She's now gone

I realized I had updated pretty much everyone but readers of this blog. Viva is now gone, and for some of you that is news you've already heard. It's been almost two weeks since I let her go, less than two weeks before that she was fine.

The house is quiet without her. Zipper and Cala and I look at each other, nonplussed. So far Cala is doing okay, she's the one I worried about the most. She and Zipper are starting to play again. But there's a gigantic hole, so large I can't span it with thought or deed.

I'll be getting another Min Pin. Soon Prada, Ch Regatta Devil Wears Prada, will come to live with us thanks to Pam, Zipper's breeder. Zipper will be thrilled to welcome his niece. Not so sure about Cala, but my guess is we'll end up okay after some initial adjustment.

I'm making myself train, and that helps. But it's hard even to do that. Viva was entered in a Rally trial in St. Louis the day I took her to Dr. Wendy to let her go. I knew it was the right thing to do, I knew it was time. She was ready. I was not. I'm still not. But it will get better.

Where the MU Vet Hospital Goes Wrong

I have an old dog. Eleven and a half; okay, 11 and 3/4. She is beloved this dog. The best dog I have ever owned or probably ever will. A part of my life and my soul, I have always felt honored and humble that I have been allowed to share her life. And like many old dogs, she has become such a part of me that she is an extension of my thought. We understand each other, though the slightest gesture or flick of the eye.

If you have ever had a beloved dog, maybe you'll understand why I am so angry at the vet school. Maybe not. Nonetheless, I'm furious, and after years of similar stories, both personally and from friends, I'm like that guy on the old movie from the 1970s called "Network." I'm mad a hell and I'm not going to take it any more.

Last weekend, my normally very fit and capable dog, who looks more like she's six than nearing 12, suddenly got very weak and began to look a bit pot-bellied. This morning found me with a 9:45 appointment at the vet school for an abdominal ultrasound. Extensive testing through the week is drawing us toward a probably inescapable cancer diagnosis. I went to MUVTH armed with multiple xrays and extensive bloodwork results from my GP Vet, the capable Dr. Wendy Forbes of Rock Bridge Animal Hospital. She and I had been working on this through the week. The ultrasound was to show us more clearly what's going on in Viva's abdomen. A mass is almost certain, the question being whether it's splenic or kidney or even something else.

And that's really all I want to know. I'm not planning dramatic intervention. She's a dog who has had a fantastic quality of life and to me, quality is far more important than quantity. So the reason I was referred, the only reason I was there, was to get an ultrasound.

I was escorted in fairly quickly by the student, who gave Viva a somewhat cursory exam, then disappeared to get the attending. And we waited. And waited. Me on the hard bench plank, Viva on the ice cold linoleum floor. For an hour. Finally a Resident appeared, and began to give Viva another exam. "Oh honey," she said to Viva, "you're shivering!" And I replied, "Ya think? She's been laying on this cold floor for an hour." I mean, come on. They left an old, sick dog in a breed with very little coat for an hour on a cold floor, why shouldn't she be shivering?

The resident, in her best "I'm the pro and you're an idiot" voice, started to explain to me some of the tests they would like to do.

[ETA: The resident actually told me what they wanted to do before she even looked at Viva. She examined Viva after she outlined what they wanted, then outlined what they wanted again after the exam.]

"Well, we'd like to do another CBC. And of course, depending on what the ultrasound finds, we'd like to do a fine needle aspirate (and I had to stop her from explaining what that is, I *know* what it is), though with her platelets so low that might be a bit iffy, then we'd like to do a bone marrow tap."

"I really just want the ultrasound."

"Oh. Well, okay, let's see. We'll need to take some xrays too."

"You have x-rays." (her hand was on them for God's sake.)

"Well, we may need to take some more."

"Why? You have xrays."

"Xrays would probably be required if you want an ultrasound."

"Then forget it, I won't do the ultrasound."

(she's looking at me like I've sprouted two heads, because I won't go along with her 'Doctor knows best, let's charge everything we possibly can' scenario.)

