In two weeks, we are headed to the AKC Agility National Championship in Reno, Nevada. Since Colorado only has one trial in February (which we missed because we were in New York) and one in March, we figured we better travel to get some extra practice in. Luckily, this weekend there was a trial in Albuquerque and for extra fun — Jenny has a bunch of family there.
Jenny had some extra time to take off work, so she and Karma made it a little mini-vacay! Carol (Jenny’s mom) is working in Santa Fe right now and she has the CUTEST little studio home in downtown Santa Fe. Heaven. While Carol worked on Friday, Jenny took Mungo (Mom’s Border Terrier) and Karma for a walk down to the cutest coffee shop and then in and out of the galleries. Then it was back to drop off the dogs and meet up with her Aunt Charlene and Cousin Marie and her son Asher for lunch. We went to this yummy little cafe and topped it off with coconut creme pie! After lunch Karma and Mungo got to go on a little hike, and then we packed up and waited for Carol to get off work.
We have actually spent a lot of time in ABQ for dog shows (Halo’s back to back wins, Karma’s spa agility weekend) and we always stay at the Crowne Plaza. They are dog friendly AND there is a great restaurant on-site. Probably one of the best steakhouses in ABQ! This trip was no different, so we checked in to the Crowne Plaza on Friday night. The two restaurants are Mexican/American bar food or the steakhouse which neither of us was craving, so we picked up a pizza instead. Pizza, a bottle of wine, and hanging out with your Mom — does it get better on a Friday night?!
Saturday Karma was clean in Standard with a 4th place finish and 19 MACH points. In jumpers, we had a wrong tunnel entry, but the course was fast and difficult — Jenny’s favorite combo! We will travel anywhere to run on Windle Ewing’s courses 🙂
The funnest part about today? Jenny was cooling down Karmie after her run and this couple comes up and asks if it is okay to meet Karma. They said they saw her earlier, but didn’t want to distract her before her run. Of course, Jenny made intros and happy, wiggly Karma was so happy to meet new people. THEN, they told us they came just to watch us and Dulce (our friend Laudi’s Vizsla.) Turns out, she is from HUNGARY. She saw that there was a dog agility event and that Vizslas would be running so she came out to watch us! We have fans! They were super nice and actually went home and brought back their Vizsla. We put the girls in a corral and let them play. Too cute.
Saturday night, we hit up the steakhouse and it was just as amazing as always. Then we were up early again on today for another packed day! Karma was perfect today. A Double Q and 36 MACH points, and to top it off the Standard Q was her 25th master leg, which clinched her Bronze title! Our first goal of the year — check it off! Also making the day extra special, Jenny’s Aunt Michele and one of Carol’s besties, Bob came out to watch today. Bob has been in Jenny’s life forever, so it was like having two Aunts there 🙂 On top of that our friends Laudi and Lina (Dulce’s parents) are always cheering and videoing our funs for us. It was just perfect — fun to travel out of state and still hear the crowd cheering for you.
After saying our goodbyes to Michele, Bob, Laudi, and Lina, we headed back to Santa Fe for the night. We got in town JUST in time to catch the new release of Cinderella (I don’t care how old you are…if you can go see Cinderella with your Mom, go do it!) and we were definitely the oldest Mother/Daughter combo. All the little girls were dressed in Cinderella princess dresses…Jenny did stop just short of that 😉
After the movie, we went home, fed the puppies and then headed over to Barney and Charlene’s for dinner. Since St. Paddy’s is right around the corner, and we are SUPER Irish (Carol & Barney’s Dad was 100% — his parents immigrated to the US during the potato famine,) Charlene made us a twist on corned beef and cabbage. It was SO SO SO good. She ground corned beef in a meat grinder and made it into burgers. They were served with melted swiss cheese and a cabbage slaw, topped off with a potato bun. Delish! Highly recommend the combo if you are looking for something besides the traditional meal (which we have all had a lifetime of!) One of Jenny’s favorite things about visiting Barney & Charlene is their gardens and plants — they are true green thumbs. Jenny was sent home with some started succulents, so hopefully they will survive the trip home and add a touch of green to Jenny’s desk.
What an awesome weekend. These New Mexico trials are really going to need to make it into our permanent rotation.
Agility Goals:
–Karma’s MXB title — DONE!
-Gunner’s AX title
-Gunner’s MXJ title
-Gunner’s T2B title
-Gunner & Karma’s XF titles
-Karma’s MXS title
-Karma’s MJG
-Karma’s MACH
-Get Karma qualified for AKC Agility Nationals
-Get Karma ranked in the Top 25 (agility)
Conformation Goals:
-Grand Championship on Karma
Obedience/Rally Goals:
-Therapy Dog Novice on Karma & Indy
-Canine Good Citizen on Gunner & Halo
-Community Canine on Karma
-Companion Dog on Karma
Field Goals: (some may be 2 year goals)
–Master Hunter on Karma
-Senior Hunter on Gunner & Halo
-Tracking Dog on Indy
-Coursing Ability on Halo
Other Goals:
-Versatility Certificate on Gunner & Karma
-Halo becoming a Mommy 🙂
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