Epiphanies

I sort of had one at AKC Nationals. The one Jenn Crank has been trying to get out of me for, oh, I don't know, 4 years now? She said I won't get it until I "get it." It was right after her clean Jumpers run. The run was good, I was a little "safe" in my handling choice. Mostly because Moxie was a little wild in warm up standard. I babysit. There... I said it, it's out... I babysit her something terrible. I babysit her weaves because she used to pop out. I babysit her pinwheels because she turns so tight. I babysit the hell out of her aframe because it's hit or miss if she stops or not. I even noticed how much I started rear crossing her. Babysitting... I can "save" a rear cross. Fronts aren't as easy to save. What if she pulls off a jump? I can't save it! Oh the horror.  So after my clean jumper run, which did have some pretty moments after the beginning, I had this long conversation with myself. Do I want to be THAT handler. Who is ALWAYS out for the Q. Always out for the clean run. Has a MACH 50 on her dog because we run clean every round. The thought literally make me sick. Don't get me wrong, Qing is great, and I like it way better than NQing. But Qing for the sake of Qing isn't fun. And always being safe and clean is boring. It's boring to do and it's boring to watch. So my next run was much better. Standard. I did a front cross I wasn't totally sure I could get, but I had it in my head that I was making it happen. I sent her to a jump and left her to do her job. I caused a bar at the end. But it was such a great run. It felt really good. And her hybrid run? Felt even better. She knocked 2 bars, which I totally blame on her shoulder. But I did a nice send to a pinwheel jump and left her to do her job. I had so much to think about after those runs. I wanted to be better. To run harder from place to place. To push her boundaries a little. To run her "more like Sally." I run Sally pretty aggressively now. We have no goals. Just run, be bad ass, have fun. And oddly enough, Sally has a higher Q rate now than in her entire life. She's a bad ass. We can look like a bad ass team when I set my mind to it. I want Moxie to have a little of that action. I did a 3 day trial in Zanesville. Our Q rate? ABYSMAL! She was 2 for 6. We went off course EVERY day in standard. We never go off course. But I am proud of the off courses. She ran hard. We ended the weekend with a T2B run that was nothing less than BAD ASS. We knocked the last bar. Had the fastest time in the class. I pushed her the entire course, trusted her, let her extend. And it was awesome. It was my real epiphany. I'd rather run like THAT and NQ, than run safe and boring and Q. Don't get me wrong, I need 3 QQs for Nationals, and I may run a little safer than that T2B run, but I am going to try really hard to run more aggressively. I get it. I totally GET IT now. What Jenn tried to tell me, what Karen Holik and Mary Ellen Barry were telling me. How awesome my little dog is, how tight her turns are, how fantastic she is and how she would give me 200% more if I just asked her for it. I have things to work on for sure. Her upcoming running aframe, a faster teeter, a better dogwalk, and more independence at the weaves to start. And myself of course. I want to take running lessons. I want to learn to lengthen my own stride, and be a more efficient runner. It's so exciting, these goals! That T2B run was a win, even if it was technically a loss. She ran faster than some seriously fast dogs. Dogs we have never beaten before. Little Monkey can flat out move. Oh how I love this dog.
 On another note, Sally was a BAD ASS. She got a QQ on saturday, and had some AMAZING NQS! I love hearing the crowd when I run her. She's exciting. At 10 years old, she's still got it. We have such a good thing going. I hope she runs for another 10 years, because running her is a thrill.
 Hustle... Oh Hustle man. So much potential. We are getting there. He has moments of BRILLIANCE. He can and will be thrilling to run. He had great running aframes all weekend, good stops on his dogwalk, nice jumping. The weaves... He just doesn't get it yet. But he will. And he will be moving to 26. He is a powerful dog. His stride is enormous and he has no idea how to use it yet, but when he "thinks" and does his job, he's pretty damn awesome. He did the coolest rear cross wrap ever in T2B (of course, not on tape). Proud of the boy. He will be a force someday :) 

Reno!

It was such an amazing weekend! It's hard to sum up how much fun I had in one blog post. I taught classes all week, worked and managed to pack everything successfully. If you have ever traveled with April or myself, you know we pack for worst case scenarios! So between her and I, we certainly maxed out our baggage weight capacities! Kitty thought he should go too...

 Thursday we flew out from Louisville Intl airport. It was a relatively decent flight, almost 4 hours to Arizona Intl. April gets extreme motion sickness, but luckily she only threw twice :)  Both dogs were very good for the entire flight. We landed in Phoenix, and it was literally a sprint to find a place to take the dogs out to pee. A sprint across the entire airport. Then back THROUGH security with both dogs... Then I couldn't find April.. I was panicked. Wandered through security, walked a bit and saw her sitting with all our carry on baggage. We then had to rush to find out Gate. Found it, got some random food and never heard the gate guy announce early boarding. So we were stuck between 2 strangers on the 2 hour flight to Reno. Landed fine, got our rental car and went to check out the Livestock center. It was awesome.

We checked in, got our awesome goody bag with our numbers and other assorted cool stuff (and got our cupcakes!) Shopped a little, set up our crates, and went to check in to our hotel.  We stayed at the Nugget Courtyard. It has a casino and other really cool places to eat, gamble, and drink of course.

 Our first stop was the Tiki bar at Trader Dicks... For the record, it was 8pm our time and we hadn't eaten all day. We went to the buffet but it didn't open for another 30 minutes, so we decided on these to hold us over...



 

Bendy man was modeling our drinks for us... So about this time we realize 3 drinks each is too many with no food, so we needed to eat PRONTO.  We went to the Rotisserie Buffet. It was amazing...

I scared the crap out of the guy behind the dessert counter with my camera!

Who doesn't love a peperoni flower?

Was a little shocked by the pig!

We tried one of every dessert!

Went to find a security guard to microwave a baked potato for Moxie, drink in hand. He was a trooper! We slept great :)

Friday was warm up day. We ran the optional standard run. Moxie was a tad hot under the collar after the plane ride and sleeping all day in the hotel. She hit all her contacts, but didn't attempt to stop :) It put me a little behind and I didn't stick to my plan, pulling her off the chute. It was an otherwise nice run.

 Time 2 Beat she went clean. She had a really nice run and I got to work the contacts a little more!

We watched the rest of the dogs run and ended up at the buffet again! Seafood night so I was in heaven! We ended up in the casino with the Cranks. Had a fantastic night. Got to watch a guy yell at an empty chair and almost get thrown out by the geriatric security guards. Talked to a nice manager about Whale watching. Whales are apparently big spenders at casinos. The things you learn from the Cranks. We learned other things too, but probably not appropriate for the blogger! Needless to say, they are plenty of fun on a trip!

Saturday- Up early, got to obsess walk jumpers. Morning announcements were neat. I have to say, the energy at this event was awesome. You could really "feel" it there. Maybe my energy was higher, not sure. But it definitely felt electric, that morning walk through. So many people had such high hopes. Hell, I just didn't want to look like an idiot. Moxie was up fairly early in the order. I was nervous, which was nice. I don't get nervous much anymore. I was very worried about the opening sequence, because my handling choice wasn't very popular. But we made it work, and went clean. She had a nice run and I was pretty proud of her time and overall finish in the round. Took her to Marie Duthie for a massage. I was a little taken back by how awful she was in her shoulders. I knew she was having some trouble jumping, but I tend to tunnel vision my own dogs. I was so focused on her hips I never gave much attention to her shoulders. Marie said she was the worst dog she had touched all day! She worked on her for 30 minutes and wanted to see her again. We ran standard, and I was incredibly pleased with her run. She knocked the last bar, because I got behind (my knee literally locked in place, I felt like I would fall, got behind..) She turned to find me and hit the last jump. But I will say the run felt great. Ended up 88th overall for the day in 20 inches. Spent the evening at The Great Basin Brewery with the Cranks. Awesome food, great company. Probably ended up at the casino too :)

Sunday was quick. Moxie got worked on for another 30 minutes, still tight in her shoulders but better. Ran hybrid. We actually had a fantastic run except for a little wide turn in the opening. Moxie knocked 2 bars in extension coming towards me. She never knocks bars so I know it was her shoulders. I didn't have the heart to ask her to stop on the aframe

Haze

Mmmmm Breakfast. Apple fritter and hazelnut hot chocolate.

She thinks she might die if she doesn't get some apple fritter. She's in a casino, you would think she would be grateful to be a dog in a casino! :)

Haze, silently hating us right now for making him give Bendy Man a ride.

View from our hotel.

Oh yeah, on our way back from Reno, we almost missed our flight out to Vegas. I was reloading the bags so we wouldn't have to pay, and April was haggling with the rental car guy. We literally SPRINTED through security. They barely checked us, we ran to the gate and made it with very little time to spare. Then we barely made our flight out of Vegas! Didn't eat a thing, landed at Louisville Intl ok and I swear next time we are making layovers LONGER!!! 8 hours on a plane, starving and cold = Misty was sick as a dog! But I lived to tell the tale, so to speak. Trooper that I am, I even taught my monday night class at 6pm :)  My killer students covered for me at 715 so I could go in to a coma until tuesday morning. Flying is stressful!