"Well let me see, let's see what it would be without xrays." (cogitating ensues, in which the student points out they don't have a price structure for ultrasound without xrays, which is ludicrous, because a) they have her xrays and b) you really DON'T need xrays when you do an ultrasound)

"Okay, it'll be about $300."

They wanted $300 freaking dollars to wave a wand around on my dog's belly for a few minutes. Further, I was informed that no, of course I couldn't stay with my dog and it would take two hours "or so." I told them I couldn't afford $300, so they looked at each other again with that look of 'how dare she not fall into line like a sheep' look and said they would consult. They left the room. I promptly called the other place in town that does ultrasounds, which we hadn't chosen first because they couldn't get me in till this afternoon. Their price was almost half less than MU's. So when they came back in and said, brightly, "oh, we can reduce it to $260!" I said thanks, I'm leaving.

"Oh, um, well, we think from her bloods she might have a rectal bleed so we want to test that and see if we can give you some meds for it." (they do a digital exam and say, somewhat regretfully, they can't find anything).

For all that, for having to wait an hour to be seen, and for the privilege of them doing absolutely nothing for my dog, I paid $92.

And maybe I shouldn't be so furious. But let me tell you the things that infuriate me about MUVTH.

First, I should not have to wait an hour to be seen, especially with a sick dog.

Second, I feel the vet school grossly overcharges and deliberately adds on unneeded tests in an attempt to get fees up. In the past, I have been lectured and yelled at for not going with the most expensive treatment possible.

Third, and this is a big one, is not being able to stay with my dog. They take your dog away and do whatever they want. I've had my dogs used as student guinea pigs before, including a dog who came back so bruised from a liver biopsy that his entire belly turned completely black. I think medicine "behind closed doors" is an extremely poor way of doing business. If, indeed, the departments are set up in such a way that there isn't room for owners, then that should be remedied. This is supposed to be a state of the art facility. Owners do deserve to be in on what's going on.

Which brings me to my last point. I never felt (and have never felt when taking any dog to the teaching hospital) that my views or knowledge were in any way respected or even considered. I have always felt condescended to, ignored, and sometimes as if I was just an extra to be gotten away from the dog as soon as possible, so stupid that anything I said was dismissed on its face. It's completely infuriating and always gets my back up so yep, I tend to get surly.

Yes, some owners are pretty clueless. But it doesn't follow that all are, and even those who are deserve respect and someone really listening to what they are saying. Which I never seem to get at MU, where my knowledge in some areas probably way outstrips that of most of the staff.

Some of us have been trying to address these pervasive problems with the vet school for years. I could tell you almost a dozen horror stories, all dogs I know or have owned personally. But the administration is patently uninterested in listening to us, and certainly not in making any sort of change to the way it does things. I bet it brings in a lot of money from the unsuspecting dog owners who don't know better. It's sad, and it needs to end.

Meanwhile, my old dog and I are home. She'll have her ultrasound this afternoon, and I'll be right in the room with her so that I too can see what's going on and help keep her calm.

[ETA: Viva had her ultrasound yesterday afternoon at The Pet Center, with Dr. Miller. They got me right in. I was able to stay with Viva, which helped a lot to keep her calm. We looked at her for about 15 minutes while Dr. Miller very patiently explained what he was seeing. I was able to see her organs right along with him which was extremely interesting and educational. This is how veterinary medicine should be practiced. Thank you Pet Center!]

ASCA weekend

Last weekend was ASCA here in town. I really enjoy ASCA, it's my favorite venue besides AKC. On impulse I entered Zipper in everything. Five runs a day over two days. He's in Elite Jumpers and Regular, and I even decided to try Novice Gamblers. Turns out Zipper was one of three 12" dogs entered all weekend, the second being Joan Meyer's Niel, who was in Novice and Open, and Kathy's Kip, who was entered Saturday only and not in all classes. As was typical in small trials, often I had jumps set just for me.

