Nationals Results

I almost cried when Wicca's name was announced for 2ND PLACE in the 6" Specials Class.

I went to Nationals with the goal of placing in the middle of the pack- 13 dogs, and I am thrilled with our final placement. There were a lot of great dogs in her class this year, and we worked hard to dig ourselves out of the hole we were in on Saturday morning. I still can't believe it. Second. At Nationals!!!

Saturday we started with Jumpers. I knew the course, and I knew how I was going to handle it. I figured we'd nail it. Wicca had other ideas. She was very naughty and every time I tried to fix it, it would get worse. We finished the course with less than five points out of 75. I was pretty upset with her, and with myself.
Official Results
Course

The next class was Standard. We had a great run- with just one bar, earning us 4th place. This course ate up a lot of dogs- the start had everyone in a tizzy, and there were quite a few off courses. I am very proud to have nailed that course.
Official Results
Course

Gamblers was last, and we had a rough opening- earning only 39 points in the opening(which is low for us) but nailed the end gamble. We placed 2nd.
Official Results
Course

We ended the day in 10th place overall (which I didn't know until today!)

Sunday was probably her best day of agility ever. We started with Gamblers and had a wicked opening, and nailed the end gamble. We had 52 opening points!
Offical Results
Course

Our next run was the Standard. I knew we needed to run this clean to make up for Saturday. It was a tough course- and lots of dogs had crashed and burned. I was stoked when we ran it clean. We placed 1st.
Official Results
Course

My last Nationals run of the day was Jumpers. I was so nervous. I literally could have thrown up. I tried to stay focused, and not freak out. It was a nice course, and I knew I wouldn't get lost. We had ONE bar, on an otherwise beautiful run. It felt amazing. It was done so fast, I thought I'd forgotten a part! The bar was totally my fault- a badly timed front cross on #3...but wow. Lots of other dogs in my class ran that one clean, so I wasn't surprised to come in 10th place.
Official Results
Course

I was very nervous at the end of the day. I wanted to know, but I didn't. I knew that my chances of placing in the top half were pretty good- but the other dogs in her class ran well all weekend- not just for part of it. When the winners were announced, and my name still hadn't been called I got goosebumps. I had tears in my eyes when I went up to get her ribbons (thankfully it was so dark, no one could see- which is a whole other story)

Final Aggregate Scores

My little dog ran her heart out for me. We pulled it together after a very rough start, and I couldn't be any happier with her. What a dog.

On top of her Nationals Results she also WON 1st place in the Steeplechase Finals Prequalifier- and at the same time earned her Steeplechase Title!! The actual finals didn't go quite aswell though- I get so nervous, and just like last year we had a few bobbles caused by me. Geesh. Only the whole world watched. But even with the bobble we placed 2nd and won 50 bucks. :o)

I am so lucky to have such a great dog.

oh- stay tuned for the post about the drama and the shitty stuff that of course happened...