One Drop Aussies: Aging friends...

Tali is such a good girl... she's a completely different dog than when she arrived here. Gosh I guess that was... 5 years ago or so! I swear she had been punished for putting toys in her mouth before getting her because everytime I'd pick one up around her she'd turn her away from it - very much an avoidance behavior. Now she's a disc dog and a pretty darn good one especially if one factors in her beginnings!

At the end of May Jack and Tali competed at Freedom Weekend Aloft in South Carolina. They were already qualified for Freestyle but we like the competition and wanted to get Ruckus qualified in toss n fetch so we went. Rucky did get an alternate spot so that was cool. Tali and Jack just did OK. I think they finished in the top 15. Certainly not either of them's best but not horrible either.

Last weekend we competed at Florida States. Jack and Tali finished in 11th in freestyle for the 3rd time at that event I think - they placed 9th in toss n fetch. Again not their best but not horrible. Jack messed up his opening and closing but the middle was really nice. My encouragement and recommendation to Jack was that he had all summer to figure out his routine and get it down pat so that he and Tali both would know what to do whether it was hot or cold, they were nervous or not. He's got a routine but he's constantly tinkering with it. That's admirable because you want to push yourself to be better but with two big competitions coming up in September it's time to get the sucker nailed down.

With all of that said though Jack started going back and looking at Tali's freestyle videos from years past. A few lessons learned there! 1 - They have both come a long way. 2 - Jack has improved a lot. 3 - Tali has slowed down a lot and doesn't get near the height she used to. That last tidbit is kind of depressing... I mean yes she is getting older and that's to be expected but she's only 6. Her athleticism scores haven't gone down - in fact they've gone up over the years but I suspect that is because she is more focused, drivey and accurate now than she was before. While she may not be flashy and big air she can catch almost any toss with any spin at any angle practically and turns on a dime to adjust for them. It was just sad to see though how much more conservative she is now with her speed and height. We knew her speed was down because she's not getting to the 2nd disc on several of his 2 disc throws lately but we didn't really realize how much slower and we didn't remember that she had height at one point. I guess since it was never big air we didn't notice. Overall in the larger scheme of things this is not a tragedy and it's something Jack just needs to adjust for, but it just is no fun when you first start seeing signs of aging on your dog. She's still got a long life ahead and plenty of playing time to come (God willing) so we aren't freaking out or anything... just adjusting to our little smack of reality we just got. She does have that one bad hip and that could be a factor as well. A trip is planned for the doggy chiro sometime in July and who knows... maybe we'll see a new dog after that though she doesn't seem to be in pain but you just can't ever be sure with dogs. In any case in another 3 months we'll have 3 veteran dogs in the house... with that said though Ruckus seems to be doing great (he and I placed 4th in intermediate TNF last weekend!) and Mickie is hanging in there and plays toss n fetch in the yard most everyday. Most folks wouldn't guess that they are 10 and 11 years old.

Below are some pics from the last two competitions... we love that Tali girl! Next weekend... DACOF (agility)! We are running on our own team this year - Good-Dog Sports Victorious Secret! It's Sal, Bev, Sarah, Gary, Brenton and Kathryn. Should be a lot of fun!!