Saturday was two rounds of Gamblers, two of Regular and one Jumpers. And to my astonishment, Zipper actually Qd in his first round of Gamblers. He really doesn't have distance skills, but it was a fairly easy one. You had to flip the dog out over the gamble line to a tunnel, then out of that tunnel to a jump, another tunnel straight ahead, then a bonus jump. He had no trouble at all. The second Gamble was a different story It was a jump out to the aframe, then come back toward the handler and finally flip back away again for a tunnel. And Zip decided he wasn't doing the aframe (a sporadically recurrant problem). Instead, when I told him out he went WAY OUT, past the aframe and to the weaves. Oops.

Next was Regular, and we got one Q there, then in the second round he went around the last jump. In ASCA there are no refusals. But if the dog misses the very last jump and crosses the finish line (which thanks to electronic timing IS the last jump) they are NQ. Rats.

Sunday, we started with Jumpers and Zip was clean both rounds but a second over time. I'd taken the dogs for a run after the show the day before and something had made him itchy so I'd had to give him an allergy pill. Next was Regular again, and in that round he just flat ran out of gas. I pulled him from the rest of the runs and brought him home, and he totally fell out. Poor little kid was tired.

We had a lot of plusses and I'm glad I entered, but I'm not sure I'll enter him that many runs a day again.

Mandatory Spay Neuter. Is it a good idea?

A mandatory spay/neuter could force sterilization of dogs like my Zipper, Ch Regatta It's About Time, OA, AXJ, RS-O, JS-O, UAg1. Zipper is the #5 agility Min Pin in the country.

Columbia's Board of Health, along with the Central Missouri Humane Society, are contemplating passing an ordinance which would require all pets in Columbia to be spayed or neutered.

It sounds good on the surface. We have, according to CMHS and the , a pet overpopulation problem. We need to take care of that problem. If everyone would just spay/neuter, the problem would go away, right? No new dogs and cats being born would mean much less burden on Animal Control and CMHS. The sun would shine, and the birds would sing. All would be right in Columbia.

Or would it?

The first and most important question to ask when contemplating a new law is, will it work? Addendums to that question include, how would it be paid for, who, if anyone, would be harmed, who would benefit, and how would it affect the local economy?

Unfortunately, a mandatory spay/neuter law would not work, which is why similar moves by other municipalities all over the U.S. have failed. Why wouldn't it work? Oh let us count the ways.

First, its totally unenforceable. There is no way to ensure that every pet in Columbia is altered. Inspectors would have to go from house to house on a search. And if it's tied into licensing, that won't work either. People simply will not license their dogs. If people who don't want to spay/neuter know that if they go to the vet they'll be required to do so, they will not go to the vet. Thus more animals will become sick and not get treatment and even more will remain unaltered.

There's no way to pay for it. The costs for such a program would far outstrip any license fees gained, because, see above, compliance with licensing would falter. Of course draconian fees could be instituted for those who wish their animals to remain intact, but that too discourages participation. Even worse, it punishes responsible breeders and forces those of us who DO take care of our dogs to pay for the idiots who don't.

A moment to discuss responsible breeders. Responsible breeders are dog lovers who have a hobby, usually showing dogs and also occasionally breeding. Most breed very few litters (I've bred a whopping two litters since I got my first Doberman in 1981). No responsible breeder ever breeds for money. Responsible breeders have a deep passionate admiration for their breed or breeds, and when they do decide to whelp a litter it's always with the mandate of improving the gene pool of the breed as a whole. It's never, ever for money. Responsible breeders have long waiting lists for puppies. Responsible breeders do not have dogs that end up in shelters, because responsible breeders are willing to take back any dog they have produced, at any time, for any reason, no question asked. We want to know *exactly* what happens to each and every life we produce and we are dead serious about it.

Responsible breeders do genetic health tests on their dogs prior to breeding. They show their dogs to ensure they have correct temperament and structure. It's a hobby. And just like Golf or Fishing, you throw money at it. You rarely if ever get money back. Most responsible breeders are far from wealthy. Finally and perhaps most importantly, responsible breeders are just as concerned as anyone else about the problem of unwanted dogs, and a huge majority of them are involved in rescue in some way or another.

Okay, back to why this won't work. On top of not being enforceable and being very expensive you just can't legislate morality. The idiots down the road from me breeding their pit bulls every six months are not going to obey some law. They're going to keep breeding.

And let's talk economic impact. Columbia holds a large conformation dog show as well as several agility trials each year. Mandatory Spay/Neuter could force relocation of those events, which have a multi-million dollar impact on the Columbia economy. It would also hurt dog training businesses such as CCSC who train dogs for show as well as pet companions.

And the question is, what is the problem in Columbia? Is it truly that there are too many pets and too few homes? Or is it that irresponsible owners are not properly taking care of and training their pets? Is it that too many owners think of their pets as disposable commodities, to be discarded at the first hint of inconvenience? I don't have any numbers (and would be glad to see any) but I bet that the number of actual puppy litters turned in to CMHS is fairly small. I bet most dogs turned into CMHS are adolescents to old age. Which means they HAD A HOME. But that home dumped them. If that's true, then it's not that there are too few homes. It's that there are too few responsible homes. And mandatory spay/neuter, even if it worked, would not even begin to address that issue.

So what is the solution? I think it's three-fold.

First, the city should work together with the University of Missouri Veterinary Teaching Hospital to offer free spay/neuter clinics. Not low-cost, free. No questions asked. To pay for it, grants could be applied for and licensing fees could go up a moderate amount (perhaps $2 or $3).

Second, the city should use the internet and other dissemination that's free or very low cost to launch a publicity campaign to help inform the community and encourage participation.

Third, the city and CMHS should work proactively with training centers like CCSC to offer discounted training opportunities for people with pets. A dog that is trained is far less likely to be given up than a dog who is untrained. Many owners give up their dogs because they simply do not have the tools they need to deal with behaviors they don't want.

Positive proactive action will get results. Punitive laws with no teeth and no chance of effectiveness will not.

AKC Adding Mixed Breeds

AKC to accept Mixed Breeds in 2010

The great news of the week is that starting in April 2010, the AKC will allow mixed breeds to participate in Agility, Obedience, and Rally. This is a tremendous opportunity for Mixed Breed owners and their dogs.

While there are a number of other organizations that allow mixes in agility, including UKC, USDAA, ASCA, NADAC, CPE, and DOCNA, not all of them are available locally. And even the ones who are seen locally are not numerous. In Columbia, each year we have one UKC trial, two ASCA trials and (starting this June) USDAA. You can find more opportunities in Kansas City and St. Louis, but still not that many per year, maybe a total of 10-15 trials for all those venues combined. In contrast, There are many AKC trials available. Not just the two in Columbia, but many in Kansas City, Lawrence Kansas, St. Louis, etc.

For owners of mixed breeds wishing to do Obedience or Rally, the change is even more striking. They will go from having perhaps one or two opportunities per year in a 100 miles radius to many.

AKC's new program will be a particular boon to our local 4H kids, many of whom have mixes. I'm super-excited about the new program and can't wait for it to start!

Do a demo for us!

My van, fully loaded. There are two Dobermans and a Min Pin under there, and you can't even see the other tunnel...

Now that it's out of the van, it looks a bit more organized.

Ginger takes a break in a lull between crowds.

Jura goes after a thrown toy as a reward.

Vegas, Mr. Suave and Persuasive. Do you have a treat for me? I am starving you know.

"Come do a demo for us" they say. "It's for a great cause, and you'll get a lot of exposure."

And they're right of course. It is always for a great cause, and it is super exposure for our training center. And we enjoy doing them. So we usually do at least two or three a year, and yet we also turn down several others each year. Why?

Because holy beejeebus, it's a crapload of work.

