Flying High tournament, Arizona
February 18-19, 2023
The snowdogs, Misty and Stormy, attended another Arizona tournament. Misty joined with a team from California to run in the Open division. They had an awesome day on Saturday, placing first! Sunday had more challenges… Misty’s downfall was dropped balls… but she redeemed herself by bringing both back. A bobble at the box saw her chasing her ball behind the box, recovering it, and returning to the lane to take all the jumps! Stormy again had to sit out, but cheered the team on. It will be good to get back home and join our own team, who have been practicing all winter!
The venue… a parking garage
The ball dilemma
The prizes
Flying high
Dreaming of flying!
Jail Break Tournament – Arizona
January 21 – 22, 2023
Misty and Stormy continued their snowdog adventures by participating in the JailBreak tournament held in Casa Grande, AZ. Misty got to run on an Open team with members of Arizona Supercharged club – our club away from home. The normal blips and bloops throughout the weekend… some dog caused.. some people caused, but as always, lots of fun. Stormy didn’t actually get to race, but did get some mat time as the 7th dog, which meant she could practice during the warmup time. Two tired little dogs by Sunday night.
Tournament logo
Christmas Mingle
January 16, 2023
Since the weather didn’t cooperate and allow the Christmas party to be held when originally scheduled, it was postponed til January. This time it went off with no problems. Unfortunately, quite a few people for various reasons were unable to attend, but those that did, enjoyed themselves. Special thanks to Janet for organizing the nibbles and drinks… she did it all!
The festive table
Christmas gifts
Finger foods!
And no party is complete without a hug.
Snowdogs Winter 2022
Misty and Stormy rejoined their Arizona friends once again, taking part in practices. Misty was able to fill an opening on a team for the annual Woofstock tournament in Chandler, about an hour’s drive from our winter home. Her team was an open team, consisting of two dogs from California, three dogs from Arizona and Misty, from BC. Even though they had not all run together ever before, everyone worked together and made a good showing. Misty earned her needed points for her next title.. Flyball Master Excellent…10,000 points.
the ring
the placement
the award!
Summer BBQ/Get together… Aug. 21st, 2022
Once again, a long time coming! A very small group of us were able to meet on the deck in Brentwood and the only time we had crazy dogs around was when Sid wound them up! Summer just gets so busy for people … guess we should have bbq’s in the winter!! Way too much food as usual… and a big thanks to Jon for managing the grill, and to Joanne and Jon for the lovely flowers! 
RunFree Tournament
Chilliwack.. June 4 – 5, 2022
Finally, a Barn Stormers’ team made it to a tournament. The Spitfurs was made up of Hazel, Odie, Lea, Dixie, Misty, & Stormy and was helped out by the loan of Singe and Kaida from Run Free. Saturday’s racing was a learning curve for the new dogs and handlers.. each race saw them figuring out more and more. By Sunday, the team had come together… they ran extremely well and won first place in their Open 2 division. The crazy mixed up weather didn’t stop us from having a fun potluck dinner on Saturday night. A terrific debut to racing for our new dogs …well done all of you!
Saturday’s potluck
Plotting strategy
Hazel
Lea
The Team
Odie
Dixie
Stormy & Misty
Barn Stormer Dogs as Snowdogs
Arizona, January 2022
Misty and Stormy were finally able to cross the border last November and found a flyball club to play with. Arizona Supercharged made us welcome and it was good to see some old friends there. We attended practices with them on Sunday mornings…. at 8:30 after that hour drive to get there. Unfortunately, Stormy was bitten by another dog, so her flyball time came to a halt, but Misty was able to participate in the tournament which was held here in our little town. She acquitted herself well so upheld our Canadian image!
Full speed to the box
Got the ball…back to mom!
Back in the barn again!
September 26, 2021
It’s been a long time coming, but today, we were finally back in the RCMP barn at the fairgrounds again. We were here in July, August, September and part of October of 2020. Then, as of November 1st, we were bumped to the draft horse barn with its dirt floor because Netflix had contracted to use the other barn. We settled in to wash balls and get dirty, and Covid 19 struck again. In the middle of November, the fairgrounds shut down to everything but the film company. We lived with our disappointment until the middle of June, 2021, when restrictions lifted enough that we were able to resume practice outside, on a field. There we were, subject to weather.. too hot one day, and too wet on some others.. but we did have some good days! Finally, the Saanich Fair was over, the fairgrounds cleaned things up and here we are. Now our only hope is that things don’t change on us again.
The ball washing station
Outside works when you haven’t a barn.
The trailer is organized again.
Flyball at the Fairgrounds
September 4 & 6, 2021
Finally, a chance for the club to play in front of an audience! We were asked to put on a couple of demonstrations at the fair on the weekend. It was very short notice, but after a flurry of emails, 7 handlers were able to make time in their schedules to perform. Sara & Jason, Joanne & Jonathan, Matt & Krystine, Lisa & Adam, and of course, Sid & Janet and Marg & Tony represented us very well. Need a special thanks to Krystine for being our photographer, Sid for telling us what to do, and Tony for faithfully box loading. We even borrowed Julie from the Donkey club to be our announcer on Monday. Since it was a demo, we were able to use our training aids to help guide the dogs, as only Stormy and Misty have ever been in that sort of situation before. Being dogs, everyone showed off a few things that are what not to do, but the audience loved it anyway, applauding even the goofs!
The ring set up
Planning strategies
The Team
August, 2021
Still Covid restrictions interfering with our practices. We’re using a field, so it’s better than nothing. We’d really like to get back in the barn so we could start up classes again.
