Preparing for Monroe Trial

It's Monday, I leave on Wednesday for 5 days in Monroe, and I'm not the least nervous about my packing.  This makes me nervous!

Perhaps I've finally got the drill down, or have I just gone blank?  Let's see. 

• Monday I pack my gear, charge all batteries, make ice.
• Tuesday I pack the dog's gear, trial paperwork, maps, shop for food, confirm hotel reservations, etc. 
• Wednesday I pack the car, gas up, check tires, etc. 
• Thursday I pack the coolers and take off.

Only this time I'm leaving on Wednesday, a day early, the car is in the shop til Tuesday afternoon, the A/C is out in the den so I'm waiting for the repair man instead of packing.  I've got to get everything done in 2 days.  Still, no nerves.

It may be because now I keep all my equipment gathered in one place.  To wit, I've simply commandeered the dining room table, the first flat space I come across when entering the house, and that's where I keep everything "dog".  It's an eyesore, but absent a convenient closet to store everything, I gave up appearances for convenience for 2011, and that was a major step forward in organizing this dog agility obsession of mine. John hasn't complained.

Still, I've got a hint of a toothache so I should be nervous about that.  And, I got a really bad charlie horse last week, which flared up tonight at practice, so bad I couldn't run either dog.  So I'm hobbling off to the doctor tomorrow to see what to do about a "sports injury", and call the dentist for some antibiotics and pain killers to see me thru the weekend.  For some reason, I'm not even upset about all that.  I should be in tears.

Since I couldn't get in my last planned practice tonight, I asked Sandy R. (who runs both her dogs in the same classes as I run mine), to try and run Maxie.  You always hear people say "Oh, my dog won't run for anyone else!", but from watching Sandy's videos in the past, I already knew we use mostly the same handling signals, and I surmised Maxie would run with anybody carrying his treats around.  And so he did!   He ran very well for her and much faster than he does for me.  It was a joy to watch.  Sandy came back breathless and amazed at Maxie's speed!  In exchange for running Maxie for me, I gave her my next turn to run Tango, her daschund.  Maxie and Tango usually vie for placement at local trials in the 8" class, but now we both see Maxie can easily outrun Tango.  The sad fact is, Sandy can outrun me!  Looks like it's true, then . . . . . the dog keeps pace with the handler.

After that success with Maxie, I asked her to try running Lucky at 20" on the other course.  I had her tug with Lucky a few minutes, then run with Lucky's tug toy in her hand, and they both zipped around like they had been running together forever.  That, too, was a joy to watch.  Lucky ran fast and sure (it was cool and breezy out).  Sandy says "STOP"  where I say "HALT",  she says JUMP where I say OVER, she says A-FRAME where I say UP, but it didn't matter to either dog.  They understood exactly what to do based on the body language and hearing any kind of "oink" coming from their handler.

Oh well, enough of this musing, I really must go serve dinner, kick back and watch Twilight Zone with my sweetheart, and put a hot pad on my calf.  I'll think about packin' tamarraw!

Upwards and onward!

Perfecting My Packing

With all these trials coming up, weekend after weekend, I'm perfecting my packing routine.  I've got it broken down into manageable chunks now (from the confusion of last year), as follows (all this presupposes one has entered the trial a month before, secured a place to stay, and received confirmation notices!):

Monday:  Do laundry, pack all my trialing clothes and shoes into 1 small suitcase. Freeze my ice bottles. Charge my camera batteries.
Tuesday:  Check the dogs' bag for food, first aide, toys, leashes, bowls, paperwork, etc. Print out map to trialing site and hotel.
Wednesday:  Gas up the car, check tires, oil, shop for food and load up food box, get cash, and wash the car windows (it's hell driving east into the morning sun, or heading home west into the sunset with a dirty windshield). Load the trunk with just about everything.  Thursday morning:  Load the cooler with drinks, cold food, and fresh Baton Rouge water.  Pack up the computer. Fold up Maxie's crate, put all in trunk. Be sure sunglasses are in the car.  Put paperwork on the front seat. Take off.

