20 legs down!

That’s right — 20 Master legs down.  This is one of the 3 requirements to qualify for Nationals in Reno next year.  Last year, we didn’t pick up our 20th leg until sometime in August, so we are thrilled that Karma is tracking so much better this year!  Only lacking 205 points and 2 QQs!

Karma picked up leg number 20 in Jumpers with 14 MACH points in California!  We were treated to another wonderful stay at Jamie’s house…we’ve seriously been planning a visit back since our trip last November.

The real reason we came out was for the last event at Brookside.  The above referenced trip last November was to run in the last agility trial at Jamie’s family property.  That event was so special we wanted to be here for this one too.  So Sarah and Jenny left Colorado Friday morning to show William, Karma, and Halo in the South Coast Vizsla Club specialty on Saturday.

Rally was our first event of the day and Will and Sarah were SO close to a Q!  Sarah accidentally skipped the 2nd to last sign which is an automatic NQ.  Dang it!!  Halo had some moments of brilliance, but found that sniffing the grass was way too much fun!  (Guess we should have practiced doing Rally on grass…)  The judge told Jenny she really appreciated her enthusiasm — we agree!  However, there was some good news — Jamie and Tokaji got a Q in Open B and went High in Trial!!  Go Smokes!

After Rally/O sweeps started and Tokaji and Jamie continued their roll by going Best Veteran in Sweeps!  Super cool.  Jamie was definitely racking up the prizes!

Next up was the Specialty.  So we should pause for a moment and talk about Halo.  Last time we talked, we explained that Halo had a super shitty (sorry no nice way to say it) experience the last show before Nationals.  The next day, she wouldn’t stand for the exam…just done with it.  So for the last two weeks we have been taking her to different training sessions and facilities all over Northern Colorado.  The last class we went to was on Wednesday and she was a total rockstar…everyone in class acted as judge, Jenny and Sarah switched out as handler, and Halo was back to our little show girl.  No red flags, and no replication of the fear she exhibited on that Sunday.

Since Halo seemed to have recovered we decided to still make the trip to California and Nationals.  The day of the show Halo did great.  We had strangers check her out ringside, she socialized, she was bouncy, and happy!  Sweet!  Jenny & Karma were right behind Sarah and Halo in the ring and everything was going swimmingly.  Until it was time to stack for the exam…it was like a switch went off.  She just wanted OUT of that situation.  The judge felt really bad for us and was telling her table at lunch that she felt so sorry for that young bitch who was obviously terrified.  Ugh.  Owners of the year.  I totally failed our dog today 🙁

What is more disappointing is how happy having Halo out of the competition made some people.  The lyric “people throw rocks at things that shine” comes to mind…oh well — that’s their Karma right?  So, Halo is getting a break from showing for a nice long while.  We had been debating whether or not to keep showing her after Nationals; still no heat cycle (many people have decided she is coming in ANY day) and still such a bouncy, twister-playing baby — which we do love about her, but it’s not exactly what judges like in a show dog.  Halo made it clear that she wants a break, so we will oblige and no more goals this year!

On to better news — Jenny and Karma actually made the cut in the specialty!!  There were 10 bitch specials even!  Gotta say that felt pretty good.

After the show, Jenny called the National hotel and found out we could still cancel our reservation.  Sweet.  $700 back in the pocket, we could get everyone back to Colorado, Sarah could make a 4 day All-breed show in Utah, and Jenny could get 3 days of vacation back.  It was a win for everyone involved, so we decided to head back after agility today.

Today was SUPER fun.  We got to do agility with Carol and Jamie and play with their baby Kizmar girls Sochi and Fargo.  Sarah was a stacking machine and we got some lovely photos of the girls.  These two are so much fun, really looking forward to watching them grow up!  And as mentioned Karma picked up 14 MACH points!  Turk, Tokaji, and Chancey all picked up legs and points too — Tokaji even got a QQ!  Admittedly, it made Jenny a little sad that she was going to miss the National agility trial on Friday.

After agility, we made one last trip to Brookside for a nice long run with the whole gang.  A perfect ending to the weekend — Halo was especially sad to say goodbye to her baby cousin Sochi.  These two LOVED each other…pretty much played non-stop.  Hopefully, we get them together again soon.

Wishing all the best to our friends and Vizsla family at Nationals!  Hope everyone has a great week! 🙂