AAC 2012 National Agility Championships - Nanaimo

We took an unbelievable 8th place in the National Agility Championships.  It was our highest placement to date at that level of competition.  Most of the courses were very difficult as you would expect at a national event.  It was the first major competition where I was able to avoid melting down under the pressure and understood the rule book well enough to not do something silly in the ring.  We were also coming with a 4th place finish in the BC/Yukon regional championships.  THAT was a total surprise since, unlike most other competitors who take classes every week and trial often, we haven't had a class in years and only do a few day-trials per season.  Most of our training is modified walks in the park although I did ramp up the practice before the two events.  Now the job is to shave off seconds to place higher next year.

A "blue merle" ribbon for 8th place!  

Yaaay!  What a surprise.  Morgan the Kelpie (1st place in the BC/Yukon championships) took 7th place.  He's so fast and almost always perfect....if we can keep up to Morgan we're doing great.

The final standings for the 16" Special class.  

The loopy Standard 2 course.  I use coloured pencils to help visualize the path.  When obstacles are used more than once I'm in great danger of having a brain meltdown at that point in the course.  I discovered last month doing "tai-chi-lity" after I walk the course right up to the time we have to run it helps keep it in my head so I can focus on Sassy and not worry about where we have to go next.

A very sharp angle over the jump which increases the risk of dropping a bar....especially since Sassy never jumps higher than she needs to!

The pack mule, carrying it all home on Sunday afternoon in 31 degree heat...tough when you're wearing a fur coat that you can't remove.  Staying cool was the main concern this weekend.

A great campsite at Westwood Lake. The evenings were so relaxing and steak grilled over the campfire coals tastes great!

Tired dogs after it was all over.  This is Echo, one of Sassy's best friends and our main competition because they're both such great dogs and very evenly matched!