Team Bella, with Tim Kline (AKA The Dancing Bear), is one of Thunder's closest
competitors in Top Gun EV. They take turns beating each other and both are working really hard to get a grab higher
than 6' 6" - one of these days. Sometimes Bella and Thunder run neck-in-neck in Big Air and other times "Bella beat
Thunder!"
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Team Blabador, with Alisa and Scott Wayland, hail all the way from Conneticut but still manage to attend
most of the events we do. They've got three jumping dogs - Abraham, Colby, and Parker - all yellow labs. They
also bring along their cheering squad - Gracie the Mastiff and four Chihuahuas - Stewie, Goolosh, Penelope and Webster.
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Buddy, the Big Yellow Lab with Brandy Fowler, loves to play with Thunder, I think, because they're the same
size and can wrestle without hurting each other. TUNDER loves to go visit Buddy's house and play with Zachary, Buddy's
boy. TUNDER will play hockey with Zac for hours, but Buddy steals the ball and doesn't give it back. Thunder can't
wait for their next play date!
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| Buddy and TUNDER Having Fun |
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| Clay & Thunder Playing Ball |
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Clay, with Kellie Wisotzkey, is the only Irish Water Spaniel in Thunder's group of LAB friends. Clay
thinks Labs are just too friendly and energetic for him - especially Thunder who gets excited over EVERYTHING - and wishes
they would leave him in peace. I was hoping Thunder would learn some manners from Clay, but this has backfired.
After hanging out with Thunder for a long weekend, Clay's name is now "Clay, NO!". Apparently, he's started picking
up some Lab manners. Now, we're just trying to convice Clay he's a curly-haired Lab - he's on his way because he loves
his tennis ball almost as much as Thunder loves it.
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Lil' Miss Daisy Looouuu, with Carly Keane, is Thunder's Lil' Yellow Labbie girlfriend. The difference
in size when they're together is hilarious - she's 55 lbs and he's 86 lbs and probably about seven inches taller.
She is Thunder's favorite traveling buddy - he loves to canoodle with her in the car and hotel room. He even shares
his bones, balls, and toys with her and she was the first one he let approach him on a leash.
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| Diego Winning 2nd Place Novice |
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Diego, aka Diggs with Carly & Alan Keane, only enjoys DockDogs when it's super hot outside and it's
the easiest way to cool off. He much prefers agility whenever possible. When Daisy Lou is relegated to the bedroom,
Diggs and Thunder enjoy hanging out on the loveseat and couch respectively.
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Mercy, with Angie Jones, had a rough start with Thunder. She was only 10 weeks old, when Thunder came
into her house, smelled her, and that scared her so much she peed. Poor Mercy! They've become much friends
and now Mercy is so confident she barks at Thunder when he annoys her. She loves going to the lake on puppy play dates
with Thunder and Nestle and all three come back tired, happy and content.
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| Thunder & Mercy Playing Ball |
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Mishka, with Brian Rutledge, loves competing with Thunder. In Big Air, they're always competing against
each other. Mishka just learned Extreme Vertical at the end of the 2007 season and got his first National Top Gun Grab
in January. Hopefully he'll get a Top Gun soon competing with Thunder.
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Nestle, with Angie Jones, loves to swim and play with Thunder. They're both like the Energizer Bunny
- they keep playing and playing and playing. Thunder's choice of toys is a tennis ball but Nestle LOVES the dummy launcher.
He'll swim over 100 yards just to get the dummy after it's been launched.
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| Nestle Trying to Get Thunder to Play |
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