What a great Nationals it was!! The USDAA Nationals (Cynosport games, just cannot bring myself to call it that), are always my very favorite agility event all year! I love the competition itself, I also love the level of competition and the fact that it gets better and better every year!
To be honest I have been very fortunate to have had successful National events year after year. I actually think that fact is what made this years event even more special! I went into this years event convincing myself that regardless of the outcome of my individual runs, I was going to have a great time and simply enjoy and appreciate the fact that I had the opportunity to play with my incredible canine partners.
The difference this year vs. the last several is that this year I was showing 2 older dogs and a not so young dog that although awesome and wonderful has been shall we say, a bit of a wild ride! :-)
In years past I have always had a dog literally at it's prime to take to Nationals and that in and of itself instilled a lot of confidence in the overall outcome :-)
This year I was prepared to enjoy the ride, knowing that the level of competition was going to truly test the mettle of not just me, but, my dogs as well.
Well, my head was definitely in the right place as SoBe, my wild child, was at the top of her game all week! She has truly never had such a consistent and successful event! Don't get me wrong, SoBe has already accomplished a lot career wise, but, there is always that edge that takes us from extreme success to, well, the other end of the spectrum. Often on the same weekend!
Wally was as spectacular as ever and I do believe even more excited and faster than normal :-)
The toughest part of Nationals for me was realizing before we even arrived that Maze was not going to be able to show the way he has in years or even months past...
It was a tough decision this year whether he would even show in Championship at this years National event. Maze has always been and incredible 26" jumping dog, he also is one of the most consistent dogs I have ever owned, along with being tight and fast!
These attributes allowed him to grace many a podium during his career as well as be a member of the 2011 WAO team representing the USA in Belgium.
It was sort of a given throughout his career when Maze ran he would run clean and was very likely place in most events. We have a relationship as a team that has become almost a mind reading situation. He is definitely like the old pair of shoes, very comfortable.
I have been in this position many times over the years, the ending of an era as it were. It never gets any easier! Watching these amazing members of our family get older is really hard to take.
So, I made the decision to run Maze 1 more year at 26". I believe it was the right decision, although by the time Nationals rolled around it was evident that his days of effortless jumping at 26" were quickly coming to an end.
This year has been another good one for Maze competitively, he was on the podium multiple times throughout the year at Regional Championships, had all of his semi final byes many times over, and, was 2nd place overall at the CCOA IFCS event in Dallas this April.
All was going exactly as planned. I was very mindful of how much training he got, was careful with how tough his hikes were, and, just tried to be extra careful with him because he is never careful with himself!
It was September when it became as clear as my conscious mind would allow it to that he was ready to slow down a bit and dial back the jump height...
He got lots of time off and lots of lasering between then and Nationals. I showed him at one more trial before Nationals and split his runs between P22" and 26", he looked so good at 22"!
Of course my heart still could not really accept that he was getting old...
Nationals this year was not what I had come to expect with my Amazing Maze, but, he was still the dog that goes to the line every time with more heart and desire than could ever be expected! He put in some really super runs and, some not so super runs, however, at the end of the day he is healthy, happy, and, forever wedged in my heart.
Along came SoBe doing exactly what I needed to be able to really wrap my head around the fact that Maze is ready to be a Performance dog, she showed me that she is indeed the dog that I have always known that she was!
Although, one of the most special dogs on the planet in all ways, she has had her struggles keeping her head together in the agility ring :-)
Well, not this week! She was on fire! I cannot really explain what changed, but, we were a true team in every run! I strapped on that new "old" pair of shoes and went into every run with confidence that she proved was warranted! Yes, she had runs that put her in the top 20 of almost every class and that was spectacular of course given the field of competitors that we were playing in, but, it was more about our relationship and where we are now and where we are going "together".
Maze passed the torch to SoBe this week and she grabbed on and ran with it! I finished up on Sunday with a huge sense of calm and peace, I also left Tennessee knowing the direction I was going to take with my dogs and am ready to get started on that new set of goals and the next stage in my agility competition career!
Don't think that Wally does not factor in there somewhere, I think he sort of the great equalizer :-) Wally has has his SoBe moments as well as his Maze moments. He, too is getting up there in years but is in no way telling me that he wants to stop or even slow down for that matter. Wally retiring will be another whole blog entry as that will be another incredibly hard pill to swallow! The good news is that I do not see that happening anytime soon :-)
Before I talk about the future, I want to also mention that another huge part of the "experience" this past week involved making it as much of a vacation as anything! Sonya and I had an amazing trip to the Nationals that included many adventures, but, the night out in Nashville was truly a highlight!! We even went boot shopping and Sonya bought her first ever pair of cowboy boots!
It was also great to see so many of my friends from around the country and around the World enjoying themselves so much and having such great runs! It is all part of the experience for sure!
On to the future! SoBe has the year of her agility life ahead of her, I can feel it! Journey is ready to step up and start playing, it is so incredibly awesome to start a young dog, the excitement of the unknown :-) Although, I know that she is going to be the Fantastic Journey that her name implies! I have another Secret weapon in the arsenal named Rook that will be an up and comer as well!
I am very blessed to also have a literal houseful of doggy family members that for various reasons either don't do agility at all, or, just play on a smaller scale, each and every one of them is an incredibly important part of my life and help shape where I go in this sport and in life in general.
I also have to give a huge amount of credit to my wonderful family!! I not only have a super awesome husband but 2 wonderful sons, a new daughter-in-law, and, a soon to be daughter-in-law!
I am a lucky, lucky human and am ready to take that step into the next era...
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