Labrador Retriever

Louisiana Catahoula

Boris was adopted from the Humane Society in the Tampa Bay area, Florida on Memorial Day weekend in 2001.  He was a young adult, approximately 1 ½ years old, and had been thrown over the 6 foot tall fence surrounding the Humane Society one night with no paperwork and no name. Boris was ready for his first tournament in 5 months where he did well earning his first Flyball title  Flyball Dog (FD) and his Flyball Dog Excellent (FDX) title one month later.Boris was quickly recognized by his teammates as being a focused, eager to please dog who was never a threat to another dog in the racing lanes, was a natural athlete, and was a laid-back personality.  Off the racing ring, he was all Catahoula and would respond to any dog in his face.  He was asked repeatedly to run with new dogs because he would always do his job to “get the ball and bring it to Momma”.  On the rare occasions where one of the new, smaller dogs got in Boris’ way in the racing ring, he would just jump over them!

Louisiana Catahoula

As a young puppy, Twinkle attended all of Boris’ Flyball tournaments  to absorb the atmosphere and to learn how to cope with there being so many dogs in the tournament crating area.  I started slowly training her at home with short jumps placed in several doorways in our house.  She quickly understood that she always had to jump over every jump that was in her way.  Within 6 months of coming to her forever home, she was invited to begin official Flyball classes with the team.  In September 2005, she entered her first North American Flyball Association (NAFA) and did well earning her Flyball Dog (FD) title.  In November 2005, she entered her first United Flyball League International (UFLI) Tournament as a single racer and as part of the Dependable Paws Team.  She was amazingly focused on her job to “get the ball and bring it back to Momma” and completely ignored the 3 other new dogs who crossed over into her lane to “look at her pretty eyes”.  She took home her first two UFLI titles Top Flight (TF) and Top Flight I (TF-1).  She has also been named by UFLI as the “2005 TOP DOG IN BREED” for Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dogs.

Border Collie

Mattie is a Border Collie born on 2/9/04 who has made Flyball her favorite hobby.  When she is not "twirling", running her racetrack in her backyard or resting in her kiddie pool, she is guarding the front window on the back of her couch.  She is convinced that anyone who comes over is doing so just to see her.    She is a wonderful companion and my best friend. She is owned and handled by Christine Heckman and also calls Michael Jennings (one of our boxloaders) her Dad.

St. Germain Pointer

Jazz was rescued from the Humane Society of Sarasota County in June, 2006 at 2 years of age.  She had trouble being adopted due to high energy and inability to sit still.  Her handler will tell you that Jazz picked her and not vice versa.  Stacy is a volunteer at the humane society and regularly took Jazz to obedience classes there and saw Jazz's potential.  Jazz was in and out of no less than four homes in 6 months until taken home by Stacy and her husband, Galen.  Jazz had her first flyball lesson two weeks after coming home, since the other dog in the home, Gizmo, was taking private lessons.  Jazz was a natural and started doing swimmers turns on day one!  Jazz loves flyball.  She's not the fastest dog around,  but does her job consistently well and is gaining speed little by little, always running with a goofy grin on her face.  She will do anything for a treat and barks at you if she doesn't feel appropriately rewarded for hard work.  She is extremely food-motivated.  Jazz ran in her first tournament in July of 2007.  She is a very brave girl, except is fearful of thunderstorms and fireworks.  In her free time she enjoys chasing squirrels,  chasing Gizmo (her sister), and reminding her people when it is dinner time.  Her dad is Galen Groff,  Gizmo's handler.

Labrador Retriever

Jack Russell Terrier

As I walked into the breeder in Riverview, I promised myself I would NOT walk out with a puppy.  1 hour later, Deoge was in the car eager to start her life with me as I with her. Her training began with basic Puppy training classes and then moved on to Agility for a couple of years.  As she advanced, the handler (myself) couldn’t keep up so we retired from agility.Upon moving to Sarasota, we started Flyball in July 2007. With her high energy (so unusual for a Jack Russell) along with her love of balls I figured Flyball was a perfect match.   We now look forward to every practice and attend as many tournaments as possible. Not sure which of us loves it more. When Deoge is not running Flyball she enjoys chasing & barking at squirrels and catching lizards and frogs that don’t normally see the light of day again.  Which is why we encourage more hugs from her than kisses. 

Mix

Gizmo was rescued from the Humane Society of Sarasota County in September, 2005 at 1 1/2 years of age.  Gizmo was listed as a special needs dog who, due to an unknown past history, was petrified of all people.  When she met her "parents" (Galen & Stacy) for the first time we knew that she needed a special home.  We took little Gizmo home amidst warnings that she may never warm up to us,  she may never be able to be housetrained, and other things that a normal adopter would shy away from.  Gizmo was the perfect dog from day one, had no issues with housetraining, and has been an absolute gem.  She has worked with a behaviorist to overcome her fear of "bad people" and now wiggles her butt when people come to visit her.  Our little shy Gizmo is now enjoying being in charge of her sister, Jazz.  She also will be found hunting lizards, flies, and working on her tan in the yard. Giz had a long road to her first tournament in January 2008.  She was a repeater of flyball 1 class due to being afraid of the box.  Now she has a gorgeous box turn (especially for a big dog!).  We expect great things from Gizzy when she figures out that flyball is a race and not a fashion runway.

Louisiana Catahoula

As a proud member of a Catahoula owners online message board called “Catahouligans”, I have daily contact with other Catahoula owners.    From time to time I have been notified by a Catahoula owner or foster parent that they have a high energy puppy or dog that needs to be placed in a working home only.  That is the case with Jake, who was named after the character in “The Blues Brothers” movie.  Jakes and his two brothers, Ellwood and Uripadeez, were born in Texas on October 7, 2006 and were put into foster care by Catahoula United Rescue Society (CURS) at the age of 8 weeks.  He stayed in foster care in Georgia for 5 months with his two brothers at which time I was notified that he needed to be in a working home and would I care to look at him.  On June 16, 2007, Boris, Twinkle and I met his foster Mom and the three puppies in an off-leash dog park in Gainesville, Florida, where we decided to adopt Jake.  Jake has had fairly a sheltered life, but filled with love, with his brothers so we are working to expand his world and build his confidence.  He is a sweet boy, doesn’t have a mean bone in his body and is very smart, eager to please, loves to run, and runs like the wind. 

I met Gypsy at a PetSmart adoption event. She was with Canine Castaways for only a few days. She had been found roaming the streets of Venice , picked up by Sarasota County Animal Control and was about 6 months old. I saw her and thought I wonder if they need a "foster" home for her. That was November of 2007. It didn't take long to realize her favorite toy was a tennis ball and since she can't play tennis ..........

Mix

Australian Shepherd