Today, we had a demo at the MU Veterinary Teaching Hospital Open House. We were set for three performances of 10-15 minutes each at 10:30, 11:30, and 12:30. For this Open House, we spent several hours copying brochures and locating our other paperwork (enrollment forms, business cards, the form for our new summer camp for kids, etc). Then we went to the training center last night and pulled two sets of 6 weave poles, 8 metal 4' solid-base jumps, two 15' tunnels, 8 tunnel weights, poles and bars, 20 sets of ring gates, feet to go on the ring gates so they'd stand up, the CCSC sign (digging frantically in the closet to find the darn thing), one of our exercise balls, rally signs and stands, cones, and chairs. I also made sure we had sun screen, paperclips and clipboards. For the dogs I had treats and their training bags, but that stays pretty prepped.

Then this morning we had to load it all. Two other people had already loaded the gates, rally stuff, and paperwork. I arrived at our building before 8:00 a.m. and loaded the two tunnels, weights, four of the metal jumps, all of the jump bars and both sets of weave poles. All on top of three dogs. I found I couldn't fit the rest of the metal jumps in, so instead went and pulled four more jumps, our freestanding wing jumps.

Off to breakfast, then we arrived at the site at 9:30. After some confusion about where we actually were supposed to be, we now had to unload everything and set up our rings. We started setting ring gates only to find that one Bachelor's Degree (me) and one PhD (Ginger) can't count for snot. We needed 26 sets of ring gates for the size rings we wanted, not 20. But having learned the hard way that at demos you always gate everything, we made our rings smaller instead of leaving gates out. If you don't gate everything, people try to drag their dogs through tunnels and over jumps willy-nilly, willing or not. Since we don't like to see dogs traumatized for life by well-meaning but naive owners, we gate. Today we also had to deal with high winds, so we ended up using tracking stakes from Steve and Jamie's van to help hold things down.

So after almost another hour of setup, we were finally ready for our first demo. And that's always the fun part. Talking to people, especially kids, about a sport I love to do, one that is accessible to all dogs of all sizes, shapes, and types, is great. The crowds were wonderful, the kids asked funny and perceptive questions. We were a bit shorthanded this demo, with Andrea in Omaha and Kathy in Wichita. Steve and Jamie had a dog, and I worked all three of mine, even 11 1/2 year old Viva. Ginger worked both her adult Springers and the 3 month old puppy had a great time with the crowd. Liz showed up with Standard Schnauzer Vegas and he demonstrated the exercise ball. We talked and explained until my voice was pretty much gone.

Our dogs were, I have to say, amazing. They worked the rings and the crowds, allowed innumerable hands to pet them and lots of chirping children's voices over their heads. Viva, the old Dobe, is a pro at this stuff, but Zipper the Min Pin is still young and I was just so thrilled with his attitude and patience. Ditto the Springers, the Weim Faith who was pretty much always mobbed, and Vegas too.

Finally we were finished with demos, but not at all finished with our day. We had vet student help to break things down, but we still had to repack the cars, then haul it all back to the building, take it all out and put it back. Even though our last show was at 12:30, it was almost 2:30 before I and the dogs finally arrived home. Where they promptly crashed into sound sleeps, exhausted by their day.

We do love to do demos, but now perhaps people may understand why we just don't do that many...

Back in the groove

This week I feel that I'm really able to get back to training for the first time since tearing my calf muscle. While the calf isn't totally healed, I'm at a point where I can run and even jump with it. I just need to be really careful to warm up properly.

After what has been almost a month of very little work or diminished capacity, I felt that on Monday night Zipper was sluggish and very distracted. He was doing a lot of sniffing and watching dogs outside of the ring rather than actually working. He did get all 12 weave poles when he did them, but overall I was pretty discouraged.

Last night was a different story. It seemed as if he really snapped into place again. I was able to do some really nice handling. I worked on calling him down the dogwalk as I ran and being aggressive in my handling to show him his line; watching all those great teams at the AKC National had some influence! Bonus, he did some nice voluntary heeling too. He only got distracted a couple of times and I was able to get him going again. Tonight will probably be a night off, then tomorrow night is our last class of the session. I'm going to re-enroll him in the same class again next session because I had to miss so much of this one.

This weekend will be my first runs on more uneven ground, at the Vet School Open House Demo.

I'm home!

