Running!

Rini attended her first NOTRA (oval racing) event in Camden, South Carolina on October 21, 2012. She was introduced to racing slowly, the proper way to train a dog. First we showed her the lure (a faux fox tail and a plastic bag that is tied to a line connected to pulleys and a motor, to make it zip along in front of the dogs). Then we let her chase the lure a short distance and catch it. Next it was time to introduce the starting box -- with the doors wide open the first few times.

After Rini was comfortable with the starting box, we closed the doors and tried a "real" race. At first she was confused, but once she saw another dog run, everything clicked and she absolutely understood. Rini was loaded into the box, a friend's dog was loaded into box #3, the doors closed ... the signal was given ... the lure zipped forward, doors opened with a BANG and they were off! Rini knew exactly what to do!

She raced the entire oval, a good distance behind the experienced race dog, but giving it her all. She was so proud of herself when she finished, and we were so proud of her! She had a great time and we're looking forward to future races.

Thank you to Jennifer Ng for the photos, and Krys Lyons for the video of Rini practicing. I wasn't expecting to have "evidence" of our fun day, and it was such a delight to have these to share!