Well this past weekend in PEI was a memorable one for sure!  We went in with a game plan for our teams, as we usually do, for Aviators, this plan were pretty much thrown out the window after a freak collision.  The day started out well with a new club / regional record of 16.25, but in our second race in the warm-up, Flight came wide off the box and went around the jumps, Spray had already been let go  and at the last moment, Flight came back over the last jump and they collided at the hips.  Since our line-up was Flight, Spray, Callie, Feist, we could see after one heat that Flight’s confidence was shaken.  So we moved her to third, so Feist, a smaller dog was running into her.  We gave her lots of room, starting Feist closer to the line and we worked her confidence back up.  By the end of the day she was doing great!  Since Sam & Spray are use to be being in the start position, they were rocking the starts, Callie and Dave were steady as usual, Flight & Stef were adjusting well to passing and I was pretty sure where I had to hold and let go of Feist.  It came down to the last race of the day for first, we had to win and beat the time of 16.72. Amazing after all of the issues we faced, we did it and were able to take first place!  Our other A team Pilot Project, had some ups and down as well, but still had some great racing and got 4th.  It is always tough to be the lowest seed in your division and this was the case for Red Eye and Aerodynamic this weekend.  Despite some really close racing on Saturday they both got last place. We did get a couple of titles on Saturday including Feist: FDCh – G and a brand new flyball dog – Leah: FD!

We came into Sunday with a game plan, again.  Teams would remain the same.  Little Slice gave us a reminder that she likes to do things her own way and decided to start going around the jumps, so Raine had to jump in, not the way we wanted to start the day, but as always we would deal.  First race for Aviators was against FNF Blitz.  For the first couple, I held back with Feist, just to make sure that Flight was looking confident, which she was, holding her ball wayyyy back. So when were up 2-0, we all looked at each other and we knew what we had to do.  When I saw the 0.01 start time, I knew we were off to a good start.  Callie’s pass was okay, I knew she had room; Flight’s pass looked pretty good, so I decided to push, we had nothing to lose. I was pretty sure my pass was good, so all that was left was for Feist to cross the finish line and see what time would flash up…16.07! Our own Regional Record smashed!  We were over the moon!  In the end we had about 5 feet of room with passes and the dogs splits were okay, but not as fast as they normally run, also considering I was scooting Feist out at 20 feet, we were pretty happy.  We had a goal for this weekend with this team and we came so very close to it, but at that moment, it didn’t matter, that 16.07 looked just as good as a 15 would have. The rest of the day Aviators went undefeated after a very close race with FAME and took first place.  We got Slice fixed and Pilot Project ended the day with some wins and 4th place.  Red Eye ended up 3rd and Aerodynamic last, but again, they had some really tight racing!  Sunday, the club achieved 6 more titles! Leah: FDX, Maya: FDCh, Flight: FDCh-G, Calli: FM, Maverick: FMCH and Brooke: Onyx.       

Saturday night around a group supper we discussed what we had overcome that day.  Did things go as planned, not even close!  But that is what I love about this club, everyone just pulled together and got things done.  This weekend we saw line-ups be completely switched around, dogs falter and then come back with a vengeance and totally tear up the mats.  We saw team members give up spots for dogs who were close to achieving a title or to let some green dogs get experience, without even having to be asked.  In the last two races of the day – Pilot Project and Aviators, EVERY SINGLE team member was out on the mats beating their hands against the mats and cheering on our dogs to rev them up after a long and hot weekend of racing.  That’s why this club is so special, it doesn’t matter what team you are on, everyone cares about everyone else’s success. That is why hitting 16.07 this weekend was so amazing, of course it was special for the 4 handlers who own those dogs, but EVERY SINGLE team member owns that victory.  We train as a club, we lose as a club and we win as a club.  
 
We are now off for what seems like forever, 8 full weeks!  Unfortunately we will not be able to make the trip to Bridgewater in early August, but we hope that everyone has a wonderful time and we look forward to hosting everyone in late August at our Function in the Junction tournament.  
 
Until then, we have a few things to work on, and we can’t wait to get started :)

Until Next Time,
~Holly~