Westminister Master Agility Championship, February 2017

The Westminster Master Agility Championship experience can be summed up in 3 words:  Excitement, Energy, Achievement.  I believe every agility enthusiast should attempt to go at least once if they can.  This year, we weren’t sure we would be able to make the trip (as I mentioned previously in Logan’s blog).  When Patti (who has been treating Logan) gave me confidence that he could make it, we decided to go, but to keep the trip short.   I’ll have to wait for another year to visit the museums, take in the good music, and enjoy the food while we are up there.

I believe a true road trip means actually getting off the road every once in a while to allow yourself the chance to take it all in.  I find the best way for us all to enjoy the thrill of being on the road is to go on a hike.  In this spirit, on the trip up, we stopped at a couple of our favorite parks.  First was a quick walk at Prince William National Forest off exit 152 on 95N.  The sun hadn’t risen yet so this was just a quick potty walk accompanied by flashlight.  The second was White Clay Creek State Park.  Normally we go to the Whitely Farms Trail, and were very disappointed that it was closed for trail construction.  We did find a nice alternate trail in the park, the David English Trail.  What is nice about White Clay Creek Park is the mix of fields and woods.  Logan and Frye love to come out of the woods into the green fields.  Logan breaks out his drive by zoomy moves and Frye gets into her picture perfect rabbit ear status.

We strolled through the fields conscious of the impending disconnect between the lush scenery in front of us, and the concrete city to come.  This brought one goal to mind, to seize every opportunity to potty the dogs on grass before getting the car in the NY parking garage.  Therefore, because we arrived in New York early, we decided to stop in Central Park.  There was a fair amount of snow on the ground.  While parking wasn’t easy, Russ’s skills and the Subaru’s maneuverability made the impossible possible.  We successfully landed a spot on an embankment of snow.  The dogs loved the park as there were plenty of city squirrels to watch and a few humans wanting to pet them.  It’s amazing how that city cleans up after a snow storm.  The roads were clear, and there were a good amount of workers out shoveling the walkways through the park.

We stayed at a boutique hotel called Ink48.  It’s on 11^th and 48^th streets and about ½ mile walk to Pier 92 (where the agility show was held).  It took a bit of effort to finally get the fridge we needed for all our food and Braddock’s raw food, but it all worked out in the end.  Well, everything except dinner.  Last year we tried a highly recommended pizza place.  It wasn’t very good.  This year we decided to try again, had it delivered to the hotel, and still, not very good at all.  It was called Don Giovanni (rated # 2 in the Theatre District by Yelp).  We don’t concur with the rating.

The show day is hectic, exhausting, and yet exhilarating.  You check in early, 6am sharp.  The line will already be well formed.  It moves quickly.  You get your shirt, all your info.  A reminder for myself, the dog does not need to be with you.  He or she can sleep in.  You set up the crate, do the general walkthrough, and then if you are in the 24 inch class like me, there is time to go back and get a little breakfast. 

JWW ran first and there was a European style to the course.  A weave entry (forced front entry) not typical in the U.S. as well as an extremely tight opening with multiple off courses.  Braddock took an off-course tunnel. So after that, we weren’t sure we’d be in the finals. 

But he lit it up in the Standard course finishing 3^rd out of 66 dogs.  The only 2 dogs to beat him, a border collie and golden retriever were the 2 dogs that beat him in finals.  Thus, he truly was the 3^rd best 24 inch dog there and that is saying a lot of the little Ridgeback.

To run finals was the experience of a lifetime.  Truly was the top agility experience I have had thus far in the 20 years I have played this game.   I was so tired going in though.  We had been up since 5am and weren’t running until 10:30pm.  With all the pausing for commercials, getting through finals felt as exhausting as it sounds.

But, it was worth it.  I walked the course for a conservative run.  I really wanted a placement.  It was a challenging course in that there was little opportunity for recovery. So if it got away from you, it looked ugly.  We took the podium as lead dog and stayed there while at least 4 other dogs ran.  And then the last 2 dogs (the border collie and golden retriever) took the spot.  But oh, what a thrill to be on that podium with such an amazing dog.

Afterwards we got our ribbon, took a picture, and tried to scurry out of there.  But the Ney York crowed still had so much energy and enthusiasm to dish out.  They came by to greet the dogs, wanted pictures, wanted to see Braddock’s ridge so I had to take his coat off him.  He was starting to crash so we had to call it quits.  He walked back to the hotel with that bar hopping stagger, only in his case, it was a different kind of bar hopping.

And the thrill of the event lived on when we returned. The excitement of seeing him run on Fox1Sports was incredible.  The thrill to see all the Facebook posts of people who were watching and commenting and then reaching out to friend me.  The grassroots comments of amazement from all across the globe overwhelmed me.  A reminder that we never realize what examples we are in our lives and who is watching.  It’s best to be mindful continually of the influence we have on others and the opportunity to uplift and inspire.

(funny addendum – we leave NY early, at 5am.  Russ went to pick up car at 4:30 am.  A club had just let out, and a bunch of drunk people were handing Russ their tickets for him to go pick up their car.  Finally when he was able to explain that he didn’t work there, a guy said, “Oh, my bad.  I’m just drunk you see.”  It went on like this for a while and then he finally got our car and got out of there.)

Additional Photos from the event in the following slideshow: