Manhattan Bound

Wow.  Been a while, hasn't it?

I've opened up this window several times since the last time I posted, but I sort of never really knew where to begin.  So much has happened, both in my life and in Marge's, that finding a clear topic to post about was a struggle I just didn't want to have.

So what better way to pick up than to bring up a brand spankin' new endeavor for both Marge and I?

Marge's entry was accepted in to the Westminster Kennel Club's 2nd Annual Masters Agility Championship.  A big deal for our team.  A VERY big deal.

Let me preface this by saying that Marge was not hand picked or specifically selected for this competition.  Something that drove me off the wall last year was the incorrect notion, being circulated intentionally or unintentionally, that dogs were hand picked for this.  Nope.  Marge's entry got there before some other dogs' entries, and therefore, we are entered in the trial.  She is no better than any other dog out there.

Anyway.

It's a big deal for us because...

1. We've never competed in a tournament of any kind
2. We need to travel to Manhattan, the busiest, most bustling borough of New York City (read: holy crap we're leaving our mostly-suburban Staten Island paradise)
3. We have a shot at being on national television - which is just freakin' cool.  

When Marge's bid for Nationals last year was cut short by too few points and an injury, I decided we needed a different "big" agility goal to work on.  It seems that Marge may not have the mental or physical stamina to be on a rigorous trial schedule, and I certainly neither have the enthusiasm nor the wallet, either. Maybe it was just going to be getting titles.  Or maybe it could be Westminster.

And that's about all I'll say about that.  I could go in to all of deliberating I did in deciding to enter, but that's boring and excessive so I won't. Don't worry.  If I get on some sort of posting schedule again, I am not going to sit here and continually write about how starry-eyed I am about this competition because that would be annoying, childish and hypocritical.  But like I said, bringing this up gives me a place to start.

What I do intend to write about is Marge's agility progress, as I do think we need to kick things up a notch for the next 8 weeks or so.

A short, dirty list of things we need to work on most are:

1. Wraps
2. Backsides
3. Across the box
4. Front crosses of every size, shape and kind
5. Nasty weave entrances

We had our first agility practice in quite a few weeks last night.  I think we ran really, really well.  Marge always runs well when we move indoors for the winter, so I'm hoping that further practice will help to tighten things up.

I also may venture from the comfort of AKC to try UKI, a new, different flavor of agility with an international flair.

So, that's where we're at.  There's lots of other exciting things that have happened, like Marge performing at public demos, making equine friends, and adjusting to apartment life.  Some not so exciting things have happened, too, some relevant to this blog and some not. Hopefully, I'll be able to hit a couple of those topics, too, at some point.