Hi All
I am home from the most wonderful weekend at the Afghan Affair.
An awesome
event put on by Sharon F./Anna S-F/ Marla C. And the rest of the
AHALI group.
I can't rave enough about this day. We started in a huge building
that was completely
decorated with afghans- they were on the walls + the windows, doggie
water bowls were
all over for the furry guests who needed a drink. There were even
spare crates set up
for afghans who needed a rest and their owners hadn't brought a
crate. They truly though
of everything. There was an enormous breakfast spread for us humans.
The raffle was
huge- there were the big ticket items table/supply cart/stool +
the big dryer plus plenty
of other loot. I won 2 armfuls of toys, bully sticks, chewies, coolers,
etc from just the
raffle table. There were also all kinds of hats,shirts,sweats, jackets,etc
available for
sale. It was just amazing. There was a show handling class, a grooming
demo/hands
on + a question session. The grooming model was CHARLOTTE and I
do mean that
Charlotte, the new mexico rescue who was so severely tramatized
when she arrived.
Ulrike + Anna are nothing short of miracle workers for their work
healing Charlotte's
broken soul. Then there was a good manners class where everybody
participated
rescue/pet/youngsters being socialized +finished champions. There
were big prize
baskets for all kinds of awards with Marla judging. Isabel my foster
won best tail and
immediatedly picked her bully stick out of her basket and started
chomping. Dragonfly's
my ty baby won longest ears, elan sebring calypso "jazzmine" won
best trick. There were
more and I think every participant won a prize basket. There seemed
to be an endless
supply of them. Then we were off to Sharon's house for agility and
a hot lunch. I could go
on forever on Sharon's house. Its simply perfect. The yard is huge,
beautifully landscaped
including a mountain and you can imagine how popular that was with
our mountain climbing
afghans. There is also an agility area with more equipment than
we have at my classes.
The fact that all this overlooks the ocean sends the whole thing
into perfection. When I die
I want to come back and live at Sharon's. Back to the agility, everybody
was jumping,
climbing and go through tunnels in no time. There was an agility
instructor (sorry don't
remember her name) and ulrike, anna + sharon helping everyone with
the equipment.
Sharon made a mountain of liver to convince even the most hesitant
to try an obstacle.
Charlotte + Edgar from new mexico were doing the obstacles having
fun. We learned
that nicole a rescue living in Manhattan has a hidden talent for
agility because she took
to it like a fish to water handing even the big equipment with ease.
There were tears when
my ty baby went through the tire with his tail up after his first
look at the tire resulted in
shreaking that is all to familar with all of us afghan owners. My
own pretty princess
Nirrti Lu looked at the equipment and then at me and I could see
her reply in eyes. I
did these things for you 3 years ago, you should have watched then,
I am not doing them
again. However once she saw sharon's liver, she was doing sequences
of 3 and 4. I think
sharon's liver has magical qualtities,to convince Nirrti to do anything
it must.
She is nothing if not stubborn. After all the afghan guests had
tired themselves out with the
agility equipment, as we (the humans) ate and relaxed on the huge
porch we were treated
to agility and obedience demos by Aiden, glory, amelia, and more
experienced performers.
Then the sun set over the water in a perfect ending to a perfect
day and it was time to
climb into the car to go home. The funny thing is that on the way
to Sharon's saturday
night I thought route 27 east would never end but Sunday night on
the way back home,
route 27 west ended much sooner than I wanted. The pot of gold is
not at the end of the
rainbow, its at the end of 27east. This event was so very worth
the trip. There are local
hotels who accept dogs so if there is a second chance, leap on it.
This is the best time
to visit with friends in a t ruly relaxed, fun environment, meet
new friends, socialize
puppies, have a fun day out with your retired champion and visit
with a pet you placed
or a rescue you formerly fostered or even to meet a new dog available
for adoption.
Thank you a million times over Sharon, Pete, Anna + Marla and everyone
else
for a great weekend. The AHALI club is a special group.
Lisa