Monday, July 13, 2009

Thelma's Big Adventure

On July 10, after only about 2 months of training, Thelma ventured out to her first disc dog competition. It would be a big one- The Ohio Cup, over 700 miles away. There were many firsts on this trip: Thelma's first time out of the state of NY, Thelma's first time in a hotel, Thelma's first road trip...
My little frog was such a delight to travel with; she was focused on the field, she was friendly to all my friends and their dogs...she made me so happy and proud and it seemed like she had fun as well. She was complimented numerous times on her good looks, her incredible physique and her performance on & off the field.
She was invited to go out for the ceremonial first toss of the competition, what an honor at her first event!
So when the competition began, she was fifth in the running order, behind Wee-la and probably more importantly behind Wallace. Wallace and Roo inspired us to seriously consider a pibble as our next disc dog and after fostering Thelma for a few weeks, we knew she was the pibble we had been waiting to find. Out on the field Thelma was drivey and fast, focused and eager. She may have missed some but her potential was obvious. Our friends complimented her immediately as she came off the field and the judges soon followed with very impressive scores. She finished in 11th place in the Super Open Division (highest division).
Overall it was an amazing adventure! On the drive home (around 12 hours), Thelma showed little signs of exhaustion and yet was calm and adapted well to the long trip.
I am so proud of this girl and her performance. I am so happy about our decision to keep her, to give her a good life, to show the rest of the country that pitbulls can be amazing disc dogs as well as any other dog. I so look forward to our future together as a team, on the field and beyond.
Thank You Animal Farm Foundation for plucking this little girl out of the unfortunate circumstances that she found herself in as a young pup and entrusting her to us!
Stay tuned, Team Thelma is well on its way...

1 comment:

willeyfromtroy said...

Hi Thelma!
I just learned about you from my friend Kathleen who met you today at Animal Farm. You rock girl! Your video from Ohio is awesome .... what a beautiful girl you are!!
Can't wait to see more of you out there!