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Kate, Quick and Driven
Show Reports from Anne, Mia, Kristi, Diane, Terra and Whitney
Summary of Results for GVDC
Photo Gallery!
~ Anne's Report ~
Today they had 4 classes going on: Steeplechase Quarterfinals, Performance Grand Prix Quarterfinals, Team Snooker, Team Jumpers. It felt warmer today right around noon, but cools off by 2pm.
I really had wanted to do well in the Perf. GP quarterfinals, especially with Kiwi since that was our first big class together in 2004. The course today had a few tricky spots but otherwise was nice. Kiwi was running beautifully and we were having one of those perfect runs that just felt so fantastic. I am running along and all of a sudden I heard the whistle blow, I thought it must be for the handler in the ring next to ours. I see the judge looking at me and he motions to the jump after the A-frame, and my heart sunk as I realized I had accidentally skipped it - we were now 
off course and out of contention to make it to PGP semifinals. The judge could see my extreme disappointment in myself and held out his hand to give me a high-five as I left the ring. I told Kiwi how awesome she was (she was right on it, just superb, and did exactly what she was told to do) and then needed to put on my sunglasses for the walk back to our set up. Tears, lots of tears, I screwed up my awesome dog in our great run. More cookies for Kiwi and a hug from Mike. That took me a little while to get over, I am still not sure I am over it yet.
Then it was Zip's turn and he ran the PGP clean and is in the semifinals for tomorrow. I earned a shirt from Nationals (one goal achieved) from Zip, and had more tears of happiness for Zip and sadness from what I did in Kiwi's run. Time to shake it off, Team Snooker was next.
I did the same course with both dogs and made it all the way through Snooker with four 1's (4,5,6, & 7, then made it through the entire closing). So a few points garnered up for my Performance Teams, and then we had a little break until Team Jumpers. Jumpers had some tricky angles and I felt off my stride. I made it through with Kiwi but we had several faults. Zip was doing great and then I took my eye off of him for a split second and he went off course. Not a great ending for myself but that is how it goes sometimes.
Tomorrow we have Performance Grand Prix semifinals, Performance Speed Jumping semifinals, and Team Standard. I think I will enter Zip and Kylie in the APDT Rally Trial here too.
Mia and Kristi had awesome runs all day long. They both got a 5 and three 7's in Team Snooker with really nice, fast runs. They both had fantastic and clean Team Jumpers runs today too. I would say they are in the top 3 for PVP teams right now with their dogs, and there is some great competition here with some veteran dogs and handlers. Finn ran clean in Steeplechase, I am betting he made it to the semi's for tomorrow as well. I missed Patches' runs today, but I am sure she was really good. Kate had an incredible run with Driven in Team Jumpers, they had the first bar down but man can that little dog move! I saw Whitney run Cooper in Team Jumpers, they were bookin' right along and I think might have had an off-course: that Team Jumpers class ate up a lot of dogs today. Marie and Bubbles have been cruising right along, I think the heat has affected Bubbles and her course times, but Marie was a trooper.
I keep missing all of Bruce, Terra, Kelly, and Diane's runs - with 6 rings running at the same time it is hard to keep track of everyone.
Kylie got to see one of her sisters today, Quigley, who lives in New Mexico and is a year older. More fun for Friday, we walk courses from 7-8am every morning and one of my runs is at 4pm tomorrow!!
Alright, check out the USDAA website, I bet they have the courses posted and some commentary too. They might even have some of the results on there as well.
Day 3: Another loooong, fun day at the Nationals in Scottsdale! Today the classes were Team Standard, Semifinals of the Performance Grand Prix, and Semifinals of the PSJ and Steeplechase - 6 rings of fun running from 9:00am to 5:00pm.
For anyone who might think that the Performance Division isn't as competitive as Championship, or is a lower level than Championship - allow me to dispel that myth right now. I am amazed and impressed with the caliber of dog and handler in Performance this year. The competition is skilled and talented, and I would say that the Performance is equally as competitive as the Championship division. The course times are blazingly fast and if you want to hang with the big dogs you must have running contacts, a lot of speed, and no errors.
The courses were challenging today too! Zip and Max had fantastic, clean runs in Team Standard and finished 6th (Zip) and 8th (Max) in the ribbons. Next for us was Performance Speed Jumping semifinals, I had three dogs out of 20 in the 16" division, I felt quite busy! Kylie ran first and had an awesome run, I was so proud of her. She held her start line, got the weave entry and her A-frame contacts, and ran the long lines of jumps beautifully. Her stride is so long and I had to be ahead of her to show her where she was going, she landed at the base of a jump and then knocked the bar with her chest on take-off. Otherwise Kylie had a 30-second run and really was very nice. Kiwi ran next and was trying so 
hard to keep her bars up. She ticked a few but finished clean and within 34 seconds. Zip was off to a great start but I had to re-set his weaves which cost a second or more. Zip finished with a 32 second, fault-free run, and Max was right behind us with a 34 second run. Max and Zip were temporarily in contention to advance to the PSJ Finals but a few other groups ran after we did. They only took 8 dogs into the 16" PSJ finals, and all of them had runs in the 29 second range or less - super competitive.
