It is with great pleasure that TBDC would like to announce an extremely promising addition to our team. It all started when I tried to contact some local rescues and see if I could help by working with and then showing any Frisbee potential candidates at the competitions. I figured this would give me good knowledge in how to teach different dogs to do different things as well as get some potential new stars in front of the people who would be able to use them the most.

I started by posting to the CFDDC list on yahoo and while it did generate some discussions I didn’t get any real leads on dogs. It was either Sarah or Kat who first told me to speak to Kim Litz and as it turned out Kim and I were both busy if we were ever at the same event. Kat pointed out a herding trial that was about 15 minutes from my house one day and we ran into Kim there. She showed me “Fluffy” and we had a very nice chat and told me to get in touch with Joanne Brodaw and ask her about Kota. They had sent out an email with a video and I had seen she could catch a Frisbee already so I was excited and told her I would. I asked if she thought Joanne would be receptive to me showing her at events and to be honest by her response I thought there was no way I was ever going to get a dog to work with … but I was determined.

I called Joanne and ran my proposal by her and she was in fact very receptive and thought it was a good idea.  The Skyhoundz Southeastern Regional Open Qualifier was in about 2 weeks and I wanted to try and work with Kota (I learned her name was actually Dakota at this point) beforehand to see if she was going to be able to work the competition field with little or no experience when she and I really didn’t know each other too well. I also wanted to see if she and Bandit got along as we would be traveling in my truck and there is no way I can fit a crate large enough for Bandit in the back seat of a Nissan Titan, so it was imperative we all got along. It was either Monday or Tuesday and  so we decided to meet that Sunday at a dog park in Deland which was probably the best place for us to get together and let the dogs run. As it turns out this dog park is now my favorite dog park in the world. Check it out if you are ever in the area … you won’t be disappointed. http://www.volusia.org/parks/barkley.htm

So we meet on Sunday and she brings her own pack, There was Jack, this dog might possibly be the most insane BC ever known to mankind. The first time I met him he jumped so high he could have done a head vault right off the top of my head ! It would be a lot of work but this dog would be the most incredible disc dog with the right trainer. His enthusiasm and energy is not matched by any other dog I have ever seen. Then there was Snapple, and if you have ever seen Angela Ewtesac’s Rally you would have sworn this was indeed rally. He was so quick on his feet and with his ling flowing hair there was no way you couldn’t fall immediately in love with this dog. Then, last but certainly not least, there was Dakota. She’s a lean (vet says 30 lbs) black Tri Female FULL of attitude and doesn’t know the meaning of slow. The first thing I noticed was that her recall was almost immediate. When Joanne said “Kota come” she didn’t just turn she cut and run back to Joanne. The second thing I noticed was that while most of our mini pack was really kind of centered around us … Kota was a roamer or explorer. This park has over 14 acres and if you turned around for a second she had covered half of them …. But was always within eyesight.

After the pack calmed down a bit I tried to get Kota to play a little toss and fetch. I didn’t want to thow anything drastic as she had just gone through getting spayed and I didn’t want to risk hurting her. This turned out to be almost impossible because both Bandit and Jack wanted in on the action and while jack didn’t retrieve a Frisbee all that well he sure was the most verbal of the group as well as the most athletic.  I wasn’t really able to see much because all the dogs were too much for really getting a feel for how well she would be. I was able to see that she would not only catch a low thrown Frisbee but would do just about anything in her power to get it. I was really amazed as well because although I knew Bandit was slow I had no idea just how slow and he seemed almost lethargic around Kota. I ended up throwing some bombs for Jack and Bandit and watching them go after them. Bandit’s experience really paid off and he caught the lions share of the long distance throws although at one time he went up for one grabbed it and Jack jumped and tried to grab it out of bandits mouth while they were in the air. Joanne and I watched as Jack did a complete end over end (His back legs were straight up to the sky while his jaw was firmly clamed on the Frisbee in Bandits mouth) and only released the disc because mother earth broke his fall. He popped right up and in typical Jack fashion was just as verbal as ever about wanting the elusive disc. Joanne suggested I take Kota with me so I could work with her this week before the competition and I told her I probably couldn’t but snuck out to the car and discussed it with Julie who agreed it might be best if I did work with her a little so I returned and asked if the offer was still open and of course it was. We stayed at the park for about another half hour and all the dogs tongues were dragging really low. Bandit was completely soaked because he swam to the middle of the pond about 10 times after the tennis balls too.

We got in the car to go and both dogs were down and out within about 5 minutes …..

Kota hasn’t left my side since and while Bandit is a little jealous he is warming up to her more and more every day. More to come in the next installment as I get time !!!