We went RVing at Huntington State Park. The weather was nice, but kind of cold in the morning. We were suppose to go, back in October, but that's when we had all that flooding and the highways were closed the day we were suppose to leave. So I called them and they said they didnt give refunds but I could transfer my reservation to another date. So that is what I did. I found out later, from a friend, that she was given a refund for 3 days of her trip because she couldnt get their either. They were staying 2 weeks. Im not sure how that happened. Weird.
We went on Friday mid-morning and then met Stephanie for lunch. She went back to work and we went on the the park. We had a nice level spot that was right next to the path that leads to the beach. I made sure of it this time. When we stayed at Hunting Island park, we had to walk passed all these campers in tents and open type trailers and I was worried we were waking people up.
Every morning there were clouds on the horizon so we didnt get great sun rise shots.
The dogs ran alot the first day. I think they were exhausted after that. They didnt seem exhausted the first day but by the 3rd , they didnt run around much.
I dont know if you can see it or not, but this bird is eating a snake.
Lots of people were taking pictures of this bird. Not sure why.
That night we went to BrookGreen Gardens. They have on the weekends a thing called "A Night of a Thousand Candles". Its was very cool. Tons of lights on all the trees. Also tons of people.
This was the front gate. It was still light out when we got in the car line to go in.
This is in a gardens with lots of trees all with tons of those hanging lights.
There were statues everywhere.
This was beautiful but I just couldnt get the shot right.
We had walked 10 miles by the end of the first day. Killer.
We keep trying to have fires. We finally broke down and bought a bundle of wood from the camp store.
We just wanted to roast marshmallows. LOL
From our campsite, out to the beach , and then 2 miles down, there was this sign. No dogs pass the sign. We never walked down there without the dogs. Not sure what is pass the sign. It just looks like more beach.
Stephanie helping us with the GoPro.
We came back Monday. To bad we woke up to pouring down rain. This place doesnt have the dump tanks at your site. So you have to pull up to them when you leave the RV area. Even though we knew it was going to rain, we couldnt dump the tanks early unless we wanted to take everything down and move the rv. Then set everything up again. So I was standing in the rain emptying the tanks on Monday morning. We got back to Columbia and it was a beautiful, sunny day.
So one last try to get enough points to get to go to AKC nationals. Ive never had a dog that could double Q before. So when Java started double Qing this fall, I looked up what I needed to get to nationals. I probably shouldnt have gone to UKI nationals if this was that important to me. I could have gone to a 4 day AKC trial and gotten the points I needed. But O' well. So this weekend was my last shot. I had all the Q's and Double Q's. I just needed 80 more points. I knew it was a long shot for me but I would try. When I got there I went through my points again and only 71. Ok.
The first day we Qed in standard and took 3rd place. Man there are a lot of really fast little border collies now in the 16 inch jump height. Ack!!
This course had some challenges. Coming off the running a-frame, making the turn and getting the tire , instead of the weave poles. Lots of dogs took the #6 jump and then went into the tunnel. I was really hoping we would get the correct end of tunnel after the dogwalk.
Well we Qed and got 28 points or 29, I cant remember. We took 3rd place behind 2 border collies.
Jumpers we were having a beautiful run and then she popped out of the weaves. Oh well.
Saturday, no Qs at all. Man we needed at least one Q , to take the pressure off.
Now its Sunday. Standard was first.
OMG, we were so close.
I was so worried about the opening line. I knew I wasnt going to get much of a lead out and how would I tell her where to go when she gets to #5 and makes the turn? (Miley had gone off course there).
The turn wasnt a problem at all. The teeter was. If she hadnt left early, I would have been in the correct position to cue the jumps. Ugh!!
I kept debating going home after this. It was Thanksgiving weekend and I hadnt spent much time with my family. Poor Miley, stressed in the standard ring. As soon as I took her outside she had really bad diarrhea. I had to take her to the RV and wash her up. I walked her a few more times before Jumpers. She stressed again in jumpers and I had to leave the ring. Again, I took her outside and she had bad diarrhea again and I had to go wash her again at the RV. Poor Miley. She continued with diarrhea until Monday after noon. She had a few more baths. She wasnt to happy about that. I sure hope it was her upset stomach that made her act so crazy in the ring and we arent back to all that stuff again.
