Last session of 2013

It's not easy being a Team Captain. Trying to please everyone is extremely challenging. Sometimes you just want to throw the towel in, and sometimes something happens, a win, a time, a dog, or just camaraderie makes it all worth while. Today was the Rooky Racers last Flyball session of 2013. We had some fun racing between us all, cakes, pastries and a good chin wag. And then I got this poem afterwards written by one of our top Flyballers - a young lady just 10 years old. Someone who started as a shy 8 year old and became a confident experienced 10 yr old with her dog Lacey. I hope mum doesn't mind if I share her poem....

FLYBALL

Flyball dogs are fit and fast...
It’s all a blur as they go whizzing past
Up and down the flyball run
It’s plain to see they’re having fun.

Division 20 or division 1
Who cares as long as we’re having fun
Rain or shine not to worry
The dogs don’t care
Off they scurry

They hit the box and grab the ball
Get a good grip – don’t let it fall
Back they go one bounce, one jump
The adrenalin now starts to pump

The crowd will cheer
The people clap
One more win
Then it’s a wrap

After racing is over to end the event
Everyone gathers in the big tent
Faces light up in sheer delight
As rosettes are given and a red one’s in sight.


By Shannon Wright
Edited by Mum

Frogmore update

A smooth day, with all racing done by 4:30pm.

Unfortunately Freya and Breagh could not race, so Muttley was brought out of retirement to be dog 5.

All the dogs ran well, and Chewy (handled by Clare Butler from Bone Idol) did not run out once; some really close cross overs in the last race of the day as Lacey, Ruby, Alfie and Muttley got the measure of each other.

So, how did the Rebounds get on... lets check the "Andy predicts" results !.

I predicted we would loose to Dream Team, and we did, they kicked up a gear and went quicker.

Buccfly went quicker but we beat them (prediction 2 right !)

Tafs Turbos were good, went quicker... but by then we had found our groove and won (prediction 3 right !)

Foxes and Vixens had a bad day at the office, went slower and also had a dog handler taken ill... we won (prediction 4 right!).

Unfortunately the addition of a late team into seed 1 spot ruins my prediction of getting 2nd,  the late team were very quick, breaking out once and winning all their races... this pushed Dream Team into 2nd and Rebounds into 3rd.

Interestingly the Rebounds set a new seed time of 20:80.... so almost a second quicker than last time.

All in all a good days racing and very relaxed :-)

Shannon and Lacey collected their Flyball Dog Advanced certificate; Jan and Ruby collected their Flyball Dog Graduate certificate (x2 mother and daughter teams !).

See you all at training on Saturday, looks like you will need rain coats !

Andy

Flyball in pictures...

Frogmore competition

The Rooky Rebounds will be competing this Saturday (20/10) indoors at Frogmore leisure centre.

A real mash up of dogs in the team this time !.

Freya, Alfie, Lacey and Ruby will make up the core team.

Breagh will be given the chance to race "open" for the very first time if the team go 2 up or 2 down during racing.

Chewy will be on standby.

And now for an "Andy Predicts" (not done this in a while !).

Being over a second quicker than us Dream Team are seeded first and should get first, but this team has a real swing of seed times, 20.67 being their quickest ever... will be close, but with this being the only Dream Team racing at Frogmore I think they will have the pick of their dogs and will go quicker still... RR loose.

.... Tafs Turbos raced the Rascals at Southridge and are getting quicker, but 21.35 is their best ever time, will be close... RR win
 
Foxes and Vixens are a small team, with a pool of dogs that have been getting slower all year, we have never lost to them and there is no reason to suggest we will loose again... RR win

Buccfly have been working hard to get their team running well, this group of dogs have been having a torrid time of things this year, but their latest seed time shows things are now starting to click, a mix of new and experienced dogs, they should keep improving, but will have it all to do, one to watch next year .... RR win

Overall I think RR will get 2nd.... !

Andy

Acremead update

The rain held off this year, and it was not too cold either.

Added to the venue this year was a cake stall and mobile bar (same again next year please, I quite liked the Mansfield smooth ale !).

Rebounds - CJ, Maya, Freya, Chewy and Milly got 4th place... Freya is coming along in leaps and bounds, while my Chewy regresses into being a lazy dog and not coming back over the jumps (sorry team !).

