Wow. It has been far too long since I posted. It seems as if the excitement of the past several weeks has gotten the best of me. I will try to fill in as much as I can.
The end of August came too soon. I knew as those last few days approached that I only had a limited number of days to spend with Blake before he left to study abroad in Germany. I was very upset as we crammed all that we could into my Mini for our drive from Denver to Tulsa at the end of August. We planned to drive home to Tulsa so that Blake could spend a few days at home before he flew out of the country, and so that I would have a much shorter drive to the Golden National (in Gray Summit, MO) by myself. Blake went to Freiburg for Environmental Science studies. He left at the very beginning of September and he will not return to the States until December 22. This will be the longest we have ever been apart since we started dating over 2 1/2 years ago. It was the most difficult goodbye I have ever had to say to Blake, and even though I know the time apart will fly by and we will be so happy when he comes home, I'm still having a difficult time. Luckily, I have a fabulous roommate to help me out, but I will get to that.
After a teary-eyed goodbye to Blake, I left with the Goldens for the Golden National at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, MO. What an experience!! This was my second National and just like the first, I had so much fun- this time even more than the first! I crated with the Gaylan's group. What a fantastic, kind, and hilarious bunch they are! I got to meet so many who I had only been in contact with online. The event center was freezing in contrast to the tropical storm outdoors from Hurricane Isaac, but at least the dogs were happy! Layla had a wonderful weekend of agility!! She picked up 3 QQ's, 3 MX legs, and had 2 completely clean days (we ran T2B in addition to standard and JWW each day). I was so proud that she had a perfect clean day on the day of the National. Watching all of my other friends compete was wonderful as well. Everyone was so supportive of each other. On the Tuesday night of the National week, I presented Layla in the Parade of Titleholders for her accomplishments in agility. She got a beautiful personalized rosette, which she proudly carried on stage! Jade had a blast playing with his littermate sister Kindle. We could not get the two of them to quit! They were a hoot!! Thursday evening, I attended a field seminar with Jade. I walked up to where chairs were set up and a couple of vans were parked. I noticed a chair with "Happydaugh" embroidered on the back of it. I knew at once that this was Jade's sire's kennel. The next thing I saw was a gorgeous red Golden laying next to the van. I asked a man who looked like he may be in charge, "What is the call name of that dog?" He said he didn't know but he would ask Ann. Ann told me, "This is Striker." I replied, "This is Striker's son!" pointing to Jade. She could not believe that her boy's son was attending the seminar! We got a picture of the two of them. It is quite obvious that Jade is his dad's son. They had the same expression when we got their ears up for the picture. Jade had tons of fun retrieving a duck at the seminar. I was told by the instructors that I have a very talented boy on my hands. I am so proud of my boy and cannot wait to continue work in the field with him. What an unforgettable National experience!!
I returned to Denver the Saturday night before classes started. I was greeted by my roommate Megan and her sister who was visiting. Megan is a wonderful roommate. We get along so perfectly and I am having lots of fun getting to know her. I am so lucky things worked out so well. To make matters even better, Megan brought her Border Collie mix, Miles to live with us. Both Goldens love Miles, but Jade will not stop playing and wrestling with Miles. Layla is very happy because this gives her a much-needed break!
I celebrated the end of my first week of classes with an agility trial this weekend. Our trial was in Castle Rock- such a beautiful town- and the weather was sunny and perfect- so typical for Denver fall days. I cannot believe how well Layla is running for me. Layla had a completely perfect weekend. We earned 2 QQ's and 2 more T2B Q's!!! This brings our total QQ's up to 6 and we have only just started back competing in both B classes for 3 weekends. I think the biggest change I have made is channeling all of my adrenaline in the right direction instead of letting it get to me and make me a nervous wreck before every run. Now, I feel so comfortable running Layla. Nothing tops that feeling. I have another trial this coming weekend in Golden and I am looking forward to it!
