Walkin' on the Sun

So, for the first time I really got to experience what if feels like to run agility on the surface of the sun.

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The Northwest USDAA Regional in Canby Oregon was H-O-T. Friday wasn't too bad, but Saturday....it was 110 degrees in the shade. Dazzle has never even been in such heat, let alone run in it.

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Except for the crazy heat, it was actually pretty fun. For the first time in nearly 6 months, I got to run. Well, as long as I did straight lines only, on level ground, not too long, and not too fast - but hey, it was still running and that's what counts! So in the video you may notice a slightly different (IOW - "way better") brace on my knee .

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Our runs were not spectacular, but there was some good pieces that I was very proud of. We did PVP on Friday with Ali Johnson and her crazy noodle dog Taiko. That was really fun, despite our...um...very sad placement. Then we ran in Starters (okay, so it's only our second USDAA trial) on Saturday and Sunday. Miss Daz got 4 Qs and didn't knock a ton of bars, which was our main goal. She also got some fancy placements with those Qs.
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Joe Camp, a photographer, took some great photos of Daz that I can't help but share:

I didn't take a ton of photos because with four rings I was busy a lot of the time. Most of these are from the Grand Prix finals. I would have taken some of the Steeple Chase finals too but the skies broke loose and, sorry, but I wasn't going to sit out in the rain and thunder and lighting taking photos. Anyway, here are some of the highlights from what I got:

It was a long drive, and some crazy weather (we actually saw what can only be described as a tornado on the drive home, I am not kidding), but totally worth it. Hopefully next year, fingers crossed Dazzle and I stay injury-free, we can actually go and be a little more competitive...