Rugrats (Starters team)- Breagh, Lexi, Ollie and Paddy were joined by a dog called Izzy from the Somerset Scrumpys as poor Pippa twisted her leg on Friday (get well soon Pippa).  All the dogs did great and did very well to get a 3rd place rosette out of 7 teams !

Rascals - Lacy, Harry, Ruby, Radley and Jace get another 1st place (2 weeks in a row now!) ... nice going !.

A long day (as always) but fun as (as always!) ... me falling over the flyball box proving to be most peoples highlight of the day :-)

See you all at training on Saturday.

Andy

Quick update

1) BBC2 tonight, wonder of dogs starts !.. keep an eye out for us (although the first programme appears to be about Golden Labradors) spot our jump, and Harry, here  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01gvysk

2) No movers from Padworth, but Lacey is close to getting her Flyball Dog Advanced award.

3) Ozzie hits 500 points, can Maya, currently on 415 points, close the gap this weekend at Acremead in the race for Flyball Dog Intermediate ?!.

4) Rooky Rascals get 1st at Southridge last weekend, well done Lacey, Ruby, Jace and Radley ... some great racing at this venue, which is new to the Rooky Racers... and against some teams we never / hardly race.  Easy to get to, this might make our list in 2014 as a regular venue (along with Padworth which now has much more space to park).

5) Remember, last race of 2013 is indoors at Newbury on 23rd November, think about if you want to go ready for when I send the email.

Cheers,

Andy

No training 21/09

Just to remind you there is no training this Saturday as both Open and Starter dogs will be racing at Acremead.

Normal service is resumed after that, and Andy has fixed his car so he can tow again !

No training 21/09

No training on 21/09 as we are away competing at Acremead.

Yay CJ ! (sorry it is late !)

Some how young CJ slipped under my Movers and Shakers radar for Fairview Farm.

So better late than never, well done CJ for moving out of starters by getting 200 points and your Flyball Dog award !.

Andy

Post BFA Champs movers and shakers !

Are you ready.... drum roll !!!....

Freya gets Flyball Dog!, well done Freya you are a natural !
Evil Chewy makes Flyball Dog Intermediate! lol! Yay Chewy :-)
Darcy makes Flyball Dog Graduate.. awesome progress !
Harry makes Flyball Dog Advanced ... again, great work !

Excellent stuff !

Our next future shaker is Lacey with her eyes on Flyball Dog Advance by the end of 2013.

Then it all goes quiet for a while.

Lots of dogs in "no man's land" trying to build points between 1000 and 3000.  3000 and 5000.  5000 and 10,000.

Alfie is progressing well towards "Silver" and should get this in 2014, while Maya and Ozzie are racing to become the next "Intermediate" dogs with only 35 points between them.

Great going all.... keep it up, just Acremead and Frogmore left in 2013 (email re Frogmore coming out this weekend).

Andy

British Flyball Championships 2013

Rooky Rebounds - 2nd in Division 37 at the British Flyball Championships 2013, Catton Hall. 
L-R Sandra with CJ, Suzie with Bruiser, Val with Freya, Jan with Ruby, Andy with Chewy & Muttley

Rooky Raiders - winners of Division 24 at the British Flyball Championships 2013, Catton Hall. 
L-R Julie with Radley, Suzie with Bruiser, Diana with Summer, Nigel with Alfie, Sandra with Jace
Well done to them all!

Fairview Farm movers and shakers !

So, the points are in for Fairview Farm....

Movers:

Jace gets Flyball Dog Intermediate !... great going Jace :-)

Future shakers:

Freya is 5 points away from Flyball Dog !
Chewy (yes Chewy !)... is only 25 points away from Flyball Dog Intermediate ! (to put this into perspective... it has taken Chewy 2 years and 16 competitions to get to this point... Jace did his in 4 months and 5 competitions lol !)
Darcy is 55 points away from Flyball Dog Graduate

Well done all!... keep up the good work all :-)

Andy

October competitions - early heads up

So, these are the last local(ish) competitions of the year.

Check diary's ready for when I send the email out asking if you want to race:

October 12th and 13th No Starters
Apps Court Farm, Walton on Thames, Surrey KT12 2EG 

This is one day only, and it will be on Saturday 19th October.  There will be starters at this competition.
Frogmore Leisure Centre, Yateley, Hampshire GU46 6AG

There are no local competitions near us in November or December, however we do have enough dogs interested to send a team to : Kennel Club Building, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire CV8 2LZ  on December 14th and 15th.

