Grossout Factor

WARNING! This really IS a gross post. Don't read if you are eating.
Why I am sharing this is something I haven't figured out yet; but I just feel the need so here it is:
While out for a late afternoon potty, Moto had some mild diahrrea. It was about the consistency of wet cement. Moto's poop has been the source of lots of discussion between hubby and I, simply because of the size and amount of it. Maybe that extra long back of his has made room for more intestinal tracts, but whatever it is, it's simply mind-boggling.
And so it was with this pile, quite literally the size of a mole hill.
I certainly didn't want any dog to run through THAT, so I got my trusty poop-scooper. As I've written previously my dogs celebrate the Picking Up of Poop. Pinch leapt and darted about as I rapidly walked towards the enormous pile.
I managed to scrape it into the scooper and was walking to the poop bucket to make my deposit when....bad things seem to happen in slow motion....
...Pinch went darting by, too close for comfort....
...he wasn't looking...
when WHAM! He hit the scooper, broad-side.
Again, in slow motion....
...the scooper turned sideways...
...Pinch continued to run....
...spraying the entire disgusting mess on Pinch.
We both stopped, horrified.
Well, I was horrified. I think Pinch just stopped because he hit something.
I looked at him, and he at me.
He had a thick brown smear from ear to flank, and boy did he stink.
Cleaning him up was quite a challenge as the garden hose has been disconnected because of freezing weather. I said lots of bad words. Pinch is now clean(er) but certainly won't win any Beauty Points. I don't know what it is with him and winter weather, keeping him clean under normal conditions has been challenging. Hopefully I'll find time to brush him one more time as we have class tonight and it would be embarassing to see people sniff, check their shoes, then look at Pinch and I with dismay.
There, I shared my story. I apologize if you were grossed out. But I bet if you are a dog person, you have your own gross poop story.

Merry Christmas; Now Get Back to Work.

Yet another holiday has come and gone; it's an expensive week for my husband. First there's Christmas, then a few days later it's our anniversary, and a few days after that it's my birthday. How did I GET so old? I still feel like a kid so I can't complain.
I weighed myself and almost fainted. All the weight I'd worked so hard to lose is back. Dag nabbit!
Pinch is unkempt-looking and wild in his behavior. This is a dog that NEEDS a job; since I hadn't trained him in weeks he created his own job, which was relocating the firewood pile from the patio downstairs to the deck upstairs.
Well heck, I was getting bored myself.
Got my pudgy self to try my new Zumba with Wii game. It said I burned a couple hundred calories in a short time - yay!
Got Pinch out and did some pivot drills, heeling and articles. He was so excited when he saw the article bag he jumped on the couch where it was, pulled out the gloves and actually brought me his collar. It was if he was saying "hurry UP - I'm dyin' here!"
After a training session where he hasn't missed a beat all the dogs had a nice long run and are now happily snoozing throughout the house.
I need to do this, at least six days a week. It's not that hard, it's just sticking to the schedule.
And that's my New Years' resolution.

Wet Dogs

It's been a very strange winter, weather-wise. We should've had our first few inches of snow on the ground, and instead it's been a cold, miserable rain.
I've been in sunny California for the past week or two and came home to temps in the 40's and 50's, and rain.
And more rain.
Oh, and mud.
Today has been extremely rainy. As my sister would say, "it's vomiting rain". Sorry if you're reading this and eating.
My five dogs have different opinions of rain. Some act like cats when it comes to water. I have some that are this way, and others that don't care if it rains, or they DO care, too much so.
It's bedtime, so all five dogs must do their evening potty. In the dark. In the pouring rain. And yes, I've spoiled them. I go outside with them as they do their evening potty. It's raining so much I've donned mud boots and a waterproof jacket. Here's how it went:

I carry Dusty out as he walks too slowly and I want to minimize his discomfort. I plunk him in the middle of the yard so he can select prime pottying spots.

Dusty: I am melting. I will just curl up in a ball here and maybe it will all go away.
Me (giving him a gentle nudge): You HAVE to potty. Otherwise you will wake me up in a few hours, you'll still get wet, and I'll have to towel and blow-dry you in the middle of the night.
Dusty trudges off in misery to do his business.

Daisy: I am a BC. I am invincible and water proof. The rain has no effect on me. I will potty proudly and in a carefree manner.

Blitz: This sucks. I will tread on this wet ground as if it were the ickiest, most disgusting thing I have ever touched. I will glare as you as I potty.

Moto: I love my Mommy so I will potty, but not before I make her feel bad for letting me get so wet. I will make sure to rub my soaking fur against her to make her feel as miserable as I do.

Pinch: WAHOO! RAIN! Look everyone, it's raining! I will snap at the rain! I will run in the rain! I will play in the rain! Mom keeps saying something to me but I can't hear her! I will run and run until I have mud balls in my fur! The secret is to ignore Mom as long as possible, as when I potty I have to come in out of this GREAT weather!

Me: *sigh*
All I can say is, I'm glad for mud rooms.

A Day in the Life of a Welcome Wagon Lady

Along with my duties as a Chamber of Commerce director, I am also the town's Welcome Wagon lady. It's fun for the most part and has taught me how to turn cold calling into a successful meeting.
Back in the Good Old Days, I could call information and get new resident's phone numbers, call and make an appointment to come welcome them and give them gifts. However in these days of cell phones I must drop in on folks unexpectedly with my basket of goodies. Again, 99% of the time it is successful, and if no one is home I leave a card behind, explaining who I am, I'm not selling anything, and call me and I'll come by with gifts.
I'm in a small town, which means sometimes I drive to really, really remote areas. This weekend included one of those difficult-to-reach homes. It was a large,beautiful home and I was hoping the person would be inside so I could, along with welcoming them, glance around for decorating ideas.
A large German Shepherd appeared. This happens frequently as most homes don't have fences in this part of the country. I try to assess if the dog is friendly and whether or not it is safe to get out of my car. Not only is this dog friendly, he appears delighted to have company. So I open my door.
OH NO!! He's WAY too friendly. He leaps into my car, tail wagging frantically, covering my steering wheel and the side of my face with slobber. I quickly exit the vehicle and now he's even happier, leaping and bounding off my body, leaving scratches from his long nails as I shove him off me. I try to walk to the front door....when all of a sudden...OH NO!!! An enormous, well-fed Lab appears, equally as delighted to have company. Now I'm fending off two jumping, covering-me-with-slobber dogs. I quickly look to the house. No lights are on, no one is coming to help me. I decide to cut my losses, nix leaving a card as I'll never make it to the front door and, fending rapid-fire enormous tongued kisses head back to the car. OH NO!!! The German Shepherd is back inside my car. Noooooooo! I grab a rock from the driveway and pretend it is a ball, the funnest ball in the world and I have it. I have his attention and the Lab's attention. I throw it and say "get it!!!" and they fall for my ruse. I'm in that car in a flash and backed out so quick their heads are spinning. They are sad to see me depart and are jumping on the back of the car. Finally they see I'm not coming back and trot back to their home.
I assess the damage. I have so much slobber my clothes look like they are covered with giant snail tracks. My hands are covered with scratches. I'm no longer fit to welcome other folks as I might frighten them with my appearance.
Home I go, for a shower and change.
Just another day in the life of a Welcome Wagon lady.

Thank doG for Dogs!

This is the time where we are to express our thankfulness for our great abundance, and we do so by inviting our family to gather and shower them with food. It's a wonderful tradition and one I've cherished more and more as I get older.
While I'm in a grateful mood, this year I'm more focused on being thankful for my dogs.
First and foremost, I'm thankful for Dusty. He'll turn 17 beginning of February and he's in great health. I hug him and kiss him every day as I know each day with him is a precious gift.
I desperately miss my beloved Shiloh at the Bridge, but I am thankful I shared 11 wonderful years with that dog. As one song says: "my heart beats because you showed it how."
I'm even thankful for Daisy, my husband's Border Collie. We've not gotten along well over the years but since Shiloh's passing she seems to be trying to fill that painful wound. This touches me deeply. I'm amazed by her insight and depth of emotion.
There's my little Blitz, affected by DM. I'm thankful for his daily life lessons. No matter how bad a day it is, he always makes me smile.
There's my sweet Moto. While maybe not the best student of Obedience, this dog touches me the way no other dog has. I'm so lucky to have another Heart Dog in my life.
Last but he certainly wouldn't let me say least - it's baby Pinch. At age 1 he's earned four titles already, even more accomplished than Shiloh was at his age. I'm thrilled to have an exciting show prospect, but behind all that drive is a dog of tremendous emotional range. He's the first dog I've had that can laugh loudly, squeal with delight or show genuine hurt.
My dogs - each one has brought their own story, taught me important lessons, and my life is better because they shared their life with mine.
What great creatures they are!
There definately is a reason doG is God spelled backwards, and I'm thankful for that.

