CATCH3 Vada!

Last Monday Letty and Sonic had check ups with Dr Julia.  Letty is doing well and did not need any additional needle/trigger point therapy to her gracilis.  My massage worked out the knots.  I am to keep doing her exercises and add back jumping up on the table.  She is cleared to do bitework again just nothing too crazy as she needs to build up her muscles again.  Sonic got laser and got fitted for a body harness as he’s been falling over when pooping. Tuesday I took the day off from work and went to a OneMind Techniques seminar presented by Soshana Dos.  She did a good job explaining different techniques and how to execute them.  She was able to help all of the working dogs be successful.  Since Nancy was the seminar organizer she had me cover her agility class for her after the seminar.  There were only 2 students so they got a lot of work and we had a good time. Thursday I brought Quest in to see Dr Jina as it seemed like the right side of his jaw was swollen and he had some scabs plus the peeing on rugs lately.  His urine sample looked fine (the plastic pellets in the litterbox worked!).  She thought his jaw was acne and noticed that there were lots of large lumps.  She looked at his teeth and one of his molars is pretty gross.  She also noticed that he’s been licking his belly a lot and the hair is getting thin.  So we planned to do a dental and started the bloodwork.  Turns out his kidney values are high.  Probably due to the need for a dental.  Since his dental wasn’t for another week we’re doing antibiotics and subq fluids every day.  They’ll do bloodwork again on Friday before the dental to make sure he can handle the anesthia.  When we got home I gave him his anitibotics and he vomited all the food in his stomach.  So we are keeping his meds in the fridge and giving him 1/2 a dose twice a day.  It seems to be going well.  Karl helps with the fluids each night. The AKC updated their records for the Invitational and finalized them.  Letty is the #2 Dutch Shepherd in AKC for 2015.  So now we get to start making plans for the Invitational in December.  I’m already looking forward to it.  And now we have a startline and stopped contacts!

2015 AKC Invitational Logo

2015 AKC Invitational Points

2015 AKC Invitational Dogs

MN to FL

Saturday I drove down to Rochester for the last CPE trial of the season.  They were offering 2 Standard runs and Vada still needed 1 more for her CATCH3.  Jackpot was the first class and it was traditional.  It was tough.  There was an aframe in it but the gamble line stopped about halfway down the down ramp so the dogs had to drive ahead of the handlers.  THEN there was a jump that went into the wrong side of the tunnel.  Vada and I were 2 points short in the opening.  I was handling too frantic and she was dropping bars and she missed her dogwalk contacts.  I thought she drove ahead thru the yellow on the aframe in the closing.  That driving forward helped her set the line to the correct side of the tunnel since I had to call her off the dummy jump.  But it seems that the judge called her contact so we didn’t get points.  I sent Fringe in the wrong side of the tunnel after I pulled her off the jump.  Finally I got it right when I ran Letty and she Qd.  As we came up to Standard I had to remind myself to be calm and smooth with Vada and show her the line.  In our first Standard run she dropped a bar and then missed her dogwalk contact but she ran smoothly and her weaves were smooth and powerful.  I looked too far ahead after the dogwalk as I didn’t want her taking the off course tunnel like she did in the opening in Jackpot.  I think that brought her head up (she’s running her contacts now).  I was certain with the wraps in the 2nd round that we would not be successful.  The line to the aframe and a turn before the teeter was harder then the first course (reversed).  But we did it!  Not even a single bar down!  I had to ask if we were clean.  Then I said it was our CATCH.  Someone said I could do a victory lap but the next dog was ready to go so we just did a little spiny celebratory thing.  Fringe and Letty both had good runs.  Each had a Q in one run.  Fringe bounced over a dogwalk contact.  And Letty dropped the last bar in the 2nd run as I was lazy and didn’t run thru.  Both struggled with their contacts on the 2nd run.  In Snooker I was going for all 7s as it was the aframe and the paths were good.  Vada’s tailed dropped the 2nd red.  So I sent her to the next red but at a weird angle and she dropped the bar.  In CPE you must complete 3 reds.  I only had 1 red left and 1 completed so we were done.  I stopped and asked the judge if we were done.  He said to go to the closing.  Vada nailed it and had a blast.  I was so grateful that he let us go on and let the older girl whoop it up.  Mike Willis.  Fringe and Letty nailed their runs.  51 points!  Fringe finished her CL4-S.  Her first level 4 title!  And she is now qualified to go to Nationals in OH next year if we want.  We got to see our friend Steve run his dog this weekend too.  He was diagnosed with cancer finally after having a lot of strange medical issues.  Once they started treating him so many issues went away and he has been responding to the chemo amazingly.  He still has more treatments left and some surgeries but he’s checking them off and ready to be done.  He’s been spending time enjoying life with his wife.  He’s really embraced this challenge in life and he’s been positive and has found a new perspective on life.  Steve was kind enough to video Vada’s CATCH3 run too.  He hasn’t sent it to me yet though.