Looking into 2014, Bracknell Sports Centre will be our first race of the year on Saturday 4th January.

Nothing in February, 1 in March, 1 in April... then it all kicks off again in anger!.  But we will be looking at how we compete, and venues attended, after feedback from the team this year.

Cheers,

Andy

Champs 2013 tops...

... if anyone is interested (and a mascot dog !)

http://www.itsaboutsport.co.uk/products.asp?cat_code=100&subcat_code=797

For your item to be delivered to your chosen address before the event, orders must be placed by 6.00pm on Thursday 8th August. We will also be delivering some orders to the event on Thursday 15th August. If you require this option please select “Collection @ Event" from the delivery options when you checkout. Last order date for delivery to champs is by 5:30pm on 12th August. Your order will then be available to collect from Friday 16th at the admin tent, please print your invoice if collecting from admin. If you have any queries or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact It’s About Sport on 01727 822280 or email sales@itsaboutsport.co.uk

This is what the 2013 logo looks like.... (FRONT)

(BACK)

Advanced notice September competitions

Make a note in your diary ready for my email !....

September 7th & 8th (No starters) Hedsor Golf Course, Wooburn Common, Buckinghamshire HP10 0JW
Note, this is the week after Padworth, only go if you are not suffering from Flyball burn out !.

September 14th & 15th (No starters) RSPCA Southridge, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 3LZ
Right on the edge of our 1 hour "travel to a competition" limit, not one that we have competed at before.

September 21st & 22nd (There will be starters here)   Acremead Kennels, Drayton, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4EZ
Acremead is one of our core venues; if you are going to race at any venue this month I suggest you make it this one, will be well attended by the team, also a good venue for starter dogs wanting to try 'open' racing.  Muttley and Chewy will be here, so if slower teams mates want to join them in a Rebounds team that would be great.

September 28th & 29th (There will be starters racing here) Anstey Park, Alton, Hampshire GU34 2RL

Blimey!, a whole months racing here for the taking if you want it !

Looking further into 2013...

There are 2 competitions in October
There are 0 competitions in November
There are 0 competitions in December (Unless you want a 1h 45m drive to Kennel Club Building, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire CV8 2LZ)

Cheers,

Andy

Latest movers and shakers....

... points are up from Mapledurham, and despite going best of 3 in the afternoon, some dogs have scored some big points !...

Movers !

Bruiser gets Flyball Dog Graduate !... yay go Bruiser :-)

Future shakers !

Harry - Now 55 points away from Flyball Dog Advanced

Darcy - Now 55 points away from Flyball Dog Graduate (not bad for a dog who was originally labeled as "no good for Flyball" !)

Special mention !

Well done Freya on getting your first Flyball points !... 80 is not a bad start :-)

Great going everyone... keep those awards coming in, your dogs deserve it.

Andy

Photos from Mapledurham

Have a hunt through...

Div 6 = Racers
Div 10 = Raiders
Div 13 = Rebounds

http://www.doggieportraits.co.uk/event-gallery/barkshire-bandits.htm

Some randoms below.

Maya puts so much effort into Flyball :-)

 Chris does the funky chicken...

Andy

Mapledurham racing update

Luckily I don't have time to do a long rambling update !.

The weekend was scorchio hot hot HOT !

On both days we ran best of 5 in the morning, then in the afternoon switched to best of 3, so the dogs did not get over worked or over heated... this is the first time I have ever seen this happen at Flyball (because it is normally freezing cold and chucking it down with rain !)... and it worked a treat, races flew by, dogs kept cool and the pressure to not mess things up made it extra exciting !.

Saturday - Freya, Ruby, Lacey, Muttley and Maya teamed up knowing they had a seed time they could not achieve.  But they produced some great team work.  Muttley was dog 5 and stepped in while Freya was getting into the swing of things, and once Freya was up and running Muttley and Maya shared dog 5 spot so each could have a rest... the result?... we got 4th ! (same as in Basingstoke) and set a new seed time for the Champs of 22:20 (I think !).  Nice team work, and well done Freya on getting your first Flyball points.

Sunday - Was a bit of a mix up as Chris put the wrong racing times on the instructions email :-) 

With minutes to go before the Racers were due on we were a black lab short !... so Alfie stepped in to join Summer, Harry and Milly.

Racers lost their first race against the Bassets as they worked on their cross overs... but once they found their groove, there were some butt clenching close cross overs, and they won all their other races to come in 2nd overall (behind those darn Bassets !).

Raiders - Bruiser, Mist, Darcy and Tosca step up to the closest, and toughest, division of the 3 the Rookys raced in.

Three close nail biting heats later (including the drama of a re-race due to the box not triggering) the Raiders were 3 nil up... their last heat was against the only other team to also be 3 nil up... and it was another Basset team !... so winner takes all !... race 1... Bassets win, race 2... Raiders win .... this is it... last race... tension !... and the Raiders pressure the Bassets into getting an early cross over and cruise to a well earned win !.

And a new seed time for the Raiders at the Champs of 20:02... so all 3 teams can go to the Champs, put their paws flat to the floor, and race like the wind, without fear of breaking out, or, being accused of holding back... a perfect situation !

So 4th, 2nd and 1st... a great venue, the river kept the dogs cool... the tea room and ice cream van kept the humans cool !.... one of my top venues to compete at... if you can make it you should go in 2014.

Ruby watching Shannon and other humans swimming in the Thames:

 Camp Rooky:

 Cool dogs :-)

Stockbridge next :-)

Andy

July & August summary

Will be trying something new from now on.

Each month I will post up what is happening in two months time... will give you a chance to check your diary etc.

This month will cover July and August as these are a busy two months (read to the end for other news):

Training and Comps...

July 12th & 13th - No training, 3 teams competing at Mapledurham (both days) there is space for more dogs on either day.  Pop down on Sunday to watch the racing and join in with the fund raising stuff for DBARC.

July 20th - Training is on, but only Chris will be there, so any help appreciated.

July 27th - No training, this is the day Paws In The Park is on at Lily Hill Park (next to where we train), we need dogs to do a Flyball demo at 11:30am (all ability welcome !), and help to run a "have a go" Flyball lane between 12 and 4pm.  Please let Chris know if you can help / want to do the demo (don't worry, Chris will be doing the PA system lol).  More details to follow.

August 3rd - There should be training, also two teams competing at Fairview Farm.

August 10th - Training is on.

August 17th - No training, we have three teams heading North to compete in the BFA Championships.

August 24th - Will play this by ear, had lots of interest to do another Starters competition, there will be one at Cantley Park in Wokingham, RG40 5QG ; if you want to go to this competition let Andy know sooner rather than later.  Training will be dependent on how many dogs want to do Starters (Open dogs welcome to race here too, again let Andy know).

August 31st - Training will be on, there is also a competition for Open dogs only near Theale.  Let Andy know if you want to race at this one  (Note the community dogs show in Maidenhead probably will not need us to go now, but thanks to those who volunteered... I will let you know if this changes).

Other stuff !....

New car bumper stickers are on order; you can buy these at cost price for £4... we have 10 on the way (but can order more if there is demand)... first come first served, let Andy know !

You have 'till the 21st to get your emails back to Andy for a chance to win one of four Bob & Lush goodies worth between £5 and £20 !.

Anything else?!... just ask !... andy@rookyracers.co.uk

Mapledurham details (update 2 @08:07 11th July)

Update 2... final running orders and ring party (Ring Party Sunday Division 2), racing starts 8:30 both days.

Update 1... I have been told the running orders are all going to change again !... stand by, update due before Saturday.

I will update this post as and when I get new information.

Hot off the press running orders below.

Racers and Rascals Sunday.
Rebounds Saturday (Sorry Debbie, this means Dylan cannot race as the Rebounds are the slower team).

Basically this competition will be massive with two rings, let me know if you want to camp.

Thanks,

Andy (Click to enlarge)

Bob & Lush bumper purple prize pack :-)

Wow, I have to admit, im pretty happy with this awsome looking prize pack donated to the team by the lovely people at Bob & Lush http://www.bobandlush.com/treats.html :

And to top it off I have added a tube of balls, and ball thrower, from Pedigree.

The treats consist of:

Crunchy Tripe Chews, 85g packs, Treat your dog to some quality home time with these crunchy tripe chews. Dried till crispy, they are full of healthy nutrients and cleanse your dog’s teeth and gums.

Ox liver, 50g packs, These small pieces of liver are fantastic for training or just as yummy treats.


Duck Breast, 50g packs, Caution these duck breasts are seriously tasty! Easy to feed while on a walk, these bite size pieces of chewable duck breasts make for a meaty and tasty natural treat.

The treats have a value of £40(!).