Great Last Hurrah

We ended our show year with a Bang, and a good one at that!
Both Pinch and Moto received the PT title (Pre-Trial) at the last herding trial of the year, and both did so with very nice runs!
Well, except for Saturday. Moto was good. Pinch was, er, well, let's just say Naughty.
Moto only needed to qualify one more time to earn his title. He was in first, and made it look easy. It was simply a beautiful run and he did a great job from start to finish. He's usually the variable when it comes to showing, so I entered the arena with Pinch with great confidence. What happened next was stunning.
I sent him to gather the sheep. Instead of that pretty going-around thingie you see in the herding movies, Pinch dove right through the middle, scattering sheep all over the ring. I commanded him to sit. He kept on running. Then he decided to pick on one particular sheep and was having a great time chasing it. This is not herding, and the judge warned me to call him off. I abandoned the rest of the group and took off after my black blur. He finally stopped, and when he looked at me I saw he had no brain. Just a silly, glassy-eyed hyper stare that he was having the time of his life and didn't care what I said.
I made him wait a bit (hoping some brains would re-enter that cavity in his head) and we tried again. We went thru the panels, and I was getting ready to pen when the judge said "um, you're not done. Remember, you need to go the OTHER way around the course, too." CRAP! I was so rattled by Pinch's errant behavior I forgot we need to do a stop and a turn and go all the way around...again. We did manage to do so, but it wasn't pretty. Not at all. Our judge was kind and since he DID do it - albeit completely lacking style of any kind - he qualified us.
So that was Saturday.
Sunday, I moved Moto up to Started. It was a big step but we'd trained the Started course just in case. But alas, Moto needs more confidence and when I saw he was really stressed and needed more help than I could give him, we called our run. I didn't want him to have a bad first experience in the "big field". I'm fine with that, we'll practice this winter and try again next year.
Good boy Moto!
My theory that Pinch was out of control because it was his first time in a strange arena with strange sheep proved correct: day #2 I had the dog I knew back. When we were at the halfway point where we needed to turn I asked the judge "shall we turn here?" to which she replied "it's lovely. Turn and go." Once out of the ring a gentleman came over and remarked that I should be thrilled to have such a dog, that he was going to have a brilliant herding career.
Bursting with pride inside, I thanked him for taking the time to come over and say such kind things.
Title total for 2011: Moto - 3 Obedience titles - BN, CD, GN. Herding - HT, PT.
Pinch - 2 Obedience titles - RN, BN. Herding - HT, PT.
Not a bad way to finish the year! Well done boys!

Time for the Annual Holiday Argument

Ah yes, it's that time of year again, a time that causes strife between my husband and myself.
It's the Annual Christmas Picture.
We always send out a picture of our dogs, which to us is a very cute idea. However, we have a lot of dogs and like children, each one has their "issues".
Most difficult each year is Daisy, who firmly believes the camera is out to Steal Her Soul. To get her even remotely near a camera, she needs to have the beejesus run out of her. So, if she looks happy in the picture, it's because we ran her so much she is too tired to care.
We now have a new issue, and that is my sweet Dusty. He's turned a bit senile, and add blindness and a bit of deafness to that. Oh he's still a very happy boy. But he can no longer follow simple commands like "sit" or "stay". He can hear "cookie" but often can't tell where it's coming from - interesting the way sound waves bounce off of walls, I've discovered.
So here's how it's going to go this year: run Daisy like crazy. Erik will do this as I set up the photo shoot area.
Good, now she's exhausted. Quick! Line up the dogs.
Me to Erik: make silly noises.
Erik tries, but he's not very good at it.
This is where the arguing starts.
Me: Say "cookie"
Erik: "cookie"
Me: Say it with some EXCITEMENT, will ya??
Erik in a girly voice "Cookie! Cookie!"
Dusty will probably wander off.
Daisy will take that cue and slink off.
Me: You didn't run Daisy enough. Go run her again.
Erik grumbles.
You can get the drift of how it's going to go.
We will begin our picture-taking efforts over the next couple of days. Hopefully we will come up with something printable.
I'll put some outtakes on this blog.
Meantime, we're getting ready for a herding trial this weekend. I'm excited and hopeful, but of course it's always a crap shoot when it comes to a herding trial. So here's to dogs that listen, calm sheep and good draws!

Too much "wiggle room"

Pinch is a fast worker.
This can make training really fun.
The reverse is also true.
We are taking a Beginning Utility Class and Pinch is loving every single second of his training. But in his enthusiasm and my greediness to do too much too fast, this class has exposed some training holes.
When I trained his signals, I had him stand on a small doggie cot so he would learn not to move forward. While he can work on the cot just great, turn the cot upside down or just put him on the ground and you have a dog that is all over the place.
Backchaining here we go again.
I have now made a small box that is perfectly Pinch-sized. He cannot stand and move his rear. I absolutely cannot move foward. He cannot inch up on the sit.
He's such a fast little guy and I need to get faster with my rewards and/or praise. Learning to mark the right behavior is every bit as important so he can learn what is right.
All releases are given moving backwards. Sometimes I place a treat behind him, and after he does his signals he can go back and get it. Other times I just throw a treat behind him to get. Sometimes he has to back into his signals. The message here: moving forward earns you NOTHING. Going back is goooooooooo-ooood. But I am, once again, only 3 feet away from him. But better to discover this now than have our Open title. It would be awful to have to delay a Utility debut because of a problem like this.
But we are having the time of our life. Went out this brisk morning to work signals and directed jumping and before I realized it 45 minutes had passed. It's great to have another dog like Shiloh where training is just so much fun you have to MAKE yourself stop!
So grateful for my little black flash!

This is the Face of DM

This is my Blitz, now age 4. DM is short for Dermatomyocitis, aka Sheltie Skin Syndrome. It is not to be confused with mange, and it is NOT, I repeat NOT contagious. It is hereditary and unfortunately Blitz won the lottery and got one of the worst cases to be had. Along with hair loss his disease also involves the muscles and at this point in his life his rear is weak. He can still do the stairs but he has to think about it first.
I only had two weeks of his puppyhood to enjoy him before he became ill. First it was a scab on his head, then it hit hard and fast. After the skin biopsy and the firm diagnosis of DM his breeders and I were devastated. His case was so severe the specialist - who worked with Texas A&M in the beginnings of his diagnosis - only gave him two years to live. His puppyhood was a constant of visits to the dermatologist clinic, the vet, many many rounds of drugs and steroids and more drugs to counteract the effect of other drugs. There were so many pills to be taken on a daily basis half the kitchen counter was covered with them.
But you know what? Through all he had to endure, being a dog, it was he who taught me to buck up, stop crying, and enjoy life. I remember the moment well. He was still a tiny puppy - very sick - and I was carrying him with the laundry in a basket to do the wash. Tears were pouring from my eyes as I looked at my puppy covered with lesions. He licked my face and looked in me in such a way that I was thunderstruck by the wisdom shining from his eyes. We shared that look for a moment, and I haven't cried for him since.
Oh yes, my heart hurts for him. He's an amazing, brilliant, devoted and very talented dog. He could have been amonst the best of them in the Obedience ring. But he's shown me there is so much more to life than a brilliant performance in Obedience: he is a brilliant performer in LIFE. Because of his upbeat attitude he has beat the odds and is still here, two years past he was supposed to be. And even though his looks may take you back a bit, inside beats the heart of the most beautiful dog you could ever meet.
Each dog comes into our lives for a reason, and Blitz came here, I believe, to help us remember that every day is to be greeted with great joy and wonder, no matter what the cards have dealt us. Through these difficult past couple of years his lesson has helped me remain strong.
I've attached his only and only YouTube video of him doing a fun match at the age of 10 months. He was in remission and feeling and looking pretty good. I'm so glad to have this video reminder of how much he and I shared our mutual passion of Obedience, and now, our mutual passion of life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI2M7tACT90

Just Talkin' Dusty

I haven't written much about Dusty or Blitz in awhile because, well, I'm not training or showing them.  But they are here and they are well, so I thought I'd take time today to just write about Dusty and what he's been up to. 

This picture was taken a few days ago during an Indian summer day.  Dusty was feeling particularly good, and actually joined the crew for part of our daily walk around the property.  He even barked and frolicked a bit and so I thought I'd take a picture to memorialize the day.

Not that he's had a bad day.  Not in the least.  But he IS getting older (he turns 17 February 8 2012).  These days his priority is a Good Nap.  Even eating has taken a back seat to the importance of a good nap. 

