If you run an unusual breed in agility, sooner or later you may very well qualify for the AKC Agility Invitational. This year, I thought we’d better go, since I don’t know how many more chances we’ll have. I’m glad we did.
Midwest Airlines is supposed to be the best for flying dogs, so I booked a seat for me and a space for Sasha in the pet travel compartment. I bought a plastic crate that was not comfortably roomy, but did allow him to stand and turn around.
I was somewhat concerned that the ground crew might say the crate was too small and make me buy a bigger one. I was even more concerned about how I would be able to schlep around this big crate and my other stuff in the airport. So I packed light. I packed a small suitcase with wheels for me and my blue duffle for Sasha. My purse was reduced to a tiny 2 by 4 inch flat cloth neck purse that I had bought at Crazy Days. That was it.
After work on Thursday, I drove to Milwaukee and stayed at the Comfort Inn near the airport. At 6 a.m., I loaded the crate and bags onto a shuttle to the airport. On every shuttle, Sasha managed to sit on the floor in front of me, inching his way onto the seat so all the passengers could admire and pet him.
An official looking young man met us at the door with a cart. He helped us to the check in, got me forms to fill out, and taped my bottle of water and bowl to the top of the crate. I thought he worked for the airline, but then he came over with his hand out and said he works for tips. Ok.
I moved the crate to a waiting area, hoping to see other people I knew check in with their dogs. Finally a woman I did not know from Packerland checked in with her Tibetan Terrier. I took Sasha out one more time and then ran him through security. A woman wearing latex gloves wiped a pad around the inside of the crate, looking, I suppose, for evidence of a bomb. She frisked Sasha, and away he went on a conveyor belt.
In the Los Angeles Airport (LAX) I was surprised to see that all the luggage was unloaded and claimed before the worker set the dogs on the conveyor belt. Together with the woman from Packerland, I waited for Sasha and the conformation Tibetan Terrier. Finally, loud barking announced that he was on his way. I took him outside immediately, and he told me exactly what he thought about flying. Ok.
It was raining in Los Angeles, and traffic crawled for an hour and a half to Long Beach, where it stopped raining. The Westin is a beautiful hotel, with a huge, elegant lobby, criss-crossed by all kinds of dogs and their proud handlers. I shared a room with Julie McGuire and her two fabulous English Cockers, Lucy and Dusty Rose.
I crossed a very wide street to the Convention Center, where they were just about ready to start the FAST class. I hadn’t entered FAST because I didn’t think we’d get there in time, but for those who did, it was a nice chance to warm up on the equipment and to get used to the flooring, which turned out to be pretty nice. I got the crate set up and found the Wisconsin people and my other team, the Sammy people, some of whom I had not met before.
On Saturday we ran last, so I didn’t have to be there at the crack of dawn. They had two agility rings set up, within a short distance of an outside exercise area. The crating area was right behind ring 1, and I was between Sue Fregien’s Brooks (named for the fast running Packer player) and the Tesch’s and their Corgis, Cleo and Maddie. Walk throughs were in groups of 50, for 10 minutes on Saturday, and 8 minutes on Sunday.
We had two clean runs, with one over time by one second. Both felt really good to run, and people cheered really loud for Sasha‘s great distance work. We had one run with 2 refusals because I could not run fast enough, and one with a knocked triple (nasty course designed by the Slovenian judge).
Wisconsin was represented in the finals by John Schroepfer and his Golden Retriever Buck. John was nervous, but he took second place in the 24 inch class! We all sat together and cheered him on! It was very exciting to be there for the finals, which will be shown in early February on Animal Planet.
The trip home was supposed to be the easy trip, departing LAX after 11:00 a.m., with several other Wisconsin people. But it was not. The heater for the pet compartment broke, and we were rerouted to Kansas City, with only a few minutes to transfer the dogs. I ended up flying to KC with John and Sue, who knew the pilot (husband of agility judge Judy Kaiser!) and who made sure the plane did not take off until all three dogs were on board. The pilot said on the loudspeaker that there had been a mixup with their four legged passengers down below, but they had got it straightened out. (The mixup involved almost leaving Sasha behind!
Needless to say, we both made it back. We had made a respectable showing, ranking #51 out of 100 24 inch dogs. Compared to the Agility National last year, this was about half as big, but really, really, nice, and more compact.
For me it was a once in a lifetime chance to be in such a beautiful place, and to feel truly recognized and appreciated by the AKC for all of our hard work. It was a chance to line up for pictures with the top Sammy people ever, all decked out in our fabulous Sammy shirts. It was a chance to hang out with some of the big names in agility, and to see the most unusual breeds--particularly the giant breeds--run some impressive agility. Sasha wasn’t crazy about flying, but he had a great time schmoozing around like a rock star, leaning against appreciative strangers for petting, being photographed with fans, and signing autographs. Ok, he didn’t sign autographs, but he thinks he did, so don’t tell him otherwise, ok?
--Karlene Ferrante