HYPERBOWL
2003
DOGGIES,
DOGGIES AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE ...
HYPERBOWL
WAS A MASSIVE SUCCESS!!
At
our best count, almost 45 dogs attended our first annual TDBCR
reunion held at Savage Farm in
Richmond B.C. People driving by stopped their cars to take a look
at a sight you don't see too often ... 40 or so border collies
racing around merrily, chasing balls, chasing sheep and chasing
one another! The dogs had a great time, and from all accounts,
so did all their humans.
It
Went A Little Something Like This ...
We
began the day with some old fashioned socializing, for people
and dogs alike. As time passed, a steady stream of dogs arrived
with their people in tow, and by noon the field was awash in a
sea of black, white, red and the odd merle tossed in too.
We
welcomed everyone with a short speech from volunteer Ritchie
Mallari, who thanked our guests for coming, and awarded some
much deserved recognition and gifts to overworked but always cheerful
foster homes Betti Belding, Ruedi Birenheide and
Sarah Henderson, without whom many foster dogs would have
had nowhere to go over the last year. Guys, your hard work and
your dedication to our cause is greatly appreciated, and we really
thank you for all your efforts!
We
had agility equipment set up for demos and lessons, but people
were having such a good time meeting other members of the TDBCR
family that we never did get around to the demos. Instead, people
and their dogs tried out the equipment themselves (and we saw
some promising agility dogs in the making too!) We never did do
the flyball demos which is probably a good thing, as someone
forgot to bring the tennis balls ...
After
all the running, jumping, chasing, fetching, swimming, sheep-poop
eating, sheep-poop rolling, barking, crouching, climbing and leaping,
we thought the dogs might like a little down time, but they're
border collies after all, and they never even took a breather.
So we humans left them to their own devices and decided to dig
into the food that our lovely volunteer Fiona Wray was
serving up straight from the barbeque (which a dog or two made
valiant efforts to guard from everyone). Fiona - the food was
mighty tasty, and next year we promise to provide you with some
shade!
(Out
of respect for the sheep who were in the next field keeping a
beady eye on the dogs, we didn't serve any lamb.)
When
we were all stuffed, we were right back to playing games with
the dogs, who hadn't even noticed we were missing. They all looked
at us as if to say "Oh, you again ... could you not bother
me please, I'm trying to play with my pals" and headed straight
into the ditch to cool off before another round of 'catch me if
you can' with the other dogs.
Rejected
again, the humans turned to the raffle table, cheerfully manned
by our volunteer Bob Gee. The prizes were admired and the
race to stuff raffle cups full of tickets was on! Bob did a great
job and we have every intention of putting him to work next year
too!
Not
long after, people began to complain they were dead broke from
spending all their cash on raffle tickets and demanded satisfaction.
So we played some games, like the now infamous Weiner Race (dogs
do not like to carry weiners without eating them, we learned very
quickly) and we held a Best Trick competition too - but all the
tricks were great, so all the contestants won prizes.
Shortly
afterward we brought out the sheep thanks to volunteer Cheryl
Cooper's very capable little sheepdog Ric, and we let some
of the braver folks try their dogs on sheep. It was great fun,
and some sheepdogs really emerged from some beloved pets! We encourage
everyone to get their dogs out there on sheep whenever you can,
and see what your pal is made of!
Dinner
time had come and gone, so reluctantly our guests began to depart.
There were tearful goodbyes, exchange of telephone numbers and
lots of requests to hold another event in the future ... which
we absolutely promise we will do!
Thanks
to each and every one of you who came out to Hyperbowl 2003. It
was a great event, and it was so wonferful to see you all again.
It brought tears to my eyes to see all the dogs out there, many
of whom would never had made it if it weren't for the care and
love of their adopted families who made room for these wonderful
border collies. Thanks to all of you for making Hyperbowl a success,
and thanks especially to all of you for adopting a TDBCR dog.
