Fleura had an amazing year! 2023 is the year she will be bred to Ingvar, and they ended up very close to one another.
Dean also ended the year as #4 LGRA Breed & Niko was #15 Breed. Evie showed for the first time in a year aside from Beezer Bash, and she was WB Saturday and WB/BOW Sunday for two more points.
We had a long week of camping in TN, starting with Beezer Bash on Tuesday, followed by the four days of Winter Challenge. It was overall a great weekend. Sam was Winner's Dog & Best Puppy at the Beezer Bash Specialty for his first major. In the ASFA trial, Evie was fourth place in Field Champions and Niko was second in Veterans. At Winter Challenge, Fleura was BOB every day, but ultimately pulled up a little lame for Best in Event. Overall, it was a great week and a blast to hang out with everyone.
Fleura ended the year #1 in LGRA, #4 in ASFA (after four trials), and #2 in AKC lure coursing! We had a cold but very nice weekend in TN, finishing our last LGRA meet of the year. Dean only had Niko to run with, but they had a blast. Fleura had a big enough entry to add on another 5 points over the two days.
Fleura made history and I'm still processing it. With the NLCC so close by in Florida, I decided that I needed to go and at least run Fleura. She's at her competitive height, and even though money was tight enough that I couldn't enter any of the Beezers (which had a huge entry!), I decided it was worth investing everything to give Fleura a shot. As I cautiously told people, I believed she could actually be a contender.
The weekend started off with her running kind of sluggish compared to her usual rocket speed. It feels cheap to say that when she ultimately was BOB both days, but it was something that several people used to seeing her run commented on, so I felt safe that it wasn't me glorifying her usual style. Her cousin, Rosie, put in some really beautiful runs and beat her both days in Prelims, but Fleura kept it together in Finals and squeaked ahead. Fleura tends to get better throughout the day as she runs, and on Friday, she had a brilliant course for BIF which was ultimately awarded to the Azawakh. After discussing her sluggishness with Eddie, we decided not to run her in BIF on Saturday to conserve her for the NLCC. Sunday was cool and beautiful, and Rosie and Fleura ran off over 1200 yards to see who would be the NLCC Finalist. Rosie got some hair hung in the line and we had to stop mid-course, but luckily was fine due to the quick actions of the Huntmaster. Fleura put in a great course, one of her best over the weekend, and moved on to the finals. After seeing her run that morning, I started to become cautiously hopeful again - she was running more like she typically does. When the NLCC came about, Fleura drew the Greyhound and the Borzoi. I wasn't sure what to think. Normally, with her speed, this is actually a good draw for her to show just how fast she is, but I was nervous she would peter out over the next 1200 yards with how she had run the previous days on 800 yards. It turns out that I wasn't giving her competitive spirit enough credit. Fleura hates when dogs are faster than her, and she rode that Greyhound and refused to give ground. Mid-course, she and the GH took the far corner deep and the lure was pulled ahead of the Borzoi and she started to fall back a little bit on the uphill. Then in the last third of the course, she put on the afterburners again and decided she was going to pass the Greyhound at the top of the hill. She actually pulled ahead for just a moment, then the GH started down the hill just as she was passing and there was a collision. Fleura got her brain rattled around a bit and was mildly sore on a front shoulder, but thankfully it was the very end of the course and neither dog was truly hurt. It was a brilliant course and I was so proud of her, and once again I was cautiously hopeful. There were several other great courses, but she really put on a show. Turns out that the judges unanimously put her as their top score, and Fleura became the first Afghan Hound to be awarded the National Field Champion title. This title is only given out to one dog per year, so this is phenomenally exciting. Eddie was the FTS at the event, so he got to see the scores as they were tabulated and I have no idea how he was able to keep it together long enough for it to be announced. As big of an honor as this is for me as her owner, it's an incredible honor for her breeders, Eddie & Selma. There were lots of happy tears and Selma screaming over the phone, and it was amazing. We had a fun weekend, camping out in Canon in the cool weather. Dean and Evie ran and had some fun, and we had a "borrowed" Beezer from Abbaio (Beetlejuice) who stayed with us as well and racked up some wins. He hit it off immediately with my dogs and had a great time playing with Fleura especially. Fleura had some great runs on two tight courses, and had an especially strong BIF run against the Whippet. She was BOB on Saturday to finish her LCX title, and 2nd place on Sunday.
The hilarious highlight of the weekend for me was Dean getting loose. I had handed him to a friend while I got Evie ready to go, since Beezers were up next. As I was leaning in the car and dressing her, I heard the cry of, "Loose dog!!" I decided to check, since Dean is strong, and I leaned back to look and saw him heading for the course at top speed. He had just gotten to the field, with three Whippets heading at him and the lure zipping his way, and I shouted his name. Amazingly, he screeched to a stop and spun around and headed straight back to me! This earned a round of applause from everyone in the holding area, which made it extra funny. Dean came right to me, to much praise, and then was handed back to his poor holder. Fleura had a great weekend in TN! Saturday, she certified two dogs, a Greyhound & a Borzoi, and then she went on to win the meet out of 8 dogs. Sunday, she earned her second meet win over 12 dogs. This earned her an additional 7 points toward her SGRC. We also had a great time visiting with friends, as well as Sam & Ponzi.
We had an impromptu playdate with local friends over at Katie's house, and we ended up with 17 Ibizans, 1 Afghan, 1 Pharaoh and 2 mutts all playing in the yard happily together. It was a lot of fun, with great company and happy dogs, and the added bonus was new stacked photos of Ponzi and Junior from the Art Litter in time for their 6 month half-birthday. Additionally, everyone got to meet the new addition at Acires, Sam, who is currently staying with Kayla & Ponzi. He's a sweetheart boy who will be a wonderful addition to the family.
In attendance at the party: Beezers:
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