AKC Nationals or Bust!

So.  We are going this year after all.  You may remember I entered Dottie, but decided I couldn't go because I didn't want Missy to have to go to a different foster home while I was gone.  So then my trainer M was going to take her and I was going to pay for her flight, Dottie's flight and 1/2 of the cost of her rental car and hotel and the person she was traveling with was going to pay the other half.  After that plan was made, I bought my house and suddenly no longer had cash to burn.  And on top of that, for some reason the travelers could not find a direct flight and the cost of the flight kept going up.  We all came to a decision to not go/ not send Dottie and I got to save my money for the new house.

Several weeks in the future (now) things have changed.  One of my FB friends was posting how he just got a direct flight so I asked him how much it cost.  Between his ticket and his dog's ticket (the dog costing slightly more) the price was mostly affordable.  I contacted AKC to see if I could un-withdraw and they said yes.  So I booked the same flight as the FB friend and we are going to AKC Agility Nationals!  The friend and I will share the rental car driving from DC to Harrisburg (in order to get the direct flight we had to fly into Dulles) and most likely I'll stay with ffluffy or another friend who might have more room.

I contacted some Aunts who live in PA.  Some live closer to Harrisburg than others.  Some may be able to stop by and say hi and some may not.  We shall see.

This will be my first time flying with a dog.  I hope all goes smoothly.  We are flying from Weds into Thurs, and our first walk through is Thurs at noon.  We arrive in DC at 7.  The friend feels we have plenty of time. I guess that will add to the excitement of the weekend!  The best news is the Monday we fly back is a CA state holiday: Caesar Chavez day.  That means I get it off of work and I won't be charged leave for the weekend.  I only will have to take 2 days off of work since we are leaving so late Wednesday.  Score!

I got motivated to practice since I have the big trial coming up now.  The yard is still not fixed up but at least there are no standing puddles.  Here is the little course I set up.  I could practice not taking the tunnel, tricky weave entries, backsides, pull throughs, 180s and of course keeping the bars up.  I found a dangerous weakness.  Dottie is confused between backsides and rear-crosses.  I hope I can clear that up for her.