Hostel TFP FDX

Border/Staffy

December 28, 2005 - June 8, 2020

Also known as: Hostey, "What a cute boy dog!"

Owner/Handler: Colleen Morita

U-FLI jump height: 9"

Best line-to-line time: 3.661 sec

Photos

I was blessed with Mav who was the easiest dog to train for flyball and then Hostel came into my life. The thing I remember most about her the first time I saw her was that she did not have a clue what anyone was asking her to do. She had this nervous reaction of jumping up at peoples faces.

Eventually I had the opportunity to take her home, and the first thing I did was start clicker training with her. It was the easiest way to give her clear signals. Most of the time, if you even looked at her she would get so excited that she could not sit still, let alone concentrate on something that you wanted her to do. After a few weeks of simple clicker training she improved quickly from there. She learned simple tricks and learned how to retrieve a ball. The one thing I could not get her to do was tug. The clicker training was going so well I decided to try teaching her to tug by using the clicker. My hope was that eventually the actual act of tugging would take over as her reward. It took months, but to my surprise it actually worked. She is a tugging beast now. Her training stays at my house got longer and longer and eventually she just became my dog. She probably is the dog who has taught me the most about flyball training. It took months and months of setbacks and patience to get her running. She is still a work in progress but she did not disappoint.

Hostey is a force of nature in the flyball ring, where she runs as one of the height dogs on X Treme. She was recognized with a "WOW! Height Dog" award at Rude Dogs West's Rock the West tournament in 2010. Hostel has run in every position on X Treme and has been part of many of our team-bests, including our first run in the 15s in 2010.

When she is not playing flyball, you can find Hostey doing somersaults in the sun, or sacked out asleep. She knows how to relax!

Hostel retired in February 2013.

Hostel is from the Sidney x Thriller breeding and has siblings who play for Rude Dogs West, Flyball N-R-G, The Gamblers, Spring Loaded, RPM Dog Sports, and High Velocity.