The Dog Blog: 2008

We finally made it to Gillette! I can't believe I have made this trip every year for the past 3 years. I think I'm really going to miss it when it's gone... I've sort of gotten comfortable here, a home away from home.

Our first agenda was to go back to Devil's Tower, one of my favorite things about the area. I just think the tower is so cool. And the energy there is wonderful. You'd have to be there to feel it and you would understand. I can tell why the Native Americans regard this as sacred ground.

I found this cool stump (yep, I have some fascination with the darned things!) I think it looks like an archer drawing his bow. What do you think?

And of course, a trip to Devil's Tower would not be complete without a visit to the prairie dog town! I can't get enough of these little buggers. They just crack me up.

This one was pissed off that I was taking his picture

Yep, they walk right out in the road. They have these great roadkill prairie dog socks at the gift shop... LOL

Since dogs are not allowed in the park, not on the trails anyway. We stopped at the Camplex on the way back to the hotel to let the dogs run and play ball and frisbee for a while. It takes a while to get the kinks out after riding in a crate all that time!

Mojo is cross-eyed with joy!

Now give me the damned frisbee!

I MEAN it!!

Score!

You can see the trance he slips into when allowed to noop on his fris...

A tug and a kiss from Mommy

Two very tired pups... did I mention how friggin HOT it was in Gillette??

Bury the grandma back in the hotel room (with their buddy Raven, my Mom's Sheltie)

It's finally Tuesday, setup day for Championships!! I always get a rush when I look at the sign and know we're here for real. I love running these big courses with the best NADAC dogs in the country.

Mojo and Luxx wait patiently for us to get in the building (we stood in line for almost 3 hours!)

Nelson peeks in the door to see if our crating spot is available from last year. (it wasn't)

The doors finally opened at 2pm and we were in the front of the line. I swear to you, it is worse than general admission at a rock concert. I was nearly crushed as people shove through the door and then start to run into the building to set up their spots! We had worked out a truce with the very large Pacific Northwest group to make strength in numbers we helped them and they helped us snag our pre-scoped spot in prime territory! As we were running in people were literally throwing tarps ahead to get spots, one hit me in the head on the way by. What a rush.. LOL Might be the most adrenaline I felt all week!

But we got an even better one! Here is PAWZAZZ CENTRAL.

The crating area at Champs is always a sea of purple and balloons

Everyone goes overboard decorating their areas and proudly representing their clubs

Mojo and Luxx in their digs for the week. They both had mattress pads under their crates to help cushion them from the concrete floor underneath. Not to mention about 100 beds!

We were able to set up our PAWZAZZ/MD raffle basket once we got our crating area situated. Lots of people from our club donate items to include and Pat Moloney-Harmon and I pretty much take it from there and kick it up a notch! This year was our best basket yet, it has expanded to 3 individual baskets with a pair of hoops included. We try to include a lot of MD themed items and they are in bushel baskets. It always draws a lot of tickets every year.

The mighty PZ basket!

After the briefing, we headed to dinner at the Chop House in Gillette. It's tradition to have a big dinner the night before Championships starts. We get together, discuss our plans and just generally unwind for the last time before hell week starts. It's a lot of fun, but once they begin, you don't have much in the way of "leisure time". :)

Wednesday dawned and we were ready! Sharon likes to hit you with something unusual at each Championships and this year was no different. The twist this time (and I'm sure it was mainly to save some time on the LOOOONG days) was that you got a time bonus if you opted to run rounds one and two of each game class back to back. The kicker was, round 2 was NOT the same as round 1 and it was NOT numbered! For instance Jumpers was first. Round one was numbered, 22 obstacles. Round 2 was a direct reversal, but unnumbered. So you had to make sure you figured it out correctly on your own. If you ran these back to back, utilizing a connecting tunnel to flip them back to the last jump, you received a 3 second deduction off both of your times. I opted NOT to do them back to back, simply because I was sure I didn't have the air (I was right!) and I didn't want to run them on a 45 obstacle jumpers course where a dropped bar was certainly not worth the 3 second bonus. Clear as mud?

Those of us who chose to run separately got a numbered course and another walkthrough. I still think I made the right decision for my dogs, though it was tough when I realized that had I done so, Luxx's FLAWLESS jumpers would have garnered her a 6th place out of 60 dogs! I should have just attempted it to get that bonus, but I made the right choice for her. In order to place you HAD to run the double course. But I was proud to know that she turned in the 6th best time in reality. Here is her run, the highlight of her and my Champs and it was our very first one. :)

Luxx also ran beautifully in round 2, but she took and off course tunnel and that was that. Mojo had two very nice, clean runs but baby sis beat him on time for once! WOOHOOO Luxxie! Jumpers was the only thing I had Luxx entered in Wednesday, but Mojo did Weavers and one round of Hoopers later that night. I opted to do the double rounds of Weavers because there were no jumps and it was a much shorter course. Mojo had a nice run, but boy was I running out of gas by midway through round 2. He adjusted accordingly. But he was in the top 15% of dogs placement-wise and that was pretty cool. It's tough being a Doberman with all the BCs and Aussies running out there. Here is his weavers run(s):

After running weavers and doing 60 weave poles, the boy got a massage. He EARNED it!