Next up was Java. I stopped watching people run because it was making me nervous. We stepped to the line and Java was on fire.
I was falling so far behind I had to push in for the RC on the flat at #4, and basically use my arm to cue the turn. Then she was just flying and seemed to know where she was going that I put a front cross in after #11. (I hadnt planned on this. I was going to RC after #12.) But it worked beautiful!!. And we Qed. She ran 6.3 YPS which was only good enough for 4th place. A border collie ran this in 20 seconds. Holly crap that is fast!! Java was 24.06. So we missed nationals by like 23 points.
Oh well, at least we had a nice last run. The drive home was really nice. I was expecting bumper to bumper traffic, due to Thanksgiving weekend. But I didnt hit any traffic at all.
This wasnt taken at the UKI nationals but I liked it and didnt have any good pictures to post. I took it this weekend in Ga at a seminar I went to.
Anyway, went to the UKI nationals that was being held in Perry, Ga. The weather was great. It was sunny and warm most of the time. It was chilly in the morning on Saturday but then warmed up. But Thursday and Friday, when we had to also use the outdoor rings, it was nice and warm. Unlike last year, when we froze our butts off!! So much nicer!!
We started Thursday morning. We were divided into 5 groups and there were 4 rings. We walked all 4 course first thing in the morning and then spent the rest of the day running courses. The idea was that which ever group wasnt in a ring, since there were 4 rings and 5 groups, the group that wasnt running , would work the rings. Yea, a great idea as long as the group will work. It didnt work out that way. What is wrong with people?? There were times when I ran both my dogs and then put them up and went and helped in the ring, still during my groups ring rotation. Why, because people wouldn't step up and the rings needed help. I know other people did this too. I was helping in a ring and after this lady ran her dog, her friend ask her if she would mind coming back and helping in the ring. She came back .
So we ran Power and Speed first. I used this for training in the ring time. Java broke her stay and I was able to put her back. She flew off the teeter and I was able to fix that too. Miley had a very nice run going, but she has trouble getting to back sides sometimes. But still a nice run. I thought using this first run as training, for Java, would help us. No, she broke her stay all weekend. It was really bad. I probably should have started pulling her from the ring when this happened. Im going to have to fix this. It caused us to go off course multiple times. If she had just stayed, we would have had a chance.
Next up was Last chance Master Heat.
This course was not that hard but Java was jumping everything in extension. That was the theme of the day for her. After 12, she took the dogwalk. The only thing that was nice was 8 to 9. It wouldnt have mattered because I really didnt know how I was going to get from the running dogwalk to #20. LOL
Next was National Championship Rd1 jumping.
I really thought we could get through this.
We were so close too. I was ahead going to 17 and I thought my lateral motion would be enough for her to come with me. LOL, it wasnt.
Last for Thurday was Snooker. You needed 25 points to advance to the finals. So I had my plan and figured we needed to get at least to #5 in the close.
Again, she was jumping everything with extension. I kept having to call her back. At #5 she back jumped and we heard the whistle. Ugh!!
Well that was disappointing. But then that night the posted the results and we had 25 points. I forgot about the red jumps being 1 point. So we had enough points to make it in. We were in last place but thats ok. LOL
The next day was a long day. We walked the four courses again in the morning. Then started running.
Last chance Master heat jumping.
I really wanted to do well on the course. I focused all my energy on this course. I worked this ring, so I could watch the dogs and see the problem places on course.
We almost made it through. We got to #18 and I thought I had her to the back side. Her nose was to the backside and all of a sudden, she twisted her neck and took the front side. I dont even know how she did it. LOl I was so disappointed.
Next up was a really tough course. Biathlon jumping. I worked this course too. Lots of E's.
#2 is a wall jump. So your dog is blind coming over that jump and then all of a sudden need to know where to go. We Ed right there. I thought I had Java and all of a sudden she took the tunnel. What got most dogs was #17. You had to run the line from #14 to #17 but you couldnt beat your dog to the correct tunnel entrance. I saw a lot of people "down" their dog right before the tunnel, and they made their dog wait until they got there. They got a 5 second refusal but I guess that was better than "E"ing. I saw one person get it and they turned their dog to the left at #14, most of us turned our dog to the ring. She did make it down the line and she was running a border collie. It was beautiful.
Next was SpeedStakes. This was a hard course for me to remember.
It seemed all jump, tunnel, jump , tunnel, ect. I kept walking #15 and then the tunnel, instead of #15 , #16 and then the tunnel. I was so worried I would screw this up when I ran. But some how Java and I made it through. LOL
Yea, we got to go to the finals!!! And this time we werent in last place. We were 11th.
For some reason, I was really nervous. I think its because everyone is watching and they have the course in one big ring.
We made it through without Eing. I know it was a pretty straight forward course but people did make mistakes. I was most worried that I would push Java off # 8, and pull her off #15. Multiple dogs missed 15. We did pretty good but I didnt give her any turning cues coming out of the # 7 tunnel. She saw all my forward motion when going into the tunnel and she continued that when she came out. So then I had to call her back and she was wide again after taking # 8. Time goes so slow when you are fixing something like that. I just kept hearing the seconds tic away. I tried really hard to make sure all the rest of the turns were as tight as they could be The rest was beautiful. We ended up being 7th. I cant saw I wasnt disappointed. If I had just let her know the turn was coming out of the tunnel, we might have placed. She was fast enough. The best part was hearing people cheer for you as you came down the last line. So exciting!!.
I have no idea what I ran on Saturday. I do know we ran in the finals for the games, Gamblers. It was again in a big ring. We were in last place, so I didnt think we had much chance here.
I changed my mind multiple times about how I was going to run this course. I didnt do any dogwalks because if she missed, then that was a waste of my time out there. Here was the hard part. Dogs were not coming out of the white circle #3 tunnel when you expected them to. I couldnt figure out what was going on. When I ran Java, I pushed into her but it was to soon,because she didnt come out of the tunnel when I expected her to. So she didnt take the white circle #4 tunnel. So no Q. I think only one 16 inch dog got the gamble. It was really weird, that #3 tunnel. A world team dog actually turned around in the tunnel and came back out the why she went in.
So after my run, when I went back into the stands to watch, thats when I saw what was happening with the tunnel. The tunnel was really long. It was staked down with these tunnel wraps. But they couldnt seem to get tight enough. Dogs that were really driving, the tunnel would accordion, under the dogs feet. So then the dog didnt come out when expected. After the dog would leave the run, a ring crew would go out and spread the tunnel back out again. It was crazy. I know the person next to me saw this happening too. Not sure if anyone else saw this. I was hoping it would show up on video, but I cant really see it. But I know it happened.
Still if was fun to run.
Sunday they let everyone run the challenger round, to try to get into the finals. (If you were already in). Again, she broke her startline, and it was a mess for a little while. Then we got it back together. LOL
Miley had a tough time. She was stressing. On Friday, by the end of the day, she was just stress running around the ring. So I pulled her. I dont think she ran much after that.
I went to a trial in Gainesville Ga. last weekend. It rained all weekend. In fact it rained all week too. Im so over all this rain. In good news, its sunny today. Today Im going to Perry Ga for the UKI nationals. We arent really good enough for these tough courses, Im more going to help. Im signed up to run but I probably wont make it to anything on the weekend. But thats ok. My friends are in charge of this trail and they always come to our trial and work really hard, so I feel its only right that I come help them. Besides, they are both just the nicest people.
Anyway I bought some pictures!
We didnt get many Qs. But there were many weekends, that I never Qed. So that fact that I get Qs, is just amazing to me.
Java only got one Q in JWW. But with a nice run and 1st place.
Miley finally got a Q this weekend too!. Its been a while for poor Miley.
My hotel room also was not nice. I didnt take my RV because I had to travel at night on Friday night, and its hard to drive at night, IMO.