This leaves me most of my days to do regular stuff, mostly confident that I won't forget anything.  At last, not stressing out over packing for trials, and not packing more than I need. What a relief!

Upwards and onward!

Florida Trip - Packing & Road Travel

So now I'm on a week-long visit to Florida to celebrate my Mom's 90th and Dad's 95th birthdays.  I'm excited to be honoring them, yet leaving home is liken to having an arm ripped out of its socket.  Everything I need or want to do is at home.  And there are so many details to take care of to pack and to batten down the house before leaving, it makes me weary to the point of being immobile before I start the trip.

On the long 2 day drive, I got to thinking how on earth I'm going to achieve my trialing objectives for 2011 with this antipathy to packing and leaving home.  I have to get a handle on this aspect of my "precompetition routine".

I've picked up various helpful packing hints from a few people willing to share:

• keep a dog bag packed with all their paperwork, collars with tags and w/o tags, leashes, toys, poopie bags, treats, etc.
• keep your bags packed.  When you get home wash, fold and repack all your "trialing outfits" and keep them by the door.  Have separate clothes and toiletries from the ones you use at home.
• keep the car packed with crates and mats that are just for trialing.  Don't use the ones you have set up at home.This way, you mostly just have to charge batteries, fill the cooler, bring your trial reservations paperwork, cameras, and go.
• Once at the trial, have separate coolers, crates, etc., for the arena and the hotel room.  Don't haul stuff back and forth.
• Volunteer to work the trials so you qualify for the free food and drinks.  That way, you don't have to bring much food.

I figure, I will have to attend between 6-10 trials this year to achieve my goals (one a month):
Maxie needs 10 Q's in Standard, and 10 Q's in Jumpers to get Masters titles.Lucky needs 9 Q's in Standard, and 9 Q's in Jumpers to get Novice, Open and Excellent titles.
If each trial is, say 2 days, and I go to 10 trials, that's 20 runs in each class.  Are there 10 trials within 2-5 hours driving distance?  Let's see:  Baton Rouge, Kiln, Hattiesburg, New Iberia, Gulfport, Lake Charles, Monroe, Haughton, Brandon, Alexandria, Pensacola  Yes!

All I need is 50% accuracy.  Maxie and my accuracy for 2010 was 60% (30 runs in 6 trials, 18 Q's), and since some trials are 3 days, there's an extra cushion there too.  Plus, hopefully we-re getting better at this game.

All it seems I need to do, then, to reach my goals is:

• practice and improve at agility
• keep practicing how to run
• keep building up my stamina, strengthening my ankles, etc.
• keep the car in good shape
• make enough money to support this activity
• streamline my packing

I also need to remember to bring drinking water from home.  Our 2nd night on this road trip, Maxie threw up 4 times in the bed, had to go out and pee and poo at 4 a.m., and wouldn't eat all of his breakfast -- all firsts for him.  The next night he threw up again, several times, and would not touch food.  I have a touch of diarrhea myself, and John is very sleepy. It might have to do with a 2 day road trip, or maybe drinking different water.  Another thing I need to organize and pack - a Doggie First Aid Kit.

I also need to bring my own pillow.  Our first night at a Days Inn in Ocala, as soon as my head hit the pillow my sinuses started draining, nose and eyes watering.  Something in the fabric gave me an alergic reaction.  I had to put one of my T-shirts over the pillow to get to sleep.
Packing is really an important part of this game. Hopefully doing it right will reduce my stress considerably.

Upwards and onward,

P.S.  I am also doing a write-up of each trialing environment to help me remember the conditions at each location.  So far I have done Baton Rouge, Hattiesburg, Lake Charles, Monroe, Kiln, Gulfport, New Iberia, Mobile, Port Allen.