To win these you don't need to do any Twitter, or Facebook, stuff (but if you follow Bob & Lush on Facebook they occasionally do free prize draws for food / treats), all you need to do is reply to the email that I am sending out later tonight... if you don't get the email tell me asap !!.

The treats will be divided up into 4 prize packs, so you have a good chance of winning ! :-)

1st = 5 balls, ball thrower, x2 tripe chews, x1 ox liver, x1 duck breast
2nd = 1 ball, x1 tripe chew, x1 ox liver, x1 duck breast
3rd = x1 tripe chew, x1 ox liver
4th = x1 tripe chew

Good luck!... any questions let me know !

Andy (andy@rookyracers.co.uk)

Filming for the BBC

For those of you not on Facebook I have stolen the text below from Chris and the pictures from Sassy the search & rescue dog :-)
Andy

BBC filming Flyball today for the Wonder of Dogs - I would like to thank everyone in my team, the Rooky Racers, and David Flood and his Fenland Firestorm team for the great job you all did on the set today. All the dogs ran fantastically well and showed off Flyball as a great and fun sport for all types of dogs. The producers and film crew thanked me profusely at the end for such a great display of our dogs. They will feature in quite a few aspects of the programme, not only about Flyball, but also how dogs are built to run. I know all of the dogs went above and beyond what is normally called for, and it shows that no other sport can produce such athletes that can last all day long than Flyball dogs. Every dog that took part deserves a well earned rest and lots of love and hugs. Gary's new demo jumps featured well also.

Special thanks to the 2 box loaders who worked even harder as they were feeding balls into the boxes all day long with very little break. xx

The presenters Kate Humble and Steve Leonard were lovely people and were genuinely amazed at how the dogs ran. Kate's own dogs had a wee go at Flyball also

The programme will air on BBC2 either in mid-August or in September (lets hope not during the Champs!)

We will see what makes the programme and what makes the cutting room floor, but I am sure Flyball will be better known as a result.

Thanks again to the great people and dogs that took part today. Be proud.

Last comps. before the British Championships

One post covering the next two competitions.  (If you did not get this via email please let me know, Thanks).

1^st  competition is at Mapledurham, July 13^th & 14^th details on the blog http://rookyracers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/mapledurham-competition-july-13th-14th.html  (as I am too lazy to type this again !) if you can make it but have not told Chris please let him know.  If you want to go and camp over (even if you are not racing) you are more than welcome to stay over and try the fun stuff that is also going on.

 2^nd competition, August 3^rd & 4^th at Fairview Farm, Stockbridge, Hampshire SO20 6EN

Camping is available if you want it.

As this is the last competition before the British Championships, I would like to get the dogs that are going to the British Championships into their teams at Fairview Farm and race race race !, it is the perfect venue to practice cross overs, starts and working out what combination of dogs works best.  If you are at the British Champs, and you can make this, that would be great.

 I am also happy for new dogs to cut their teeth here (if training is going well and you want to see what happens).

Can you let me know by this week Wednesday morning if you can make Fairview farm please.

There are a few more competitions left this year, details to follow... but with a bit more warning next time!

Many thanks,

Andy

How cool are our new jumps?! :-)

I have no idea how this happened...

... not that I am complaining lol... thanks Pets At Home for mentioning us in your latest magazine :-)

Andy (Via Facebook and Suzie)

Hectic June 22nd & 23rd

1) 22/06 = No training

2) 22/06 = Starters comp at Basingstoke Saturday 22nd, Chris will be asking new dogs this weekend if they want to compete at Basingstoke (we have 3 spaces left in the starter team).

3) 23/06 = BBC Filming Rooky Racers dogs doing Flyball for a new programme about Dogs; this will also feature in the opening titles (the dogs not the handlers !).  This is with Chris.

Or

4) 23/06 = Racing at Basingstoke, open to all BFA dogs, the more the better as there will be gaps in teams, so a great chance to race if you are new, or worried about dogs running out etc. as there will be no pressure to win.  This is with Andy.

Let Chris know asap if you want to do the BBC filming OR Basingstoke.

If you want more details about any of the above ask Chris (and yes there is Camping at Basingstoke if you want it on Friday and or Saturday night).

Thanks,

Andy

Movers and Shakers update for May :-)

May movers !

Well, it has been a long time coming but a big congratulations to Chris and Princess Milly on gaining their Silver award in Mapledurham in May, 10,115 points !.

