DOCNA

I finally got off my butt and registered all the dogs with DOCNA. In a fit of optimism I even registered Strummer. May as well get started with getting his measurements. I've been putting this off forever because there are so many grandfathering forms to fill out and so many levels to compete in and the whole thing was hurting my head (there are 14 pages of title descriptions). But one of the local clubs is having a DOCNA trial in Feb. just 20 minutes from my house and they're using slatted equipment so how could I pass that up? Some cool things about DOCNA-no table, you can grandfather your points from other organizations so you don't have to start over on your Championship title (great for older dogs), and yes Virginia they have a Vet class (this is a huge peeve of mine with USDAA) and you can even opt to take 2 height drops. Cody could jump 12" if I wanted him to. I don't want that right now but it's nice to know he has a place he can play well into his old age as long as he's sound. Also the jump heights are way more reasonable than USDAA, Cody actually measures into the regular 20" class. There are strategic games aplenty though I'm a bit disappointed that there's no Snooker type class. There's regular traditional Gamblers as well as a Strategic Time Gamble class which sounds fun. I love plotting my own course, so much more fun than a judge telling you where to go. Snakes & Ladders is tunnels, contacts and multiple sets of weaves poles. You choose your own course but you have to do all the contacts and weaves once, fastest clean run wins. This sounds like fun but I'll skip it this time around, all those contacts and weaves probably aren't the best for either dog on top of all the other classes. There are 6 runs on Sat. and 5 on Sun. which is too much for my crew so I need to skip some classes anyway. There's also a 3 dog relay with 3 separate courses-gamblers, standard and jumpers. I'll skip that for sure, I hate team events. It's bad enough if I screw up and let one person down, I don't need to be letting 2 people down. Anyway I'm looking forward to the trial, otherwise there's nothing between Jan. and April.

Woke up this morning to another 5-6" of snow and 2-3" more predicted by days end which will mean about 14-15" stacked up in my yard by tonight. No agility for a while I'm afraid. I slogged through the 5" of fresh snow on the Wonderland Trail this morning with Cody & Strummer. A normally easy 2 mile run took for freakin' ever but the snow was falling while we ran and it was a beautiful morning. Strummy took me down on some ice just a few blocks from home but I seem to be o.k. I came down on my left thigh & knee and it doesn't hurt now but I'm sure I'll have some lovely bruises to show off at the pool. One of my lane mates is concerned I'm the victim of domestic violence and I have to convince him it's my dogs and my own clumsiness. Most of the time I don't even know where the bruises came from. I'm still sore from skiing on Sun. but I was thinking about going after work instead of going to the pool. Did I metion about how I was biting my lip this morning to keep from screaming while I lifted my leg to put on my pants? Nope, it appears I never will learn.