After the last post, I hopped on a plane. (This was my first trip where I had to rent a car, which was a pain because of my age. At least I'll have something to look forward to on my 25th birthday!) I literally got home from the airport and left for Texas. I spent one seriously fun night in New Orleans and arrived in Forth Worth late Thursday night. Zing had a really good regional. He Qed in his "warm up" Grand Prix run on Friday and Round One of Grand Prix/Steeplechase on Saturday. Zing rocked Steeplechase Finals and got a bye with 2nd place.  Zing and I enjoyed teaching a focus group on the way home.



I spent today doing laundry, giving everyone a bath, mowing, and setting two agility courses. I'm teaching tomorrow morning and tomorrow night before heading to a friend's house for the weekend. (The same awesome friend who has been watching my dogs!) We're going to be in Palmetto this weekend and she lives about 30 minutes from the site. She's also going to watch my dogs when I'm in Brazil next week. I'm leaving for the SE Regionals when I get back from Brazil. Somehow, I need to find a couple hours tomorrow afternoon for an oil change...  I never thought that I'd be so happy to sleep in my own bed for one night!

Busy, busy, busy... I seriously feel like I haven't stopped moving since Reno.

The really good news is that my ticket was re-booked for Brazil while I was in NC. Other than my photo, all my Visa paperwork was ready. I was going to use my spare photo that I had made for my passport. When I re-read the specifications, I had to have a neutral expression, no smiling allowed. After getting my picture re-taken, it was off in the mail! There are a ridiculous amount of requirements to get a Visa. You need a copy of the round-trip ticket, photo with a neutral expression, passport, visa application form, letter explaining the purpose of your trip, yellow fever international certificate, utility bill, three bank statements (from the last three months), US postal money order (no checks excepted! 180.00), and two express mail envelopes! It was way more involved than getting my passport or drivers license! It's all going to be worth it, though! It arrived at the embassy a couple days ago and everything's set for Brazil! Super excited!

I have another trip squeezed in this weekend before the TX regional next weekend! So incredibly fun and just a little crazy! I'll admit I'm looking forward to a calmer schedule!


Hitman and Zing's video from a couple weeks ago

My end solution for Hitman's weaves was to never train them because they made me crazy. ;) While they'll never be perfect, at least he's hitting his entries and staying in 12 poles consistently.

I had a great time teaching at Paws4Ever in Mebane, NC.

The participants were awesome to work with and the facility is amazing. It has several a/c indoor training rooms and a huge agility field. FL needs one just like it!

All the seminar spots filled with a wait list. We packed quite a bit into three extremely fun days! There was a Novice/Open handling seminar, Master handling seminar, 2o/2o Contact Seminar, a night Running Contact seminar, and several privates. I was really excited to work with two of the Zing x June puppies and a Flash puppy from Contact Point. I also got to meet Hitman’s half brother.

This was Shout’s first time traveling with me to teach a seminar. He was a good little man and didn’t complain about the crate time. Several people were really nice and took him for some ball time. Shout will love them forever.


Shout and Zing at AKC in Raleigh, NC

Penny took Zing, Shout, and me on a tour of AKC headquarters. It’s quite impressive (and you get to bring your dog to work with you)! I got to see how they print title certificates, register dogs, and develop new software.  Zing and Shout enjoyed meeting the AKC staff.

As promised, Quiz's full trial video: https://vimeo.com/40914069 The song seemed fitting. (When prompted, you'll need the password. It's quiz.) I only entered JWW twice and didn't tape the second jumpers run.

Probably due to the fact that we rarely practice and I never take any classes, Quiz is frantically excited to get a chance to work. At least that's my current theory about the bars. She doesn't really have a jumping problem... she's just a little over the top. ;) The training plan is to take her to a couple classes a month. I just need to find some that are less than an hour away. She measures into 16", but she's almost 18" tall and 16" jumps are more like speed bumps. Plan B is to move her into 20". I just really don't want to have Zing and Quiz in the same class. I need time to breathe!

Other than Saturday's disastrous STD run, Quiz had some really nice moments in all of her runs. While I'm slightly disappointed that she isn't as consistent as she was before her injured stop pad/time off, this was only her second trial back. She has time. She was a bar away from a STD Q on Friday and today's STD run was really close. She grabbed the backside of a jump when I was a little late with my rear cross. Maybe I should cut back on the backsides with her. I don't think she knocked a bar in either jumpers run.

I'll post her entire runs later this week (including the faults). This is her "highlight" video with the theme song for BtVS. Her contacts make me smile. Quiz is a little package with a big kick. I love feisty girlie! She was channeling her inner slayer this weekend.

Quiz, could you please take the extra second and not hit the wing?

If she could talk, she would respond just like Spike did here (click).

"Yeah, I could do that, but I'm paralyzed with not caring very much."