That's a major shift in the Life of Dusty - eating was the end all and be all.  And that's when I knew he really and truly is becoming an Old Dog.  His diet has changed, too.  My dogs are fed Raw, supplemented with a high quality no grain kibble.  Except now for Dusty.  First, we eliminated the raw meaty bones as it was taking him too long to eat them.  I was grinding his bones for him.  Ever so slowly bits of the raw diet were being dropped - eggs first (upset his tummy), then dairy.  Then it was just the kibble.  Then the kibble, soaked in warm water.  Now it's canned dog food (same brand, so no grain and whole foods) mixed in with the kibble.  He seems to really enjoy this latest combo and is eating with a gusto I haven't seen in months.  So all is good in the Life of Dusty.  He's very happy, gets around very well in spite of being practically blind, and eats and poops with no complications.  At his age, that's quite an accomplishment.

After all my family has been through, I've learned all too well about mortality.  In addition to being grateful for every day I am given, I make sure that I hug Dusty, and appreciate each day he is here.  At his 16-year annual checkup the vet said he had the bloodwork of a 4-year-old.  Looks like I'll get to appreciate him for a good deal longer!

Next entry will be about the Blitz-man!

Today's Herding Lesson

I have Tuesdays off.  It's a weird, wonderful day to have off if you need to go grocery shopping as it is never crowded.  If you want to drive somewhere you have the roads pretty much to yourself too.  And today, my herding instructor Cathy and my time off schedules coincided so I went for an early morning lesson today.
We are beginning to teach an outrun, lift and fetch (where the dog goes out and around the sheep - that's the outrun, the lift is where the sheep start to come to you and fetch is where you are in the lead, the sheep in the middle and the dog holding them to you). 
Moto is really picking up quickly on the outrun.  Today was really fun as he naturally stopped when the sheep began to turn to me.  It doesn't get any better than that.  We then did some walkabouts (just like it sounds, you don't want the dog pushing the sheep past you, just keeping them to you) to see if he could balance as I moved about the large pasture.  He did pretty good, just has difficulty balancing on the left side for some reason.  The neatest thing was the Started course was still up and he was able to do it just fine!  Now, if all the stars will be in alignment wouldn't that be fun to qualify your first time in Started.  With both Dusty and Shiloh that did not happen.  If Moto qualifies on Saturday in PT, we will move up to Started on Sunday, so we should be prepared if the Herding gods are smiling on us.

I expected Moto to do well as he is from a long line of herding Shelties.  With Pinch I expected I'll need to teach more mechanics as he's mostly from conformation dogs.  He proved me wrong today:  while he needs quite a bit of work on his outrun, his lift and fetch were really, really good.  The biggest thing I've come to learn in this Herding Game is to keep my mouth shut, trust my dog and let THEM do the work.  Magic happens when I let go of the Control Freak in me.  So, I shut my mouth, stepped away from the sheep to see what Pinch would do.  Wouldn't you know it, he balanced nicely and brought them to me, as nice as could be.  So he too will begin his Started training in earnest, and maybe try for it in the Spring.
What a great way to start the day!

Another Great Weekend

I'm still floating from a pretty good last Obedience Trial of the year for us.  Moto achieved his Graduate Novice (GN) title, and Pinch got his Beginner Novice (BN) title.  Moto won his class both days and no, he wasn't the only dog - there were 5 the first day and just 2 of us on Sunday.  Pinch's class was more competitive with 12 dogs and he got a 3rd place Saturday and Sunday won his class. 
But the ribbons weren't the best part - it was the fact that both boys ENJOYED their time in the ring and gave their very best.  That's all I ever ask for!  Moto is really coming along in leaps and bounds and on Sunday his score was a 195 - pretty good for him.  Sunday was very trying for him as we were the last class of the day and there was lots of slamming and banging as people broke down their crates and the obedience club was ripping up mats.  Moto stayed on task and even during the out of sight downs managed to hold it together.  He did not lag on the figure 8 and the fast during heeling which is HUGE for him.  We will make an Open debut next year, which thrills me to no end.
Pinch too is making big strides.  His ability to work under pressure has increased but still needs work.  On Saturday we had a male judge and he moved his feet on the Sit for Exam which cost us a point.  The judge also followed him in on the recall, which caused him to accelerate too fast and his front was more of a *splat* - LOL!  But that too cost us a point (I felt the judge was very generous, I would have taken 2 or 3 points for that).  He is keeping his attention for the most part and he got a lot of compliments for his work.  I think with continued exposure to new things and some more maturing he will be a really nice obedience dog.
Our hotel was lovely - clean and quiet, lots of lawn and good restaurants near by.  Since I wasn't travelling with any friends the boys and I enjoyed lots of down time together cuddling on the king sized bed.  During the night I realized I had become the middle of a doggie sandwich with one dog on each side of me, in the "otter" position.  Too cute!
Next up:  a Sylvia Bishop seminar and a herding trial, where will try to finish Moto's PT and Pinch will make his PT debut.  Then, it's off for the holidaze.  Where did the year go?

Obedience is HARD WORK!

We have our last Obedience trial of the year coming up, and I hope to finish Moto's Graduate Novice (GN) title, and Pinch's Beginner Novice (BN) title.  These are, I hope, precursers of the "real" classes we hope to enter next year.  Since Laurie's visit I've been much more committed to training, and it seems the more I train, the more holes I expose in my training. 
I do understand to have a Champion title at ANY level takes tons of work, commitment of time, and training.  I do believe (and this is just my opinion of course), that the OTCH (Obedience Trial Champion) title is one of the hardest to attain, simply for the fact you need to train EVERY day, and the level of perfection requires great technical, non-natural behavior on the dog's part. Unlike most other venues, you cannot talk to your dog, you cannot touch your dog until the exercises are over. 
I've realized I've been too chatty in my training and am now easing it out as I want my boys to be as prepared as possible for the ring environment where Mommy is silent with her praise and they still need to do what is asked of them.
And - in addition to training, there needs to be proofing.  Proofing is where you set up a situation where your dog needs to make a choice to do what you've asked or do something else, which would not be what was asked.  For example:  I took Pinch and Moto to work with me today, so they could get used to new sights and sounds outside their home environment.  For Pinch's proofing I wanted to heel him up and down in front of my work and I wanted attention.  Another big hole in my training was exposed as something as simple as a leaf blowing by could make him look away.  My bad, I should have been doing this on a regular basis ages ago. Bad trainer!
Moto really doesn't need training, he needs lots and lots of exposure to help him build his confidence.  This is going to take a really long time.  Quite honestly, I think he'll never be a confident boy, but will be able to work through his worries to get the job done.
I'm sure we will qualify and I think both of them should do reasonably well.  I'm excited as this is my first dog show road trip, complete with a hotel stay, in a very long time.
But, we certainly have our work cut out for us during the winter break.

Moments of Glory

Feeling much better - finally!  With it being Monday, I went back to my winter routine of getting up at 5:00 a.m., doing chores until the sun comes up, then train dogs.  With our trial just a few weeks away and losing a week of training, we're focusing on what we need to have success at the BN and GN level.  Pinch needs a LOT of heeling work.  I'm switching out between a flat and a pinch collar for precision.  No, I don't "correct" him on a pinch collar.  It just instantly lets him know when he's out of position.  And he's at that teen-ager stage and learning about boundaries and having to do what's asked of him.  He's both spicy and soft at the same time but bounces back quickly after a correction. 
I trained Pinch first and Moto had to watch.  He actually seems to care about having to wait.  When we did heeling, I had a few 'wow" moments - a first.  Sometimes in the ring with his sire Shiloh I could "feel" the judge.  I've heard other exhibitors say the same thing.  I remember once heeling with Shiloh, I could feel the judge and she was really liking our performance.  Sure enough, we had a nice score that day.  I had a few of those moments with Moto this morning.  It's a lovely thing.  It's as if we are one and moving together with perfect syncronicity.  Yes, it was our back yard, but tomorrow we'll take it to a new area and see if we can reproduce it yet again. 
If that happens, I'll be really happy for both he and I.

The Joy of Herding

I'm still recovering from a nasty case of the flu.  Today I'll return to work but I still need to go slowly.  Hubby returned yesterday and is definately getting back to normal.  It's been great to rehash the weekend's events over and over in my mind, as it was an entirely pleasant weekend, darned near perfect even.    Trials in any venue very rarely have this good of a conclusion so I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.  I haven't done any herding trials since 2005 and I'd forgotten how wonderful it can be.  It's darned near as addicting - in a different way - as Obedience.  While Obedience is a showcase of what you've taught your dog, herding is in a way the complete opposite - it's what your dog has taught YOU.   When you enter the herding arena all bets are off and you need to trust your dog to do what it's been bred to do.  For me the control freak it's always been a real struggle.  However when we have good results in herding it's because I've let go of my agenda, made decisions on the fly, and let my dog be in control of the situation with me adding some guidence regarding where we should be on the course.
Moto with his new obedience training agenda (working for his meals) and my letting him control the sheep has let him blossom.  That PT run, with absolutely no training with panels and penning, was just beautiful.  We went around that course in three minutes and received lots of compliments about what a nice dog he was.  One person said they even thought he should be a B course dog!  (B course is a smaller version of what a course is at Border Collie trials - no arena, just wide open area.)  I'm excited an anxious to get him in to the Started class next year.
Pinch lacks the innate talent of rating stock but what he lacks in instinct he more than makes up with in confidence and "want to".  He's learning to listen to me (that "steady" command has been our saving grace with flighty stock) and I was impressed with that he did this weekend, too.  We had a ewe that escaped once and I told him to leave it and we'd herd the remaining four.  Pinch kept looking back and finally took off and rounded her up and brought her back.  When she tried to break again with no word from me he quickly went over and with a quick nip encouraged her to stay with her flock.
So for both of the boys we had one of those great herding moments where we are working quietly together and the stock is moving in a calm and orderly fashion.  It was so neat to see each of them exercise their completely different talents yet both achieve great results. 
The best part?  When I called them to come to me, their sweet brown eyes shining with pride, knowing it was a Job Well Done.
To quote from the movie "Babe":  That'll do, Pig.  That'll do.

More Ribbons for the Boyz

We had another GREAT weekend!  The weather was absolutely perfect - lows in the 50's and highs in the low 70's.  The sheep were a lot lighter than normal but hey, they had a bunch of strange dogs herding them so you can't blame 'em.  The Q rate for our class was really low (the Herding Test class) - 10 entries and only three Q's, and two of them were Pinch and Moto!  Neither run was pretty but I think the fact they had stops and were able to keep the sheep from escaping let our judge qualify us.  Moto titled on Saturday so I moved him up to the PT class (Pretrial Test).  The PT class went first on Sunday and instead of 3 head they changed it to five head per run and this upped the Q level significantly.  Yesterday NO ONE from the PT class qualified; on Sunday we had three, and Moto was one of them!  His Sunday run was particularly nice and stock were under control the entire time.  I was absolutely thrilled with him.  Pinch needed one more qualfier to title and he too was not as silly and went right to work.  He still needs a bit more instruction/maturity so our run wasn't as smooth as Moto's but he did hold the stock together for the most part (had one ewe that kept trying to escape).  So now it's on to the PT level for Mr. Pinch and Moto will finish his PT title hopefully at the November trial.

Unfortunately for me I now have my husband's case of the flu.  Both he and I are home from work today, sick as dogs, too sick to help each other and doing the minimum chores possible. Right now he's on the couch watching an old movie and I think I'll retire to bed and play a game of Angry Birds. 

The dogs are confused with all this lying around but for the most part are just being lazy with us.

Onward and upward, with a cup of tea in hand, I shall retire now.  So nice to have a happy weekend to reflect on!

Sometimes It's Just Not Fair

This is not one of my upbeat posts.  It's just been a real sad beginning of the day.  First, I learned my friend's husband passed away suddenly.  They've been married over 35 years, have three wonderful children (all grown now).  I worked with her for many years back in California.  We shared the same office suite.  When you face someone for 8+ hours a day, you get to know them pretty well, and I know she loved her husband and her family with all her heart and they were the centers of her life.  I just wish I was independently wealthy and could hop plane to be there for her, but a phone call, email, and other remote forms of contact will have to do.  Life is just too short - hug your loved ones and appreciate them.
Blitz's DM is back with a vengeance.  Yeah, it is not a surprise, but for some reason it hit me particularly hard this time.  Guess because he was doing unusually well.  I hadn't begun training him so there was nothing unusual/stressful to bring it back.  This time it's hitting his muscles - his rear and his jaw.  He's eating slower and with more difficulty and today he fell down the stairs.  He's such a bright, happy little guy and after startling after the fall (and me trying to act like it was nothing) just stood right back up, wagged his tail as if to say "now THAT was silly of me!"  I'm sure it's his upbeat attitude that has kept him going this long.
As I've often said Blitz could have been a great Obedience dog, as his temperament, work ethic and love of play could have taken him very far.  Life didn't deal him a fair deck of cards but he doesn't know that and thinks being alive every day is the best present ever! 
All our dogs come into our lives for a reason.  Even on this sad day, Blitz has shown me that as long as we're here we should smile, play, love and make the best of it because really, each day we are here IS the best present ever.
Good boy, Blitz.

Last Practice

The herding trial is next weekend.  It's at my trainer's facility, so you'd think I'd be feeling confident, right?  WRONG!  Granted, it may be our best chance for a Q because we know the facility and the stock, and hopefully the stock will remember us.  However I've come to discover weather has to do a lot with it, the particular grouping of sheep has a lot to do with it, and the dog and human's state of mind have a lot to do with it.  Throw all those factors into a ring and that's a lot to deal with for the maximum ten minutes we're allowed to qualify.  Add to that I haven't trained in years, haven't trialed since 2005 and hoo boy it could be a wild ride. 
Last week's practice was so bad a friend and I told each other we might as well just take our entry fees and have a bonfire and would have the same result.  But yesterday's practice was pretty darned good.  If only our trainer would put a special marking on those sheep and make sure I got those when it was my dogs' turns, I think I'd feel pretty cocky about right now.
The weather next weekend looks to be great.  There's going to be a lot of hard work next weekend (I'm helping out when I'm not showing) but there should be some good times to be had as well.  I always enjoy watching the advanced dogs work.  It's always thrilling to see a beautiful run.  Maybe someday, one or both of my boys will join those ranks.
But until next weekend, we wait, think about what we've learned, and hope for the best.
EEK!

Gosh, We Have a Show Schedule!

Pinch and Moto are entered in the Open class at our club's obedience fun match tomorrow.  Pinch really isn't ready for Open work so we'll do heeling on leash, a straight recall, and recalls over the broad and high jumps.  No dumbbell as we are still resolving his chomping issue.  Good progress is being made and I need to not be greedy.
I'm curious to see if Moto's working for meals will translate into his Open work.  To simulate what we are doing, I'll put treats in a bowl, show it to him, and we'll go into the ring.  Cross your fingers.
He's also failing his drop on recall.  He is such an interesting dog.  He was doing it just fine when it was ALWAYS a drop on recall.  I know I'd mentioned this earlier.  But silly me, I forgot that, and had him do some straight recalls the other day.  Now he's completely confused.  So we are doing lots of drop on recalls and it seems his confidence is restored.  So funny the way their minds work!
For Pinch tomorrow's goal is more of a getting him exposed to different situations and adding a bit more pressure.  The "pressure" for tomorrow is I'll ask the judge to be one of those close-following judges, and ask him to be able to pay attention and keep working.  Could very likely happen some day in the ring.
Next weekend is our herding trial.  I hope Moto can complete his HT and of course I'd also like Pinch to title that weekend too, but that means he'd have to qualify twice.  It COULD happen but I'm not holding my breath.  No matter what, it will be wonderful to be back at herding trials again, it's been several years since I've competed in this venue.  I do hope Moto really takes hold and can advance in this area, he's capable of brilliant work when he puts his mind to it.
After that it's a Springfield Obedience trial to finish Moto's Graduate Novice title and Pinch's Beginner Novice title, then a 1-day seminar with the great Sylvia Bishop, and last but certainly not least, a pre-Thanksgiving herding trial down south.  I haven't entered this many shows since I campaigned my Shiloh and it feels great to kind of be back in the swing of showing regularly again. Hooray!

Visits are like Christmas

My friend Laurie just left after a wonderful week-long visit.  Saying good-bye to my dear friend until next year always brings a bit of sadness and reflection.  It DOES seem a lot like Christmas as in first there's the anticipation of the event, the event itself with much enjoyment, and the letdown once the event is over with.  So here I am in Letdown Phase.  But as always, it was a good visit.
She is an accomplished Obedience trainer and is willing to share what she's learned with me which I greatly appreciate.  And being a good friend, she is honest with me which is the most valuable thing a friend can be.
The first hole exposed in my training was with Pinch.  She asked if I'd ever done much work with him away from me (like go-outs).  Well yeah a little but I'd pretty much back shelved it for quite awhile.  So we tried and quickly discovered Pinch does not understand what a correction means.  As was much discussed in Melinda's blog, so much negative connotation is attached to that word.  When I say "correction" the dog is not punished and no one is angry.  The dog is made to understand that it wasn't right and needs to find another solution.  Pinch - with the mildest light scruff - completely freaked out, so much so he couldn't focus enough to find a solution (i.e. The Right Way).  This is basic foundation stuff  and I'm so glad this was discovered before we entered the Real Obedience ring.  The wheels would have fallen off big-time once we got out of Novice.We are backchaining on lots of stuff while moving forward in other areas.  He will start the Beginning Utility class at Renee's to help build his self confidence and get him used to working away from me.  Heeling needs to almost go back to square one.  That, and I need to make more effort to expose him to different sights and sounds.  Pinch will come to work with me one day a week to help with this.
Moto was the biggest and most wonderful surprise of all.  Laurie has seen his sloppy obedience work and came up with the idea of having him work for ALL his meals.  The turnaround was amazing.  I have an up and happy dog that is putting great effort into his work.  It's translating to other areas of his life also:  he was pushy in herding - a first - and is beginning to stand up for himself in the still evolving new pack order.  We hope to slowly translate this over into ring work.  If so, there most likely still will not be an OTCH in progress, but I will have a dog that enjoys being with me in the ring, where I am the cookie, and that is the most important thing of all.  If I have that, and a dog who gives me effort, then it's been a good day at the show.
Then of course there was all the fun we had.  So many restaurants, so little time!  And we got caught up in the feather craze, thanks to Steve Tyler (of American Idol fame).  We each got one, then it turned into several.  I feel like quite the fashionista now. 
Between rounds of eating there was shopping, seeing "The Help" (which I highly recommend) and of course training.
But now it's back to the Real World of two jobs, volunteering, and, upon putting a pair of jeans which were shockingly tight, a diet.  It was SO worth it.

Great Weekend Report!

I'm happy to write that our weekend goals were achieved! Hooray! And we had some blue ribbons to boot - icing on the cake!
Moto was up and happy in Graduate Novice, which was my goal. He was a bit distracted at times but overall I was completely thrilled with his performance. The only thing holding us back from Open is that dratted awful lag on the fast, which has haunted us from day one. I need to get creative on this one now and I am not very creative. I almost sense it's a stubbornness issue with him. We'll begin working on it and see if I can get to the root of the problem. But everything else was just great and I couldn't be happier!
Pinch got his Rally Novice Title! He would've gotten a 100 both days except for me, his silly handler, denied him his blue ribbons. Saturday, I simply got lost and had to redo a sign. Still got 2nd place. Today, literally running into the ring after showing Moto cost us big-time. No time to walk the course and rushing in, I saw the "halt" but not the "down". We were to walk around our dog, and I did it with him in a sit. A big fat 10-point hit got us out of the ribbons. That was his only deduction, dangit. But the good thing is Pinch is really showing nicely and has no stress at all in the ring. If anything, he is too overzealous, which is a problem I will take.
Lastly, in typical form, Shiloh made his presence clearly known. On Saturday first place for Grad Novice was a beautiful set of bowls. They are the same pattern as the HIT dipping bowl set Shiloh won five years ago from this same show site. Today was the kicker, though. All Grad Novice qualifiers got a stuffed animal. By the time our class was done the only thing left were Teddy Bears - the exact same kind Shiloh won many years ago and was with him when he passed.
Even though it was for Moto, Shiloh's son, I just couldn't bring myself to see any other dog with his beloved Teddy bear. We gratefully received a beautiful tote bag and towel as first prize, and that was plenty good for us.
It was a wonderful weekend and a good time was had by me and the boys. And I took great comfort in knowing my beautiful Shiloh was smiling down from the Bridge on us.

Teamwork

We're just a few days away from our show now. Training has been done as if we were in the actual ring, including warm-ups and then "showing". It seems Moto is extremely literal (just like me) and is more confident when he knows EXACTLY what is going to happen in the ring. The only occasional variance that I do is weird heelwork "doodling" (I like my dogs to pay attention and think about maintaining position).
One thing of note with Moto - since we're doing Graduate Novice, he does a Drop On Recall. In all my other dogs and in all the classes I've taken, this exercise has been trained with either a straight recall or adding in the occasional drop. The purpose of this is to keep the dog coming in rapidly and not anticipating the down. But in Moto's case, alternating it makes him confused. So, every single recall has had a drop command. This makes him happy, which makes ME happy. Every dog is so different!
Overall I'm pretty happy with Moto's heeling. We're lucky to have a fun match the day before we go in the ring. We'll see if it translates over to the show site. If it does, I will be extremely happy.
Pinch is a very enthusiastic worker. He is an absolute blast to train and show. But his immaturity still shows so it will be at least another year before I bring him out. I'd so rather have this problem - too much happiness - than a dog who does not like to work. So, this weekend it's Rally and then we'll do Beginner Novice and after that the Wild Card classes until I feel he can handle being in the ring without any silliness. It's hard not to giggle when he's clicking his jaws and grinning while performing his exercises.
Most exciting of note is both dogs appear to realize we are a team. Moto is actually putting forth effort and Pinch is working on his accuracy. It's a wonderful thing.
I hope Shiloh will make his presence known from the Bridge. He so loved to show. I can only wait and hope for a visit, which cannot come soon enough.

Maybe?

Pinch, Moto and I are training for the upcoming obedience trial next weekend. I'm glad it's not regular classes as we haven't trained much. Between the heat and losing Shiloh it's been hard to get my training mojo back but we are working on it. Moto will be in Graduate Novice. I have absolutely no expectation for Moto, it will be used as a benchmark to see if we move forward into Open or just hang up our Obedience hat (at least for awhile) and try herding and possibly agility.
I DO have expectations for Pinch but I'll have to take the fall if we don't do well due to our lack of training. I just want an up, happy dog to finish his Rally Novice title.
But here's where things take an interesting twist: I received a premium for another local show in October. They are only doing regular Obedience classes and Rally. There is absolutely no way Moto will be ready for Open by then. I HATE to miss showing at a local show!
Blitz is still on a tear in terms of his health. He attended a rally fun day and had no side effects from that. I'm thinking having him thoroughly checked by our vet and if she deems him healthy, we will enter one day of Novice with Blitz. I know he would love it. It would be wonderful to have him back in the ring with me. I looked at some of his pictures and it appears in addition to the regrowth of hair on his legs, some is coming back on his face also. It's a wonderful kind of crazy.
So that is what I am toying with. Let's see what the future brings!

,,,and a New Pack Emerges

Cesar Millan is someone I've faithfully watched since his show came on the air years ago. He frequently deals with grieving dog owners whose dogs have become aggressive or soffered some sort of dysfunction after the loss of one of their pack.
It's been quite interesting watching my pack make adjustments. Shiloh liked to keep things stirred up and was the leader when it came to sounding the alarm or initiating play.
The biggest change has been in Moto. He's not so soft and sweet any longer. He's standing up for himself and actually vying for the role as top dog. At this writing it could be between he and Blitz. The fact that it's either of them is simply amazing.
We went to our Obedience class on Wednesday. Pinch was his zippy, fun self as always but Moto drew a lot of comments, such as "wow he is really UP today!" or "what a gorgeous performance!" He forged on his heeling and, for the very first time, needed absolutely no cheerleading.
Thursday it was herding. Pinch is pulling some teen-ager stunts "if I can't run and bust sheep, I'll just sit here thank you" which is typical, but once again, Moto did some lovely work. When I put him up to work Pinch, he barked angrily and was clearly jealous. Again, another first. In the past he was content to just rest and let everyone else do something.
Blitz is still doing great and I think I'll start him up training again. If that goes well, we'll try fun matches. If THAT goes well, we'll try entering the Beginner Novice class next year. Who knew?
Pinch and Moto are entered in our local show in a few weeks, Pinch to finish his Rally Novice title and we will try Moto in Graduate Novice. My goal with Moto in this non-regular class is to see if he is any perkier doing something other than heeling, but that being said, he turned in some pretty nice heeling at obedience class Wednesday.
Dogs just continue to amaze me with all they are capable of. Moto, Shiloh's legacy, seems to be stepping into his very large shoes. He doesn't need to and I didn't expect him to, but there he is doing it. Meanwhile everyone is still sorting the New World Order. In spite of my loss, there seems to be some exciting new adventures to look forward to with my boys.

Aftermath

It's been a very long time since I lost a dog. My childhood dog, Sunny, passed when I was 26. I am now 55. And this was the first time I had to make a decision about WHEN it was time. Anyone who has walked down this path knows it is one of the hardest things we can ever do.
It's been a full day without my Shiloh now. I tear up just writing that. But, on reflecting on his 11 short years here, I realize Shiloh was gone long before his actual passing. First it was the deafness. Then the Myasthenia Gravis. Then Cushing's Disease. Then the awful tumors. His life and his ability to enjoy it was slowly being stolen from him.
He was so very strong and brave and he fought so hard. I was always told I'd know when it was Time and yes, he did tell me. He'd struggled to get up the deck stairs and couldn't do it. I helped him up and he sank to the ground and looked up at me. He needed my help, and I needed to be strong. Finally that Monday morning it was enough.
Coming back home that early evening, I went into the basement to let the dogs out. They all were taken aback by my energy and wide-eyed and quietly, they all backed away from the gate to be let out. Typically when I come down to let them out they rush the gate, barking and tails wagging. Not this time. To my amazement, Daisy was clearly stricken by my grief. She was the first one who came forward and simply laid her head in my lap. I was deeply moved by her act of compassion. The other dogs gave me my space for awhile and I let them sort out the new emotions and energy running through our home.
This morning I learned a lot from watching the pack: they were RELIEVED. I didn't realize how much stress Shiloh's illness had been placed squarely on their shoulders. The little things they used to do are coming back: Pinch loves to roll on his back and watch me prepare the morning meals; the younger dogs running and playing in the yard. All of this had been quietly evaporating away as I attended to Shiloh's many afflictions.
But today was a good day. Tears will come frequently as I deal with my loss but dogs are so in the moment. I love sitting down and having all of them cover me with kisses. Moto is a rubber stamp, albeit much larger, version of Shiloh. It is wonderful to have his legacy right here. And in all the sadness there is a small miracle - Blitz appears to be in remission. It could be temporary but he is gaining weight, his coat has some luster to it and there is some regrowth of hair on his legs. Dusty seems to have had a full recovery from the blood clot on his spine and also is doing very well for a 16.5 year old Sheltie. There is so much here to enjoy.
I hope the passage of time will fade the memories of his long illness and be replaced by all the adventures and special times we had together. When I remember my Dad I don't remember the cancer any longer and I hope the same will be said of Shiloh.
He was just too special to be remembered any other way.

Farewell Shiloh

Yesterday was Shiloh's last day here on Earth. In the early morning hours I was emailing my friend Kathy, sharing with her that the tide had turned and that I felt Shiloh was just living for me. When I got off the computer I saw Shiloh had chewed on the tumor growing between his toes and it was open and bloody. Now, in addition to losing control of his rear he was limping. Reduced to tears I called my vet and she agreed it was Time. We made an end-of-day appointment.
The remainder of his time at home revolved just around he and I and Dusty, his very best friend. We did a little Obedience, played with his Teddy bear and just hung out together. When it was time to go we took one last walk around our property.
My hubby took time off work and met us so he could say good-bye to Shiloh. My vet and the animal clinic was just wonderful and Shiloh's transition to the Bridge was peaceful. His ashes will come home to me in a few days.
I could write about his achievements but they already are well-documented. I'd rather write about what he meant to me.
Along with being a wonderful, beloved pet, he was also my partner and teammate. All those who compete in any venue understand that special bond that develops as you train and show together. Shiloh could ready\ my body language perfectly and I learned to read every flick of his ear or twitch of his whiskers to understand how best to perform. Obedience, as Melinda has said, is like dressage with a dog. In our best moments Shiloh and I were a beautiful team.
He was a workaholic. I had to use a timer during our training sessions as we'd have so much fun training it could go on for several hours if I wasn't careful. In spite of how well we did in Obedience, Shiloh loved Agility best. After our OTCH and competition at the NOI I promised him since he'd done so much for me we would spend the remainder of his career competing in Agility. He would have had a MACH if I could only remember the courses.
Shiloh taught me not to be so serious about competition. Along with exciting, spectacular wins Shiloh could NQ in amazing and sometimes embarassing ways. No matter the win or an NQ, he always gave me his very best. My favorite NQ memory is when we were at the NOI. All the "top dogs" had failed an exercise and Shiloh was turning in some pretty good performances. We were in the running for the finals. You compete in six rings on day #1, the scores are tallied and the top 32 go on to compete the next day in the finals. Ring 1-4 had gone really well for us. We were now in ring #5. All was going just fine until the Drop on Recall. The judge signaled for me to call my dog. I did, and in ran Shiloh, nice and straight. Then the judge gave the down signal. I gave him the Down command. Instead of a Down, Shiloh gave me a play bow. There he was, butt in the air, tail wagging, me looking at him and the judge kindly waiting to see if he would lower his silly rear end. Nope, not gonna happen. Our shot at the finals was over, but how could you get mad at that?
In agility Shiloh was known as the "butt biter". As he zoomed around the course he'd get more and more excited. I learned to run full out at the finish line as the applause would send him over the edge and he'd nip my rear. No contact is allowed in the ring so I needed to cross the finish line before, um "contact" was made with my behind.
Shiloh had the heart of a lion and an ego of a rock star. He showed me that dreams really can come true and gave so much of himself. He was the true essence of all the platitudes written about the heart of a dog. I still cannot believe that I will no longer hold him, see his expressive brown eyes or hear his silly talking noises. Time just went by too fast. I take great comfort in his beautiful son Moto. His name will live on forever in the AKC records for all his obedience achievements. But most importantly, I had 11 wonderful years with a silly, funny, headstrong, frustrating, amazing and wonderful dog. He is the true meaning of the saying, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

Hang Time

I've been sleep-deprived and very stressed these past couple of days for obvious reasons. Training has pretty much been nonexistent. Moto doesn't mind but Pinch was getting depressed.
Anyway, what took its place was kind of nice: hangin' with the boyz just doing nothing. It's SO therapeutic.
And as the heat of summer is in full swing it's given birth to a new routine:
We go outside once the sun has set and it's cool enough for a short run. For whatever reason my dogs REALLY celebrate the Picking Up The Poop ritual. They see the poop scooper coming out and you think it was the funnest toy they'd ever seen.
As I walk back and forth on our 1/2 fenced acre, Moto likes to play Raging Bull and the scooper is the cape. I flip it up at the last moment and he thinks that is just so cool.
Pinch likes the flipping up part and loves to leap at it. All dogs know they must NOT put their teeth on the scooper or the shovel part - any knocking over of my hard-won "prize" of poop does not make for a happy Mom.
Blitz doesn't quite get it, but it looks like fun, so he runs circles around everyone, barking as he goes.
Shiloh likes to stand on the deck and get a birds-eye view of all the action and he too barks his approval.
Daisy really REALLY wants to bite the scooper and knows she can't, so she will grab a toy in her mouth and "herd" me as I scoop.
Dusty thinks Pinch's jumping is silly so he follows Pinch around and barks at him.
With the heat being what it is currently, that's about all the exercise they get as I really fear heat stroke. They do get a fair workout with this.
Afterward they take turns in the doggie pool. Daisy and Pinch love the water and sometimes lay in the pool side by side, other times they take turns. Those two had to learn that peeing in the pool is bad manners.
The other dogs just like to drink from it.
I just sit on the steps and watch the sun go down, listen to the birds and panting dogs. I love watching them do their dog stuff after they cool down. Some come to sit with me. Others go off exploring. Sometimes they form their own play groups, with rotating participants. It's very clear this is their favorite part of the day as when the sun goes down they start pestering me to go outside and pick up the poop.
Who would've thought such a yucky job would be such a fun routine?

Dusty is Walking!

What a surprise, 2:00 a.m. this morning, just like the Phoenix, Dusty arose from the bed, walked over to me, and began his traditional face bath. Dusty just doesn't give a few kisses. This is serious business with him and he even bears down when licking. And he makes sure every square inch of your face has been thoroughly washed. Thus his nickname "The Kissing Bandit".
I couldn't have been awakened for a happier reason.
He IS sixteen years old so we're not talking about lively stepping here, but he's getting around again just fine. It's as if nothing ever happened.
Because my mood was much lighter this morning the boys returned to being their obnoxious selves - Pinch and Moto richocheting through the house playing, with Blitz and Daisy being the Fun Police. Shiloh as always is in his own little world.
The vet said it would go away in a few days but I didn't expect such a sudden return to his normal old self.
Whatever it is, it's great.
Today is a good day!

Dogs are Amazing

As expected Shiloh's appointment wasn't a happy one. Because of the Prednisone he is developing Cushing's disease and a very large, fast-growing tumor is growing inside his abdominal wall. This is why his rear leg is moving so oddly, on top of the muscle wasting. My vet feels he doesn't have much time, and said like Hospice all we can really do at this point is make him as comfortable as possible. I am to bring him in when the drugs aren't helping any more.
Got home to let the dogs out, and Dusty couldn't get up. His rear legs kept buckling under him. He can walk on the grass for a few steps but smooth surfaces no longer support his rear. My vet (bless her heart) said it sounds like a mini-embolism that lodged along his spine. It should go away in a few days. If not, I need to bring Dusty back in.
But here is where I am just stunned by my dogs' behavior - do dogs have empathy? From what I saw last night I certainly think so.
Dusty was frightened and upset because his legs weren't working. All night he struggled to get up. I'd help him, he'd go a few steps and back down he would go. I gave him some tramadol and eventually some doggie morphine to help settle him. It seems no matter what I did I could not comfort him. That's where Shiloh came in. Those two have been best friends since the day Shiloh came to live with us. Shiloh simply came over and lay down next to Dusty. That worked and the two slept side by side.
Just as I was dozing off I heard a bark from upstairs (I was downstairs in the living room with Dusty and Shiloh). It was Moto, pawing at the crate door. Thinking he had to pottie - as this was highly unusual behavior for him - I let him out and whisked him in to the back yard. Moto did not go pottie. He just stood by me and leaned into me, looking up ito my face. We went back inside and I lay down on the couch. Moto pressed his body close to the couch and lay down right by me. I was absolutely stunned by these acts of compassion, to each other and for me.
Even though we have difficult days ahead I'm comforted by how my dogs care for each other and for me. Dog shows and training aside, it's moments like these that remind me why we have these wonderful creatures as companions. I continue to learn more from them than I ever could teach.

The Appointment

Today I made an appointment to take Shiloh to the vet. I'm really nervous about it. I decided to write about it as I'm at such a loss as what the right thing is to do. Maybe you're going through the same thing, or maybe you've been there and can share your experience. I need help, and it's time to get my vet's opinion as well.
Shiloh's body overall is experiencing muscle wasting. His rear is weakening and he has difficulty on smooth flooring now. Along with Dusty, Shiloh needs help up the wooden steps. He's losing bowel control and I've discovered a lump on his neck. I don't know if it is a swollen lymph node but it's where a lymph node should be. The tumor on his front foot continues to grow. He walks with a slipping rear and a sore front foot. He cannot run. He has anxiety attacks.
But on the up side, he is still hungrily eating his food and has bright moments. He still adores his teddy bear and is always delighted when I bring it out. He makes eye contact with me and wags his tail.
It's just hard seeing my dog who was always so in the moment, so filled with gusto and energy, has been reduced to this. Everyone has told me he'll let me know when it's time. I'm not getting that, but I'm also not getting that he wants to continue. It seems he's just.....existing.
So today we will see the vet. I think the Prednisone is causing the muscle wasting. Maybe there's a different strength or something different we can try. If not, I need her opinion as to what she would do.
It sort of reminds me of my dad when he had cancer. The deterioration was so slow. We didn't want to remember the dad who had cancer as it slowly stole him away from us. And so it is with Shiloh - I don't want to remember what we are going through now. My heart breaks for him every day.
Please say a prayer for Shiloh and I. I just want to do the right thing.

Still Processing

My sister is more like a twin than a baby sister. I think it is because we are only 15 months apart. We fought like crazy growing up, but that changed when we became teen-agers. Since that time in our lives, we've been extremely close - best friends, inseparable. We talk every single day via email.
With all the sadness lately I noticed another sidebar of our closeness: I can "feel" her, all these miles away. It's enabled me to call her when I know she needs me, and I could fly there at her darkest hour.
The sadness was overwhelming yesterday and is literally crushing me today. I'm a poor record-keeper when it comes to landmark events, but she shared over our email conversations that this is the weekend of their 34th anniversary.
Well no wonder the sadness.
She is off with friends to Pismo beach, God bless them. She does everything right to deal with her grief.
I awoke to the haunting images of Barry's final days and realize that I'm still processing this, too.
The car accident has been dealt with emotionally, and I *think* I've dealt with losing my beloved uncle.
But losing Barry hasn't been fully processed.
It's interesting the way the mind turns things over, like holding a trinket in your hand, turning it over and over, observing every tiny detail with your fingers and your mind until your hand and mind know every single thing about it. Then, and only then, can it be put down.
So it is with Barry's passing.
Maybe it's because I was so busy protecting and helping my sister. But it seems that now I need to deal with my own loss...my brother-in-law of 33 years.
She will be here in a few weeks. I cannot wait. My daughter will join us too. We need to be together.
It will be good to hear for myself, with no agenda or time constraints, how she is doing. And hear how she is processing her loss.
Meantime, prayer and meditation will help me when the night falls.
That is the only way to help me move through this, until she gets here.

Pack Management

Our six-pack is undergoing a transition.
When Pinch arrived, everything was pretty much normal, or as normal as having a dog with Dermatomyocitis and another with Myasthenia Gravis can be.
In other words, no one was critically ill or dying.
While no one is dying, things are changing.
Shiloh is weakening.
Dusty, while very healthy for a 16-year-old, is becoming more frail.
Daisy has been diagnosed with arthritis in her hips.
So the older half of the six pack is frail and needing lots of help and attention.
Amazingly Blitz seems to be enjoying a nice remission from his DM. He's gained weight and is fur has a nice feel to it. While he's always been a happy guy he literally sparkles lately.
Moto is still intact. Shiloh is still intact. Pinch is intact as we await growing him out to see if he'll be eligible for the conformation ring. That's a lot of testosterone.
Pinch is acting like a hormonal teen-ager which means "practicing" on Daisy, which is not appreciated. He's also testing his pack status and trying to move up the ranks.
Moto is coming into his own and is beginning to assert himself too. Daisy used to regularly dominate him and he now flashes his teeth at her to stop it.
Add that to the fact that Dusty, Shiloh and Daisy are becoming more and more frail, we have a powder keg of a situation, as it seems the dogs are vying for a new pack order.
Thank Goodness for early Pack Management on my part. Dogs are fed in the order they arrived here and that never ever changes. They can eat in the same room without any fights breaking out. But now I feel I'm walking a delicate line between letting them work things out and stopping what just isn't right. Example: when I open a door, all dogs must wait until Dusty walks out. This is to avoid him knocking him over. Allowing Moto to stand up for himself is a good thing, but Shiloh pushes that boundary by continuing to try to dominate him and being unable to defend himself.
Plus he still suffers those odd anxiety attacks. When this occurs I need to get him away from the other dogs as they will attack him. Shiloh can never ever be loose with the other dogs without me in the immediate vicinity now because of this.
Dusty is still the Grand Old Dog and I don't know how he does it, but all dogs still continue to treat him with great respect. But he also needs a lot of supervision now as recently he tried to go up the stairs, couldn't support himself and I found him struggling between two steps, trying to get upright. He's a smart guy and usually barks when he wants up or down steps, but I think some times he feels pretty good and thinks he'll just try those steps on his own once and awhile.
So, between keeping Shiloh safe and keeping Dusty from injuring himself, baby gates once again abound in our house.
On a training note it is imperative that the younger dogs respond immediately to my first command, "come" and "sit" must be absolutely and immediately obeyed. It comes in real handy when Shiloh has an attack and the pack is swirling around him. A quick SIT keeps Shiloh out of danger and allows me to get in there quickly to remove him. Speaking of something being amiss in my relationship with Moto, it is he of all the dogs who will challenge this and needs a correction. This lets me know I was correct that I was too soft on him initially and that his respect of me is not where it should be. Dang it anyway, I wish I'd been wrong, but we're working on that now.
I've always known that Come, Sit and Down were the most important things I could teach, and with our new situation it sure has been a good validation.

A Big Dog Transition

If you don't own dogs, you won't get why this is such a big deal.
If you DO have dogs, you know this is HUGE:

I can put the wastebasket on the floor.

What freedom!
Since I've had such bad luck health-wise with my dogs, we've pretty much had a parade of puppies for several years. First Blitz, then Moto and then Pinch.

Little by little the puppy proofing has gone away as each dog has become a young adult. But never, ever in all these years has the wastebasket ever been able to leave its spot on top of the toilet tank. That is, until today. Everyone seems unimpressed with the change, which of course is a good thing. We are now a "regular' dog house. Hooray!
The weather continues to be uncooperative for training outdoors. It's either ridiculously hot, ridiculously windy or a combination of both. I'd like to get moving on the broad jump with Pinch. We are at the point where I still stand beyond the broad jump, but I can now face sideways, the picture he'll get with the finished product. It's time to start working that turn but alas, the nasty weather. Ditto directed jumping. He's getting it - going over the jump with the raised hand - but I need to start moving back toward the center. On the good side, we're working lots of fronts and finishes and I must say so myself they look lovely. Enthusiasm on recalls causes a crooked front which is a great problem to have.
I'm not going to give up on Moto. One one of the obedience e-groups I belong to there has been heated discussion about recalls and relationships. While the problem of the recall is not ours, I do believe I can, painfully, admit the heeling and work ethic problem is a large part due to our relationship. Yeah, it really hurts to say that. While it's not fair to expect Moto to be dazzling in the ring, I know he IS capable of turning in an accurate performance. Not high-scoring mind you, but accurate and well done. Now that the emotional part of our miserable CD title journey is past, I feel I can begin working with him again.
First, I needed to examine our relationship. I realize that while he loves me, we are lacking in the respect category. He is not as soft as originally thought. While he's not tough as nail as his sire, he can take a collar pop and reacts to that better than a physical correction with my hands. That's a first for me - all my other dogs will do anything to avoid a physical correction. With Moto it's the other way around. And with good results. Actually surprisingly good results.
The other transition that I overlooked was making me the cookie over food and toy rewards. This one needs a tremendous amount of work. I never realized how sadly lacking I was in this area with him.
So we've done a lot of backchaining, in almost all aspects of obedience. There's some good solid foundation work that doesn't need revisiting but there's a lot of it that does, most importantly heeling.
New goals have been made: most of my training will be devoted to Pinch. He wants and loves to do this sport, and it's only fair to let him do what he loves best. I have very high Obedience expectations for Pinch. At least for now. What he's showing me is very exciting.
Moto's obedience goals are to eventually get him to Utility. Depending on how that goes will tell me if we go further or retire with just a CDX or UD.
Moto will get most of the herding time. He's not a passioniate herding dog like his dad. But he approaches the stock with a calm demeanor and does some amazing work when he is up to it. I'm not sure how far he will go but if he applies himself, I am hopeful we can get past the Started level with him. I'd really like that. And I hope he will like it, too.
Pinch's herding career is simple: an HT and a PT. He has lots of "want to" but very little natural stock sense. It can be trained into him, but going further will take good handling on my part. I suck as a handler. But we'll give it the old college try and see how far we go.
Hopefully some time I can put both in agility. Moto liked his agility classes. I think it would be a great confidence-builder for him. But alas it's a time and money thing.
But I digress.
It's great to enjoy the small things, like the graduation of a waste basket to the floor.