The Semifinals of the Perf. GP was definitely a "weeder" course, they were weeding out most of the dogs and getting the best of the best into the Finals for tonight. Zip had a bar down and then I miscued the teeter, Mia said that Max popped his poles and I think missed a dog walk contact. Kristi and Cinder had a missed contact, Patches ran nice and clean but not fast enough, I think Whitney mentioned Sadie had a fault or two as well - so that was basically it for the GVDC'ers in Performance Grand Prix. I stuck around to watch the Finals of the PGP, and did not mind at all that we weren't a part of it - the course was not a Zippy Swan course. It was very technical with weird "T" jump set ups with tight angles, a 180 that included the broad jump (which I thought they only used in Steeplechase, apparently not) and lots of contacts crammed into corners of the ring. Despite that, there were many, many clean runs and it came down to who won the footrace and had running contacts with no errors. The competition was fierce and there were at least 8 clean runs in every jump height.
Bruce had a brilliant Steeplechase run with Jiffy and would have made the Finals but they had a bar down. I think they had the second fastest time too. Diane and Gidget had a gorgeous, clean Team Standard run and she was very proud of her. I saw Terra cruising around with Seeker with a big smile on her face, Kelly with Riley too. Kristi and Mia are still in contention for making the Relay Finals at this point, fingers crossed! Kate had fast runs with Driven and clean runs with Quick, yay! The heat was starting to get to Marie but she keeps trooping on through and she and Bubbles made it around the Standard course, and also did a round of Rally too.
The APDT Rally trial started today, Zip and Kylie ran in the Level 1 class and will also do more Rally on Saturday and Sunday - I haven't practiced APDT with them since our trial in August. I just entered them and we decided to wing it, main problem is we are right next door to the herding arena and the flyball tournament. Zip did great until we got to the end and he caught a whiff of the goats and got majorly distracted; Kylie was spacey at the beginning but pulled it together at the end. Zip placed 2nd with a 209 (out of 210) and Kylie placed 3rd with a 206.
Day 4: Ok, this is plenty long now, off to get some rest and get to the field early for 7:00am walk throughs, tomorrow is Team Gamblers and a little Rally for Zip and Kylie.
OK, starting to feel like there IS such a thing as too much agility. Day 4 begins today and my body (and Kylie) want to stay in bed. We walk at 8:00am and run at 2:00pm, in the heat of the day. If you've been reading Mia's blog you have no doubt seen her mention how far we all have to walk to get from the crates to the rings and back - several times a day. Muscles I didn't think I have are trembling slightly, sitting down sounds like a good idea, running - nope!
While I am thinking about it, if you are planning on attending the Nationals in AZ next year (word on the street says it will be here one more year) be sure in your conditioning of yourself that you practice jogging and sprinting 5 days in a row at some point. Also, you won't need more than one pair of pants, bring lots of shorts and cool-fabric tops, maybe one jacket. Bring comfortable shoes!! (I sound like a 100-year old woman!)
OK, despite the fatigue that is beginning to set in, I love the fact that I am here focusing on my dogs and the relationship that we have. I love these little Swandogs and to go somewhere just to celebrate being together and doing agility really is wonderful.
Having just one day left of the Agility National Championship is both a relief and like watching an old friend drive away from your house after a nice visit. You realize it was a quick trip and wish it could have lasted longer. This is something we spend a good deal of the year training for, trialing to qualify for, thinking about, making plans and arrangements to attend, finding teammates to join you, scheduling into a good chunk of your life, Mike and I took a week off from work, and how much money have I spent in order to attend this???
And now there is only one day left, one Agility class left to compete, and then back on the road home.
Today the weather was warmer than the days before, your skin feels very hot in the sun around midday, you begin to understand how cactus gets that brittle appearance in the desert, lots of fluids consumed and the quest for shade is shared by all. My body is sore in places I didn't know I had, I walk with a slight limp from a pulled hamstring and notice that I am not the only one ambling around the showgrounds. Motrin is my good friend, along with many cold drinks. I think "How can I make myself run again?" as I am walking the Team Gamblers course, and the question is answered as I see the look on Kiwi's face as she strains at the leash as Mike is walking her towards me. Her eyes are wide open, she is pulling to catch up to me, she cannot wait for another run on the courses - she is the one doing the A-frames and the weaves, jumping the jumps, running her heart out on the courses, really doing the majority of the physical part of the job - and Kiwi can't wait for another chance to play with me. The pain drains out of my body and I get that adrenaline rush that comes with running my dogs. I check us in at the gate, we do a few warm-up jumps, I check my course plan in my head, watch a few runs, and step to the line with my dog.
I had a good course plan, and Kiwi executes it well. We don't get a million points, but we get nearly everything we try for. Kiwi is tuned in and responding perfectly to what I ask of her, her body is strong and fast and running with her is like riding a horse you have had for 10 years, or a dance partner who knows your every move. And then, nearly 40 seconds later, we are done with our Team event for the entire trial. It was relatively quick, thoughts of Nationals (actually not attending) have consumed me for months now - and here we are at the end. This will be Kiwi's last Team Event at the Agility National Championships. I told myself all during the drive out here that I am not coming back next year, I promised myself I wouldn't - but I think of how amazing this week has been and I think "HOW COULD I NOT RETURN?" The future remains unseen and if we do come back, I will run Kiwi in PGP and PSJ, or Veterans as an individual, if she tells me that she wants to. I look at the little dog who I learned this sport with 10 years ago and am filled with love and admiration for all she has given me of her heart, body, and energy. Kiwi is awesome. I give her cookies and pets, and tell her what a great girl she is - she gobbles them down and pinches my fingers with her worn down teeth, and then cruises back to her ex-pen to wait for me.
It is Zip's turn, he is fantastic in his response to my cues, we earn all the points we try for and he is trying so hard to listen to my instruction. I think of the little blue hamster I held on the day he was born and told his breeder "This one is mine," even though she already knew it. I hear the Flyball tournament in the distance and think of how Zip began Flyball competition when he turned 1 year old. He loves to run as fast as his legs can take him, to bark his lungs out with enthusiasm - and I think of the wild card that he can be and the many ups and downs we have had over the years. The past few days I have felt that Zip is genuinely trying to do his best for me, he LOVES agility, but more importantly at the end of the runs, he wants me to be proud of him. I let Zip tug on the leash, our Team Event now over, Zip is wagging his tail with his leash in his mouth, his teeth are chattering slightly from the tight grip he has on his leash. My shoulders and back ache with every tug that Zip does and I want him to drop the leash and at the same time I do not want to let it go. I pet his head and he relinquishes the leash when I open my treat pouch and lavish him with simple, tasty rewards for the rush of excitement we have just experienced together. Zip has a huge grin on his face, he looks at me and wags his tail.
For the most part, the main competitive part of our Agility Nationals is over. All three dogs have the Steeplechase Classic Course on Sunday at 8:00am, and after that - Zip and Kylie will participate in the APDT Rally Trial, and then we head back to our real life in Santa Barbara. Tired and happy.
Today Zip and Kylie got to do the APDT Rally Trial here in Scottsdale, one of the many other doggie events going on at Westworld in conjunction with the USDAA event. Zip won his Level 1 & 2 classes today with perfect scores of 210 - he was so tuned in and trying to be his best for me, even with a pen full of goats right next to us that he would love to go and chase. Kylie was greatly improved today in her Rally class, she was with me and tuned in from beginning to the end of the course with a lovely score of 207, good for third place. We'll do more tomorrow and if there is time, I might let Zip and Kylie herd the goats afterwards.
We do a little shopping and Doghouse Arts has incredible watercolor-type photos of Zip and Kiwi in the agility classes this week, and 8 X 10's as well. Mike gives me that look when I purchase them all, it is way expensive and I have zillions of photos of my dogs doing agility - but these are special moments in time from this past week captured on a developed piece of paper. I cannot leave them behind, and for as crazy as Mike knows I am, he completely understands why I bring the photos with us.
We watch our friends: Mia and Kristi were the #1 PVP Team this morning ahead by half a point, and Mia had a great Gamble run with Super Max, and Kristi's run was nothing to sneeze at either. We all have to go home and wait to see where the points fall tomorrow, I know it is nerve wracking for Mia and Kristi but something tells me they'll be right there at the top to see this thing through. I see Marie and Russell in our tent, in our group, and Marie has to learn how different the game of Team Gamblers is played at Nationals - a format that she is totally unfamiliar with. She develops a course with the help from a few others and she and Bubbles are out on the course together, and people are cheering them on to jump the final jump to stop the time - they do, and everyone claps. Bubbles has a grin on her face and Marie is warm in the hot weather, they have tried their very best. On the way back to the crating tent I see Driven and Kate in a swirl on the Team Gamble course and wonder how it is that a dog's body can move that fast. After my Rally classes I pass by the Musical Freestyle ring and see Diane Baley with both Gidget and Quiz in heel position on each side of her body. Diane has prepared a routine with dance moves and tricks and looks so fantastic with her twin Labs watching her every move and following her every subtle cue. They move to the music and I can't help but smile because it is so cute.
I think how lucky we are to have these awesome dogs in our lives, and that I am extremely fortunate to attend this week long "Celebration of the Spirit of Dogs" in the desert. I feel the love I have for my dogs and can see how others feel the same exact thing with their very special animals, I am still limping from the hamstring pull, my shoulders, back, hips, and feet are sore - I fantastize about taking a dose of Motrin in an hour. My dogs' faces are happy, they wag their tails as I walk towards their pen, Kiwi looks at me with grass and dirt on her nose from digging in the grass, Zip thumps the tip of his tail, Kylie whines for me to let her out. My dogs love me as much as I love them.
I think: "I cannot wait to go home to Santa Barbara." and, "I cannot wait to come back to Scottsdale."
Who knows? For now, we have one more night here, one more agility class left to play, one more Rally course to run, more treats to lavish on my dogs. Everywhere I go in this condo, I have three darling dogs following me and settling in the room where I relax, just wanting to be with me even though we haven't been apart for a moment in the past 5 days.
I am one lucky girl.
Day 5: The Swandogs had The Steeplechase Classic today, basically a fun run
for time on the Finals course for Steeplechase from 1999. Lovely
course, big figure 8 that encouraged flow & speed and still had a
tricky angle or two.
Kylie was first up and was rarin' to go! Kylie was fast and lost her
head a bit (very novice behavior) but I had to laugh at her enthusiasm
and desire to try her puppy best. We did some schooling and she had
nice A-frame contacts.
Kiwi was full of vim and vinegar, even on Day 5 she was as happy as
ever to play the game. She ran clean and we had a big party afterwards.
Last to go was Zip, and I looked in his eyes and asked him to try his
best one more time for me this week. He had such a sweet expression
and had been trying so hard to follow directions all week long, I knew
we'd do fine. He was quick and clean, fast and tight - Zip gave me an
excelllent effort and it was the perfect way to end the Nationals. I
was proud of Zip and he was quite happy with himself, we played tug for
a long time afterwards. The icing on the cake was that Zip finished in
3rd place for the 16" Performance class and we now have a cool plaque
from Nationals for Zip!
Zip decided he was on a roll, afterwards we competed in both the Level
1 & 2 Rally class, and Zip was attentive and enthusastic and won both
classes with perfect scores of 210. Kylie got to participate in the
Level 1 class and did a really nice job - she finished 4th with a good
score of 207.
We had such a great time in Arizona this week. I was blown away by the
level of competition in each division and jump height, agility truly is
evolving into a serious sport with many, many well trained dogs and
excellent handlers. I met new people and the mood was fun and friendly
all week long, and my dogs and I enjoyed the atmosphere and the agility & rally fun. We have some beautiful photos and some lasting memories -
all in all a wonderful week!
The 8-hour drive home was long and I was super tired. Every time I
make the trek home from Arizona I am always amazed by the beauty of the
desert at sunset, and Sunday's end of day was no exception. Pink
clouds dotted the sky and there was a long ribbon of dark pink on the
horizon, it reflected it's color on the mountains and outlined the
cactus that is so characteristic of the area. The gentle snoring of
the Swandogs all huddled up together in the back seat was very
soothing, and all seemed right in the world.
Off to catch up on some Zzzzz's and then unwinding and unpacking!
Thank you everyone for your support, it was fun to keep you in our loop
during the big week!
:) Anne and the Sleepy Swandogs
~ Mia's Report ~
Okay, do you all remember the Olympic marathon runner, a woman, I believe from a Nordic country that staggered and crawled her way to the finish line? That's how I feel now. Normally the drive home from Scottsdale seems much faster than the drive out, not this year. As Anne and Kristi stated, the competition level from last year to this year rose dramatically in all divisions. It was most notable in Performance, but I'm so humbled and impressed by how many incredible teams there were.
There were lots of lovely runs by GVDCers this year. Big congrats to Whitney/Cooper and Kate/Quick for making individual finals this year! Also big congrats to Kate for getting top 10 finishes with both Quick and Driven in the DAM tournament (3rd and 5th). Also REALLY HUGE congrats to Kate for making the IFCS World Team, she gets to pick which dog she wants to take! WOW!!!
I believe the only first-timer at Nationals this year was Kelly with Riley. What a great energy she was, so positive and she saved my butt for Grand Prix semifinals when I didn't have time for the half mile round trip to switch dogs. Thank you so much!
Speaking of great attitudes, Marie and Russel were also a great source of positivity this past week. I think they really embraced that just going to Nationals is an accomplishment and had a good time with it.
Lots of lovely runs by GVDCers, but I missed most of them, walking back and forth getting dogs or meeting dogs' relatives (both Vic and Starlet had a sibling there). I did see Anne's terrific Steeplechase Classic run with Zippy Swan. Kiwi looked fabulous and Kylie was clearly having a great time. Anne and Marie were in my group, so I saw more of them.
Big thanks to Kristi for being such a super teammate. If she hadn't pushed me to go take more chances in Gamblers, Max wouldn't have done so well in the class. We'd been looking forward to that team for over a year and I'm thrilled that we were able to meet our podium goal! Woohoo!
As for my dogs, here are some bits from my blogs from Scottsdale:
Wednesday:
Surprisingly long feeling day today. Not much happened, yet the dogs are all beat tonight. An event that seemed to be largely for profit seemed even more so today. The goodie bag is cheaper than last year, but at least I'll wear the shirt we were given. They've put the vendors between us and the agility rings, making the walk from crating to rings pretty substantial. It could have just seemed that way to me today, because all the dogs ran in the same rotation of the Grand Prix Classic. The course had a narly weave entry, but was mostly straight lines. Max was my only dog to run clean (4 seconds behind leading time...performance is becoming as fast as Championship), but I was also really happy with Finn's run. We didn't get the weave entry, but he had a super table. I took him off early, knowing I'd be asked to leave, but I also figured I could get on the dogwalk before the judge could stop me. It was the best table Finn's done in YEARS and was followed by a great dogwalk. Good boy! Starlet was way pokey, but I think she was still recovering from the stress of the trip out here. I'm happy with all the dogs, but the boys were definitely the stars today.
I'm blown away by the quality at the show. I experience this every year. It's humbling and inspiring. I so hope Vic will be my first really fast dog. As much as I'm looking forward to being able to run him, I'm trying to enjoy each moment. They just grow up so fast and leave us too soon. Right now Max and Vic are each sleeping on my feet (Max on my left, Vic on my right), Starlet is sprawled out next to us. Truth be told, I love agility, but I love my dogs for being dogs so much more. Ribbons and titles are great, but I wouldn't trade my furry feet warmers or sweet Star for anything.
Thursday: Very tired... My dogs were all very good today. No individual placements, but Finn and Max ran clean in their runs. Starlet was much happier today and only knocked a bar in jumpers (my fault). As for their teams, Cinder and Max both ran clean in Snooker and Jumpers (I think Cinder won Perf. 22" Jumpers). Finn's team had some issues, so I don't know what's going to happen there. Star's team is doing good so far, but Standard is going to be the big test for all of us.
Friday morning:
Of course my camera has broken...sigh. Big classes today, I hope the courses are fun. I didn't feel like yesterday's were hard enough for a Nationals. So I'm kind of fearing Standard today. One thing I really like, by the crating area there are signs saying,"Smile, you've made it the World Championship". I'm riding to the show with Kristi right now and she's chimed in. "Welcome to the World Championships, now walk 15 miles a day, cause you're all in good shape,right?"
Friday evening:
I hate runs that I wish I had another chance to do it right. Max had an awesome speed jumping run, but a "go" instead a "come" command kept us from tomorrow's Finals. Max was so good, beautiful running frames and he was hauling. Mt fault entirely. He took a flying leap off the dogwalk in PNS semis, but we had a lot of fun. Finn was great in all his runs and I'm hoping he's making semifinals in Steeplechase. Not a minor feat out here, less than 30 26" dogs are moving up. His team is well out of the running, but he has been perfect. I'm very proud of him and his efforts. Starlet's team was in 32 at the start of the day. Star was clean in Standard, Tryst was also clean and Bolt only had a missed dogwalk. We should move up with our Standard showing.I pulled her from Steeplechase, since it wasn't a good course for Starlet's confidence. Max and Cinder were in 3rd this morning, Max ran a clean, if somewhat cautious Standard (8th) and Cinder only had a refusal. I'll be curious if we were able to move up with that.
Saturday:
Dogs were all good today. Finn ran clean in both Grand Prix and Steeplechase semi's for two more solid runs. Starlet got hung up in the tire (I watched it swing back and forth a couple times before she came out) and I stopped for a moment to think about taking her off the course, then super slow weaves followed and she was still closer, much closer, to the fast dogs than on any previous course. Other than that section, she was really fast and very tight. I'm thrilled with her run. I screwed her up in team Gamblers, but it looks like we've still managed to make Finals tomorrow. Star's teammates have done a great job! Poor Finn, I tried to put him on the better team, but it wasn't meant to be for him this year. Maxfinished 5th in Gamblers, hopefull, This Should be a Good Team, will have a spot on the podium.
Sunday:
We all had fun in the ridiculously easy Steeplechase Classic. Finn ran clean in all his runs 8 out of 9 runs. He was a little flat, but had some super turns and was incredibly solid. I'm looking forward to next year in Performance with him. He's leaving Championship with 4 straight years in Grand Prix Semifinals, this year he made the Steeplechase Semifinals and a trip to the DAM Finals with Seeker and Cinder, the 2005 Santa Barbarians. He's been so good, but I do think it's time to move away from 26" jumps and I don't mind seeing if we can be more competitive in 22" Performance. ;-)
Starlet was a good girlie in Team Relay. She clearly didn't want to get on the teeter, but did anyway. Then, my baton exchange went bad. I think I slapped it in her hand too hard, but I felt her grab it, so I let go. The baton dropped. I missed the year a high profile team dropped the baton, but have heard stories of a pretty public meltdown. I'm glad to say, we didn't have such a meltdown. :-) It wasn't a course that was causing E's and we were in 21st place, so a top 10 finish wasn't really in reach. Plus, I was just so pleased that the team we had the least expectations for did so well. We definitely had a good shot at a Top 10 finish. I'm looking forward to next year's DAM already. I want another chance and have learned a lot from this year. The baton exchange will be joining my tire collision story in the most embarrassing story file... People are already teasing me about it and rightfully so. :-)
Max, what can I say, I spent most of the drive home thinking about how I wish I could freeze him in time. Max is a one in a million and our relationship is so special. I love everything about him, his pushiness is one of my favorite things, since it's so Max. He barks at me a lot more on course, he tests the startline, he'll try to correct me on course, but in the end, we are having fun playing together. I believe Max does have as much fun as me at these big events. I just love the time Max and I have spent in Scottsdale over the years.
For individual results, we only have the 5th place ribbon in Gamblers to show for our efforts, but he was super solid. He did everything I asked in all the team events, which was the priority this year. Today's Team Relay is one of my favorite agility moments ever. It started with Max twitching at the startline, but holding his stay until I released him (he busted 3 startlines this week, really busted, which is becoming a more frequent occurence....something I need clearly need to stop). He gave the off-course tunnel a hard look and barked his head off for the until we got to the weaves, but he never once thought about biting me. :-) Part of why he looked at the tunnel, was my obsession about what I wanted to do after the weaves. I have really good rear crosses with Max, my obsession with Rachel/Wendy Pape's 3 rear crosses last year has paid off big time with Max. Everyone seemed to be front crossing the weaves, so I was second guessing all the way to getting the baton put in my hand. I went for the rear cross, which worked great. Then Max did the fastest A-frame he's done since Team Relay in 2005. It was such a fun run! Actually, the run started off on a fun note, since I could hear my friends in the stands. I love being in the grand stand arena with all that noise. We ended up finishing in 3rd place overall. Two years in a row on the podium in Vers. Pairs and we were 11th in DAM in 2005 (our fault we weren't Top 10). Max rocks! I must note, this year's awards for Vers. Pairs were way better than last year. For second place we received a ribbon, the same size as my team placement ribbons. This year there were plaques, big pretty ribbons and shirts for the top 5 teams. Of course, when the top 3 teams hung around for pictures, we were initial told the photographer was only available for the winners of Finals. Kristi said, "Oh, I thought this was a Finals". I know the judge, but can't remember her name, but she looked super embarassed and got on the horn. We were initial told the photographer was on the way and thankfully Kristi told me, "Go get Star, I'll hold Max." We ended up doing the pictures, after all the pics for DAM Team were finished. I'm thinking I may want to run Max in Veterans next year. We'll see, I do love teams, but really Max and I just competing for ourselves is the ultimate team for us. Plus, he'll be 11 next year.... I so wish I could freeze time for Max and I!
