| "Picabo" Galaxies Picabo Starr AX MXJ CGC #3 Brussels Griffon 2006 AKC Invitational #3 Brussels Griffon 2006 AKC Invitational #3 Brussels Griffon 2006 #4 Brussels Griffon 2005 |
| "Kosmoe" MACH Galaxies Jacks are Wild MX MXJ CGC #1 Brussels Griffon 2006 AKC Invitational #1 Brussels Griffon 2007 AKC Invitational #1 Brussels Griffon 2006 #2 Brussels Griffon 2005 |
AKC INVITATIONAL - 2006
| Fun at the 2006 AKC Invitational!! |
Our adventures in Long Beach, CA….
Gee, where do I start?! It was an experience that I’ll never forget!! We arrived in Long Beach late Thursday afternoon and
got checked into our hotel. We kicked back the rest of the night and just rested after 2 days of being on the road. The pups
were very relieved that we had finally “landed”. We did a little sight seeing on Friday as we were not able to set-up until 3:
00pm. We arrived at the Convention Center around 2:00pm to get our place in line for crating. I could not believe the number
of people already there! We crated with our North West Group (WA & OR) about 35 dogs. By the time we got set up and
checked in, it was around 6:00pm…. Time to go get dinner, go back to the Hotel, eat & get ready for bed and have dreams of
making it to the finals.
Alarm goes off and I feel like I just laid down! We get ready and head to the convention center….. Walk throughs start at 7:
00am! We only got 10 min to walk and let me tell you!, that was the fastest 10 minutes I’d ever seen! It felt more like 2
minutes J We ran our Jumper course first (round 1)…. Kosmoe flew through the course PERFECT! Picabo’s turn…. little miss
“notice everything out of place”….. the course builders used black tape to tape the weave pole base to the black mats we were
running on, makes sense right? Not to Picabo…. She headed into the weaves and saw the black tape, jumped out, went up to the
tape and sniffed like “who the heck put tape there?” and then finished her course. Of course at that point it was to late to
qualify but she had fun. Round 2 was our Standard course. Picabo ran first this time and did perfect! She even did the teeter
with no hesitation! No visiting! It was great! Kosmoe ran awesome again and moved into 8th place going into the finals. There
would be 9 dogs in our jump height for the finals. Done for the day… now to get ready for the Banquet dinner. That was a lot of
fun! We get back to our Hotel climb into bed so I can dream again of making the finals…. We just need 2 more clean runs!
Sunday morning…. Walk through starts at 6:30am L even earlier! Kosmoe runs awesome again and moves into 6th place going
into the finals. Picabo has a clean run, but was over time so did not qualify. She had a tough time making it over the A-Frame
and pulled herself over the top (lots of cheers from the crowd).
Now I’m really getting nervous….. 1 more run to go! A jumpers run. Picabo runs first…. misjudged a jump and knocked a bar,
finished the rest of the course fine!
OK, here we are, our last run for the finals….. Again, Kosmoe does awesome and we are in the finals in the #5 spot!!! Now
reality starts to set in as we watch Animal Planet prepare the ring for taping! Lights everywhere! Cameras everywhere! What
on earth did I wish for? Was I insane or what??? I’m telling myself several things…. “At least we made it to the finals. It’s OK
if we don’t place. We’ll just do the best we can.” You name it and it went through my head! Finally I told myself…. It’s no
different than any other run, the equipment is the same, we walked it the same …..it’s just another run and that’s how we have
to run it! I was terrified before going out there (I don’t do crowds well), we had to get the dogs out too early and Kosmoe was
already panting from being to warm (he doesn’t do well in the heat), I just gave him a big kiss and told him this was the last run
for the day. I usually carry him out to the start line, but they wanted us to walk them out so they could follow them with the
cameras. After we got to the start line we had to watch a lady for the signal to go (she had to make sure all cameras were in
place). She signaled to us, I gave Kosmoe one last hug and off we went! The course was a pretty smooth flowing course but did
have a few “traps”. He did awesome!!! The entry to the weaves was kind of tricky, but he pulled it off and the crowd loved it!
We still had a few obstacles to go….. Chute, hard left and over a jump, then a panel jump, hard left to the teeter and a straight
shot over 2 more jumps! WE MADE IT!!! It was the most awesome feeling! Kosmoe was jumping around – he was really feeding
off the roar of the crowd!!
We sat in the “Hot Seat” in 1st place while the next dog ran, a MACH2 Corgi. Her time was 1 ½ seconds faster than Kosmoe
and she moved into the Hot Seat. Just a few more to go….. a little Bichon Frise came in 4 seconds faster and moved into 1st
place and from there we held our place! Not only had we qualified for the Invitational, then qualified for the Finals, but now we
were in 3rd place in the Final standing! I was on cloud nine!!! It was far more than I had expected! I couldn’t hug & kiss Kosmoe
enough!!!! I’m so proud of him!!!!
Gee, where do I start?! It was an experience that I’ll never forget!! We arrived in Long Beach late Thursday afternoon and
got checked into our hotel. We kicked back the rest of the night and just rested after 2 days of being on the road. The pups
were very relieved that we had finally “landed”. We did a little sight seeing on Friday as we were not able to set-up until 3:
00pm. We arrived at the Convention Center around 2:00pm to get our place in line for crating. I could not believe the number
of people already there! We crated with our North West Group (WA & OR) about 35 dogs. By the time we got set up and
checked in, it was around 6:00pm…. Time to go get dinner, go back to the Hotel, eat & get ready for bed and have dreams of
making it to the finals.
Alarm goes off and I feel like I just laid down! We get ready and head to the convention center….. Walk throughs start at 7:
00am! We only got 10 min to walk and let me tell you!, that was the fastest 10 minutes I’d ever seen! It felt more like 2
minutes J We ran our Jumper course first (round 1)…. Kosmoe flew through the course PERFECT! Picabo’s turn…. little miss
“notice everything out of place”….. the course builders used black tape to tape the weave pole base to the black mats we were
running on, makes sense right? Not to Picabo…. She headed into the weaves and saw the black tape, jumped out, went up to the
tape and sniffed like “who the heck put tape there?” and then finished her course. Of course at that point it was to late to
qualify but she had fun. Round 2 was our Standard course. Picabo ran first this time and did perfect! She even did the teeter
with no hesitation! No visiting! It was great! Kosmoe ran awesome again and moved into 8th place going into the finals. There
would be 9 dogs in our jump height for the finals. Done for the day… now to get ready for the Banquet dinner. That was a lot of
fun! We get back to our Hotel climb into bed so I can dream again of making the finals…. We just need 2 more clean runs!
Sunday morning…. Walk through starts at 6:30am L even earlier! Kosmoe runs awesome again and moves into 6th place going
into the finals. Picabo has a clean run, but was over time so did not qualify. She had a tough time making it over the A-Frame
and pulled herself over the top (lots of cheers from the crowd).
Now I’m really getting nervous….. 1 more run to go! A jumpers run. Picabo runs first…. misjudged a jump and knocked a bar,
finished the rest of the course fine!
OK, here we are, our last run for the finals….. Again, Kosmoe does awesome and we are in the finals in the #5 spot!!! Now
reality starts to set in as we watch Animal Planet prepare the ring for taping! Lights everywhere! Cameras everywhere! What
on earth did I wish for? Was I insane or what??? I’m telling myself several things…. “At least we made it to the finals. It’s OK
if we don’t place. We’ll just do the best we can.” You name it and it went through my head! Finally I told myself…. It’s no
different than any other run, the equipment is the same, we walked it the same …..it’s just another run and that’s how we have
to run it! I was terrified before going out there (I don’t do crowds well), we had to get the dogs out too early and Kosmoe was
already panting from being to warm (he doesn’t do well in the heat), I just gave him a big kiss and told him this was the last run
for the day. I usually carry him out to the start line, but they wanted us to walk them out so they could follow them with the
cameras. After we got to the start line we had to watch a lady for the signal to go (she had to make sure all cameras were in
place). She signaled to us, I gave Kosmoe one last hug and off we went! The course was a pretty smooth flowing course but did
have a few “traps”. He did awesome!!! The entry to the weaves was kind of tricky, but he pulled it off and the crowd loved it!
We still had a few obstacles to go….. Chute, hard left and over a jump, then a panel jump, hard left to the teeter and a straight
shot over 2 more jumps! WE MADE IT!!! It was the most awesome feeling! Kosmoe was jumping around – he was really feeding
off the roar of the crowd!!
We sat in the “Hot Seat” in 1st place while the next dog ran, a MACH2 Corgi. Her time was 1 ½ seconds faster than Kosmoe
and she moved into the Hot Seat. Just a few more to go….. a little Bichon Frise came in 4 seconds faster and moved into 1st
place and from there we held our place! Not only had we qualified for the Invitational, then qualified for the Finals, but now we
were in 3rd place in the Final standing! I was on cloud nine!!! It was far more than I had expected! I couldn’t hug & kiss Kosmoe
enough!!!! I’m so proud of him!!!!
