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    Could anyone possibly be more nervous than I have been for the past day?  Too nervous to sleep last night.  Too nervous to eat breakfast.  So nervous I almost left Spur's leash on the kitchen counter as we packed out the door.

    My main objective was to keep Spur from realizing how nervous I felt.  My strategy was simple:  as much as possible, keep everything the same!   Easier said than done.

    In the car, I tried to distract myself by setting the iPod to Top 25 Songlist.  So Spur and I drove off to CalExpo listening to a wild mix of Stevie Wonder, Cher, Keith Urban and Eminem.  Lose Yourself!

    My mind was whirling with my trial day strategy.  Practice go-outs outside the ring before the judges arrive.  Walk around to familiarize Spur with the venue.  Leave plenty of time for potties.  Remember to play a tiny game - perhaps a quick spin? - in the ring in between exercises. 

    We arrived two hours before we would show, and I started working him near the conformation rings.  And quickly realized I was obsessing beyond all reason.  I took a deep breath, and gave him a crate break while I did some deep breathing and chatted with the other handlers.   

    Then I sat with Spur in my lap for an hour as we watched the B dogs do their stuff.  It wasn't pretty, and I felt the pressure begin to return.

    A few minutes before our turn was due we warmed up and I took my last deep breath.  I wouldn't breath again until we exited the ring.

    As we entered, a small miracle.  Spur, who'd been looking lively but a bit overwhelmed by it all , suddenly took on a new air.  "Oh," I could feel him saying to himself, "we're doing this?  I know all about this!"

    And we launched into great heeling, and crisp articles.  Then came the glove exercise. 

    Which is where I lost it.  I gave the wrong command for him to back into position for glove 3.  He was confused and I was flustered.  I followed up with a poor hand signal, and Spur ran in an utterly wrong direction.  No glove.  We had NQ'ed.

    We gathered ourselves up and did a moving stand.  No trouble with the goes or directed jumping.  Except for my error - we would have been there.

    "I like this dog," the judge told me.  "You can tell he wants to do it," she added, giving me a sideways glance.  Yes.  A little decent handling helps.

    And so we return tomorrow.  Hopefully, I'll get things right.  Hopefully, Spur's enthusiasm will remain unchecked. 

    But hopes can take you only so far.  Tonite we'll go to the park for a little fun practice to reinforce our foundation.  And tomorrow, I will try very hard to remember to breathe.

    

      Show results for all four days of shows are now available.