Over the River and Through the Woods--

SUMMARY: To agility trials we go.

My dad looked at my online weekends calendar and asked how many miles I put on MUTT MVR each year.

(I didn't point out that there are a lot of competitions that I *could* go to but don't, as exemplified by the famous Karey's Calendar.)

Because I don't have a regular commute, I always say that most of my annual mileage (12,000-15,000 miles [19,000-24,000 km]) is dog-related. But is that so?

Rough guess on dog-related miles per year:

• Vet. At least one per dog for check-up and shots. Usually at least a couple more for various reasons--pick up a prescription, medical issue, whatever.  Let's say 6/year, 17 miles round trip=about 100 miles.
• Agility class. We don't really have class once a week (holidays, rain, instructor out of town, etc.) but with extra trips to rent the field, get a private lesson, and so on, let's say 52 weeks a year. 26 miles round trip. 1350 miles.
• Competitions. In the last few years I've not gone to trials that take more than 2 hours to get to (other than Nationals). That's still at least 20 weekends a year, including occasional fun matches, seminars, and what-not. There are either the 2-hours-away trials, in which case I don't come home to sleep saturday night, or the 1-hour-away trials, in which case I do come home Saturday night. Either way, the mileage for a weekend is probably about the same. Say, 200 miles round trip. 4000 miles.
• If you throw in a trip to Nationals in Scottsdale (heh--that's not happening any more, thank goodness!), that adds another 2000 in one week. But didn't go last year, and I'm not going off to the more eastern parts, for sure.

Well, lessee, that's only 5500 miles [8850 km].

I don't go to the groomers; pet food is usually picked up on the way by the store--huh. Might make special trips here or there for dog things, but nothing immediately pops to mind. Still, that's roughly a third to a half of my annual miles.

And there you have it: The whole reason I have a minivan instead of a nice sporty or luxury car. Dog travel. That is, it is indeed a MUTT MVR.