It turns out I was running out of gas for a reason. I ended up waking up with a horrible stomach virus Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I had to spend the whole day Thursday in bed at the hotel and missed day 2 of Championships. :( Luckily, I was able to drag myself though still not eating on Friday for the start of Regular. It was worth the effort. Mojo ran like a dream and took 4th in round 1! We dropped a bar in round 2 and were just out of the ribbons in that round, but he was still running nicely. Here is round 1:

Come Saturday, still not eating much. Living off saltines and water. Not good for 15+ hour days and high stress and adrenaline. I made a MAJOR mistake in Round 3 and pushed Mojo off course in addition to crossing the distance line like it wasn't even there... I was in so much pain and so out of it. I don't know how I ran at all. I had some time to rest and regroup for round 4. We pulled it back together and Mojo ran great for a 6th place Qualifying run! Luxx had a great run, but since she was nailing her weaves and this was no exception... I squealed when she completed them and she got revved and went zooming ahead (and off-course...) LOL I don't care. It was great to see her nailing the weaves. Here is Mojo's round 4:

Sunday dawns with me feeling just a smidge more human. Still not eating though. I think the most I have put down this week is half a turkey sub. That was a feat! I have neglected to mention that during the week Sharon gave out the yearly Top Ten awards. Mojo made the top ten in all of NADAC for every class! I couldn't believe it!! He was #4 dog in Regular, #5 dog in Chances, #6 dog in Jumpers, #3 dog in Touch-n-Go, #4 dog in Tunnelers and #3 dog in Weavers! What a good boy he is! That will by default make him the number one Doberman in NADAC for the second year in a row. I am so proud of my boy.

The top of Mojo's crate once he started accumulating ribbons (and top ten medals in the back)

Here was our last chance to shine. Round 5. I went out and ran my dogs like it was the last time I'd get the privilege. Both dogs ran great and Qualified! Mojo in 4th (tied with our PZ teammates Jean and Kopper - how weird!) and Luxx in 8th place!! My little girlie got a ribbon in 20+ Elite. I never thought it could happen for her. I was just busting at the seams. I can't think of a better way to end the week.

Luxx also had a great time in Team with her buddies Hattie and Piper. Their repeat team "Screw Loose & Fancy-Free placed in both rounds we ran in ( I scratched from round 1 due to my health issues...) We were 5th in round 2 and 3rd in round 3!

Screw Loose & Fancy-Free from L-R: Nelson and Hattie, Nicole and Luxx, Tom and Piper

I thought my week at Championships was over... boy was I wrong! When Sharon announced the dogs that would be running in the finals Mojo was on the list! It turns out he was actually entering the finals in 4th place! Wow, who knew what consistency will get you? We had a clean finals run though not as fast as our others of the week. I tend to be super-careful in the finals and he runs slower to make sure he's right... But he maintained his placement and finished 4th overall in 20+ Elite! He was just that one crappy round 3 (my fault) out of 3rd place for a second year in a row. Oh well, considering my condition I am thrilled with the outcome. He is such an honest boy and he loves those courses and that arena. And for Luxx to finish off her Champs with a nice clean run as well. I couldn't ask for more!

It was a whirlwind of emotions, a great, if trying time with great friends. Both those that came with me and those that I have made from all over the US and Canada that I love seeing every year. I can't wait to go to Tennessee next year and do it all again! Maybe without the whole stomach virus thing... :)

So it's Friday, September 12 and we are on the road again! Same plan as last year, we are making the relatively short trek from Pasadena, MD to Maumee, OH as the first leg of our trip. It's also the most boring part of our drive.

By this point, Mojo and Luxx are old pros at travel and hotels. They pretty much have it down to a routine:

Step 1: Check out the bed

Step 2: Chew on Luxx

Step 3: Commence Wrestlemania XII!!

Day two is our long leg, we hit the road before dawn. We just happen to drive through the most rain I have ever SEEN in my life! It rained from the second we left Ohio, through Indiana, Illinois (drove through flooded streets in Chicago), Wisconsin, and then the sun peeks out in MINNESOTA!!

It really was such a relief, after being soaked to the skin more than once trying to get "we don't DO rain" dogs to go potty at the rest stops and just generally losing hours of progress due to the weather.

We finally arrived around 7pm in Worthington, MN.

They have a PERKINS!! Guess where we had dinner that night??

But not before the dogs were exercised and fed of course! Mojo would never let me forget he was in the car...

And believe me, that isn't a bark. It's a prolonged, heart-wrenching wail that only a boy dobe cane really perfect. :)

Ahhh, a hotel room. I think they know what to do here... Bed? CHECK!

Chew on the sister? CHECK!

Uhhhh.... Double CHECK!

Aaaaand let's get ready to RUUUMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE!

Sunday dawns moderately dry, at least it's not POURING! We make the last part of the trek through South Dakota (my favorite state, though not to drive through...) to Gillette, WY! Hey, I remember this bull: