When Dominique received the premium list with an invitation for us to participate at the International Invitational in Pescadero, she thought this was pretty nice.  She was really pleased about the emails from Kathy Kelly that she should send pictures of us for everyone to see at the I.I. and that people would love to see us run.  But when she had to put us on the airplane she was worried sick that something might happen, since we had to travel alone as Bernd had been working in San Francisco.  But it all worked out fine and when I arrived with my sister, Balsam, at the San Francisco airport, Bernd picked us up. 
     Yes, many people were curious to see us at the I.I. and there was a lot of touching and talking.  Finally we were allowed to do what we wanted all along  -  run after the lure.  The ground was hard and the lure took a few sharp turns.  Balsam tumbled at one turn but was right up again.  Still, it was me who followed the lure closest.  Many spectators saw us running and we heard some nice comments.  In the afternoon we had a second run and the crowd and the judges were pretty happy with us (we got a total of 311 points for two runs). 
     On Sunday, we again had fun running after the lure and I did a fantastic leap down from a small hill to catch up with the lure.  But why am I not allowed to compete with the others in the finale? I do not run worse than them?  That evening we got our recognition for the weekend and received the trophies donated by our club, the Sloughi Fanciers Association of America (SFAA).
     The next day we had a terrible trip home.  Two connecting flights were canceled in Salt Lake City.  We were rerouted through Denver where we spent the entire day with Bernd at the airport. 

     Yes, the Sloughis were at the I.I. for the first time and participated in everything they could with good success and in the true competitive spirits of hounds.
      May the lure be with us.