the year, goals set, progress made. Suddenly everyone was dead tired, except maybe Diana who was in a hurry to get to her computer so she and Dawn could enter the splits and figure out the configuration for tomorrow's teams. We agreed to meet at 7:00 for dinner.

Everyone was in an exuberant mood at dinner. All of the teams had done better than envisioned. The Barnacles had shown themselves to be competent and that gave many more options for the future. The three new captains could look back on the stresses of the day and see such positive results from their efforts. The Spinnakers and Salty Dogs had run very clean races and the times showed the benefit of the training techniques that had been utilized since the Fresno tournament. The goals for this tournament had been to get points toward titles, get experience for the new dogs and to have fun. We could have packed up and gone home that night if we wanted to because we had accomplished everything we set out to do. However, we still had another day to go even farther.

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Sunday's Racing

Dawn and Diana must have spent hours Saturday night going over the splits in order to set up the teams for Sunday's races. Sunday morning back at the Ranch everyone was ready to run some more races. We just had two teams the second day because Barnacles had been intended to get some tournament experience for the new dogs. Also, the multi-breed division was only for Saturday, which allowed us to "double-run" dogs to complete the Barnacles team. Twelve dogs gave us just enough for two teams on Sunday. Based on the dogs performance the day before the teams were formed as follows:

Spinnakers Division 3, Captain Dawn: Tipper, Katy, Summer, Tessie, Kami
Salty Dogs Division 4, Captain Amy: Joey, Rory, Ollie, Taz, Griff, Abby

The races were spaced with some breaks, due to the fact that we were only running two teams. Everyone was excited about the prospect of Tipper reaching her Flyball Master Title. The teams were both winning the majority of their races and it was soon apparent that both teams were on track to place that day. Dogs were substituted in and out throughout the day so everyone was contributing to the team effort.

Lauren had prepared a wonderful chili for lunch and everyone seemed to have an even higher energy level than the day before.

The day was an accumulation of successes. Teams ran clean runs heat after heat and times were so competitive that there was a constant threat of breakouts. Tipper received her Flyball Master and seemed to be looking around to see if everyone thoroughly appreciated her. Abby continued running great on Sunday, and earned her Flyball Dog Excellent! Going into the last races of the day both team were facing a possible first place with our opposition being the top scoring team.

The Spinnaker final was cutting edge. They needed 5 wins to place first. When the other team beat Summer to the finish line we thought it was over only to find that the other team had broken out so we were awarded the win. Not to be outdone our team then beat the other team only to find that we had also broken out. We had to back off to ensure that we wouldn't jeopardize the tournament with another break out and we were behind on the final race. Katy was not going to let that happen and she just exploded when Amy released her making up the ground, unfortunately she hit the start line a fraction of a second too early. I think Amy would have had to move outside the ring to slow Katy down! The team ended up in a three-way tie for first, and after the tie-breakers, finishing 3rd.

Salty Dogs were also down to the last race and also needed to win all of their heats to win. Even with their best efforts the other team edged them out so they were in a four-way tie for first! After the tie-breakers, Salty Dogs came away with a 2nd place finish.

Prizes for 1st through 3rd were squeaky, plush dog toys from the sea. Owners and dogs alike seemed totally excited about their winnings. Every dog on the team received at least one prize for the weekend.

In unison the team packed up to leave. We still had the night to enjoy in Las Vegas before we headed back to California. We met for dinner in the MGM Grand but we didn't need to do any gambling. We had already won in many ways. The team had not only survived its first year, but it had grown in many ways. The team leaders have put together a training and practice curriculum that has improved the seasoned veterans on the team and taught the sport to new dogs and their owners in an amazingly short time. The team is comprised of individuals who care deeply about each other, support each other, and put their total efforts out to help everyone succeed. Time to set those goals for the second year because there is no limit to what the Bay Racers will be able to accomplish!

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