CATCH3 Vada

After I got home from the CPE trial we went to see Reba at Grand Casino in Milacs.  The seating organization is terrible.  There are wooden bench seats and metal bleachers.  Nothing is marked with seat numbers but yet the tickets are sold with seat numbers.  People in our section just made room for everyone and sat anywhere.  There was so drama but it all worked out.  The show was amazing.   Reba is still great!  The girl who opened for her is great too.  I can’t remember her name though.  We got home about 12:30am.  The drive home was tough.  But it was nice to get out and do something ‘normal’.  And it was outdoors and a gorgeous night.

Sunday I was planning to go to IPO training.  Warren said we would train before he went to his ringsport training.  But then he canceled on me.  So 2 Sundays now I have planned to go to IPO training and it has been a bust.  He offered to train on a week night so we are shooting for Thursday.  I’m hoping to trial in October so I may have to make some schedule changes again and get up to Isanti to train with those guys more.  Or get over to Bryan’s house on Sundays or during the week.  At least I have another options as we get closer to October.  We’ll see if it works out this Sunday.  I did a few bark and holds with her myself to get her using those muscles.  Anyways, I slept in until 11am then took the girls swimming in the pond and sat in the shade and read my Kindle.  It was a nice quiet day.

Gorgeous Day

Ran across this picture of Logan and Quest from a few years ago.  Miss him.  Quest does too.

Quest and Logan – best buddies

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Quiet Week

I was woken up from a dream one morning and I had been dreaming that an obedience/hunting/IPO person was in a seminar type situation with me and I was doing obedience with Letty.  She was so positive and motivating and I woke up with that message in my head and heart.  That dream continues to inspire me to keep working towards trialing in IPO again.  I also woke up from a dream where Vada was telling me to quit babying her and to work her hard like I used to and that she was bored and missed it.

Seven went in for his post-surgery checkup with Dr Jackson on Thursday.  He thought the incision looked great.  One more week and then he can rip it up or do whatever he wants.  He already mostly has in the house and yard.  I think he wouldn’t mind going swimming though and running around the pond.

Seven at Blue Pearl for his post-surgery checkup

I went tracking 3 or 4 times last week.  It was so nice to get out after work and track and do obedience at an empty park.  Vada and Letty live for it.

On Thursday Sonic had the last of his first set of laser appointments.  Dr Julia will look at him again tonight to see if he needs to do more.  He also goes in to see Dr Jina on Saturday so Karl can talk to her about doing a dental on him.

Friday I went to the annual MAC membership meeting in Burnsville after work.  It makes for a long day but I wanted to win one of the tires being raffled off.  I did not win.  😦  We did have ice cream during the meeting though.

Saturday I went to Elle’s graduation party at Josh’s house.  It was fun.  I stayed quite a bit longer than I thought I would.

Karl went out of town over the weekend to Lacrosse to play bass with his high school friends.  Sounds like he had a great time!  Hopefully they’ll do it again soon.  I think I did OK with feeding the dogs.  No one died.  Although a green tiger barb and a bala shark did die.