Landed in Columbia MO last night at 9:00. Picked up my well-taken-care-of but happy to see me dogs and went home. This morning it was back to the usual routine, though I confess getting up at 5:00 a.m. was not fun.

Some musings about the National in general.

The show:
The AKC people and the volunteers were incredible. So were the competitors. Everyone was having a great time, and as far as I could tell things were run with a smooth efficiency I wish we could all see every show weekend. It was a lot of dogs and a lot of runs, but they were done each day by 5:00.

The facility:
The arena was very nice, though rings 3 and 4 were cramped and basically had little to no spectator room. The large arena made up for it, it was hard to NOT get a great seat in the arena. I didn't see any dogs slip on the dirt, but it did look awfully packed by the end of the weekend. I was sort of surprised they didn't groom it Sat night for Sunday. Food at the arena was good, but very limited.

The area:
Okay, I confess, not in love with the area. I could NOT find a decent place to eat that wasn't Fried, greasy, or both. My hotel was, frankly, a dump. There are inexpensive hotels then there are cheap hotels, and the Econolodge was cheap. The wireless was a joke, the TV remote didn't work, the clock radio didn't work because the wiring was screwy in the wall plug, and my non-smoking room reeked of old, stale smoke. Even after a specific request to clean it, the smell was only muted by heavy perfume. To cap it off, the mattress had seen better decades and the pillows were more like pancakes. If the National ever goes back to NC, please do not stay at the Econolodge.

The agility:
Lots of spectacular runs this weekend and a few really unfortunate ones. I felt horrible for the dobe gal whose dog, running in the main ring so she was the center of all eyes, had to stop and have diarrhea. There were some runs that fell completely apart. On the other hand, there was some amazing stuff. I saw some handling that worked but that I'd never even want to try to emulate, and some that both worked and was gorgeous.

I watched a lot of running contacts over the weekend. In the Challenge round it was very clear that if you did not have a true running contact you were not going to the finals. On the other hand, quite a few of the dogs missed their contacts, both aframe and dogwalk, thus also not going to the finals. It's sort of a catch 22. If you want to be truly competitive now you have to have one, but a lot of them are still prone to failure. So you either win or are eliminated.

I hope next year I get to go to Tulsa and actually watch the finals. I can drive there, so no plane to catch!

Thanks all

Hope you enjoyed the blog. I have to pack up now and get ready to leave. I've really enjoyed my National and am very sad I don't get to see the finals. But I'm also ready to get home to my own dogs.

Challenger's round

They're walking 8, 12, and 26 right now and will then run those dogs, then walk and run 16 and 20. I'll try to give some updates as they happen, refresh your screen often if you're following me.

The course starts with a 180 to a difficult offside entry to the weaves, with some expected tough angles.

ETA: Carla Boudrot is judge. The walkthrough is finished...looks like they're doing split times with 3 sets of timers on the course.

Finally starting with 8"...first dog 37 seconds with a flyoff.

Only one clean so far...

Our 8" challenge is Darlene and I can't hear the rest...

Melissa Ganning and Savvy 32.287 win the 12" class.

Now for the 16" dogs

32.015 for Maggie the ACD, and the Rat Terrier just got 30.3. Wow.

Dylan the Rat Terrier does it! He's in the final.

Now it's 26" dogs, after which they'll walk 20s and 24s.

32.75 is the time to beat so far by Jace and Lisa ??. Gerry brown and Raptor just had an unfortunate run.

Gerry Hernandez and Focus 30.610, but Olga Chaiko and Yankee made it in 29.725 to take the class. wow.

A break, they will walk 20" and 24".

Okay, here we go with 20" dogs.

First dog is Golden Skye with 32.1.

30.69 with Toby the BC wins the class. Lauren Mitchell handler.

Now there are 24" dogs, and two handlers haven't checked in. Oops. This is the last height.

Still not a single dog clean!

Anne Brau and Scream finally clean in 30.32.

Denise Thomas and 30.16 with Zippity wins it, only two clean rounds!

We're still on 12" and 16"

Because of the delay due to the fire alarm, I probably won't be able to see ANY of the finals. But I'll be watching the challenger's round. Don't know if I'll get that course up, but I'll try to blog. I already have my spot picked out!

ETA: 12" and 16" are finished, they're building Challengers and have announced finalists for 8" and 26"

12" dog video

Not the best quality because I took it with the new camera, and no sound, but watch part of one run and an entire other run. I'm sorry I don't know the handler of either dog.

An interruption in the proceedings....

We just had a fire alarm and the entire facility had to evacuate. This is the second time in a row this has happened to me at a big show. At least this time we weren't standing outside in zero degree windchills for 20 minutes.

Agility competitors are a very unflappable bunch. Everybody just got up and left, then came back when told.

What IS that???

That thing. Up in the sky. Why, it's the sun! And the sky is blue, not grey and spitting things at me. I can hardly believe it.

Hybrid course

Here's the hybrid course. So far, trouble spots seem to be 3 to the 4 tunnel, and pushing out to 5. Most handlers are doing well on the push from the aframe to the triple, beating their dogs over the aframe with the dog on the left then pushing.

Olka Chaiko just ran a 24.80 with Yankee, and is currently leading.


ETA: The aframe is a bit of a tricky issue. If the handler stays close, they risk the dog flipping into the tunnel. If they go past to set the line to the triple and the dog doesn't have a good contact, the dog blows off the aframe to get to the handler.

12s just started. The 16" ring is currently stalled while a chute problem is deal with, looks like the judge thinks dogs are slipping in the tunnel.

The final day begins

Here we are again. As I sit here, Andy is in the ring thanking the stewards and now Gail is briefing everyone for the day.

The Hybrid course is first. Then Challengers and finally Finals. I will not be able to watch much of the finals, so I will probably shut this blog (and my display) down to watch what I can of Challengers round. I'll be working on getting that course up for you soon.

Isn't there supposed to be a drought?

There has been nothing but rain, fog, drizzle, rain, downpour and, oh, rain. Since we arrived.

Guess what tonight's forecast is? Severe storms and rain.

Hello? Isn't North Carolina in a terrible drought?

Guess not.

I think it's supposed to clear a bit tomorrow, just in time for me to go home. At least we aren't getting the snow here that they're apparently getting in Missouri.

Our day is done, I'm getting ready to pack up and go get some supper. Back bright and early tomorrow, when the rings start at 7:30 a.m.

the day wears on...

Poodles in a blur of ecstasy.

8" still running. I'm not sure who is announcing, but holy cow her throat must be sore. She's been doing an almost unending stream for hours, and this is the second day. Wow.

For those of you like me who have never been to a National before, there is one ring that is announced. Each dog submits a small bio, and as they run in the main ring, the announcer not only gives their full name and all titles, but any tidbits the owner has added. It's a nice feature, and the way they have structured the rings, ALL dogs will get announced once during the weekend. It's great for JQP.

Another feature I've discovered today (okay, I'm a bit slow, sue me) is that after one dog finishes, the next dog's number is flashed up on the timer screen and stays there until they break the start beams. A huge help in figuring out where the ring is.

Looks like they're finishing up 8".

ETA: The announcer's name is Anna Johnson (please forgive if not spelled correctly). Pam Manaton told me she announces each year, and is able to announce for the entire weekend, but won't be able to speak Monday. I'm incredibly impressed.

I've been told to mention...

that it's official. The Border Collies have taken over the 16" class. So out of six jump heights, it's BCs in 16, 20, 24, and 26, Shelties in 12", and 8" is the lone refuge of variety. :)

JWW course

This one may be hard to read, sorry, I did the best I could. Fast times are about 24-25 on this course. Right now dropped bars seem to be a real issue as dogs try to cut corners and turn in midair.

ETA: What's running right now are 12" and 24". In 12s, I got to see a really fast Min Pin run, unfortunately he paused right in front of a jump to bark at his handler and I think got a refusal. In 24" Marcus and Juice currently have the time to beat at 24.265