2012 Cardigan National Trip

Well the 2012 National is over...some photos of our trip.

It was a rainy drive there...but that does say "Welcome to Ohio".  Luckily I beat out the nasty storm that dumped 12 inches of snow in Western PA.

The GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio.  Home of the Chevrolet Cruze.

Iggy Pop wanted breakfast in bed.  We did not stay at the Host Hotel as it was mad expensive.  For 34 dollars a night I stayed at the Motel 6 around the corner (literally) with free Wifi.

Rally, agility and obedience kicked off our week.  In fear of conflicts I only entered CC in Rally Novice.  I entered her long before we actually got her title in case she still needed legs to qualify.  She got her title before we left so this was just Gravy.  :)

Our score could have been better Monday but we were both stressed and CC is NOT the kind of dog where you can drag her out of the car and run in the ring...she needs some time to decompress first.  She has never NQ'ed in Rally Novice B since we started trialing.  :)  


The weather left a lot to be desired.  The town of Huron is right on Lake Erie.  Which would be fabulous in July...it was almost May and we had 40-50 mph wind gusts with wind chills in the 30s.  Needless to say 2 days of outdoor agility was not as fun as it could be.  But...

Yes!  CC at her FIRST agility trial EVER got a leg in Novice FAST!  FAST is a course where each obstacle has point values and a "send bonus" where the handler has to send the dog into a series of obstacles at a distance in order to qualify.  Novice you need 50 points (including the bonus which is 30) to qualify.  She got 65 points!  I couldnt believe it!  She also got a first place!  Not bad for a dog who never saw a real agility course before.  She was also entered in Novice Jumpers with Weaves and she did GREAT!  She backjumped once which caused us to not qualify but for a baby dog she was outstanding.

Iggy Pop FINALLY  (cue angel chorus) got his second Open Standard leg.  And he did it with a CLEAN (!!!) run in wicked fast time!  He was 20 seconds faster than the second place dog.

 CC saying "ALL THE TOYS IS MINES"

I also got to go to my first performance dinner which was great.  I won the socks in the corner at the silent auction.  :)  The rest is all our swag.  The CWCCA went all out this year and the fact I qualified at a trial dedicated to Beth Magnus was really special.  Beth was a pillar in cardigan performance events and she was missed.  It was great that one of her dogs went High in Trial too.  :)

Tuesday was not as q-able but CC did it in Rally with a much better score.  I love the toy that says "Naughty".   how appropriate.  :)  Tuesday I also got to meet Nikki - a person who I have known online for about 7 years and NEVER met in person!  She shows and breeds Belgian Sheepdogs and owns Ziggy, a rescue Cardigan.  He got his Novice Agility title that day!  It was a great day despite the wind.  

 Conformation was next in the week.  CC got super stressed in Sweepstakes - lots of people talking ringside (right against the ring) videographers, people going in and out, dogs barking.  Its a lot.  No surprise she didnt place in her class she was not herself.  Friday was Bitch classes and she was more relaxed but no love for her.  So I packed up and went home a bit discouraged.

I came home to find THIS in the mail.  :)  Yay!