First, let say that competing at the Open World Dutch Shepherd Championship was amazing. The people, the dogs and the location of the event was to say the least wonderful.

I have competed with my German Shepherd in Germany (four times) and in Austria (once) with my Malinois, before coming to the Netherlands to compete with Aaron. This Championship was by far the most enjoyable.

Before I get into the competition itself, let me tell you what occurred before coming to Holland. It is quite a tale indeed.

I was advised to go to www.ledobryhollanders.nl and check out the website. I got interested and I decided to enter the event. I did not know how I was to pay for this, but I figure at leas I would enter. I knew that by entering this event, I would make it a World event, not just an European Championship, so I was excited.

I told Aaron's owner, Asheley Winters, that I had entered, she also was excited and told me that she was going to pay for the trip so I can show Aaron. I made the preparations and a couple of months before we headed out to the Netherlands, Asheley told me she had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and would not be able to fund the whole trip. She told me she at least help with the flight and car rental, which were the biggest expenses. Some of the members at club training overheard the conversation on the phone and as I finished talking, they apologize for listening, and told me that they would make a collection to help me go to the Championship. Well, to make a long story short, Cascade SchH. Club as well as my parents and some friends, pitched in some money and I was able to have enough money to travel to the 1st Open Dutch Shepherd Championship, which for us is The 1st World Dutch Shepherd Championship.

After a 14 hour flight and a couple of hours drive from Amsterdam to where my hotel was located, I took a short nap and then drove to the competition field where I met Jose. From the moment I got to the field, I was welcome with open arms and shown the field. I got to work Aaron a couple of times before the competition.

In the US, our club has white permanent blinds, but here to my surprised, the blinds were surrounded by very big trees. It turned out that it was ok for Aaron and on trial day he did a good job. We ended in 7th place and took the Best Foreign dog trophy.

The whole experience was great. The field, the helpers and the tracking conditions were good. Met several people from other countries as well and I hope I made long lasting friends. Our goal here is to save money to come to the 2009 Championship in hopes to do a better job.

Thank you,

Les Flores and Vrijheid's Aaron