Random assortment of photos for those who did not see them on FB:
Getting to California and back was tricky enough. 8 dogs. One car. Every pit stop to potty dogs was a 45 minute ordeal. Lots of dogs on kibble who aren't used to it. LOTS of water slurped up every night, many water bowls spilled in hotel bathrooms. Lots of bowels and bladders who were very unhappy with the change. Yeah, not something to do on a regular basis. Baffling conundrum: traveling across country by car would be easier with one or two dogs, but at that point, cheaper and more efficient to fly. So yeah, glad I don't intend to be running three dogs at once for much longer.
We did see plenty of beautiful country. The photos above are just a small sampling. 18 days. 12 state lines crossed getting to CA, 14 state lines on the way back, 20 different states total. There is so much variety in this country. Mountains, desert, prairie, farm lands, lakes... and you could see it all in one day. It was amazing how quickly landscapes could change. And so much of it still wild. It's easy to forget about that living here on the east coast, where everything is so developed and we have to go out of our way to find hiking and natural beauty. It's there. You just have to work at it. But you know those maps from outer space? The ones that show night time lights on earth? And there are NO lights in the middle of the country? Yeah, it's like that. Nothing out there. Beautiful. But so not habitable. Life just seems so hard out there. Even the areas where there was evidence of farming. It's just so hard to make a living at that, such a small margin for error. One drought and you're finished. It's scary to think about, the allure of having that much space, but the terror of knowing that you're literally living on the edge. I'll be sticking to the safety here on the coast I think. As much as I loved all that open space, I need security. I'm a big wimp I guess. I think before vet school I would have loved the idea of moving out there. Now there's those big bills to pay. Makes one less adventurous when one is in debt :(
The agility itself...
My goals were simple, give Kraft a positive first experience at a national event, enjoy my last national event with Marron as fully as possible, and just keep doing what I have always done with Spy, run her like normal. Kraft was a mixed bag. Days 1-4, I think I accomplished that goal. But then day 5... On Wednesday he had three runs, the warm up Power and Speed and quarter finals for both Steeplechase and Grand Prix. He ran tentatively in all three, but improved throughout. There was so much to look at. The ring gating tended to blow in the wind, which I knew would be a huge distraction for him, allowing flashing glimpses of the dogs running in the adjoining rings. So much to take in. In Grand Prix, he picked up quite a bit of confidence throughout the course and actually ran clean other than missing his dog walk contact. It was obstacle 4 and he just hadn't picked up enough momentum and confidence, so he missed. I was quite ok with that. Steeplechase he was clean so was through to the semis. Day 2 he had no runs. Day 3 he had Steeplechase semis. OMG. Run for the record books. He came out of his crate that day ON IT. He was ready. He knew what we were there to do. I was so proud of him. He wound up second. SECOND! Beaten by a WT poodle and very experienced handler. Wow. I could watch the video of that run over and over again. Day 4 started with Fancy standard. He had two off courses, one of which I predicted, the other I didn't even see. But solid run for a baby dog. I was very pleased with how he was running by that point. Then the agonizing wait for finals that night. USDAA sure doesn't rush anything. I could really have done without the costume contest. It's a late enough night as it is. Watched the performance dogs go. Bug Bug got 6th! Was so happy for Mary. Then it was time for us. I really felt confident about my handling plan. I saw some others that made it work, some where it went down in flames. It all really hinged on him letting me get a HUGE lead out, bigger than I think I've ever asked him to do in a trial. But damn if that wasn't the best part of the run! He held that stay like a champ, stomping the ground, pouncing, as ready and focused as he ever is. No worries, no fear, tuning out all the lights and noise and just ready to run. Then I released him and we started. I guess he did miss his first A-frame, I didn't see since my handling plan required me to be way behind the down ramp. The turn still wasn't as good as I wanted, something to work on. But he was still pretty focused. Then my blind before the A-frame. As he came over the jump before the one I was going to blind, I saw his head swivel towards the media tent, and I had to make a quick decision to stick with my blind or abort and try to get him back with a front. I decided to go with the blind. Probably hesitated too much deciding and he wound up going over the off course. I still wanted to finish the run and got him back, but as we came back through that same section he again fixated on the media tent and I could hear the clicking cameras this time. I think it was that sound that got him. I got him back one more time and finished the last few obstacles, still pleased as could be to have gotten him to the finals. He seemed happy and peppy, we went out and got our finalist ribbon. I was beaming, still so proud of him. I can't see that he would have thought I was disappointed in him in the slightest, because I wasn't. He was a finalist! Whenever I am asked to list a long term goal for my dogs, making a national final is one of my ultimate goals. Not winning one because so much of that depends on how others do, but just making it has been a dream of mine ever since he was dreamed of (and ironically I made one with Spy before Kraft was even doing agility). There was still one more day, one more run to go. Fancy jumpers the next morning seemed like a fun course, and I wanted to finish strong, with the confident, mature dog I had run the night before. But I went to get him out of his crate and it was like he was a different dog. Clingy, scared, and definitely did not want to be doing agility. I got him playing with his toy a little, and attempted to bring him in to run. But he wanted none of it. Actually stopped and just leaked pee where he was standing. Scared. Ugh, I was so embarrassed, but also upset with myself that I had let myself try to run him when he didn't want to be there. I have no idea what happened. He had over a week off while we drove home. But he did the same thing in class last night. So it will be a matter of building him back up, and I may never figure out what the hell happened to my dog. Terriers certainly don't make things easy.
Marron and Spy had ok runs. Marron was kind of pokey and slow, but it was hot and she wasn't used to it. Spy was solid in her team runs, but I didn't run her like I normally do. I stayed conservative, just trying not to E, trying to just be solid, not brilliant. I prefer running all out and pushing her, much more fun. I love playing team in general, but team at nationals with all that pressure was just different. She flaked out in PGP and popped out of her weaves. In PSJ semis, she was really giving it her all, and might have made finals had she not popped out of a tunnel. Aside from that mistake, it was my favorite run with her since we were really going for it.
So all in all, it was a trip of a life time. There were many high moments even at the event itself. But so many things to ponder. I bought a few of the runs from 4 Legged Flix, and will be putting a music video together soon. I couldn't find a song to fit for a long time, but I think I found one tonight. It will probably make me teary eyed making it. Hope to get it done soon.
