2008 World Agility Championships

AKC/USA World Agility Championship Team
Helsinki, Finland
Day One - September 22, 2008

As of Sunday all thirteen members of the AKC World Team had arrived in Helsinki. The dogs travelled well and were thrilled to find a lovely city park with a walking trail around the lake across the street from the hotel. It is perfectly designed for the dogs and handlers to relax. After a good night’s rest they were ready for their 3 hour practice today. The practice facility they worked at has the same surface they will run on during the World Cup Competition this upcoming weekend. In fact, it is truly the same surface. The surface will be rolled up and taken to the Ice Hall later this week for the competition.

Team Coach, Nancy Gyes and Asst Coach, Kathie Leggett took the team thru a series of exercises designed to loosen up both the dogs and handlers. Once they got their footing and they were warmed up they took on sequences similar to what they expect to see this weekend.

Many of the supporters took a sightseeing trip thru the city of Helsinki today. Tomorrow while the team is working thru another 3 hour practice the supporters will be travelling to Estonia for the day.

This is the beginning of a very exciting week for all and the team would like to thank their sponsor I Love Dogs, Inc. for making this event possible.