Post Scipt

National Loot

That's what we brought home from Lexington. Not pictured is Lindy Loo's dessert plate, just like Swede William's in the upper right corner. The pottery sculpture/plate in the bottom left is Swede William's Award of Merit Trophy. You should just SEE all the stuff Laurie and Simmer won! Wow! Maybe Laurie will send me a photo of it.

See the oil painting? There's a story about that. (Of course there is!) That is a portrait of Gracious, my very first whippet, who was born in 1991. She will be the only and forever Queen of the Warburton Whippets. (For you whippet folks, Gracious had one puppy. That was Willow, of the Willow Award.) At the 2001 (maybe) National my dear and sneaky friends Linda, Rhonda, and Terrie commissioned one of the premier canine artists, Yvonne Sovereign, to do a portrait of Gracious. It is a beautiful watercolor and it is perfect and I adore it.

Yvonne's portrait is the watercolor top left. The pastel of Gracious, top right, is by Sara Renzulli. Laurie's photographs are in the standing collage frame on the counter. Gracious is the bottom second from left.

They also - just as sneakily - got magical photographer Steve Surfman to get these two candid shots. I had absolutely no inkling.

Laurie Erickson had also taken wonderful portraits of Gracious, and all of these are treasures to me.

I was visiting Yvonne's website one day a few years ago, when I forgot how to breathe for a moment. There was a painting, titled "A Gracious Whippet". And it was my Gracious. An oil study. But I wasn't working then, and I couldn't justify spending the money at that point.

So when Yvonne had a booth at this year's National, I asked if by any chance she still had that painting. "It's hanging at the front of the booth," she replied.

Sold.

I keep saying this because really, I can't believe it.

Simmer won the Triathlon. Mia made it to the last cut in her puppy class. Lindy Loo was second in Bred By. Swede William was #3 Award of Merit. (Oh and in doing so, as commenter Kelly reminded me, Swede William qualified for Crufts 2012 and 2013!)

And Gracious came home again.

Hug your hounds

Nervous Nellie

Tomorrow is Sam I Am's first agility trial.
MINE TOO!!!!!

I saw my first agility trial in 1990 at a horse trial. I thought it was the World's Coolest Sport. I had taught my childhood dog, Rex, to jump over broomsticks perched between the couch and coffee table, and had taught every dog I owned since to be little horses. And here it was in real life. I was reaching an age where the notion of simply falling down instead of falling off was appealing.

I got my first Whippet in 1992 so that we could do agility. (Always had shelter rescues prior to that.)

Laurie Erickson photo - HRH Queen Gracious

HRH Queen Gracious had other ideas. She enjoyed showing off her loveliness in the conformation ring (think of the movie Best In Show) and if I told her to jump something that she didn't feel like jumping, she would say "No thank you, but if you feel it needs to be jumped, you go right ahead. I'll watch." Well, you couldn't argue with that, now could you? So we went to shows, and she adored lure coursing, and that's what we did.

And here it is fifteen and a half years later, and Sam I Am and I are going in our first Agility Trial tomorrow. We're not really ready. Honest. He sort of gets the weaves, but he thinks if we're in a hurry, we shouldn't bother. He loves to jump. He scares me sometimes on the teeter by going too fast. And I'm scared to death of heights, so I always close my eyes when he does the A frame. We love the tunnels, both of us. Zoom he goes!

Tim Caro photo - Sam I Am loves tunnels

And last weekend in New Jersey, he pulled a muscle in his back. I thought we wouldn't be able to go this weekend, and didn't practice at all this week. But he's jumping on the bed and skipping the four stairs up to the porch and having big zoomies in the yard, so we'll give it a try. If he indicates even a little twinge tomorrow, we'll excuse ourselves. But if he feels fine and is having fun, we'll give it a try.

No expectations of even qualifying. Just a fun practice.

We're going to an Agility Trial! Fifteen years late, but we're going. I am so excited!

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