I can't believe it was 10 days ago I was rushing to the airport after school headed to Orlando for the 2022 AKC National Championship. As a teacher, my schedule has lots of perks, but also has the downfall of not being to just take off work and head to major show like this. Petra was invited to the 2022 National Owner Handler Series Finals from being one of the top 10 NOHS whippets this year. The dates aligned perfectly, where I could take Friday, Dec 16th off as a personal day from school and attend.
I wouldn't have been able to pull this off without my close friends. They packed up Petra with their dogs and drove her down there. I did help pack the van! We managed to get a coonhound, a whippet, a greyhound, a kooiker, and enough room for someone to nap, as Michelle demonstrated. They drove through there and back, safely and surprisingly efficiently.
My trip, was not great. There were tornados across the state of Florida which delayed my flight. Which made me miss my Fort Lauderdale to Orlando flight.
I got to Fort Lauderdale at midnight, and then took an Uber for 3 hours to Orlando. Thank goodness I had a good Uber driver! I arrived at the Airbnb by 4 am. I basically took a nap, then up at 7 to get Petra ready for the finals.
At shows like this, I show more to the people outside of the ring than I do for the judge. The judge can only pick one dog, but the crowd can pick as many favorites as they like. Petra didn't win anything, but the comments from the spectators are always enough for me.
For the Actual AKC National Championship, Petra was one of 74 whippets. This was her last show of her official specials campaign. Again, no placements, but wow, did she look amazing. I am just happy I got to go.
The amount of stuff at Royal Canin was overwhelming. I went through SO many vendors, but my favorite part were all the AKC booths and what the AKC has to offer people. From breeders toolkits to insurance, from DNA to canine college, the AKC really is working hard to make our lives with dogs fulfilling. Helping us be ethical and professional in our breeding programs. The Royal Canin booth was a wealth of information on gestational nutrition to puppy formulas.
I had a blast, and I am so happy and thankful that I was able to attend with a dog I have accomplished so much with.
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