In 2002, Moseley and I worked very hard to qualify for the AKC Agility Nationals, which were held in Houston on Nov. 1-3. Only dogs competing in Excellent B, the highest level, were able to accumulate scores throughout the year to qualify. There were 117 dogs in Moseley's division - the best dogs from all over the country.

Two weeks before the show, I ruptured a ligament in my foot and the doctor said I couldn't run. I was pretty devastated to miss this event. My husband, JP, agreed to run Moseley for me. He runs our other dogs occasionally but hasn't run the PON very often. He *is* a very natural handler, though and is quite athletic.

Saturday, JP and Moseley went clean in both runs and were ranked 24th going into Sunday's competition. There was one round on Sunday and the top 11 dogs in the 16" division would move on to the Finals. Moseley and JP put in another clean round but it wasn't quite as fast as some of the World Team-ranked Shelties he was competing against. Somehow, when the tabulation was over, Moseley had moved up to 10th place and had earned her spot in the Finals! This is the first year a PON has run at the AKC Agility Nationals and we had received a special award at the Friday night banquet. It had already

been a fantastic show and now this -- the Finals!
Animal Planet was set up and there were lights and cameras everywhere. They had dressed up the horse arena, hanging blue curtains along the backdrop to make it look classy. They even covered up the huge Bud Light Beer sign hanging on the wall! Handlers were given a nice, blue collared "Finalist" shirt to wear.

Soon enough, it was their turn in the ring. JP and Moseley put in a great, quick run, nailing a tough weave pole entry and making it look easy. They went clean in the Finals! In the end, they took 6th place. I am so proud of them! JP did a fantastic job under pressure, especially considering he doesn't normally run her.  Moseley went out and did her job right!