Happy Anniversary - Sort Of

This weekend we were at a trial in San Marcos, TX. It was held indoors in at the county Civic Center. I don’t really know why it’s called a Civic Center. It is an old and extremely dirty horse barn. And from the looks of all the fresh piles around, both inside and outside the arena, there must have been a lot of horses here just a day or two ago. You’d think at a place like that they would be required to pick up the horse doo. After all, the dog people pick up after the dogs. Suffice it to say, that in addition to all that, the dirt was more like coarse sand and it was everywhere – including in the air. All you had to do was walk through there once and your clothes and hair would be covered with dirt. I never thought I’d say this but we found a place worse than Canby!

Friday evening when we arrived here, they had a fun run for a few hours. We entered both Slugger and Sparkie. We figured it would be a good chance for Sparkie to get some of her energy out and work on her contacts. And we were hoping it would help familiarize Slugger with the building so it wouldn’t be so overwhelming this weekend. It is a really noisy arena and the two rings butt right up next to each other so there is the potential for dogs to be running very close to each other at the same time. Both dogs had excellent practice sessions and it was well worth the $5.00 per dog for a minute and a half of course time.

Saturday was in the low 80’s although it seemed to stay much cooler in the arena. It was humid however. It really seems as though if there is much humidity at all it is much harder for Wazzu to breath. So she wasn’t real interested in expending much energy this weekend. But she wanted to play and tried to work through it. She did pretty well, getting both her Regulars and her Touch N Go. But as the day went on she wore down and we were just over time in both Jumpers and Weavers. Darn…so close! And, as has been our trend for quite some time now, we didn’t get our Chances. Super shucks.

Sparkie was running very nicely. As usual, everyone seemed to admire her. We had so many people come up to us saying they just loved her and loved watching her run. Both judges even went over to Mike and commented on what a great dog she is. They had a little miscommunication on a couple runs that cost them Q’s but they ended up 4/6 on the day and got 1st place in all four runs…..by a LOT. She thought that was great as at this trial if you get a Q AND 1st place then you got to choose a toy from a big bucket, a very nice dog bowl, or a large all natural dog bone from the winners table. As I’m sure all can guess, Sparkie choose the treat every time!

Winner's Table

Little Slugger was so cute today. We entered him in Chances and Weavers. Chances was first and it was very busy in the arena and he seemed a little overwhelmed with the atmosphere. He had trouble keeping his mind on his job. He did the first jump then wandered by the next few as he was busy surveying his surroundings. Finally Mike reached down, moved him over in front of a jump and gave him a little shove. That’s all it took to snap his brain into gear. He took off like a shot and did the rest of the course, including the distance challenge, just perfectly. It was so interesting that between the three dogs we went 0/3 in Chances and each one messed up in a different place. Back to Slugger! Then came Weavers. That little guy concentrated so hard in all his weaves that you could see the wheels turning. He was so determined and you could tell it took every bit of brain power he had to do that course. But he did it! He got his very first Weavers Q of his career. And to top it off, even with quite a bit of competition in his class, he got 1st place! He was so excited as that meant he got to go to the winners table. Not surprisingly, he chose the treat as well. We’re so proud of him – he never gets to practice or take lessons of course and he is really starting to enjoy agility.

We woke up a little late this morning as it was still dark! The time change made it so that we had to get started very early this morning. No time for breakfast for us or the dogs. And the day only got more hectic from there.

But first, the most important thing. Today is the eigth anniversary of Wazzu coming to live with us. Unfortunately, Wazzu doesn't feel well today. I guess this is a true anniversary as she was very ill the day we brought her home too.

I won’t give you the blow by blow but lets just say we had conflicts most of the day. In fact, right in the middle of one run I caught myself looking over into the other ring to see if Slugger was running. Then caught myself wondering who would be holding Sparkie if Slugger was running. Then I realized I’d better concentrate on poor Wazzu as we were in the middle of a course! We had so many conflicts and so much confusion that we almost missed two runs. Fortunately the judge was nice and held up the trial for us so we could run get our dogs and do the course. Unfortunately, in that rush rush kind of situation, the outcome isn’t good.

The highlight of Sunday was little Slugger. He was entered in Jumpers and Tunnelers. He got his very first Jumpers Q and came in 1st again thus earning another trip to the winners table! Then to top it all off he Q’d in his Elite Tunnelers run (2nd place) which earned him his Outstanding Elite Tunnelers Title! Who would have ever dreamed it!

So Slugger ended up 2/2 on the day, Sparkie went 3/6, and Wazzu went 5/6. The only run Wazzu missed was the one we really need. Oh well, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

Everyone seems more mentally tired than normal after the weekend and we’re all extremely dirty. Hopefully after some nice hot showers and a good meal (it’s very muggy and now rainy and wet) we’ll all feel a little better. They only had snacks for the workers so Mike only ate junk all day. They didn’t choose to accept my offer of help and didn’t put me on the schedule so I didn’t work all weekend. In hindsight that was probably good, as if I’d been allowed in the workers room I’d probably have eaten a bunch of junk as well. Instead I was good and just had an apple for lunch each day.

Little did we know the showers and the meals would have to wait a long time. It seems as though the Texans were busy not only driving around (roads were very crowded) but they were having a hard time driving as well. After a LONG time of sitting and creeping we finally made it up to the accident site. Thank God we were just stuck in the traffic jam and not involved. We don't know for sure exactly what caused the accident but what we do know for sure is that a car flew off a freeway overpass and landed upside down on the freeway. I don't see any way that the people in that car could have possibly survived. I've never seen a car that flat that wasn't already at the scrap lot. Those poor people. Fortunately, in time, we made it to our destination safely.

A few days ago when Mike was trying to find a place for us to stay here in San Antonio he was having no luck and was feeling frustrated. So I told him I would work on it for him. I too was having no luck. Turns out it is Spring Break so most places had no space. Then when I found a place with space they wouldn't take Slugger. I was just about to give up when I found a teeny tiny ad. They had space and would allow us.

After we arrived, Mike informed me that my services as an RV Park reservationist would no longer be needed. I now see why the ad was so small. The park only has seven spots - and I don't think anyone could fit in a couple of them. There are five of us here - so I guess it is full. For only four other RV's besides us there sure are a lot of kids here - guess that makes sense since it's Spring Break.

As soon as we got set up Wazzu immediately went back to bed. She has never gone to bed at 6:30pm. She is really hot and so looks like she doesn't feel well at all. Poor Wazzu. Not quite the anniversary we had hoped for. We'll just celebrate another day as we couldn't be happier that she joined our family.

Debbie
3/9-11/07