Arizona or Bust!

The Stagecoach Music Festival was this weekend. It is a huge concert with lots of big name county music singers and also some smaller, up and coming artists. It takes place out in the middle of the desert. I did not go but I passed (or was passed by) lots of people with "Stagecoach or Bust!" written on their cars and pickup trucks while I was on my way to Arizona. I suppose getting there might be half the fun.

I was going to AZ to visit ffluffy. I left Friday and got there in time for an agility practice at the location of Dottie's first show in Queen Creek. It is a very nice dog compound. This time we were running on astro turf which did not work for Pie. Her back end kept slipping out from under her. I was worried she would hurt her back so after her first run, I only ran her one more time, and I didn't do a course, just practiced the contacts and a straight line to a tunnel.

I got some good training in with Dottie and had the opportunity to reward both her and Fancy on course. ffluffy ran Dottie once and they had a good time together.

The next day we got up and did some training then loaded up the van and headed to a town outside of Tuscon for a Cash for Agility fun run. We stayed the night at the home of ffluffy's vallhund's breeder's house. I watched vallhunds herding and learned some about different lines of vallhunds.

Sunday we went to the Cash for Agility event. It is basically a fun run and training is allowed. If you don't do training you are competing for cash prizes. Our group (me, ffluffy and the vallhund breeder) cleaned up in the experienced level. Hunda took first in 8 inches, another vallhund in 12, ffluffy and her retired BC in 16 inches, Fancy in 20 and it would have been Pie in 24 but I suffered a misfoturne and no one ended up clean in 24.

I twisted my knee (luxating patalla) and it was caught on tape. Gross! It's happened a few time while running agility and many other times in my life, but now I have it documented on video. It grosses me out to think about it so I had trouble even editing the video. Luckily I was slowing down for the table so the damage was not that bad this time. The slower I'm going the less weight/ force is on the leg and the tendons and ligaments don't get badly stretched.

Poor Pie is always so concerned when it happens. In agility, it has always happened while running her. And once when practicing the fast in obedience and I landed on her.

If you google luxating patella most of the stuff that comes up has to do with dogs. If I had three additional legs to stand on when one goes out I might not fall down so often.

Here is the video.



Since I was not going that fast the damage seems to be minimal. I got ice on it quickly and today it will fully extend and bend, so I plan on jogging on it tomorrow. Good thing since I can't take any time off since I have my PT test coming up again. Bad knee!!

I drove home Sunday night then slept in today. I think this is my last Monday off before we go back to a traditional 8 hr day, 5 days a week schedule. After I'm finished messing around on the computer I plan on going tracking.