All in all another successful year for the crew. I'm proud of all the dogs. ~ mia
Another year of the drive to Arizona. This year Mia and I decided to live it up and rent a 2 bedroom condo and drive out together. I was only showing Patches and Cinder but had to take Sizzle (because I truly can’t be without her) and Kat (because Mia made me – so Kat and Vic could play.) Eight dogs in a condo…that’s an experience all by itself. This show report is not going to be the usual play by play, mostly because it has all turned into a blur. It was a LOOOONG show not made any shorter by the extreme heat (90+,) the abysmal crating (more about that later) and the intense level of competition. Needless to say, a couple things stand out.
This was Cinder’s year to be competitive. I had dropped her last year to 22” Performance in protest of the high A-Frame (and then Ken changed it after I had gotten all my qualifying legs) and I felt Cinder had a solid chance to get in the Finals in everything. She was teamed up with Max (“This Should Be A Good Team”) for Versatility Pairs and we have always done well as team-mates. Patches was along for her final hurrah. She is 11 ½ years old and has done EVERYTHING (and more) than I ever dreamed of. She was teamed up with a lovely Husky named T’ai (“First and Last” – his first Nationals, probably her last) and my only goal with Patch was to have a good time. Which we did.
The drive seemed to take eons. 500 miles is not a short jaunt from home. But we managed to get there (with a stop in Blythe so the beasties could run around) and made it to our condo. We decided that Mia should have the Master since it was furthest from the neighbors (she had Finn) and we settled in. We arrived at the show site the next morning to discover three things: (1) the crating spots seemed smaller than last year (2) Kate Moureaux had just dumped her three crates in our area since she hadn’t bought a spot and (3) the crating area was a very long way from the agility rings. We got everything sorted out and went to look at the Grand Prix Classic course. I decided immediately not to run Cinder. The open was 3 jumps to an A-Frame. Now Cinder has had a chronic problem relating to the A-Frame since Bay Team of ’06. I have spent so much money on massage and acupuncture, the last thing I was going to do was mash her on the Frame the first day of Nationals. Sigh. I knew going into this trial that Cinder was hurting but she got massages every day and I could only hope I could keep her Frames to a minimum. But Patches had a lovely run and it started the show out well. Although I never really felt like I was at a show – I think the late start (we couldn’t even arrive until 10am) had me a little bit “off.”
Thursday came early. We had Team Jumpers and Team Snooker – both courses were relatively easy. Patches and Cinder both ran clean in both and we left feeling fairly 
confident about the show. Max had also run clean in both so we thought we might be in decent shape for the team standings. Patches’ partner only got 6 points in Snooker so that was the end of that team.
Friday was a nerve-wracking day for me on a couple different levels. One level was the agility: we had team standard (which was a total weeder course) and both the semi-finals for PNS and PJS. On another level, an old friend of mine, Steve, was coming to the show. I haven’t seen Steve in 10 years (had a major crush on him when I was 15 that lasted for years) so I was thinking about that as well. Let’s just say that I wasn’t great about the dual pressure. I (all by myself) kept Cinder out of the PSJ and PNS Finals. She had the times – I just ripped her off her contacts too soon. Sigh….The good news is that we made it around a horrible standard course with only a refusal. Max was 100% clean so despite our disappointment (Mia hadn’t made either of the Finals with Max either) we thought we might be in good team position. The other good news is that I found out Cinder had WON 22” Performance Jumpers! We got a pretty ribbon, a medal AND a trophy! Woo hoo!!! Patches had some of the best runs of her life and ran clean, but just wasn’t fast enough. But we had a blast!
Saturday was another brutally early day – not made better by the fact that the night before our dishwasher had exploded and left water all over the kitchen floor. Oh, and did I mention that the TV in Mia’s bedroom didn’t work? Or that neither bedroom TV had remotes? But the dogs were having fun…I didn’t have to run right until almost 3pm so I sauntered over to check the team standings. Imagine my delight when I saw we were in FIRST PLACE!!!! YAY!!! Then I started looking closer and it was really scary: the 2nd place team was only ½ point behind us and the 10th place team was only 10 points behind us. The competition was alarming! Max and Mia had a lovely Gamblers run and then it was Cinder’s turn: she was lovely through the opening although a missed weave entry sent my timing off. Then she dropped a bar in the gamble – AUUGHH – and lost us 9 points!!! DOUBLE AUUGHHH!!!! Oh well…. Life continues right? Mia and I got onion rings and beers and sat in the competitor tent commiserating. We didn’t think my error in Gamblers would drop us out of relay totally, but….there was a little niggle of doubt. So we hung around until the team standings were posted and we were in third! There was still a chance of a podium spot which had been our goal all along.
We crawled home, completely exhausted, knowing we not only had another early start, we had to pack, then on Sunday check out of the hotel, walk our courses by 7am, run in the Finals and then make the 500 miles trek home. Then Mia’s shower broke: it wouldn’t turn off. We had to wait hours for the maintenance guy to come fix it. Needless to say, I am not thrilled with the whold “condo thing” at the moment.
