USDAA Show in Sunnyvale,CA
September 2 - 4
Reports from Anne, Mia and Kristi

Anne's Report:
Wow, what a weekend! We had three long days of showing with Monday bringing the most classes for the Swandogs and myself, plus the long drive afterwards. Mia was right on many accounts: 1) The Regionals is a great show that I needed to attend 2) The Larkspur Landing is a much more comfortable hotel with full kitchens in every room and is WAY better than the Motels 6's we usually stay in 3) You get delirious on the long drive home, right after San Luis Obispo. I never thought it was very far from SLO to Goleta until last night at 10:30pm as we were still driving, and driving, and driving.....

Monday (9/4) was Kiwi's 11th birthday, and she had a great day. Kiwi got to go shopping at all the vendors and get her picture taken by one of the photographers. The day started for Kiwi in P3 Jumpers, she was full of vim and vinegar and was letting me know how slow she thought I was running. I was getting constant feedback from Kiwi in the form of noisy barks but hey, she didn't also have to run with Zip all weekend too! We had a nice run with one bar down and at least I knew Kiwi was not feeling her years in any way. Next was P3 Gamblers, we had a decent run but nobody got the gamble, I think possibly one dog out of the entire Master's class might have done it correctly, but most dogs did not. I found out while I was walking the Performance Grand Prix Finals course that there was going to be a run-off for second place in Gamblers between Kiwi and another dog, all I could think of at that point was "I have to run AGAIN?" Kiwi then got to run the Grand Prix Finals, the course was challenging in parts but overall a nice one. She was really listening well and responsive, she made a weave entry that was challenging a few dogs, answered the obstacle discrimination quesions correctly, kept all her bars up, and we were headed for home - all that was left was the dog walk and a jump. I think I rushed Kiwi a little bit out of anxiety, and she sweetly hopped over the yellow zone of the contact and we did the last jump. Overall a really nice run for Kiwi with a fast time and I was super proud of her. Then we had to go and tackle the P3 Gamblers course again, and we won the run off for second place by earning more points than the other competitor - good girl Kiwi! Kiwi got to play in the hose after it was all said and done, which is one of her favorite things to do.

Zip was a fantastic boy all weekend, I am so proud of him. He was really paying attention in all of his runs, trying hard to hold his contacts, and was jumping so nicely. We started Monday with Master's Jumpers and Zip ran it beautifully, and even jumped so hard over one jump that his hind legs kicked out over his head almost like he wanted to do a hand stand - take it easy Zippy! He Q'ed in Jumpers with a fast time overall but the competition in the Master's classes is incredible with some seriously fast dogs. But I was very happy with my good boy!! Zip was starting to get a little tired and I could see it in Master's Standard - again great contacts and was right with me and listening, but had one bar down. The fact that he is holding is contacts in competition is huge for us. The icing on the cake for us was our Finals run in the Performance Grand Prix. Zip was the very last dog to run in 16". Great solid start line, listening on all the turns, kept the bars up, got all of his contacts, we had a fraction of a second of hesitation before a jump but not an error - and Zip flew through the course. When it was all said and done, Zip placed second in the class!! We were a few tenths of a second off the winner but had a faster time over some really great dogs in the Performance class. Zip has earned a spot in the Semi-Finals of the PGP at Nationals in Scottsdale this November. I am super proud of Zippy who I believe is also very happy with himself. A round of playing with the hose and water rounded off the weekend for Zip and he went to the Massage Therapsit Vet. for a nice rub down after the long weekend. It took awhile but we packed up for the long drive home and got home around 11:00pm. I have reached new levels of tired and sore, but all in all a great experience for us.

I was running between 3 rings yesterday so I did not get to watch most of the other club members - I was hoping to see more of everyone else's runs so hopefully they will write in soon. Terra with Seeker had a fantastic run in the Grand Prix Finals, so fast and clean. I believe they placed 5th in the big class!! Kristi and Cinder had a very lovely Finals run and were clean and is now joining Seeker in the Semi's at Nationals. I saw parts of Mia's run with Star, Scott's with Foster, Bruce and Jiff (all looked wonderful in the sections that I saw) and I heard that Kate and Quick were fast and tight and an unlucky bar came down before the dog walk. Still, so many great runs this weekend, I am so glad that I was a part of this and got to see it all in person.

Still a lot of unpacking to do, a walk with the dogs, and maybe a nap!

:) Anne, Kiwi (birthday girl) and Zippy Swan (silly semi finalist!)

Mia's Report:
I'm still WAY tired from the weekend. Max and Starlet both started yesterday with Jumpers. Max ran great. I think he's finally figured out the game with 16" jumps. He ended up winning PIII Jumpers for the second week in a row against the Northern Calif bigwigs. :-) Yay Max! Starlet was a very good girl in her Jumpers run too for another Q.

Standard had minor bobbles with both dogs. Max gave me some scares on a tricky line, but was otherwise a good boy and took 2nd in PIII, just .05 off of the winning team (Nancy and Riot). Starlet missed her weave entry, but was otherwise fast, happy and responsive I was pleased with her run. Neither dog did much in Gamblers, but it was a fun class anyway.

Starlet ended my day with her Grand Prix run. She was happy, fast and responsive for the most part. We had a very weird mistake that ended in a backjump. I've obsessed a bit about it, but I'm going with it was just a weird moment, it's a dogsport, we can't always be predictable. ;-) My happy news for Starlet is on my list of things to work on...no where is plain speed work. That's a first for us. She's definitely coming along and next year we will be getting that bye.

Congrats to all the GVDCers and their success this weekend, looks like a lot of us will be getting polo shirts at Nationals. ;-) That said, Bruce and Jiff's Jumpers run was probably the highlight. It was AWESOME! Tell the dogs they're good.

mia

Kristi's Report:
Mia had it more together than me yesterday - at she wrote SOMETHING. Yay to Nora and Lily!!!! This show is a lot of fun although I must say that I am kind of glad that Chance couldn't make it (his human grandmother got real sick so everyone think positive for her) because they are running this show like Nationals. All our walk throughs are in the morning and we are rotated throughout the day in groups. This means, that unless you have an Adv or Std, you have NO conflicts - which is pretty amazing when you consider we are running in three rings (4 if you include the Adv/Std ring!)

That being said, I have had a pretty amazing show. First off, GALE HAS GREAT WEAVES!!!! Yay Gale!!! Her contacts and start line seem to be going fast but then again, so is she :-) We've all decided that I need to "drop the reins" on Gale and let her party for awhile. So...that being said, she got a Masters Pairs leg yesterday and was 3 for 4 today! Wow...I still can't believe it - she picked up a Masters Jumpers (for her JM), a Masters Snooker leg and, the most important thing, she got her 2nd Q in Performance Grand Prix! I am still in shock.

I can't seem to remember a whole lot about yesterday - I know Patches picked up a PIII Standard leg, Cinder got another Masters Pairs leg with Max, a Masters Std leg, ran all her DAM classes without being eliminated (on a NASTY Team Standard course which I will let Mia tell you all about) and I think that's it.
Today was a really good day for me. Patches and Cin Q'd in Snooker, Cinder got through the Grand Prix, (so think positive for us tomorrow about getting a bye into the semis) and Cin had a smoking Steeplechase run but dropped a bar :-( Cin also dropped a bar in Jumpers so I took her to the doggy massage person and boy I am glad I did. She was super sore in her back but seemed much better after Cindy worked on her for almost an hour. Cin got pulled from Masters Std so that I can save her for tomorrow. Patches had a lovely and fast off course in Perf Grand Prix so, thank heavens she is already qualified!

