The AKC Agility Invitational invites the top five dogs in each breed competing at the Masters level, there is some mathematical formula they use to calculate the top dogs but suffice it to say that speed plays a factor! The Invitational qualifying period runs from July 1 of the previous year, to June 30 of the current year. Invitations get sent out in July, and they look like this:
So we packed up the dogs and ourselves, loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly…Washington PA, that is. To stay with our friends Zap and Sherry, and abandon Tish with them (they only give you one crating space so it was going to be tight with two dogs, let alone three, and Zhora is a more calming influence than Tish, so we opted to take Zhora with us, plus we hope she will need that experience one day in the future!):
We woke up in the morning to find that Zap had left us some special dog cookies (they are just the best people):
And then we hit the road and drove from Washington PA (just south of Pittsburgh), through West Virginia:
Then through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina:
And finally stopping for the night in Savannah, Georgia:
And headed out the next morning for Orlando:
We arrived at our hotel in Orlando early, so we checked in:
(one thing we discovered on this trip is that many of the renovated Red Roofs look super nice, but the beds are really high and the uncarpeted wood floors are slippery – not great for short dogs!).
Then we headed over to the Orange County Convention Center to see what the place was like and walk the dogs around:
It was HUGE! The AKC Agility Invitational is part of Eukanuba, which is an enormous conformation show, plus the obedience and rally Invitationals, Meet the Breeds booths, dock diving demos, you name it. It’s HUGE!
Then we headed back to the hotel to unpack and try to relax. A couple of months ago, there had been some discussion on the Invitational Facebook page about at least one of the Red Roof Inns in the area restricting the number of dogs you were allowed, so I called the one I had made reservations at to check that two dogs were OK. The lady said that they would never ask someone to leave a dog at home, that would be like asking someone to leave a kid at home! Since I had her on the phone, I asked if we had a ground floor room, she said that the room I had chosen (the cheapest, natch) didn’t come on the ground floor, but that she could upgrade us at the same price to a ground floor room. As it turned out, we ended up in a Jacuzzi suite:
Not bad!
Friday we were back at the Convention Center to set up our crates (they assign you a space, and you find a tag with your dog’s name on it in the space), pick up our welcome packets (a very nice duffle bag containing poop bags, an Invitational patch and pin, and any souvenirs you ordered, plus an envelope containing tickets to get in Saturday and Sunday, a laminated tag with your dog’s name and a bar code, and your number that gets pinned to your back) and get ready for Time 2 Beat. This is a regular class like at any AKC trial, but only open to dogs invited to the Invitational. It’s a great way to warm up and get the dogs used to the facility. First we watched them building:
Then we ran. You attach your laminated tag to your leash, so they can scan you in at the gate, pretty cool! Plus the scoring is done electronically so the results are nearly instantaneous. We didn’t qualify, but we had fun:
Then we walked around, did some shopping, and headed back to the hotel to relax and prepare for the real competition:
When we arrived back at the Convention Center bright and early on Saturday, we found that the Eukanuba fairies had visited in the night, and left a big pink Eukanuba towel on every crate, it was a sea of pink!
Round 1 was Standard (regular AKC Standard course minus the table): Round1
We had a good and fast run going, but then had a disaster at the end (he also called my dogwalk). This was the one and only time Nina seemed to be affected by the loud and hectic environment. This was ring 1, and the announcer talks about your dog when you’re in that ring, which is fun, but a bit more distracting than I’d thought it would be. We had a really good run until it went off the rails at the end. The footing is the same as we’re used to at Countryside, although without any padding underneath, so it was really hard.
Round 1 (Standard):
Round 2 (Jumpers). Round2
As it turned out, this was our only clean round, but what a clean run to have! We placed 9th out of 100 dogs! A top ten finish at the Invitational is a big deal! Here’s the results page: Score – 08
Sunday, the last day, was Jumpers and Hybrid (Hybrid is more or less like a Time 2 Beat course). You will see the broad jump in Jumpers, they must use the broad jump at least once. The Jumpers course was designed by Anthony Clarke, from England, it was a really nice course, twisty turny but nice. This was Ring 2, where we’d qualified the day before. HOWEVER…we were supposed to run second, but the person ahead of us brought the wrong dog’s leash to the gate, so had to go and get the right tag. Then they couldn’t decide if they were running us or waiting for the other dog, then they decided to run us, THEN the timer and scribe had to sort out which dog they were scoring, so by the time we ran, I was really frazzled and forgot what I was supposed to be doing. A real shame, Nina was wonderful, it was all handler error.
Round 3Â Round3 (Jumpers):
There are computer terminals where you can check your score, we were in 78th place (out of 100) after three rounds:
Last was the Hybrid course for Round 4. This was in Ring 3, the outermost ring, the one closest to passersby, spectators, and crating. And the weaves were set up right in front of the bleachers:
Round 4Â Round4 (Hybrid):
We finished 74th (we moved up each round!):
We didn’t make the finals (heck, we finished third of three Vallhunds!), but wow, what an experience! Nina was just amazing, she was her solid, awesome, wild child self. It was a blast, and such a privilege to play this game with her! And Zhora was awesome, every time I do anything with her, I am reminded anew of what an awesome temperament she has. There are more pictures and official videos to come.
Finals ring:
Our friend Roger and his Pembroke Welsh Corgi Keebler not only made the finals, they WON the 12″ class! It was a huge rush to see them go, especially because their Frenchie Scribbles was invited but passed away just a couple of weeks ago. In the bio that Roger wrote for the announcer to read during their finals round, he said Keebler misses her friend Scribbles, and was running for him. Our friends Denise and her American Eskimo Dog Kody also made the 16″ finals. SO COOL to cheer for people we knew in the finals! Here’s the finals course: Round5