Sunday came as early as expected, but it was exciting because (1) we were in the Finals!!! and (2) we got to go home! Relay was a blast - Max ran first and I am SO GLAD I had an arm around Cinder when she started (which I have NEVER had to do) – she almost went with him! Max was fast and accurate and it was our turn. We had a blazing opening and then Cinder ran up the walk, ran across the top, ran partway down the bottom and then STOPPED. Dead-ass stop a couple feet above the yellow. I couldn’t move – I knew if I even twitched an eyeball, she was leaping. It probably took her 1 to 1 ½ seconds to finally step into the yellow. That cost us 1st place in Relay and an overall 2nd place finish. The good news is that we finished up in 3rd overall and got a ribbon, plaque and polo shirt. AND, we got our pictures taken on the podium. YAY!
The drive home was ENDLESS. It didn’t help that the sun went down relatively early on in the drive (we left at 2pm) and that we were in totally unfamiliar territory. But the over-riding memory of the drive home was me moaning about how much things hurt and Mia said “My tongue hurts.” I couldn’t top that – she wins.
~Diane's Report~
Once again the World Cynosport Games were a ton of fun. We are so lucky to have this event close enough to drive to 4 years in a row. Rumor is that it will be in Scottsdale next year too.
The walking distances were crazy long and I am sure that I put in at least 10 miles a day. Part of that was spent going from vendor to vendor comparing goodies and shopping.
Unlike our usual weekend trials we never had more than 3 runs in a day. Although all courses had to be walked early in the morning and sometimes you don't get to run until 4:30. In between shopping and running there are tons of folks to watch and I tried hard to see as many GVDC people as possible. Still, I don't think I saw Mia run the whole week. Others I saw a lot as we were in the same group so we didn't have conflicts.
Along those lines was the surprise of our very own Whitney Grant. I never saw her during the day, the whole week, anywhere at the event. Then while watching the Grand Prix finals on Sunday up steps Whitney and Cooper in the 12 inch class - Whitney in the prised RED SHIRT. Wooo Hooo. What a proud moment. It was great to watch them run in that very special event.
Overall Gidget did very well. We did not make the Grand Prix semifinals for the first time in 4 years (darn that up dogwalk contact). However this is the first time we brought home a ribbon from the event. In our jump height they gave placement ribbons in the team events to 10th, and we managed a 7th in Team Gamblers. We also had nice runs in team Standard, Grand Prix classic, Steeplechase classic, and Team Snooker. We had a bye from the NW regional to the Steeplechase semifinals, but that run did not go well. In that situation you have to run as fast as you can. Speed is everything and if all the wheels fall off because of it, well that's the way it goes. Which is what happened to us. Even so, we are running well together most of the time and having a lot of fun.
I can't finish this report without talking a little bit about the other events going on. There is the dock diving brought by Splash Dogs, Lure Coursing, Frisbee things I have never figured out the rules to, Flyball, Rally O, Hearding, and my other bit of fun, Freestyle Dance. I spent many hours in the freestyle tent (good shade and a fan). I worked both Quiz and Gidget separately and as a brace. We have been having fun with classes for a number of months and enjoyed playing in Arizona. Freestyle is a great way to build a relationship with your dog and teachs them to follow your body, all useful for other sports like Rally and Agillty.
Diane
~Terra's Report~
This year Seeker and I had some great runs and some mistakes. We knocked a bar in Steeplechase quarter finals and you had to be clean to make it to the semi-final round. The bar came down because I got in Seeker’s path and he had no where to go.
Last year in the Grand Prix Semi-finals, Seeker ended up about 18th dog out of the finals. This year we were the 7th dog out! Seeker’s time was 34.84 and the cut off time was 34.35! We are getting closer.
I believe there were 214 dogs in the 22” class this year so it was another year of tough competition in the group. I was thrilled with Seeker’s Team Standard run. He ended up 21st on a very technical course.
Team Jumpers also had several very tricky spots which caused a lot of crash and burns. Seeker made it through all the hard parts with a fantastic time. However, on the home stretch I reverted to my old bad habit. I started to run timidly and Seeker pulled up wondering what is going on and he knocked a bar. At least I don’t do this very often any moreJ
In Team Snooker we had fun. Seeker knocked a bar on the second to the last red flag. It’s sort of exciting when that happens because you never know what will happen next. This time I was able to think on my feet and I found the last flag and added some more points to the run. Team Gamblers was tricky. The rules made it risky to end with any obstacle other than a jump. Our group did not hear those rules during the walk through. I adjusted my plan from the side lines. The plan was good and would have timed out perfectly but I decided to rush (needlessly) and pulled Seeker out of the weaves. I had to abandon the big point gathering plan and make sure I secured a solid number. Shame because the original plan would have brought Seeker’s team (Stacy Peardot-Goudy and her dog Rumor and Wendy Vogelgesang and Rave) up a few placements.
In the end we missed making it to the Team Relay finals by just 5 teams. Last year they took 36 teams and this year only 30. Our team was 35th!!
It was another really fun show. My team mates were competitive, supportive and totally fun. I laughed hard and ate well at dinners with friends. The weather was hot but not too hot. The sunsets were gorgeous. The show was well run. Finally, I could not have had more fun running with Seeker. He was eager and excited before every run and his contacts and start line were perfect all week. Over all I had a blast!
