"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom."

I am working hard on not being depressed and bitter today. Today would have been Pizza's due date, if we were having puppies. I do feel overwhelmed with bitterness at times, but I am trying hard to look forward and ahead and let it go. Yeah, easier said than done!

Today I entered Pizza in two runs at a USDAA agility trial nearby. It was a great setting for her first trial back in a year - very few dogs, and pretty low-key environment. Oh yeah, and only one bar setter in the corner for each class!

Our first class was steeplechase. Pizza took off like a rocket ship at the beginning, did the first 4 jumps into the corner and then went on a 7-second visit to the bar setter in that corner. I got her back and we finished clean and strong, and HAPPY! Our second run was Grand Prix. It was a weird start to the course with a straight tunnel in the middle of the course going straight ahead to a jump right by the entrance gate. She took the jump and then went to the gate to check out the people standing there, but came right back and we went on. I didn't support the jump after the A-frame very well and she missed it so we had to circle back to get it. the rest of the run was clean and awesome, and she jumped right into the corner where the bar setter was...I did a nice rear cross and she read it and stayed on course, no visit!

The best part about this course was her weaves. She came out of the tunnel with big speed, and skidded into the weaves and fought for the entrance, nailed it, and stayed clean! This girl has hear...where other dogs would have bailed on the weave entrance, she worked hard and got it! All in all it was a darn good day, and a great first trial back in a year.

Noodle update: She had her second epidural/cortisone shot on Wednesday. The vet was very very happy with how great she looked. Me too! Not a lame step in over two weeks! Two more weeks of leash walking and then we start some light exercise. Her third and final epidural will be in a little less than a month.

I received this in an e-mail...AKC is delaying the transfer of MACH points and double QQs to PACH until January 1st. I am so bummed! The original date was July 2, and I had planned on entering a trial July 6th to just run for a Q with Noodle and then do our celebratory PACH run. SO DISAPPOINTED! I know that in reality it's probably a good thing, as we won't be rushed trying to get back to agility next month, but still! I just hope she is still able to run agility come January. She will be 9 1/2 then.

It's the National Specialty week! It's a bittersweet week as my best and most versatile dog Noodle was out of all of the performance events while she recovers from her epidurals. It ended up being a pretty disappointing week, a hard week, and exhausting week, but I had moments of fun and smiles mixed in.

The week started off on Monday with a FETCH test in the morning, just for fun. Dolphin was amazing, he did 6 retrieves to earn his Novice Fetch title, and then did 8 retrieves to get his Intermediate Fetch title. That's 14 retrievs, and every one was steady on the line, and a speedy direct line out, picked up the bumper, and a speedy straight line back to hand. It was beautiful!

Tuesday was agility. We had 5 runs total - a Time 2 Beat, 2 Standard runs, and 2 Jumpers runs. I am crushed. Dolphin knocked a bar in every single run but one, and in that one he came off the A Frame and surged ahead to take an off course jump. I can't believe that he got ZERO Q's...second year in a row at the Weim Nationals that he went Q-less. Crushing. This meant he was no longer eligible for his Tri-Athlete award as he needs to qualify in 3 events, and agility was one of them. This is the first year that I did not have a dog qualify for the Tri-Athlete. I feel like 2025 is becoming a bigger and bigger disappintment. DROWNING in disappointment.

Wednesday was Rally. Dolphin pulled it together for two Q's in Novice Rally and a 3rd and 4th place (out of 17) and he finished his Rally Novice (RN) title. The rest of the day was spent working the Top 20 judging. It's a lot of work, and sometimes it seems like it isn't worth the hassle, but when it all comes together it gives you such a feeling of satisfation when you pull it off. After that was done, I headed home with Dolphin (we had been staying by ourselves in the RV since Sunday) to spend the night at home, and return with Noodle the next day.

I returned to the show Thursday afternoon, this time with Noodle. Although she wasn't cleared for hard exercise or jumping yet, I decided to go ahead and show her in conformation, which was on Friday. Thursday evening was the Awards and Top 20 banquet, and it went off almost perfectly (whew!). Friday morning it was Noodle's time to shine, and she really did! She showed wonderfully, and won the Field Titled Bitch class! This meant we had to stay to the bitter end for Best of Breed. Of course we didn't really get a look in BOB, but it was still fun getting back in the show ring with my favorite partner. I can't wait until she is 100% healthy and we can get back to our normal activities.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pretty disappointed with the week. It sure didn't go as I had hoped. I should have been at home with a fresh new litter of puppies. If not, I should have been there with Noodle competing in agility and raly and all the fun stuff with her. If not, then at least Dolphin should have given me at least ONE Q in agility. Nope. Life goes on, but I am pretty stressed out over pressures other people have put on me, and pressures I have put on myself. I need to take a step back and remember that NO ONE can pressure me unless I allow it. Time to take a stand!

My training bestie and I had a great trip to Lancaster, New York for a 3-day agility trial with our boys. This is a super nice facility, we came here for the first time 2 years ago and decided we wanted to come back.

Let's just start off by saying Dolphin ran awesome! He was super fast and motivated, and pretty focused. Unfortunately with great speed comes great danger, and that meant a knocked bar in most of his runs. I had a couple runs without a knocked bar, but one of them had a very uncharacteristic refusal as Dolphin didn't read my push on an offset line of jumps, and turned inward. It happened pretty far from the jump and I got him turned back around and over the jump without a pause. Was it really a refusal? It was a close judgment call, and unfortunately that didn't go my way. We did have a super nice Jumpers Q on the last day - yes, imagine that...JUMPERS! Haven't had a jumpers Q since April.

We did some hiking each evening, we went to Akron Falls, Onondaga Escarpment State Unique Area (yep, that's a mouthful to say!), and also Buffalo Harbor/Gallagher Beach. It was a fun weekend, not much success, but I am still loving how Dolphin is running!

Noodle had her last epidural/cortisone injection today! She has not taken a lame step since her very first injection 6 weeks ago. She is now cleared for regular exercise for 2 weeks, and then after that we can go back to regular agility and field training! Woot!!! I am so happy. I am guessing Noodle is even happier. She got to run around with her bestie Dolphin today, and they were both overjoyed to have a pal to run with again. I am so thankful she responded so well to the injections. Onward and upward!

Dolphin and I went to an agility trial in Fort Wayne just for one day. It was scorching hot outside, luckily the building was nicely air-conditioned. Dolphin ran really well today! Here's the big news: IN 4 runs, Dolphin did not knock ANY bars! The bad news is that he managed to do one of each of the other possible faults - he had a refusal, and off course, a missed contact, and a weave error. Go figure....UGH. He did have a decent Time 2 Beat Q, but that was it. It's heartbreaking - we managed to get a full day without a single bar down and then we get these other erros, which we almost NEVER have! I swear there is an agility black cloud hanging over my head.

Here is a video of our last run of the day, our Jumpers almost-Q. Dolphin ran so carefully, but unfortunately he did not collect enough when going into the weaves and missed the entry. We ended strong and he ended happy, so all is good! We will be taking the next few weeks off from trials...time for a break!