Four days away!

Secret's (and Kaiser's!) USDAA debut is just four days away! I find it interesting that I'm starting to get butterflies about the whole experience. I've been doing agility for six years now -- what's the big deal? I think it's because I've been wanting to try something new for so long now, but it took me forever to actually branch away from NADAC. It's hardly even a new crowd of people, as I know many of them from NADAC (either they show in both venues or they used to show in NADAC years ago). I know even more from YouTube and Facebook. :o)

The show catalog was in my inbox this morning, which totally upped the excitement level!

I think it's wicked cool to have the run order in advance. Don't ask me why, but I'm sure it all has to do with my overly anal planning side.

The P1 classes aren't very big, so unfortunately I only have seven dogs between Kaiser & Secret. Hopefully the crating area isn't miles away from the ring.

I was super surprised to see my NADAC friends, Jim & Gina, on the run sheet with their young dogs. Jim is a NADAC judge and they run a club that hosts a couple NADAC trials per year (and a CPE or two now, I think). I wonder if they are jumping ship for the same reasons as me? I also wonder if maybe MMBC might look into adding a USDAA trial to their calendar now. There really aren't a ton of USDAA trials in this area, which makes it hard for me to ever leave NADAC entirely.

Speaking of NADAC -- The Top 10 of 2011 lists were recently published. I was very proud of Luke for being the #3 20+ Mixed Breed dog in Chances! That's pretty awesome! He also made the list in Regular & Weavers. It's his first year not making the list in Tunnelers, which is sad, but that's what happens when you don't run it anymore. He also didn't make it in Jumpers, which goes along with all of our bonus attempts. Kaiser got honorable mention for being the only Klee Kai, but he earned enough points to make every class except for Hoopers (he's not even out of Open since we don't run that class). Yay, Kaiser! Secret, running only the later part of the year in Elite, did not make the list amongst the super tough field of border collies.

I haven't heard of any bites on Missy yet. One of my local friends saw her video on my Facebook page an expressed interest. I called him up and talked to him -- We talked about getting together so that he & his girlfriend could meet Missy, but I never heard back. That's a bummer. Bethany has watched Missy several times now while I've worked at the shelter. Bethany would keep her if she could, but I don't think it's the right time. I was planning on taking her to the trial for exposure on Saturday, but now I'm waffling and considering letting Bethany watch her again. I should probably take her, but I'm already worried about my stress levels in a new environment. lol That said, I'm going to have a LOT of down time at the trial.


I have more or less solidified that I need a boy for my next dog. I'm just not a girl person. I'll never say never -- I could certainly own another girl in my future, but the next dog I own really needs to be a boy. Missy is a great dog, but I just have zero bond or attachment towards her. It's hard to explain. I mean, I loved Joe from the very first night. I just clicked with him. He could do no wrong. Missy is SUCH a girl. She's independent, she's feisty, she's rebellious.... Some people love that stuff, but I've learned that I love what is more common with boys -- Adoration, rapt attention, goofiness....

That said, Missy has come *so far* in the last week. She is doing great with sit & down and recently started to add "spin" to her skill set. We are also learning about self control and waiting until released to come out of the crate. Meal time is still a work in progress. She's still too crazy for food to just let her at it, so we continue to work for meals. She starts to SHAKE at meal time because she gets so worked up about it. The fact that she is controlling herself with that level of excitement says something, I guess. I just wish there was a way to make her calmer about meals. I mean, my dogs get excited, but they don't shake (although Luke would chatter his teeth when his Prednisone dose was too high, lol).

I totally procrastinated and failed to make a chiro appointment for Secret in advance, so I thought for sure I'd be screwed and not get her in before this trial. Thankfully they are able to fit us in tomorrow afternoon at 2:30!! Phew. She hasn't been adjusted since early December and I really want her tip-top for her first time jumping 22" at a trial. Hopefully the judge being in the ring with us doesn't send her into back spasms from nerves. ;o) Gah! I just have no idea what to expect..... I'm sure that's why I have butterflies more than anything. I'm excited for Kaiser, but I do worry about Secret. Suppose I'll have to try not to let her on to that.

I hope I somehow manage to get video. Odds are higher for Secret, but I'll be lucky to get anything of Kaiser. My friend, Rich, is running in Ring 1 with his dogs at the same time as Kaiser & Secret in Ring 2 for Gamblers. Then in Performance Speed Jumping Kaiser is RIGHT after Rich's dog Tazer. Well crap. Oh we'll we'll figure something out. MUST HAVE VIDEO of our USDAA debut!!!!