~Whitney's Report~
Nationals - Hotel: $595 Gas: $250 Memories: PRICELESS
If you look into the sky and see Cloud 9, you'll know where to find me. I've been riding on it ever since the Nationals! Wow - what an experience Sadie, Cooper and I had this year.
First, I echo everyone's comments about the grueling heat and the long, long walks back and forth from the kennel area to the arenas. For most of the time my dogs lived in 
their "cool coats" in an attempt to stay somewhat comfortable in the heat. By Saturday we were all exhausted, and many times I carried Cooper to the rings since his tiny legs had to work too hard just to show up! Even though my dogs were kenneled in the same area as Mia and Kristi, we only passed like ships in the night. The schedule was intense and with six rings running at once, unfortunately I missed seeing fellow club members. It was nice to read their show reports!
Sadie wasn't on a team this year so she only competed in the PNS and the PSJ classes. She had a nice first round of PNS and made it to the semi finals, which earned a nice shirt for me. Yea Sadie!! Her semi final rounds of both classes were good, but minor faults in each class ended her Nationals. Overall she did super - kept all the bars up and stayed on course - what a good girl.
Cooper was on a team and did well in most of the Team classes. The heartbreak class was Gamblers where I pressed our luck and pushed the limit. We ended up .02 sec over time. Cooper was in the air, crossing the timer jump when the buzzer blew. .02 seconds!.....and we lost all our gamble points and the chance for a high ribbon...sigh. But pushing the limit is what we had to do each class. After all, this was the Nationals, the time to put everything on the line... That was also my thinking for our Steeplechase and Grand Prix classes.
Luckily Cooper had a bye into the semi final round of the GP, but he had to start in the quarter finals of the SC class. He earned his way to the semi finals of the SC where the course was designed for speed. I made the decision to go for broke - that was the only way Cooper would have any chance to make it to the Finals and only if he could keep all the bars up.....and he did!!! It was one of our best classes ever. Only 8 dogs were accepted into the Steeplechase Finals, and Cooper made the cut!! But before that finals, Saturday night, we had our semi final GP class. By this time I was very tired and bleary-eyed, and just hoping I could remember the course. Again our goal was to throw caution to the wind, run hard and risk knocking bars, the only way for a chance to get to the GP Finals....the bars stayed up and Cooper had a clean run. What a champ! Later that evening I found out that Cooper was the last dog to qualify into the Grand Prix Finals. What a thrill - we made it into TWO finals....WOW!!!
The SC Finals was held Saturday night, under the lights, with a cheering crowd, loud music, and lots of festivities. Very scary! I had seen several dogs get stage fright the night before and shut down on course. I had no idea how Cooper would handle the stress of an evening performance. He was very distracted outside the stadium and we had some difficulty warming up. But once he was on the start line he was all business! Aside from a handling error (oops), our run was good and so much fun! We ended up 5th - a real thrill! And how lucky that we were able to have a second try the next day in the Grand Prix class. This time I knew that Cooper could handle the crowd noise and I felt confident that we could manage the course. I pushed him hard and he did his best to run clean. We were called for a missed contact on the dogwalk but otherwise kept all the bars up and stayed on course. That was my goal and we did it! There were 13 dogs in our class and we finished 9th. We survived two Finals!
I want to thank both Mia and Kristi who advised me to "just have fun" in the finals and not to worry about our placement. We had already "made it" and any finish followed by the statement "in the finals" sounded good. Thanks too to Anne for all her support and to Diane for cheering us on and taking pictures of our Grand Prix Finals adventure.
We came home totally exhausted, but bursting with pride. The honor of running in The Finals was a dream come true. Now it's back to reality......but thanks to one small, courageous Corgi I have HUGE memories to last a lifetime.
~ Summary of Results for GVDCer's ~
2007 IFCS World Team Member Grand Prix Finalists: Kate and Quick Grand Prix Semifinalists: |
DAM Team Tournament Finalist: Kate with Quick -5th and Driven - 3rd Mia with Starlet Performance National Standard semifinalists: Whitney and Sadie Anne with Zip Kristi with Cinder and Patches Me with Max Performance Versatility Pairs Finalists Kristi with Cinder and Mia with Max aka "This Should be a Good Team" - 3rd Versatility Jumpers (22") Kristi with Cinder - 1st Versatility Standard (16") Anne with Zip - 5th Mia with Max - 8th Also congrats to Bubbles and Marie for competing in Veteran's and Kelly/Riley making their first trip to Nationals. |
~ Photo Gallery ~
 Terra and Seeker pose in front of a special banner. |
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 USDAA Nationals course ready for the first team. |
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 GVDC members catching the action ringside - Bruce, Diane and Leslie, oh and Gidget too! |
 Terra and Seeker waiting for "GO" at the startline. |
 Seeker keeps his eyes on Terra as he clears a jump. |
 Seeker makes his contact on the teeter. |
 Anna coaches Hunter through the weaves. |
 Anna and Hunter on to the next obstacle. |
 Jade holding her startline beautifully. |
 Anna and Jade resting after their run.. |
 Bruce leaves Jiffy at the startline. |
 Jiffy tearing up the course as usual. |
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 Anne and Kylie in Rally. |
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 Finn in another great shot by Tien Tran. |
 Gidget and Diane chat about their next run. |
 Whitney and Cooper in the Grand Prix finals. |
 Cooper works through the weaves. |
 Patches waits for Kristi's signal. |
 Cinder races through the Pairs course. |
 Kat tried Dock Diving. |
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