Reader Mailbag
Thank you to all our dedicated readers for sharing your Thanksgiving traditions and stories with me this year—I enjoyed reading about the wide variety of pies gracing your tables! In the Midwest, pumpkin pie was, as always, the star of the show, with additions like French silk, Dutch apple, and even black raspberry-rhubarb pies making appearances.
In the Northeast, pumpkin pie led the pack, but regional twists like Cranberry Raisin pie and pumpkin ice cream pie with maple syrup added some flair. A few daring readers sampled lemon meringue, while down South, pecan pie was the main event (although at least one family had a frozen German chocolate pie). One North Carolina reader shared a humorous story about their brother-in-law’s future wife, a Massachusetts native, bringing a pumpkin pie to her first Thanksgiving with the family. Later, the mother-in-law incredulously asked, “Can you believe she brought a pumpkin pie?”
Out West, readers opted for lighter, adventurous choices, like pear tarts in Oregon and Key Lime pie in California. Even on the Isle of Wight, a Canadian pumpkin pie made an appearance, showing that pie knows no borders. Thanks again to everyone for your responses!
AKC Invitational Stats
The excitement is building for the upcoming AKC Invitational, set to take place December 14-15, 2024, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. This event (one of my favorites) emphasizes breed diversity and will showcase just over 700 of the AKC’s top agility dogs as they demonstrate their speed, precision, and teamwork. Over the qualifying period, an incredible 206,418 runs were tallied in regular standard and jumpers classes, representing 12,686 individual dogs from 187 breeds. The top 5 dogs in each breed are invited, but not every AKC breed will be represented in Orlando. Take a look at the list of breeds below and see if any catch your eye–a single point with a dog from one of these breeds would have qualified you for this year’s event.
Here are the breeds with ZERO dogs with a regular Masters Q this year:
- American English Coonhound
- American Foxhound
- Anatolian Shepherd Dog
- Appenzeller Sennenhunde
- Azawakh
- Basset Hound
- Bergamasco
- Black Russian Terrier
- Bloodhound
- Bluetick Coonhound
- Boerboel
- Bolognese
- Bullmastiff
- Cane Corso
- Chinook
- Chow Chow
- Clumber Spaniel
- Colored Bull Terrier
- Dandie Dinmont Terrier
- Dogo Argentino
- Dogue de Bordeaux
- English Foxhound
- Eurasier
- Finnish Spitz
- Glen of Imaal Terrier
- Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen
- Great Pyrenees
- Hovawart
- Irish Wolfhound
- Japanese Chin
- Komondor
- Kuvasz
- Leonberger
- Mastiff
- Newfoundland
- Norrbottenspets
- Norwegian Lundehund
- Otterhound
- Pekingese
- Plott
- Portuguese Podengov
- Portuguese Pointer
- Scottish Deerhound
- Skye Terrier
- Small Munsterlander Pointer
- St. Bernard
- Sussex Spaniel
- Thai Ridgeback
- Tibetan Mastiff
- White Bull Terrier
- French Spaniel
- Bracco Italiano
- Czechoslovakian Vlcak
- Bergamasco Sheepdog
- Braque Francais Pyrenean
- Kishu Ken
- Drentsche Patrijshond
- Lapponian Herder
- Small Munsterlander
- Taiwan Dog
- Swedish Lapphund
Podcast with (former) AKC Agility Director Carrie DeYoung
Did you know that before running AKC agility, she worked in the human resources department at Walt Disney? We had the honor of interviewing Carrie DeYoung, the newly retired and now former Director of Agility for the American Kennel Club. This marks her 11th interview for the podcast, but the first one entirely focused on her story which coincides with the growth and development of dog agility in the AKC.
This episode was an emotional one—it’s the first podcast Sarah has ever had to pause for tears. Carrie has been a constant presence at so many of the events we love, and it’s bittersweet to see her move on. Congratulations on your retirement, Carrie, and welcome to the new Director of AKC Agility, Doug Hurley!
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN: Episode 352: AKC Director Carrie DeYoung Retires
Kidney Stones
This Thanksgiving brought more than just turkey, pie, and a Cowboys victory on the football field—I ended the evening with a kidney stone. After the meal, I spent nearly two hours writhing in agony until the stone finally passed. Since then, my water intake has skyrocketed. They say kidney stones rank right up there with childbirth as one of the most painful experiences you can endure, and honestly, I believe it. If any of you readers have a definitive personal comparison between the two, I’d like to hear about it!
VIDEO: I may have pulled a Joey Tribbiani on Thanksgiving
Get your holiday shopping done early this year and please email me at team@baddogagility.com with your kidney stone-related tale of pain and suffering!
Happy Training,
