Luka Dakskobler

Stories: AIR LYRA

Lyra was the first Frisbee dog in Slovenia and the first Slovene competitor to take part in Dog Frisbee European and World Championships. She has appeared in an advertisement for chocolate, has been a guest on several television shows and has kept competing around Europe and appearing at events of various kinds including entertainment, children’s events and sports competitions even in her almost senior years. She was a black and white Border collie mix with an excellent memory and an extraordinary ability to spot movement. Her owner and handler Jean McCollister brought Lyra from Indiana, USA, where she lived for a period of time after having lived in Slovenia for several years. In 2004, she moved back to Slovenia with Lyra and first took up agility with her, then Dog Frisbee. Dog frisbee did not exist in Slovenia as a sport at that time, and elsewhere in Europe it was still in its infancy. Jean learnt the basics at a novices’ seminar in Oberammergau in Germany in 2007. Less than a month later she and Lyra won their first competition, in Prague, in the beginners’ freestyle category (doing tricks to music) and in the super mini-distance event, where points are scored for frisbees caught in scoring zones at different distances. This amazing success encouraged Jean to sign up for an advanced course and Lyra instantly became one of the best in Europe. By the end of her career Lyra has won countless trophies and competed in six European Championships and a World Championship. In the meantime the number of competing pairs in Slovenia was growing, thanks to Jean. She was running seminars and courses, and in 2009 a dog Frisbee club called Flipsi was founded. That same year Lyra and Olivia (“Oli”), Jean’s second Frisbee dog, were joined by Bamm Bamm, a brown and white Border collie from Germany. Lyra and Bamm Bamm shared the national record in the Frisbee distance category (55 metres), while in 2011, Lyra also set the time-trial record, catching two consecutive 18-metre throws in a time of 16.4 seconds. Lyra was extremely smart. She understood whole sentences, let alone an enormous amount of words. She was hypersensitive to movement, which is also why she loved watching television or catching sparks or passing cars (while in the back seat going to a workshop, presentation, seminar or a competition). And of course constantly catching something in the air. Jean and her dogs regularly travel to European countries to compete. The trips are long and expensive, and usually it takes a lot of sacrifice to make that money to go. But dogs are crazy about Frisbee and they actually love to travel. Lyra also had a special bond with Jean’s neighbor Jana. She spent most of her time with her, either in Jana’s weekend house next to Jean’s in Brje or in Ljubljana. Jana and her husband took her to trips and vacations etc. Lyra lived like a star. And just like Air Jordan in basketball, she was given a nickname Air Lyra in dog frisbee. She died in September 2016. 

