The official plan for nationals

As I agonized over what classes to enter Tully in at nationals, the final decisions were made.  He is entered in:

Obedience - 2 days of Veterans.  Obedience is outdoors on dirt and he does not do well on scent articles in this environment, so I pulled him from Utility.   Veterans will just be a fun run for him and it's always a little emotional to realize my boy IS a veteran.

Rally - 2 days of Advanced B and Excellent B - We haven't participated in Rally since 2008 due to Tully just being bored with it, but he does have 1 RAE leg, so maybe it's time to work on that.

Agility - 2 Days of Excellent Standard A, Excellent JWW A, and Novice FAST.  He has two legs in Novice FAST and I'd love to finish that at nationals.  He has one leg in both AXP and AJP and I have no big expectations in these classes.  Looking back at our last national 2 years ago, he was entered in novice jww and novice standard.  He had no legs and it was his second agility trial ever.  I was a little overwhelmed when I realized we've come from that 2 years ago to being a dog competing in excellent 2 years (and limited competing) later.  You CAN teach old dogs new tricks.  A huge thanks to Deb Abbott for helping an old dog and green handler get this far!

Herding - I had hoped to enter him in 2 days of PT at nationals.  We've gone to some clinics and picked up lessons here and there, but with the closest lessons being close to 2 hours away, plus all the work drama (quitting my job, getting a new job, trying to find a new house), this just may not work out.  Most likely we will pull our entries.

Our reservations are made for the host hotel,  the BBQ, and the awards banquet.  We will go to the annual meeting and of course, dingo bingo!  Most of all, nationals is about the dogs and the people.  I look forward to seeing friends I rarely get to see and spending the week honoring the dogs we love so much.

See you in North Carolina!

4 weeks

4 weeks....until we leave for nationals.   4 weeks....until I leave the job I've had for 8 1/2 years.  Suffice it to say that BIG changes are in store in 4 short weeks! 

But this blog is about my rogue red dog, not my job, so let's get the focus back on the Tullster!  Two weeks ago I entered a one day trial in Indy.  It was Tully's very first try in Excellent Standard after finishing his Open Standard title in June.   Standard is hard for him and we've not been working very much so I had zero expectations.  Well, sometimes when you have zero expectations, surprising things happen.  To my disbelief, Tully qualified in Excellent Standard on his first trip out and brought home first place and his first AXP leg!  He now has one AXP and one AJP leg.  Guess that means we'll have to finish those!  I better get back to handling classes with Deb, my handling has hit an all time low, LOL!

Between now and nationals, we're laying pretty low. We've entered Rally in Lebanon in September to see if we even remember how to do it.  We haven't entered rally since 2008 and he is entered 2 days at nationals.  I better make sure I know what I'm doing!  I better review those rules too....

4 weeks until nationals!  omg.....



Waiting at the start line to run at ACI.