Girls Double It Up

(Boulder City, NV) I was so sure we'd driven from Phoenix to Las Vegas. But I think the RV had a mind of its own and went back to Las Cruces. You can pretty much tell you're in Las Cruces in March when the wind is blowing 20 - 40 mph steady. Well that's what it's like here in Las Vegas this weekend. It is crazy! Tents are blowing all over the place - even though they were staked down, dogs (especially small dogs) are having trouble when they make a turn on course and then have to run directly into the wind, and everyone is so bundled up in the first half of the day that you can't see who is who.

But Wazzu has always loved cool/cold. Combine that with wind, and Wazzu turns into a super speedy, super fast dog. Man alive! I only got to see her do one run on Saturday but it was definitely one for the highlight reel...had I videoed it! But I did get a picture of her flying over the A-frame...her favorite.




I've never seen a picture of Wazzu in full gallop in her 11 years of agility. Wouldn't you know, I finally get one and there is a pole in the way.




Who says dogs can't smile? This is just the fourth obstacle on the course and it looks like she's looking right at me being so happy and proud.




Unlike most times, every picture I took of Wazzu this weekend she had a huge smile.




And we're sure (since the judge said so!)that Sparkie set a speed record in her Chances run. I'm not kidding, she was running low and fast. I think maybe she was trying to stay below the wind! She looked like a snake going over the A-frame she was so low. I don't know how her knees didn't hit the top...or how her chest didn't hit the ramp. We've never seen her do an A-frame like this before but she was really going.




Sunday afternoon there was an extremely hard Chances course. Very few dogs got it - neither Wazzu or Boogie even came close. But Sparkie made it look easy. Here is the hard part. First the dogs had to go straight away from you to do two jumps and a tunnel. You can just see the red jump standard to the right of the picture. And if you look closely you can see the tape on the ground - Mike must stay on this side of the tape. After coming out of the yellow tunnel, almost every dog came in to do the purple jump - you can see Sparkie leaning that way. But Mike gave her a strong "out" to another tunnel - out of the picture to the left....very difficult but Sparkie did it.





After the tunnel you don't see, the dogs had to come back and do the purple jump, red jump and two hoops. As you can see, Mike was very proud of Sparkie.




Okay, so Sparkie still does bark on course.




While it wasn't on the Chances run, both girls earned NATCH's on Saturday. Sparkie earned NATCH #17 and Wazzu earned NATCH #14. This is the fifth time that they have earned NATCH's on the same day. That's amazing. But then again, they have always been great friends and love doing things together. It was way too windy to get a picture...those big ribbons really blow around. But we'll get a picture soon and I'll be sure to post it.

The last run on Saturday was Tunnelers. Mike came back to the RV and said Boogie came in 5th place...behind four other Border Terriers. I was feeling a bit dejected that Boogie was the slowest Border. Oh no, what is happening to little Boogie? He used to be so fast.

But my spirits were lifted first thing Sunday morning when Mike reported that not only did Boogie beat all the Border Terriers in his first Regular run, but no dog beat his time until you got to the Border Collies and Sparkies! In fact, he was over four seconds faster than the 2nd place dog. Gosh, I guess he does still have it...when he puts his mind to it.

Although I must say, I'm amazed he can run at all as much as he barks. He makes Sparkie seem so quiet. What could he possibly be talking about? As you can see, he's saying it loudly and emphatically.




Still barking....but going fast!




I wonder how far Boogie can jump. He always takes off so early and then just keeps on soaring.




No barking! But look, he's checking in to see where to go next.




Even though the wind blew hard most of the weekend, it did let up for a little bit Sunday afternoon. The skydivers took advantage of that small window of time to get a jump in.




Looks like it was a tandem jump. Sure brings back good memories!




I took a few pictures of our very good friend's dog. One turned out really good so I just had to share it. This is Allison's dog Grizz. He is one fast little guy! Look, no feet on the ground.




Slugger and 2iggie were both very good couch potatoes with me all weekend. Early, on Sunday morning, before anyone else was up and about, Mike took Boogie and 2iggie out to the field to run. It's a totally enclosed baseball diamond so Mike let both dogs off leash and 2iggie just did huge laps around and around the field. Mike said the only way he caught her was that she had to stop and "do her business".

Other than the cold and wind, it was a great weekend. All the dogs had a great time (well maybe not Slugger) and we got to see our friends one last time. We'll sure miss them...especially when we get up north and it is cold and rainy and we think of them down her in the nice warm weather. So all of you up north - please start working on the weather for our arrival.

Debbie
3/13-14/10