  • Lyra waits at the front door of Jean's house for a possible stroll on March 24, 2011. She has to make sure she's not left at home.
  • Lyra, Bamm Bamm and Oli usually chase after a ball on their walks in the Karst region of Slovenia. Jean throws them with a ball tosser. Lyra almost always gets the ball, unless Jean puts her in a down stay so the other two have a chance. There are never fights, because Lyra tolerates Oli and will let her take the ball from her, and Bamm Bamm is so intimidated by Lyra that he doesn’t even try to go for the ball if she is in the game. Brje near Kopriva, September 15, 2010.
  • Oli confronts Bamm Bamm while Lyra peacefully watches by the side after a seminar Jean lead in Celje, Slovenia, October 24, 2010. There are tensions and occasional quarrels between the three dogs living together, usually initiated by Lyra. She was the first in the {quote}family{quote} and she's not very tolerant to the other two. Oli's occasional confrontations with Bamm Bamm are more of a bluff. Bamm Bamm knows it and doesn't react.
  • Lyra demonstrates a jump from a back stall, a trick where she pauses on Jean's back and then jumps off to catch a frisbee, at a seminar in Celje, lead by Jean. October 24, 2010.
  • Lyra performs a back stall during practice at a sports field in Sežana, Slovenia, September 15, 2010.
  • Jean and Lyra practice at a sports field of a football club in Rence, Slovenia, September 6, 2011.
  • Lyra can play with visitors all day if possible, but the visitor always tires first. Jana's weekend house, Brje, Slovenia, September 15, 2010.
  • Jana, Jean's neighbour in Brje, and Lyra sit in front of Jana's weekend house in Brje, Slovenia, August 2, 2011.
  • Lyra spends her days with Jean's neighbor Jana in her weekend house next door, where she plays, sleeps, eats ... Jean comes get her to take her for a walk. Brje near Kopriva, Slovenia,  September 15, 2010.
  • At Jana's house, Lyra likes to watch television, because she's attracted to anything that moves on the screen. She likes tennis, soccer, cartoons and the weather forecast. Brje near Kopriva, Slovenia, September 15, 2010.
  • After many years of Lyra's vacationing in Ljubljana, she got used to the hustle and bustle of the city, but she still doesn't notice fast cyclists and thinks every car that resembles that of Jana's husband Dean came to pick her up. Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 14, 2011.
  • When in Ljubljana, Jana takes Lyra for a walk in the Tivoli park, where Lyra keeps catching pine cones. Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 14, 2011.
  • Lyra airborne during her leap to catch a pine cone in Tivoli park in Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 14, 2011.
  • Injuries are a part of life for an athlete. In September 2010, Lyra cut a carpal pad during a walk. She needed bandaging.
  • Using a special device, Jean checks the specific gravity of Lyra's urine that speaks of Lyra's kidney function. In June 2011, Lyra started showing signs of erlichiosis, a tick borne disease that she overcame in 2009, but luckily the tests showed that she was healthy.
  • A veterinarian Marko Lozej of Gorica Veterinarian office draws Lyra's blood to test it under the suspicion that Lyra might be having erlichiosis related problems again. Nova Gorica, June 22, 2011. She contracted erlichiosis and recovered from it in 2009.
  • Lyra performs a trick called {quote}table{quote}, where she jumps on an object and waits there until Jean tells her to go, in Lipica, Slovenia, April 16, 2011.
  • Lyra and Oli watch the passing Czech landscape on their way to a frisbee competition. Lyra still tries to catch a passing car sometimes. June 3, 2011.
  • The drives to competitions in Germany, Czech Republic, Poland etc. are long. Jean stops by the highway to stretch her legs and walk the dogs. June 3, 2011.
  • Jean, Lyra, Oli and Bamm Bamm take a stroll through the Blsany sports park the evening before a two-day Fun Factory for Frisbee competition in Blsany, Czech Republic, June 3, 2011.
  • Jean embraces Lyra in the final moments before their freestyle performance at the Fun Factory for Frisbee competition in Blsany, Czech Republic, June 4, 2011.
  • Lyra performs a leg vault during freestyle program of the Fun Factory for Frisbee competition in Blsany, Czech Republic, June 4, 2011. Vaults are the most creative tricks in freestyle, because handlers discover new ways of execution. Dogs now push off from everywhere: legs, back, chest etc.
  • In summer months, a refreshment is one of the biggest joys for dogs during competition. In Blsany, Czech Republic, at the Fun Factory for Frisbee, there is a small pond behind the sports park, where Lyra went swimming after her performance.
  • Jean and her champion dogs during an afternoon nap in a hotel room in Blsany, Czech Republic, June 4, 2011.
  • Getting up on the last morning of the Fun Factory for frisbee competition in Blsany is a coordinated attack of all three dogs that can't wait to go to the playground. Blsany, Czech Republic, June 5, 2011.
  • Lyra wearing a {quote}Back on track{quote} jacket that keeps her joint warm and healthy, stands in front of Jean's house in Brje, Slovenia, September 7, 2011. Jean says she could probably finish the house if all the money wouldn't go for the hapy lives of her dogs.
  • After a hard practice Lyra goes swimming in the river Vipava and fetches a soft toy frisbee. August 2, 2011.
  • Lyra can swim exceptionally long and far. Her hair does not get soaked, which is what makes it easier to swim. August 2, 2011.
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