US OPEN DAY 1
Some incredible work by the Shiny Shoes!!!!! We couldn’t get it together for a clean run until the end of the day, but ALL his runs really were phenomenal, just had some unfortunate bobbles at the end. Still we managed a clean run in Winner Takes All and to my surprise we ended up WINNING the 16(s) class!!!!! He had the fastest time of all dogs!!! Just WOW!!!!!! So proud of this boy – looks like tomorrow we get to stand on the Top Box!!!!
US OPEN DAY 2
Today we won ourselves three more runs tomorrow and stood on podium boxes with lots of great friends!!!! I am just incredibly proud!!!!! Shiny Shoes was one of a few dogs to get the opening sequence to the Last Chance Masters Series Agility, winning that round! He had a bar in Jumping but it was good enough for second and we ended up also winning the Combined Masters Series! So on to MS Finals tomorrow! We got 5th in Snooker, which I think gets us into the Games Final tomorrow night! We had 2 refusals in Biathlon Jumping which unfortunately dropped us down to 20, so I will need to find out if we get to run Biathlon Jumping or not. Still, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED that course and was super proud of the boy for his run! The Shiny Shoes are really feeling comfy this weekend!!!!!! A HUGE shutout to Dennis Martinez (home watching the dogs), Sharon Gutierrez, Nicole Cabrera and Rafael Quiñones (who has actually been called upon to offer long distance coaching and advice from the Livestream!) – reading your messages on our family chat group has been extremely entertaining!!!! Wish you were all here! And to Kat Brown, Annette Alfonso, Karen Holik, Jahaira Perez, Barbara Andrea, Francisco Berjon and Greta Beede (who has adopted me for the weekend), you have been the best tribe for this event – the laughs have been plentiful!!!!!!!
UKI US OPEN DAY 3
Today was our freebie! Shiny and I came into this event with no previous Qs or BYEs so I knew there was a chance that I would be going home without running anything today…yesterday he earned the chance to run three extra runs today – and I did my best to reward him by making them count and enjoying every minute!
Even though I barely got 4 hrs of sleep last night, when I walked the Masters Series courses today I actually felt confident in that we had the skills to do them and pumped about my chosen handling plan! Both courses were fun and FAST and I just couldnt wait to run them! We started the day inside in Masters Series Final Agility, being literally the third dog in that ring! Other than some major scooting at the startline, my boy was spot on!!!!!! Yes I was loud and strong, but he listened and we made sure not to give the judge ANY opportunity to call us on anything
After some break, we headed outside to run the Masters Series Jumping. Our group was yhe last to run this course and I was the firsy dog in our group ro step to the line! This is something I have syruggled with in the pasr, so I yried to prepare myself well for it during the day amd feel I did much better. I was nervous, but kept my focus on the course! This course was even faster and trickier – one of those courses you simply couldn’t stop handling (or moving) – I kept my eye on Shiny the whlle time looking for any questions I might need to answer, and I felt like I didnt stop screaming until I left the ring! LoL!!!!
At the end of the day we had two clean runs, and it turns out we WON both Agility and Jumping, which earned us the Combined Win as well!!!! Oh this boy! Shiny has been simply amazing!!!!!
After that excitement, we headed to the briefing for Gamblers (Games Final) which was our last course of the day. Thank goodness for the ability to multitask, as I read the written briefing while listening to the actual briefing and talked to Annette Alfonso and Kat Brown about our plan. I chose right then, I would try the weave bonus AND the 20 point gamble. I figured either we got it or we didn’t and there was little to loose. We came into the Final in 5th place from Snooker, so I knew we were in a good spot. In the end, I wouldn’t change anything other than perhaps adding 2 or 3 more obstacles to my plan to start, because I had to improvise at the end a bit and it cost us. Still, our 45 point score (which had to be revised – more on that tomorrow) was good enough to place us 3rd in the overall!!!!!!!
Shiny and I have both felt sooooo much LOVE this weekend!!!!! Friends and family from afar have kept a running commentary on chat groups, and been on standby for advice over the phone or text. And the amazing tribe that I have present at this event has been simply hilarious!!!!!! Aside from videoing each other, carrying and holding on to stuff, we have laughed (hysterically!), we have cried, we have teased, but most importantly, we have encouraged, inspired, motivated, challenged and supported one another – it has been just a perfectly fun event!!!!!!! So thank you for being such Shiny Happy People!
So tomorrow, for my 41st Birthday, Shiny and I get to stand on a few more boxes – what an incredible dream come true!!!!!! And today, I really feel like we both earned it! The Shiny Shoes did some EPIC stuff out there and I couldn’t be prouder!!!!!!!!!!! Love you Niners!!!!
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