I entered Quiz at my favorite trial location (the one that's 20 minutes from my house. Days when I get to sleep in a little always go more smoothly.) She was only entered in Standard today, and the course was very doable (read: simple).

She was having a nice run with solid hits on the a-frame, dog-walk, and teeter. Then she hit a jump standard. I watched the video. She didn't take off awkwardly, not jump high enough, or slip. She was just in a huge hurry and thought it'd be much faster to take the jump so tightly that she grazed the standard causing the wing to fall.

She's bad.  Evil. ;)  But I totally love running her.  She has 10x more personality than any dog I've ever trained.  You have to smile at her punk rock spirit.  

(Even if I was slightly annoyed when I first came out of the ring...)

I arrived at the airport early before my plane left for Miami. I waited excitedly in a fairly long line to check-in. Finally, the attendant called me forward, scanned my passport... and asked for my visa.

Wait. What? You want my credit card?

After talking to several people who worked for the airline, I was finally referred to the Brazilian Embassy.

I e-mailed my contacts in Brazil and they were just as shocked and confused; they didn't know that I'd need a visa to enter Brazil. Apparently, the Brazilian travel agent who booked the trip neglected to mention this extremely important piece of information. The agency needed all my info (passport number, birth date, etc.) and I'm sure that the airlines must have mentioned that I would need a visa.

I tried reaching the Embassy to get an emergency visa. I was going to fly to Miami (the closest Brazilian Embassy) and try to get a visa before my connecting flight. The airline attendant talked me out of that slightly rash plan. It takes at least 1-2 weeks and I would be stuck in Miami until Tuesday without a car or place to stay.



I sadly stared at this ticket while waiting to get picked up from the airport.
Not valid for transportation  ***  Retain this ticket throughout your journey

I'm packed and ready to head to the airport. I'm going to be teaching at Dog World in Brazil. I'm excited! The difficult part is leaving the pups. I've gone over all the instructions for watching them and I know that they will be in good hands. Still... it's hard and I always miss them.


My dogs are rarely naughty when I'm home. The last time I left, I explained that I don't really like to crate them and would prefer that they stay loose as much as possible. Apparently, some of the dogs can be really bad for my friend. I came home to a scene from The Cat in the Hat. This time, I mentioned using a little common sense. If they start ripping things a part, please feel free to crate them. :)

Originally, I was going to take the crew on a beach trip the weekend before Reno.  At the last minute, I entered Zing in a trial.  I rescheduled it for this weekend only to realize that it was Easter and the family had plans. Oops.  I'm really glad that I canceled the trip; I had a lovely weekend at my parent's house and even got to celebrate my nephew's eleventh birthday!  When we were younger Mack practically lived at my mom's house; he was the little brother I never had.

Shout also enjoyed the day and thought that the egg hunt was amazing.  Searching for food-filled balls in the grass= excited border collie  Shout is my happiest dog.  He goes though life with a lovable, dorky smile.  I just love my puppy.  (I think this song plays on a continuous loop in his head.... clicky clicky)

I didn't have the camera set correctly, so these aren't the best pictures.  I still had to post them.  Seriously, the little guy's always smiling.




Ummmm... mom, why are you holding a black box to your eye?

Shout's weaves and teeter are really starting to look nice! I just need to decided how I want to train his dog-walk and a-frame.



I should probably teach him how to jump. He was super excited about his ball. (I threw it so I could get some pictures without him staring at me.)

I keep waiting for it to hit and actually feel real. NAC Zing! Nope, it still feels like a dream.

While Saturday's courses were really fun, I have to admit that I was a little nervous before Hybrid. Maybe it's just the pressure of having two clean runs and only needing one more. Challengers is one of the most exciting classes to ever compete in, but I'd just as soon "pass go and collect $200". We were competing in ring 4, which felt like the smaller ring. The dogs didn't have much room before the first jump. If Zing could have comprehended the situation, I'm sure he would criticize me for being so nervous. He easily got around the course despite my concerns.

When I saw the Finals course, I was really excited. It was exactly the kind of finals course that I would pick for Zing: nice and flowing. I took Zing for a really long walk while the smaller heights ran. I watched several 16" runs before I got him out again at the beginning of 20". Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of the runs in our jump height. We warmed up at the practice jump, and spent the rest of the time heeling and playing with the flying squirrel. Zing and I were in our own world. We felt really calm and collected going into the ring.



As odd as it sounds, I can't really remember the run. All I remember is saying "ZING". A lot. I also remember turning to look at our time at the end of the run and wondering if 28-something was a good thing. There was one dog after us, and AKC wanted me to sit in the hot chair. Umm.. no. That's a jinx. The other team had just started their run and must have had a fault. I was told that Zing won. Whatt? I've been told that my face was priceless.

He's more than just my heart dog, he’s all heart.



Almost forgot to add the video: