This weekend the World Team all came to San Jose to practice with Coach Nancy.
Since Nancy is also one of my coaches, she said I could come and help set bars and stuff.
Jim said I could come and help too, but DON'T MESS UP NORWAY AGAIN, OK?
I forgot to wear my special white jump handling gloves. You all know that, right? Don't mess up Jim's stuff. Or else.
The team flew in from all over the country. Or came from just down the street.
Nancy picked out some nice hard courses.
It was like a who's who of super awesome agility dogs.
And handlers.
There was discussion on handling strategy. It was super cool to see fast dogs that were all on incredibly efficient lines and handlers with impeccable timing.
Tori isn't even old enough to drink beer! She flew in with Rev all the way from Florida. They are an amazing team to watch, and Rev is super cute.
Daisy and Karen are among the team members who have done all this before. It just shows you how good these handlers and their dogs are, they make the team every single year.
Daisy also occasionally fills in as a small dog. I think that's just for practice, though. Also, she has a tattoo of her dog Solar on her leg.
There are only 3 dogs on the team that aren't border collies or shelties and they're all from around here. Wings is one of them. I am so glad Rob made the team. They did great. Of course.
Ashley and Luka are another non sheltie non border collie team. They've done the World Team thing other years, too. And they did great. Of course.
JD and Tantrum are the other ones. We are so happy for them. Tantrum used to be afraid of bees! Now you should see her go!
Totally inspiring practice to watch. I don't know if I'll ever be on a world team. It seems pretty unlikely. You can bet me and Team Small Dog will keep practicing, though. Because we are tenacious, dangnabit. And for sure we will be rooting for everyone on the 2011 AKC World Team this year in France-Good luck Team!
16 comments:
oooh, lucky! I wanna set bars for world team members in my Minimus shoes (I already have the shoes, fyi...)
nosemovie
GREAT blog! Yeah, that was totally Jim too. Tho' I really wanted to do a course where Britain, Finland and Germany all fit happily together...
It was so awesome meeting you!! Thank you 100 times over for the Starbucks.
do you guys get to trial in that arena? i LOVE fake grass!
valpig
I cannot imagine many things worse than flying across the country on an airplane to do agility, or anything else for that matter, and not having easy access to much coffee at all times. I hope they think of that in France.
We NEVER have dog agility indoors in our parts. This was a very special occasion, the renting of this indoor soccer place out by the airport. I don't think it would fit one of our trials in there. We have such nice, wide open parks with breezes and trees around here, we usually use those.
I bet the fake grass was nice for running on though. I just walked around course building on it, it was very nice for that. And sitting on.
To tell you the truth, now I think the bees are a little afraid of Tantrum.
All bees better get out of Tantrum's way. FAST.
Don't you think that sitting in that arena with all those superstar handlers may have rubbed off a bit? Maybe they ooze something from their pores that you can bottle and sell and then you will be rich *and* a world class handler!
Oh my. Were any of you oozing anything, World Team Agility Pals?
If they were, I probably wouldn't have been bottling it up or selling it. Maybe this is why I'm still not a millionaire or on the World Team?
I think this is a good ambition for me, to become good enough at agility that I could bring coffee to the stars. Also maybe I could get the shoes. Can I just say GO ROB AND WINGS! TERV POWER!
JEALOUS!! Zane and I went to tryouts this year, just because we could. Our claim to fame was that Zane was the oldest dog trying out. Needless to say we spent a lot of time thinking "Wow, why didn't I think of that" and "Oooo they are very fast".
I would so set bars for the stars and bring them coffee and Panera sandwiches if they really wanted them. Unfortunately I do not have the NB Minimus, but I do have a few pair of Five Fingers would those do?
Thanks for taking care of me with an afternoon double tall cap and with whatever concoction Tori drinks. She totally rocked after the starbucks run you made!
Can you go to France with us? NJG
I can't beleive I missed teh afternoon Starbucks run - I must have been tired - my Starbucks radr is usually much better. Thanks Laura for helping us all day Sunday - when we win all those medals you will know it is because you helped us! Carrie
If the AKC ever decides to fund an official coffee-runner position for European agility travel, sign me up! Since that seems unlikely, I will not be able to come to France with the team, but I do hope you find someone to get those poor handlers their coffee!
I don't know much French, but I do know 2 important phrases from when I went there a long time ago:
Oooo-ay le cafe?
Je voodray un cafe, si vous plait.
You can do a lot in France knowing how to say those 2 things.
You'll get to worlds! Sooner or later :) You're dogs are amazing and you're a great handler! You also write a pretty awesome blog, I must say ;) It must've been really cool to go and watch everyone practice. Lucky duckling!!!!
Here are a few REALLY important ones:
Je voudrais commander un bier (#1)
Je voudrais commander un cafe (#2)
Ou est le salle de bain? (#3)
It was awesome having you at practice, just now getting around to reading your post on it, good for several chuckles. A good sense of humor is a must!
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