Cleveland Crown Classic

[Alifaire]

Victor and I went to the Cleveland Crown Classic last week to compete in agility for 4 days in a row. We've trained for this show for nearly 2 years. It's held at the I-X Center so it's a HUGE indoor facility with not only agility, but confirmation, obedience, and rally competitions going on all at once. Thousands of dogs and people milling around make for an interesting environment for competition.

I didn't expect too much on the first day as I was hoping to just get Victor acclimated to the chaos. Sniffing was a major issue. And pottying the dog takes at least 15 minutes if you want to go outside because the doors are that far away and then across the parking lot to find a spot to go. Indoor potty areas are provided with wood shavings, but Victor took one whiff of that place and decided to hold it for as long as necessary. I tried to wait him out but realized after 8 hours that Victor would only go outside.

The end of the story is that I ruptured the plantar fascia of my left foot on the first day, so my friend competed with Victor the next 3 days. No Qs, but Victor now has the experience and should be ready for just about anything.

Met several Brittany competitors and lots of spectators that LOVE Brittanys. Lots of comments about how beautiful the breed is and what nice family dogs.

[Lisa]

Sorry about the foot and no Q's, but sometimes, the experience is just as important!

I'm getting Buster ready to compete at the Reliant dog show in Houston in July - which means that we are going to be entering trials almost every weekend from Jan 24 through the end of March. Then, the first weekend of April we're off to KS for a smaller dog show with an agility trial. After that, we'll be back here for trials almost every weekend until June!

[Alifaire]

Let us know how Buster does with that schedule. Victor started to show some lack of interest when trialing every weekend, but was very energetic after taking a few weeks off. We'll be trialing every other weekend for a couple of months - all of them very close to home.

Best wishes for clean runs, fast runs, happy runs!

[Lisa]

Let us know how Buster does with that schedule. Victor started to show some lack of interest when trialing every weekend, but was very energetic after taking a few weeks off. We'll be trialing every other weekend for a couple of months - all of them very close to home.

Best wishes for clean runs, fast runs, happy runs!

I will let ya know. The next 7 trials (6 akc, 1 usdaa) are being held at a facility that's 15 minutes from my house, so at least we won't have to worry about travel time. I'm hoping it won't burn him out, but if he starts to lose interest, we'll switch to every other weekend.

Best wishes for clean, fast, happy runs right back at ya!

[AuntieMom]

First, sorry to hear about your foot.

Second, I had to laugh about waiting a Brittany out. Is that really possible?

[Alifaire]

waiting a Brittany out. Is that really possible?

Not possible for me! I didn't think making Victor use the shavings was worth it but as soon as his paws touched the cold ground outside, he couldn't wait any longer!

[Lisa]

I didn't think making Victor use the shavings was worth it but as soon as his paws touched the cold ground outside, he couldn't wait any longer!

LOL! Been there, done that. If we're at a facility like that, Buster won't use the indoor poty areas either - so we find ourselves taking a hike every few hours, to find just the right grassy spot to potty on. Heck, he'll even settle for a little patch of weeds, as long as it's green and outside.

[Alifaire]

Victor doesn't need grass - just outside. The trick is to get him past the walkway to at least a light pole. He did whiz on someone's orange cone used to save a parking space.

[patti]

Ouch! Sorry to hear about your foot! Glad someone could still run Victor for you. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

[rtropeano]

oooh, sorry about your foot. Hope you heal quickly.
Rose

[Alifaire]

Had a doctor check out the foot... (and for this diagnosis I paid)

Nothing to do for a ruptured ligament - it will heal on it's own - you can do anything you want to do as long as you're willing to take the pain. Oh, and here's a few physical therapy exercises to do that will help-eventually. And, no, we don't give cortisone shots to alleviate the inflammation and pain.

Except their 'physical therapy' hand out says if the pain persists, cortisone shots are a standard course of treatment.

Oh well, at least I'll be able to run my dog on Jan. 2nd (our next trial).

Thanks for the well-wishes. Merry Christmas to all!