Opening Ceremony All national teams marched in the alphabetical order. Belgium was the first to enter the ring, followed by Canada, Germany and Japan. This time, Harry was representing Japan. Harry felt so pround when marching in the ring. The US and the Netherlands were the last to enter.
	In the end of the ceremony, all participants shook hands with one another, wishing "Good Luck" to everyone. The beginning of the fun 3 day world championships!
	Day 1 Beautiful weather, but rather too hot for May in Holland. Harry looked very tired after the long trip from New York. At the start line, he kept scratching his ears, not noticing at all that the handler was already leading out. That made the audience laugh and cheer at Harry! (Photo Courtesy of Eddy Dewannemacker)
	However once he started running, Harry looked very serious as in the usual USDAA trials. He jumped so high with a happy face! He was not particularly fast, but ran clean in all the runs. He took 5th place in Power & Speed and 7th place in Standard.
	Day 2 Harry slept very well like a log during the night. He was once again full of energy and ready to run! The first run of the day was Gamblers. Harry is a mummy's boy and always runs close to the handler. But unexpectedly he completed the difficult gamble very easily and came in 2nd place. Harry finally stood on the IFCS podium.
	The rest of the day went extremely well too. Harry ran clean in the every single run. He took 5th place in Jumpers, 7th place in Snooker and 5th place in Biathlon. And the most important of all, Harry came in 2nd place in Individual All Around! All individual games were completed by the end of Day 2.
	The Day 2 was closed with the award-giving ceremony of Biathlon. Biathlon is the game consiting of the Standard Agility and Jumper. Lola, a rocket-fast papillon from the Netherlands, came in 1st. And Harry's friendly rival "Bailey" came in 2nd! The 3rd was Phoebe from the US. Harry came in 5th place in Biathlon.
	Day 3 Warm sunny beautiful Sunday. A lot of local people came to watch the games. There was only the Triathlon (Country team competition) on Day 3. Each national team selected three dogs as a team to compete in Triathlon. When the Japanese coach annouced the three team members the night before, Harry's name was not there. But in the morning, the coach changed his mind and selected Harry to be in the team.
	Harry and two border collies, Smile and Hika, made the Japanese team. Harry ran clean and fast in Standard and Jumpers. Unfortunately the three dogs' combining scores were the 2nd from the last. But they all enjoyed the runs and had a very good time. Many thanks the Japanese team members for recommending Harry to be in the team.
	Closing Ceremony There were award-giving ceremonies for Triathlon (Team), followed by award-giving ceremonies for All Around (Individual). The US Team 1 won the Triathlon. Russian Team 1 and 2 followed with very close scores. The US Team 2 also did very well and came in 5th place. The US Team looked so proud while the National Anthem was played. Congratulations!
	Phoebe, an amazing papillon from the US, won All Around in the Toy Class. Harry came in 2nd place. Elfania, a white spitz from Russia, took 3rd place. IFCS world championships are well-known for accepting mixed-breed dogs to compete. To everybody's surprise and to Harry's great credit, Harry was the very first mixed-breed dog to be on the podium in the history of IFCS.
	In the Maxi Class and the Midi Class, border-collies mostly domitaed the podium. The photo shows the award-giving of the Maxi Class. Storm, a border-collie from the UK, won the 1st place. The way Storm's handler ran was amazing and almost entertaining. It was as if wathcing a great action movie. The handler kept shouting loud from the start to the goal, gave Storm very distinctive body-signals, and he really ran fast! Harry's master may not be the only one who was tempted to mimik his handling.
	Trophy and Medal The trophy in which a man handling a collie is for Gamblers. Another one in which a woman sending a spaniel to A-Frame is for All Around. Harry was rescued from a New York City shelter two years ago. It was not easy to train this energetic terrier-mix with quite a few behaviour problems. Harry's family thought they really have come a long way.
	Team Japan Very nice friendly people. Harry really enjoyed the company of the Team Japan. Before their departure for Japan, they gave Harry a cute orange-coloured collar and a lead. Orange is the national colour of Holland. Many thanks again to the Team Japan. (Photo Courtesy of Susumu Konishi)
	Harry's Jolly Holiday in Holland Harry did some sightseeings in Holland too! In Amsterdam, Harry went to see Rembrandt in the National Museum. In Keukenhof, he had a nice stroll in colourful tulips gardens. He even had a chance to fly to Basel, Switzerland!

Information on 2006 IFCS World Agility Championships
http://www.fhn.nl/default.asp?tekstid=2093&menu=2048&button=1 (WAC 2006 Official Site: Programs, participants, results)
http://usdaa.com/article.cfm?newsID=213 (Day 1: Course maps, briefings, comments, photos)
http://usdaa.com/article.cfm?newsID=216 (Day 2: Course maps, briefings, comments, photos)
http://usdaa.com/article.cfm?newsID=217 (Day 3: Course maps, briefings, comments, photos)
http://www.doezeninaction.info/pages%202006/WAC2006.html (Movies)
http://www.heyda.eu (Photos)

The Expenses and the Preparation
Harry and his family's travel expenses were partly paid by Novartis Pharma AG in Switzerland.
Harry's master was also very grateful that Ms. Janet Gaunt, the Team Leader of the US National Team from USDAA, helped her prepare for this world championship by providing necessary information on the regulations, the programs and the travels.