Finals time!

Finally it's Finals! 2010 USBCHA National Finals, in Middletown, VA at Belle Grove plantation. The course is beautiful and the local host committee has stepped in and done a stellar job. The sheep look fit, a group of 650 border cheviot crossbreeds, all 2-4 years old. The course is straightforward for the Nursery, right hand drive of about 125 yards on each leg, outrun 325 yards. I'm on the Handlers Association trial committee this year. I was on it at the 2007 Finals in PA and enjoyed it a lot, so am looking forward to it again. Basically, the local committee oversees what is happening outside the fence - crowds, vendors, all the million things that go into making this huge event - while the HA committee oversees the action on the inside of the fence - setting the course, watching every run for any kind of controversy or decision making that needs done, keeping things flowing and fair for everyone.

Tomorrow we begin the Nursery at 8 am and will go through the first 54 dogs on the running order. I don't run Bill until 91st, so will be watching closely and formulating my strategies for sunday. I can hardly wait to see him going out on that outrun since i've been aiming towards this since the 20 07Finals, when Bill was delivered to me as a 7 week old pup. He sat himself down in front of me, looked me right in the face with this open, honest expression as if to say "yup, i'm your dog" and now here we are. He's definitely my dog!