Cadence and Nina – INTERNATIONAL COMPETITORS!
It is with great excitement that I announce that I have been selected to compete with Nina and Cadence on this years USA Team for the Agility European Open Junior World Championship Team on July 13-15 2012 in Pinkafeld, Austria. For more information: http://www.eojunior2012.at/englisch/home/.
The future of our sport lies with our juniors and events like these are a wonderful opportunity for our future World Champions to learn the sport on an international level. In the following weeks we will be holding fundraisers to help fund team expenses; dog transport, uniforms, travel, etc. Team supporter shirts will be available on our website as well as other opportunities to help support the team. Our team website (still under construction) is located at: http://usajragility.com/.
Please join me in supporting our USA Juniors Team in this inaugural effort.
Lets go make history!

Small Dogs:
Jessica Vanden Langenberg –
Mayhem, Boston Terrier
Monica Zanetti
- Nina, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
John Rotelle – Brooke, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Anneka Dahle - Charm, Shetland Sheepdog
Anneka Dahle – Taufie, Shetland Sheepdog
Claire O’Neil – Ama, Keeshond
Kayla Dyson – Rumor, Border Collie
Rebecca Smith – ChaCha, Border Collie
Brooke Knotek – Lady, Border Collie
Monica Zanetti – Cadence, German Shepherd
Anneka Dahle – Tucker, Australian Shepherd
Special Batmobile Dog Transport System
It is great that Jennie can take Batman along on some of her travels. Did you notice the thing in the photo called Pet Tube?
This girl finds the best inventions! For those with a car where a crate won’t fit – it expands to fit on the back seat of a car and the dog has the full seat without being loose. It looks like the thing gets fastened to the seat-belt system or something like that so that the dog is safe.
Jennie does not own a vehicle. This takes care of Batman for the rental cars!
http://www.petego.com/products.aspx?catId=24&prodId=121
The only thing that I see wrong with this system is the company should have used BATMAN for the model!
Fire-up the Batmobile: We’re taking a road trip!
Batman and I are in South Carolina this week for a work training at USC. It’s a 7-8 hour drive from DC. I’m so glad I brought him — it’s been really good for him to get used to being in an unfamiliar place with me. It’s also been fun finding new places to train. I even managed to do some K9 nosework sessions in the hotel room. I’ll post video at the end.
First, the packing process:
I’m a light packer. My dog is not.
Training at a rest stop in North Carolina. I call this my “Tiger mom face.”
Chilling out at the hotel after a long drive.
Posing in front of a monument at the USC Horseshoe, where we took our morning walks.
Practicing “elevator manners.”
Doing some K9 nosework — I love that you can practice this sport just about anywhere:
Rock Star! (aka W-Dutch)
We’re back home now, but I wanted to show you some of the terrain that my “little” rock star has scrambled over. That’s my sister Teri holding him in front of the rocky beach. The last picture shows the barrier we installed in the rear of the Suburban. With him safely confined to the rear of the vehicle, we can leave the windows open for ventilation. We were lucky that the weather was so overcast and cool during our visit to Newport because we could safely leave him in the car while we toured the mansions. We also purchase a huge crate that has been secured back there. We removed the door, and it provides him with both a sleep area and open area for sightseeing. He spends most of his time sleeping in the crate while we travel. He’s great – we almost forget he’s there, he’s so quiet! 
Three things fall from the sky…
Three things fall from the sky: bird shit, idiots and ANDREA!!! (This is a quote from Julie’s Dad—slightly modified.)
Andrea took her girlfriend skydiving for her birthday!
Just a word of caution to anyone who might want Andrea to plan your birthday adventure!
Matt is smiling because he’s damn happy that it wasn’t HIS birthday! 
Yesterday I received a text message: “You’ve inspired me to jump. I’m headed to DeLand.”
“Who is this??”
“Andrea!”
Andrea and crew were headed to Skydive DeLand for their rush of the day. I’m just glad she sent me the text because I would not have wanted to miss it. For any of you crazy people who have a desire to jump from a plane, Skydive DeLand is the best place to do it!