Happy Mothers' Day, ya'll! What a beautiful day it was today! Hopefully ya'll got outside to enjoy the sunshine for a bit. I got out for a run and a bit of play. Good times!

So we are talking about canine dog sports. This week, we are talking about two very popular sports - agility and flyball.

Agility is a very exciting sport that can be a challenge for the owner/handler AND the dog. Every agility course is a little different. There are jumps, seesaws, tunnels, weave poles and A-frames in almost any configuration. The handlers are walked through each course and then the handlers must mentally prepare to guide their K9 athletes through the course. The winners have the fastest time, but there are faults awarded for mistakes on the course.

Almost any breed can compete in agility. There are courses for different size breeds, all the way down to the tiny dogs. Obviously, it is not as fast as the larger dogs, but the little dogs are no less competitive. For more information on agility, visit http://www.nadac.com/ There are a number of training facilities in the Puget Sound, if you are interested!

The other sport of the week is called Flyball. In Flyball, dogs run in teams of 4 over a course of 4 hurdles in a straight line, 10 feet apart. At the end, is a spring-loaded box which pops up a tennis ball when the dog steps on it. The dogs catches the tennis ball, then runs back over the hurdles. The next dog starts when the preceding one crosses the start/finish line. Flyball is very fast paced! For more information, please visit http://www.flyball.org/

Check out the sports and go outside and play! Have a great week, ya'll and remember that the warmer weather means you should not leave your pets in the car! Take care!