More "NEWS"!

Yep! I have a newsworthy family! Danny and Guinan were interviewed by the other local paper, The Elkhart Truth, on wednesday and the article came out today (read below).
Elkhart Truth:

THIS DOG'S QUARRY: DISCS!
Osceola man's dog wins state Disc Dog award
Published: Friday, August 18, 2006 By Jeffrey Burton




Truth Photos By Larry Tebo


OSCEOLA -- Guinan doesn't have to jump through hoops to get people's attention. But the possibility hasn't exactly been ruled out.

"There's nothing she couldn't do with practice," said Danny Eggleston of Osceola.

On Sunday, Eggleston and Guinan, his 2 1/2-year-old black-and-white border collie, won the Disc Dog Indiana state championship in Delphi.

Disc Dog, for those unaware, is the official term for dogs catching flying discs. These, though, aren't the ordinary catch-and-release type activities people are used to seeing at parks.

Disc Dog involves rather elaborate stunts with dogs vaulting off their handlers and catching multiple discs in a single leap.

While many competitors have to go through rigorous training, Eggleston noticed a sort of magnetism between Guinan and flying discs at a very young age.

"With most dogs it doesn't come completely naturally," Eggleston said. "I play Ultimate Frisbee, and one day I took a Frisbee, tossed it up and caught it. This little 10-week-old dog tried to jump up over the coffee table and catch it."

Suddenly the gears started spinning, and the discs started flying. They started out with simple catching and ground maneuvers. Once Guinan reached 1 year of age and her bones had hardened, they began working on their vaults.

"By then we already had a good understanding that she loved Frisbees," Eggleston said.

Eggleston hoped all along, though, that Guinan would be attracted to life as a disc dog. His interest was piqued by watching clips on the Internet. His wife, Jamie, was willing, but unaware of what it would become.

"My thought was that if we got a high-energy dog (Danny's doing disc dog with it) was cool because I'm not very athletic, and I can't chase it around all the time," Jamie said. "I had no idea that it would become an obsession. Every weekend it's something."

Being the flying disc equivalent of a "golf widow" doesn't bother Jamie, though. She and the couple's first-born dog, Frodo, a Jack Russell Terrier and the family's "goodwill ambassador," enjoy sitting on the sidelines and cheering for Danny and Guinan with the rest of the spectators.

"Everyone is cheering for everyone else," she said. "It's an awesome community."

Their unusual activity also has been embraced in their own community. Danny and Guinan have performed at Jimtown High School football and basketball games, and they've even participated in half-time shows at Steelers and Colts games. And like a football coach, Danny plans and plots new maneuvers and routines in the off-season.

"We have a dry-erase board and he comes up with new things to do," Jamie said.

One aspect of the competition Danny never planned was Guinan's speed. She excels in distance and accuracy events, so much so that she is currently considered the world's fastest disc dog.

"She likes to run fast," Danny said. " She's running so fast that I have to slow her down."

Since winning their first competition in May 2005 in Kalamazoo, their trophies have been getting bigger and the awards more prestigious, leading Danny to conjure up an idea Jamie isn't exactly buying, at least not yet.

"He wants another dog," Jamie said. "My request is one family member at a time."

Jamie is expecting the couple's first child on Oct. 6, just two short weeks after the world championship in Atlanta. While she's not exactly worried about her husband missing their child's birth, she is a little leery of the other lass in his life.

"I think they have a communication between the two of them," Jamie said. "If I ask her to do something, it's like, 'You're a nice lady, I guess I'll do what you want.' But, if he says something, she'll jump and be like 'Whatever you want.'"

Jamie does, though, enjoy watching "Team Eggstream" run and jump toward the world championship. And while it is considered a sport, for her, it's really entertaining.

"It's the sort of thing you'd expect to see at the circus," Jamie said. "It's pretty cool."

Guinan refused comment, although she did lick, often.