In the Land of Perry

Once every April, amidst the vast lands of middle Georgia, the Peach Cluster Dog Show descends upon the fairgrounds in the town of Perry. Conformation, obedience, herding, agility, and a wide assortment of vendors gather for four days to celebrate the world of dogs. In previous years I have also witnessed lure coursing, flyball, and the “Doggie Fun Zone” a sort of hybrid lure coursing/agility obstacle course set up for entertainment, but these elements were missing this year. It has actually been several years since I have had the opportunity to attend, and given that Kaylee earned her first MACH at the same trial site (although during the July trial), these grounds hold a special fondness for me. The surface is PERFECT, not slippery, not loose, not hard, not rocky, just soft but firm and ideal for dogs and handlers alike. The fairgrounds offer plentiful parking, dog walking, and RV hosting areas, with vehicles as far as the eye can see. There are also clean and safe swimming lakes for the dogs to enjoy, air conditioning in the agility building, and lots and lots of bathrooms. Any trial with air conditioning and indoor plumbing is a good one. The days are long, but with stadium seating and an assortment of other activities to engage in, one is rarely bored.

Buster and I took time off from work in order to make the four hour drive Thursday afternoon and arrive in time to set up our crating area and check into the hotel before dark. I had a close call that morning with what appeared to be a low tire, and after driving up to the dealership, discovered there were two nails in my front left wheel! Once that was repaired, the weekend truly began. The drive was long but uneventful, and fortunately Buster was kind enough to drive so that I could entertain myself playing Angry Birds for several hours. Our timing was perfect as we arrived just in time to get set up before everyone left the building for the day, and I was even able to secure my armbands to save me the hassle the following morning. We arrived at the La Quinta Inn in Macon, GA around 6pm and were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the hotel and our room. Ample grassy areas to walk the dogs, and a huge bathroom made for happy travelers. Given that the trial started at 7am each day as opposed to the customary 8am, we were in bed early Thursday evening.

Although the trial was held from Thursday through Sunday, I entered Kaylee and Xander on Friday, Kirby and Xander on Saturday, and only Xander on Sunday. Running three dogs is expensive, and often confusing if there are conflicts. Case in point; on Saturday, Kirby’s scheduled run in Open Standard conflicted with Xander’s walk through in Excellent, so I passed him off to a friend and dashed over to walk Xander’s course. By the time I came back to run Kirby, I had forgotten his course and almost ran him to the wrong obstacle TWICE. Miraculously, he was a total rockstar and followed me as I yanked him off the wrong obstacles at the last second when I realized my mistake. Somehow we managed to Q with only one refusal, and I believe he was amused that it was ME responsible for screwing us up instead of him for a change. He nailed his weaves in both runs, but sadly I caused an off course and a knocked bar in JWW. However, he walked away with his second OA leg with a first place, since we were the only 12in dog to qualify.

Kaylee was a superstar as well. At nine years old, she hadn’t competed since December I believe, and came out to earn a 2nd in a very large 8in Exc JWW class! By the time six or so hours had passed and it was finally time to run Standard, she was over it and we had a miscommunication by the second to last jump. She still had a blast getting to play, and seemed to remember the location. Her favorite part was rolling in the hay and barking at the cows in the building across from ours. Such is the joy of a mostly-retirement.

Xander of course, was the hero of the weekend. He earned his Open Standard title on Friday with a 1st place, and made his debut in Exc A JWW that day as well with a 1st place. Saturday required him to wait almost 4 hours before his first run, since it was small to tall that day, and he was more than a little keyed up. I ran him off course by the third obstacle, so we had the freedom to run all out for the rest of the course. I deeply enjoyed that, and we had a blast. Although it was an NQ, portions of that run were some of my favorite parts of the weekend. His debut in Exc A STD went similarly, following another long wait, he went off course by the second obstacle this time. It was a chute with a 90 degree turn to the dogwalk, and he blasted right past the dogwalk! We recovered to handle the rest of the course, and I tried some other things I would not normally do if we were still qualifying, so that was fun and educational as well. We will be practicing the chute to the dogwalk!!

Sunday was the best day of the weekend. Our good friends Chris and Carroll came in late Friday night, and although they were exceedingly tired, enjoyed Saturday with us at the show. Carroll earned a Master JWW leg with Kansas, and we all went out to dinner at Outback on Saturday night. We stayed in the same hotel, so it was like a party! Feeling much more rested by Sunday morning, and having none of the conflicts of previous days, we faced Exc Std again early, as the tall dogs ran first the final day. His second experience in this class went far better than the first, and we ended up with the fastest time of all the 20in dogs! There were nearly seventy 20in dogs competing in Exc, including the incredible Gabrielle Blackburn and her amazing dog Zing. Although we earned 1st in Exc A, we would have placed 1st in Exc B as well. I was flabbergasted, thinking surely I would never be in the same league as these other competitors I admire so greatly. Of course, Terri Lee and her little sports car Vette weren’t present on Sunday, so I imagine they would have been at the top as well since they had been placing all weekend before!

Our final run of the weekend was my favorite. It was a very difficult Exc JWW course, and none of the larger dogs had run clean to my knowledge. We watched the legendary Ann Braue and Scream have difficulties, as well as the incredibly fast National Agility Finalists Jamie Herron and Zip have some trouble. There were only a handful of dogs before us to run in the 20in class, and we were still relaxed and happy from our success in STD. Xander handled the course like a professional and followed my every cue. While it did not feel “easy” because I had to stay on my toes the entire time, it did feel “good” and even better when we crossed the finish clean! Our time was 26.26, which held until Gabrielle and Zing laid down a 25.45. We were so close, and I was thrilled with our performance and another 1st place in Exc A. Although double q’s don’t count in Exc A, I still felt as though we’d earned one, and it was a perfect feeling to end the weekend on.

With a mix of relief, pleasure, and sadness, the weekend drew to a close. We packed up and said goodbye to our friends before making a last minute purchase of my one souvenir for the weekend, a cool car magnet that is simply a silhouette of agility equipment. Although I was exhausted upon our return home, Xander had a four hour nap and was ready to play again by the time we returned. His stamina has increased so dramatically lately that I fear I’ve created a monster. One time out to play Frisbee is no longer adequate. He now craves ACTION. I really need a yard and my own field of equipment….

The downside to all this fun was the cold, hard return to the real world yesterday. Taking two days off from work means returning to nearly 100 new emails and a mountain of backlogged work. Sigh.

I hope to have a video of the weekend up soon, when I can convince my computer to cooperate. I am trying to use music for the first time, and I don’t know if my poor little antique is up for the task. Stay tuned!