The Invitational was way back in mid December. I am still waiting for Riley and Seven's photos from the event so I have been delaying their posts. But I will tell you that Seven was sound and ran rather wild. Riley ran very well. Both had some nice placements.
Maddie did not compete, of course, but I maximized the experience so she would get exposure to a lot of different things.
This was the first time that Maddie was inside of a large venue holding a huge event. There was agility, obedience, conformation, dock jumping, and demonstrations. There were also crating and grooming areas. People, children, dogs, and vendors were everywhere. There was loud music, slick floors, and far away potty areas. Maddie did not have one accident. Almost! But made it outside just in time. She started to act a little funny and it dawned on me that she probably needed to go outside.... a good distance away. We started running as fast as we could and she almost squatted on the carpet, but I kept her moving and we made it to the grass with no time to spare.
We were assigned crate spaces. You technically aren't supposed to bring extra dogs, but Maddie and Riley's two 36 inch long crates fit on one space.
Maddie was wonderful. On most mornings, she had to stay in her crate for a few hours while I walked courses, competed the big girls, and took care of them. Maddie was so patient and waited for her turn without complaint. She would nap or chew.
Once it was Maddie's turn, we walked everywhere inside and out. I found these huge flight of stairs to work on. Maddie resisted going down them at first, but then quickly gave in. The next day she dragged me to the stairs for more practice. It was really cute.
We helped out at the breed booth a few times.
Pam Rubinstein had the brilliant idea to rent a couch for the booth. The greyhounds definitely had the most comfortable booth.
There was also another puppy there representing. Isn't she precious? She had just come over from Scotland.
Look how big she is. Maddie is 5 and half months in this photo below and the red puppy is 3 months. I think she is going to be huge!
We also made our way around the conformation rings. I did not see the greyhounds show because I was competing in agility at the exact same time. But we did make time for a cheesy conformation picture. Apparently, only paying customers are supposed to put their dogs up on the box because we were quickly chased away. Whoops!
We made time for a little lizard hunting. I think it is good year around in Florida.
In the evenings and on the last morning, I walked the girls for an hour around our hotel in Orlando. The restaurants and store fronts had nice sidewalks and grassy areas. It was great to get Maddie out around traffic and crowds.
Yeah, she is getting that big...
Maddie also did great in the hotel. We were on the 4th floor and had to take an elevator. She was a champ. No accidents. Settled right in and slept through the night.
All in all, Maddie was excellent and the trip was a great experience for her.