Due to a communication error I did not get to work Letty in bitework on Sunday.  So I don’t have any information to report to Dr Julia at her checkup tonight.  But she can tell a lot by feeling her.  I think she’s been doing pretty good and I’ve moved the time up on her thigh master exercise to 1 minute.  Sometimes her hip flexors are twitchy when I massage them.  Hopefully we can do bitework this Sunday to test her leg and just to work her.  I’m sure she misses it a ton.  Sunday I went to see the movie Max since I had time.  It was OK.  Not as good as I thought it would be.  It was sad in a lot of parts and stressful/suspenseful in others.  Not really a feel good kind of movie even though it had a good ending.

Spleenless Seven

It’s amazing how much stuff can happen in a mere 2 weeks!

So the Tuesday after I brought Seven in to see Dr Jina I was working from home and it was bothering me how off he seemed and that I couldn’t put my finger on it.  I felt his belly and it felt large and kind of hard and round at the bottom of his rib cage.  I felt the other dogs and they did not feel that way.  Karl suggested maybe he was blocked up.  I call A&E to see if I could get him in.  There was one emergency appointment but it was later in the day and I had an appointment with Dr Julia with Letty at 6:30pm and traffic had the potential to be horrid.  There was a relief vet on Wednesday so I could have gotten him in at any time the next day.  I decided to take the appointment even though I wasn’t sure if it was exactly an emergency.  Dr Jina agreed with my findings and his temp was up again like it had been on Friday.  Again it was attributed to stress.  They did xrays and it turns out his spleen was a giant mass that consumed most of his insides.  His stomach and other organs were squished up which is why he was vomiting and not eating.  Poor boy!  I cried.  Dr Jina hugged me.  I had her do xrays of his chest.  They were clear.  So she sent in a referral to Blue Pearl asking that we be seen within 24 hours.

Not feeling well

Not feeling well

Wednesday I worked from home in case BP was able to get us in.  Plus, I was sick.  I got sick of waiting for them to call and I called them.  They couldn’t get us in until Thursday at 3pm.

Vada comforting a miserable Seven before his appointment

Narc and Sonic had 7:30pm appointment with Dr Julia on the same day.  So we brought them with to Blue Pearl.  Karl met me there after work.  They did an ultrasound on Seven’s belly.  I heard “no signs of cancer anywhere else” and “seems to be filled with fluid”.  That was all I needed to hear.  Get him in to surgery!  Amazingly they were able to schedule him as the last surgery of the day!  So Karl and I left him and took the other 2 dog to see Dr Julia.  But on our way there BP called to let us know that the first surgery had complications and went late so they were not able to do surgery on Seven that day.  But he would be the first surgery to be done on Friday.  I was so excited that Seven was going to be able to get relief since he was feeling so miserable by this point.  So the news was a huge let down.  So on the way home we picked up Karl’s car from BP and Seven.

Friday I dropped Seven off at BP on my way in to work.  They said to drop him off between 7-8am so they could get him prepped for surgery.  After a few anxious hours of not getting a call Karl called them.  Oh, they don’t start surgeries until noon so they hadn’t even started yet!  Would have been nice to know.  And I should have asked.  Lesson learned.  So about 2pm Karl called them again for an update.  Normally the surgeon calls right after surgery but he had to go right in to another surgery so he didn’t have time.  But Karl got an update that the surgery went well and Seven was recovering nicely.  He spent the night there.  We opted to not go see him so he could just relax.  They said he was whiney and restless much of the night due to the drugs.  The surgeon was happy with the surgery and they got it all out.  They sent it in for a biopsy along with a spot on his tongue, a piece of his liver (it was a bit enlarged), and they biopsied a lymph node connected to the spleen.  The report said that the mass was 14cm x 14cm (5.5″ x 5.5″).

Saturday I drove down to Rochester for a CPE trial.  BP called to let me know that Seven was doing well and could go home at 1pm.  Karl went to go pick him up and sent me a picture.  It was so nice to see him again.  He was on good pain meds and had to wear a cone.  He was restless and whiney the first night as the anesthesia was leaving his system.  I felt horrible for him but it got better.

Seven heading home after surgery!

