Let the Fun Begin!

I think the reason that six dogs are going to the Specialty has less to do with being competitive and more to do with being indecisive :) Plus, I have excellent Dog Nannies who have volunteered to help out so that allows me to skip important lessons in moderation -- lessons I could certainly use but will start when I get back (maybe).

This past week has been non-stop working because it was the last week of the semester and I had to have everything done and finals ready for my Teaching Assistant to give next week. As a result, I have not been sleeping much and last night was no exception -- at 10 pm I was still cleaning and packing, and at 3:00 a.m. I was up after a fitful attempt at sleep. Usually I have no trouble sleeping but this week has been HECTIC and I wanted to make sure all my ducks were in a row, so to speak, and so I was mentally making lists and fretting instead of sleeping.

But everything got done and I have my laptop so that I can continue to work while I am gone (lots of papers to grade!), and so far the only thing I can think of that I forgot is my tracking harness/line, which is no doubt my unconscious saying something about how I feel about the Specialty tracking test...

So, we left Montana at 3:50 a.m. and were in Utah before noon, even with our usual stop at the private dog park in Middle-of-No-Where, Idaho. Here are some pictures from our stop -- that is Maize in both of the pictures with the dog...




I kept a list of the wildlife I saw on the way down: one elk, one moose, several antelope-type things, many deer, a couple of heron-like birds in a nest together, a bald eagle, one black cat, and assorted birds -- pretty cool :) And all were alive!

With the assistance of caffeine, I made it safely to Utah with the girls and with the help of more caffeine, I managed to stay awake through graduation -- look at all the bling you get if you study hard...



And here are photos of the proud parents with the graduate (Jake)...



For once a Utah family dinner included me! We all went out to celebrate and that was super fun and included more caffeine, which is the only reason I am still upright.

Tomorrow I run Cadi at the agility trial in a very early morning class, and then we will pack up and head east to Wisconsin!! The fun is well underway -- hope you can say the same!