Radley gains his Flyball Dog Intermediate with 1,150 points after Mapledurham (great haul of points for Radley at Mapledurham... 325 from that one competition !).

Future shakers!.

Keep an eye on Harry who has 4,695 points and eyes set firmly on his Flyball Dog Advanced award.

Bruiser "HERE, HERE, here, DOWN" is only 200 points away from Flyball Dog Graduate.

Darcy could also make Flyball Dog Graduate with a good days racing.

Nice going eveyone, keep it up :-)

Andy

Mapledurham Competition - July 13th & 14th + Fun day

Let Chris know if you want to race at this event please.

Held on the field by the river this time and run by the Berkshire Bandits.

last year was fantastic with great weather :-)

Includes a fun day on Sunday in aid of DBARC (you get to meet Sarah North who trained Chris and Andy) so plenty to do even if you are not racing.

Camping is £7 a night:

Thanks, Andy

BFA Champs 2013

The British Flyball Championships are being held this year at a new venue – Catton Hall, in Derbyshire on Friday 16th Aug to Sunday 18 th Aug. . It certainly looks to be a very beautiful spot to do some Flyball :- ) http://www.catton-hall.com/

The British Championships have a fantastic atmosphere and is a great opportunity to see the top Flyball dogs in the country do their best, as well as have some fun racing ourselves. There are many trade stands usually and food stalls on site.

The club always likes to put as many of our members forward to enter as possible, as so we always offer free entry to this fabulous competition – for members who are BFA registered and who have a dog that does a complete run. There are upwards of 2000 dogs that will be there over the 3 days. As the order for racing is done in strict seed time order, the Rebounds and Rascals are likely to be racing on the Friday, with the Racers and Raiders on the Saturday – though this is not guaranteed at this stage. As the venue is about 130 miles from Bracknell (2 1/2hr drive time) we usually recommend you travel the night before and camp at the venue. Val and I will be there from Thursday through till Sunday in our caravan.

At this stage, and as soon as possible, and certainly by close of play on Friday 21 st June, please can you let me know if you will be attending this Championship and if so, will you will be needing a camping spot or not . Then we will put the teams together and place our entry forward. Please can everyone let me know one way or the other if you will be attending so that I can keep track of things. The club will pay for the entry, but not for your camping.

(You can still come and camp / help out even if you are not racing).

Chris

See below for the notice from the BFA -

The British Flyball Championships will be held this year from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th August at Catton Hall in Derbyshire. The tournament will be limited to 270 teams, with entry being applied on a first-come first-served basis after the schedule is released at 9pm on Tuesday 2nd July. Entry is set at £35 per sub-team entered. Camping will be available from 4pm on the Thursday through to 10:30am on the Monday at a flat rate of £20. All camping must be pre-booked prior to the closing date of 16th July and camping passes will be issued a couple of weeks prior to the tournament. Anybody arriving without possession of a camping pass will be turned away. As is the normal practice, divisions will run in reverse order over the weekend, starting with division 45 on Friday, culminating in division 1 last thing on Sunday. There will be facilities on site including toilets, showers, skips & a bar and there will be evening entertainment on Friday & Saturday nights. The Championships are again kindly sponsored by CSJ Specialist Canine Feeds. Finally, it has been decided that all declared times must be received in writing by 26th July 2013. The seed list will also be taken on 26th July 2013

Kronch competition !

Hello,

Welcome to our first Rooky Racers competition (oooooo !).

Up for grabs is a 175g bag of Salmon Treats for your dog from Kronch.

 

 

Kronch have been in the UK for a number of years and are well known in Gun Dog and Agility circles.

Kronch specialise in providing dog food and treats high in salmon oil; they also provide pure salmon oil to squirt on your dogs (and cats) food.

http://www.kronch.co.uk/

So, what do you have to do to win the bag of treats ?!... easy !.

1) Get onto twitter and follow @RookyRacers and @KronchUK

2) Once you are following both send a tweet = "@RookyRacers my dog {Dogs name} would love some free treats please!"

That is it!, on 15th June I will put all the dogs names in a hat that appear on Twitter and get someone to pull out the lucky winner; they will get the treats there and then.

Not only that !... if you spread the word to all your other dog owning friends and they follow @KronchUK you and your friends get a chance to win a 2nd bag of treats direct from Kronch once they get 100 followers!.

And not only that (gasp! lol!)...

Kronch have now released a new dry dog food aimed at active dogs with added joint care:

http://www.kronch.co.uk/shop/pet-feed/kronch-agility-15kg-detail#.Ua925EC1H0Q

If you would like a free sample of this food email "Karen@Kronch.co.uk" and say you belong to the Rooky Racers, not only will you get a sample, but maybe.... just maybe... a small bag of fishy treats too !.

And as a reminder, please keep checking our Rooky Racers blog every now and then for all the latest news.  http://www.rookyracers.co.uk/blog.html

That's all !...see you at training :-)

Andy

Are you on Twitter?!...

... If not get yourself an account set up... because coming soon there will  TWO competitions...

1) To win a goody bag from www.kronch.co.uk
2) To win a goody bag from www.bobandlush.com

All will be revealed soon... but all you need to know is... these will be simple to enter, requires minimum effort  and the chances of winning a goody bag are really high because it is open to the Rooky Racers team only :-)

Andy

Pet food / product challenge

As you may (or may not) know I do try and support my local independent pet shop – Pet Fayre in Lower Early (http://www.petfayre-reading.co.uk/).

From today you can now email me at andy@rookyracers.co.uk and ask for the best price on any pet product (for any animal type).

I will come back to you with a price, if you like the price let me know, I will bring the product to training and you can pay me with a cheque (preferred) or cash.

Simple as that !…

The team make no money out of this… but you do get the warm fuzzy feeling inside knowing you are supporting a hard working sole trader.

Examples of prices so far:

Skinners Duck & Rice £23 (15Kg)

Skinners Salmon & Rice £27 (15Kg)

Nature Diet 81p a packet or £13.77 for a tray of 18 packets.

Pet Fayre can quote for anything … give it a go (although my wife tells me horse products are not as cheap as Eileen Douglas !).

Andy

Sponsor a Flyball Dog

Want to get your company or product logo seen at Flyball competitions but cannot afford to sponsor a team?… then how about sponsoring a single dog?.

Sponsorship would appear on the dog handlers competition top, and you will get regular updates on how your dog and the team they compete with are doing.

The Rooky Racers compete at competitions all around the south of England and also at the British Championships, and without a main sponsor yours would be the only logo on the handlers top.

What do you need to do?.

Contact andy@rookyracers.co.uk Andy will work with you and our embroiders (http://www.topembroidery.co.uk/) to get your logo incorporated onto a competition top along with the teams logo.

Our main competition top design is the Finden+Hales LV325 in Red and Black, but you can choose other designs provided they are all Red, all Black or a combination of Red & Black.  (You could possibly have other colours, for example White, but if the colours clash with another teams colours then we ask you to stick with Red & Black).

You will be sent the final invoice for an embroidered top, the Rooky Racers will not add on any extra costs, what you see is what you pay.

That is it, sit back and let your sponsored dog and handler do all the hard work of waking up early and competing at Flyball :-)

Of course if you want to offer anything extra to the dog, handler or even the rest of the Flyball team that is not a problem.

The top will be worn for at least a year (after then the wonderful weather in this country will start to fade and wear the top out, you then have the option to provide a new top or not).

What dogs can you sponsor?.

As a team we have many dogs, and we are certain we can accommodate any request !.

Examples: We have dogs who compete at a high level at obedience competitions, old dogs, young dogs, nervous dogs, pedigree dogs, scruffy dogs, rescue dogs, 5 dogs from the same canine family tree, dogs attempting to qualify for Flyball at Crufts next year, dogs with young handlers, slow dogs, fast dogs, hairy dogs… you get the idea.

Our team are mainly based in Bracknell and Wokingham but do travel from Lower Early, Winnersh, Yately, Sandhurst and Windsor to train / compete, so we may be of interest to a local company.

If you don't want to sponsor a dog, but do want to offer products or services to our team please let andy@rookyracers.co.uk know.

(Fingers crossed Thundershirt read this post, my Chewy could do with showing off their product at competitions !).

Obviously the quicker you get in touch the better the choice of dogs… especially if you want to take a punt on a potential Crufts dog!.

Thanks,

Andy

Our Flyball Chute - pictures and plans

Hope this helps !.
Some measurements added as captions on the photos.
Base length = 110 cm long and 77 cm wide.
Front of chute = 90 to 93 cm top to bottom.  75cm width at the bottom.  65cm width at the top.

		Flyball chute VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL