AKC Nationals Part 1

Whisper is only the second greyhound to have been invited to the AKC Nationals in agility. To qualify a dog must have earned 600 MACH points and 6 QQ the preceding year. So only the top agility dogs in the country were invited. Since the Nationals were held so close to home-Reno Nevada this year it was a given to go.

A friend of mine Kathy and her Golden retriever Jade made the trip with us for moral support. It was in 60s and sunny when we left. The bay area rarely/never gets snow so along the way we stopped at Donner Pass in the Sierras to let the dogs play in the snow.




Five hours later we made it to Reno. People were arriving from all around the country including Hawaii. The car below had just arrived from Pennsylvannia.



Checking into the trial the day before the event started we parked next to a car from West Virginia. In the car was a Border Collie and a tumbleweed. Asking the owner what was up with the tumbleweed he answered with a drawl "he caught it in Colorado and was taking it home."

After completing check in at the trial site we headed to the hotel to check in and get a good nights sleep before the competition started.





All went well until 3 AM when the fire alarms went off. The upper floors of the hotel were evacuated(of course we were on the 8th floor) until the fire department cleared the scene. Someone on the floor above was smoking in the hall and tripped the smoke alarm. It was cold, it was more than cold it was frigid cold and windy. Forty minutes later we were allowed back into the hotel. So at 3:40 AM we tried to go back to sleep only to have the alarm go off at 4:30 AM.

From the hotel to the show grounds Reno Livestock Event Center was close. When the sun rose the hills were covered in snow and cold.



At least the trial was indoors so somewhat warmer.