Before I let Mia take over, I have to mention a couple things: Foster and Scott qualified in the Perf. Grand Prix and are now qualified for Nationals! YAY!!! (Or as Mia would say "Woo Hoo!") Anne and Zippy Swan had an AMAZING Masters Standard run yesterday! Not only Q'd but ended up in 10th place and considering the competition and the quality of dogs here (every time I turn around there are world team members and dogs running) a truly remarkable run! His run today was fast and furious and despite alarming levels of speed, didn't drop a single bar and had fabulous contacts. I also saw Kiwi's Perf. Grand Prix run and she and Anne were tight, fast and focused. They had a beautiful run and Q'd with style. I saw Diane and Gidget walking around but never saw a run - so Diane, you better report in :-) I am going back to my wine and letting Mia take over and SHE can discuss the DAM team stuff. Wish us luck tomorrow!

That's right, step aside Kristi. :-) We have decided that getting lost on our drive up to this show is a good sign for us. Next year, we'll have to remember to leave the directions at home to make sure we can continue this tradition. We have also learned that if signs are written some sort of asian language, that store probably won't have anything we want (ie Lean Cuisine Lasagna for Kristi) and will smell like fish. Avoid the Ranch Market if you come up here, despite the name, there's nothing Western about. Between the hanging ducks (I know what they were because the heads were still on them) and the giant headless fish, we weren't hungry anymore. ;-)

Yesterday was a better day for Mr. Max in terms of Qs. He picked up a 2nd place in PIII Standard on a tricky course (Kristi says "tricky" is a very nice word to describe it) and another Q with Cinder Binder in Pairs. He isn't in much this weekend and is very annoyed about it. In all his runs today, he had an NQing mistake, but had GREAT runs. He was way fast in Jumpers, a bit pissy, but fun in Snooker (they didn't get my points right, but the agility gods taketh and giveth) and had AWESOME contacts in Standard. I think the best he's ever had. I'm very happy about it.

Starlet has been a good girlie. Both she and Driven E'd in Team Standard, but Star's off-course happened after one of her all-time great A-frames and was caused by me turning into wussy handler. She did redeem herself in today's Team Relay which is the class that saved our teams behind (and the DAM also finished Cinder's TM-Silver). I do know that Jiff, Gidget and Streak finished in the top 15 teams, which is awesome! Terra and Seeker's team also picked up a DAM Q. Woohoo! Oh! I also have to say, that Driven (sister to my future pup) WON Team Jumpers by a lot with a run that could have been even better. It's kind of scary.
For non-team events, Starlet only had a Pairs run with Zippy Swan. It wasn't a Q, but we had a good time and I was really able to work my contacts. :-) Today, Starlet finished her JCH-Bronze (15 Masters Jumpers legs) with a solid Jumpers run. More importantly, she ran clean in today's Grand Prix despite her handler thinking we were running with 5 faults, since I had no faith in her making the weave entry (which came at the end of the course). She was LOVELY. Yay Starlet!

As for other GVDCers, there are a ton of us in the second round of Grand Prix. Terra and Seeker, Bruce and Jiff, Scott and Foster, Kristi with Gale and Cinder, Anne with Kiwi and Zip (who has a bye thanks to their win at Happy Dog), that's a pretty large crew to make it to the big round at Regionals. My brain is fried, so I STRONGLY encourage people to write up what their dogs did and not tell me later that I forgot something, since I'm sure I am (and Kristi too) forgetting a LOT. Send positive thoughts are way tomorrow.
Oh! And a big congrats has to go to Mary Arango and Blitz for winning Exc. B JWW at today's AKC. Oh and I saw Bubbles GP run today, she was lovely, handler errors kept them from making the big round. Tell your dogs they're good. mia

I'm not checking for spelling or grammar and neither did Kristi, so here's hoping this makes some sense.

I had a GREAT day on Monday despite Cinder's back. I can't remember if I mentioned that Cinder seemed a little sore on Sunday night so I had her worked on and we discovered that while nothing was wrong, her back was sore so I pulled her from Masters Std. that afternoon. When I arrived at the show site Monday, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Cin had made the 2nd cut of the Steeplechase! She hadn't had a great run (dropped a bar and I felt it was slow which is why we went the doggie massage therapist in the first place) but apparently she was fast enough. Despite the massive thrill I get running Cin in the second rounds of Steeplechase (I LOVE running that dog full out) I decided to scratch her (because of her back) and save her for the 2nd round of Grand Prix. I also scratched her from Std (I figured she had one good A-Frame in her and the course was icky) but did run her in Jumpers and Gamblers. She was FABULOUS in Jumpers - flew around the course clear and then excitedly squeaked her way through Gamblers but we couldn't get the gamble :-( Gale also flew around the Jumpers course for another Q and had a lovely Standard run (hit a gnarly weave entrance) but launched the A-Frame. Sigh... Patches was old reliable and handily Q'd in both Jumpers and Standard (and she was MOVING in Jumpers!) So, I tried not to obsess all day about Round 2 of the Grand Prix. The course was LOVELY (and super easy - especially compared to the Round 1 course which was a friggin' nightmare) and I just spent the day trying not to think too hard about it. Of course, it was the last run of the day and they ran 22's last...figures. Gale was in Perf. Grand Prix and I made a total bone-headed manuever which cost her the Q but she was dynamite - got all her contacts (the judge was nice about the A-Frame) and zipped around the course. Too bad her mother is a moron :-( Cinder was, as usual, perfect. All I wanted to do was run clean and get a bye into the semis (and get the shirt!) so I did NOT run her all out. I am so glad I have a dog that I have "speed control" on - makes things much easier for me in situations like this. Cinder was great and now all the pressure if off for Nationals. Yippee Skippee!

I will let Mia tell you all about her day <VBG> but I do have to mention Bruce and Jif: they WON Masters Jumpers! WON!!!! Jif and Bruce laid down a time that no one else could touch - it was amazing. Way to go! Terra and Seeker looked amazing every run that I saw, I still never saw Gidget and Diane and even though Scott was in my group, I never saw any of his runs (except one with Foster.)

On a final note, the drive home was much easier this year than last year, probably because Mia and I were in the same car rather than in separate cars talking on the phone to keep each other awake. Several very hysterical things happened in the last 100 miles (at least Mia and I though they were hysterical, maybe we were delerious.) First off, we had fed the dogs somewhere after Salinas and then were on a total mission to get home. Gale started standing up in the van around King City and never really sat back down again. By SLO, she was trying to crawl into my lap. It was pretty apparent that Gale needed to go to the bathroom - poor Gale - I was NOT stopping for anything. So, Mia and I had a great time at poor Gale's expense and at one point were almost in tears we were laughing so hard. Gale stuck it out though (although she RAPIDLY ran into the backyard when we got home...) The other hysterical moment was somewhere around Gaviota. We had been keeping phone contact with Kate during most of the drive and knew she was ahead of us. By Santa Maria we had gained on her and she was only a couple exits ahead of us. But Kate usually drives a lot faster than I do so we were not expecting to pass her on the drive home. We made it to Buellton (finally, according to Mia) and started up the hill outside of town. People were driving like morons so I started passing people on the right...after a little bit, I noticed this car was riding my rear bumper so I
politely pulled over into the right lane to let them pass. The car pulled in behind me. When I went to pass a truck, the car followed (right on the bumper still) and then wouldn't pass me when I got back into the slow lane. So, I slowed down to encourage psycho-driver to pass me - they wouldn't. Mia and I had just started speculating on the possibility of us being tailed by a road-rage syndrome mad killer with a shotgun when the phone rang. It was Kate: "Why are you guys trying to ditch me???" Somewhere I had passed her and not even known it and she was our scary tail. Certainly made the last 30 miles more interesting! Poor Kate....

Pets to the beasties,

Kristi
www.kachinamtnaussies.com