The girls ran well.  Vada did not get her Standard Q nor her CATCH3.  But in FullHouse she had some amazing running aframes.  She dropped the last bar in Colors too.  So she was 1/3.  We will try again in July with 2 Standards on the same day.  Letty went 4/5 I think with the NQ in Standard.  All 3 girls popped the weaves in the same place in Standard.  I think it was where the soccer field white line was under the poles.  Letty’s contacts were amazing and she held her startlines.  Fringe went 2/5.  She had a bar in Colors on a tight slice (I shaped it more with Letty) and in Jackpot I did not keep moving to get her out to the jump (Letty benefited by running after her this time).  She also had awesome contacts and startlines.

Saturday was also Vada’s birthday!  She is now 12!  I brought cake to the agility trial to celebrate.  It was pretty and yummy!

Happy 12th birthday Vada!

Happy 12th birthday Vada!

Happy 12th birthday Vada!

Happy 12th birthday Vada!

Sunday the girls and I went to Little Falls for a USDAA trial.  They did well!  Fringe went 3/4 – Qing in Jumpers, Snooker and Pairs with Trigger and Shelley.  She just needs 1 more Standard Q for her MAD.  Letty also did well by going 2/3 – Qing in Jumpers and P2 Standard.  The Standard Q finished her APS (Standard title) and APD (versatility title) and now she’s fully in P3!  It took her 2.5 years to get her 2nd P2 Standard Q and she got the last 2 a month apart.

Letty APD and APS

Seven has been getting progressively better and has been getting more freedom from the cone and the leash and the kitchen.  It’s so hard to keep them restricted.  I always feel so mean even though it’s for his best interest.

Seven’s Feeling Better

Seven’s belly incision

Tuesday I took Vada and Fringe to see Dr Heather for adjustments.  Dr Heather thought Vada was doing better since she got her molars out.  She said we could let the Body Sore run out and see if she still needed it.  For Fringe this was her first ever visit.  She hid behind a chair to watch while Vada got adjusted.  She wasn’t happy when it was her turn but she tolerated it.  Dr Heather said she was a mess.  But she is 10 and has never been adjusted so that is not unexpected.  She will come back for a checkup in a month when Vada gets her monthly check up.  Over the weekend I also discovered that her nails are horribly long and her foot hair is also very long.  So we’ll get those trimmed up too and that should help.

Thursday right after work I drove to Rockford for a 3 day agility trial with the girls.  Not a bad drive for a holiday weekend.  I stayed at the Motel 6.  It was priced accordingly.  The bathroom had some chipping paint by the floor and the floor in the main room seemed warped – like the room didn’t have good ventilation.  But otherwise it was fine.  I was on a corner on a not very busy side so almost no foot traffic.  And it had plenty of grassy areas to potty dog.  The hotel is about 20 minutes from the show site.  For some reason I did not get any pics of the show site.  It was at someone’s house / kennel business property.  We were able to setup on our vehicles or in a cement floored building.  The ring had nice grass in it.  It was a big longer vs square.  The judge was from Mexico.  He had really nice courses.  They offered ALOT of classes!  I only entered regular classes.  Fringe ended up picking up Qs in Jumpers, Pairs (2) and Snooker (2 SQs and 1 Q).  She was soooo close on a few other runs.  Great contacts and startlines.  Letty picked up Qs in Jumpers, Snooker (2 SQs) and Gamblers.  She was also very close on a bunch of courses.  Pretty high Q rate for USDAA!  Guess I need to go out of town to trials where I don’t know most people for USDAA more often.  Vada got to swim and work some obedience exercises and do some warm up jumps.

3 girls watching me unload the van

Border Collie guard dog

The Girls Patiently Waiting for Me to Pack Up

Tired Letty Fighting Sleep

Here is Letty and Tari’s P3 Pairs run from Sunday.  Tari had an off course but the rest was really nice.  Both sides were challenging.  It works well running the girls together since Letty does better going first and Tari does better going last.

Seven’s new collars arrived while I was gone.  Lucky Clovers and All American (mixed breed) themes.

Lucky Clovers theme

All American theme