There's a Snake in My Basement!

Ah, the joys of summer. I'm not one who enjoys summer; winter is my "thing" but this winter was particularly cold and brutal. I find myself enjoying the heat, particularly because when I'm tired of it (and it doesn't take long) I can go into a lovely air-conditioned house. The dogs feel the same way.
During one hot summer day I returned home, went into the basement (where the dogs stay while I'm at work) and opened the sliding glass door to let the dogs out.
It was then I got the surprise of my life.
Apparently a black snake had been enjoying the heat of the cement patio, right next to the door. When the dogs ran out they ran over the snake. This awakened him (do snakes sleep? Anyway, he was still and suddenly he was moving). Mr. Black Snake, startled, quickly slithered into the basement.
I don't like snakes, even "nice" ones like black snakes. So I did what any red-blooded snake fearer would do: I screamed.
Pinch came back in to see what the excitement was about. He saw the slithery creature and went to investigate. I screamed again. Pinch was completely unphased by this and continued to try to sniff and paw at Mr. Snake.
This is where my Momma Bear instincts kicked in: yes I KNOW black snakes aren't poinsonous, but they will bite if they feel cornered. I ran over, picked up Pinch but the scruff and literally pitched him outside and closed the sliding glass door.
Uh-oh.
Now it's just me and the snake. Alone. Together.
Thinking fast, I decided that screaming yet again would help things.
I think Mr. Black Snake was screaming, too, because his little head moved around and he found a good hiding place: the folded up A-Frame leaning against the wall. He wanted as much to do with me as I did with him.
I was NOT going to open that thing up and try to coax him back outside. Since screaming wasn't really helpful I did the next best thing: call my husband who was still at work. He wouldn't be home for another hour. Hopefully the snake would stay put until he made it home.
He didn't.
Erik moved the furniture, upended every possible piece of equipment, went through my piles of PVC pipes and dog equipment, but no snake.
Since it was such a surprise opening a door and having a snake slithering in, I'm not very jumpy when I'm in the basement.
I open the washing machine and expect a snake.
I grab a pile of dog jumps and expect a snake.
It's not really very fun to go in the basement.
Erik got some snake traps, but so for Mr. Black Snake has proved elusive.
Could he have found a way out?
I don't know how he could have done it, but for the sake of both of us, I hope he did so.

It's About Time

The past few weeks have been filled with technical mishaps. I've learned some lessons the hard way.
Chatting with a friend on Facebook, my screen suddenly froze. Unable to get things moving again, I shut down the computer and restarted. Instead of the usual pictures and welcome greeting, I got "disk read error". Eek. Off to the computer specialist, who pronounced my hard drive dead. So dead he couldn't retrieve any data.
No problem, or so I thought.
I'd faithfully backed up all my work files. All of THAT stuff was completely fine. What didn't even occur to me to back up were all my pictures. Lost are all of Pinch and Moto's puppy pictures. I am sick at heart about this. Those you can never retrieve. I do have SOME pictures, thankfully posted here on the blog and on Facebook. But everything else is gone. So, hopefully you'll read this and have the forethought to back up the little things in your computer.
Speaking of lessons learned, I also learned something important with all the tornadoes we've had this Spring. In addition to putting a bucket and toilet paper in the bomb shelter, important documents and pictures are now safeguarded. All irreplaceable should disaster strike.
But I digress. Back to the dead computer. Hubby let me have free access to his, but he has this weird ergonomic keyboard that has humps to rest your palms on and angled so as to help relieve carpal tunnel. I cannot type on that thing. The computer guy gave me a hard drive so I'd have basic computer capabilities back at home. I can do stuff like blog online just fine, but anything fancy like picture editing or even looking at pictures is a test of patience. But hey it's free so I won't complain.
Then I realized I hadn't been getting many phone calls. Turns out the battery in my cell phone died. Once THAT was fixed, I was embarassed to find out I'd missed quite a few phone calls, some of them of relative importance. Again, Eek.
We cannot afford a new computer. I'd love a fancy new phone, too, but that is out of our reach financially also. So I'm saving up like crazy. First, a new computer, probably a laptop. Then a phone.
Some good news too: my daughter doesn't need heart surgery! Should be dancing and jumping about with joy but relief and finally giving in to exhaustion is what happened. I'm still needing sleep but it's getting better.
With the advent of "getting back to Normal", I didn't realize how much of my life had been put on hold. It's been that way for almost 2 years. First the car accident kept me from making plans. Then Barry's illness. Then Kim's dangerous pregnancy and Ella's precarious health. Then, my daughter's health. Our family didn't dare plan anything as we may need to race to be at my sister's, or my daughter's side at any given moment.
But now we are blessed with normal. Didn't realize how precious a gift Normal is. So the first plans in many years are being drawn up: my daughter and sister will come here to visit. Laurie my friend can come to visit. I can plan to go see my family for a happy reason. What a luxury!
Everything seems heightened, too. I feel so alive and experience giddy joy in every weather moment - awe at the wind, feeling the humidity, listening to the spring sounds of chirping frogs and the beauty of fireflies. I seem to notice the veins in the leaves and color contrasts in clouds.
Although it's been a really rough couple of years we've received yet another gift: realizing an ordinary day is the most wonderful day of your life.

Obedience Could Be A PBS Documentary

Just got back from a four-day Obedience Camp with Pinch and Moto. As always it was perfectly wonderful, filled with lectures, discussions, and floor time to try out what we had just learned. All of us attendees listened with interest as Gary and Kathy spoke and the questions were frequent and lively.
There's been lots of discussion about the sport of Obedience dying but it sure wasn't apparent for those of us in the room those four days.
While it's been discussed ad nauseum on many lists about the hows and why's of bringing the sport back into the public eye to generate interest, we have to be honest here:

Obedience, to a non-obedience enthusiast, is boring to watch. Other doggie venues such as Agility and Flyball are thrilling to watch, and easy to understand. Obedience is highly technical and the fine points are simply lost to the public eye.

But wait! There are so many reality shows out there. As we were at camp, I began mentally putting together a mini-documentary about Obedience. The room was full of good character studies: there was a Novice A person with their first dog; another very accomplished OTCH handler with what is considered an Unlikely Breed to do well in Obedience; another who had not only switched to a new, bigger and entirely different breed; a newbie who had a talented dog and big dreams; and of course our wonderful teachers Gary and Kathy. Wouldn't it be fun to follow these people from this point forward - say the Novice A person's journey to their first time into the ring, and the others on their journey?

What makes Obedience so special? Here's why it is for me: virtually nothing the dog does in the ring comes by naturally to them. The level of technical effort involved in getting high scores requires a tremendous time commitment for the trainer and great effort from the dog. Which is why many of us are blubbering idiots when we do well. You cannot talk to your dog of bring treats into the ring. While performing you cannot even touch your dog. So why does the dog do it? Because of the bond you have established with them. Any dog with a title behind it has hundreds of hours of training, exciting highs, and some tears and dark moments too.

It is interesting to note in one of our groups discussions that the vast majority of us are quite detail-oriented. So much so that we keep spreadsheets on our dog's progress. So, are Obedience people the "nerds" of the dog world? Mind you, I think nerds are cool people and let's face it, nerds are pretty darned successful in the business sector.

So perhaps if we made it personal like a documentary and followed some dog-human teams in a cross-section of the country and various levels of proficiency, it might generate some interest to the public out there.

Whether it does or not, I sure had fun putting it together in my nighttime thoughts.

Rough Midwest Weather

All of us living in Tornado Alley have been on edge since the horror of the Joplin, MO tornado. My area has been in the "sweet spot" (no bad weather)during recent tornadic outbreaks, that is, until a Facebook friend commented he wonder when it would be our turn. Once it was out there, our turn came.
I was working at my office which has a lovely view of the two busiest streets in my town (yes, it's a very small town and there's no traffic light but it has the most activity). Something just didn't feel right and I surfed over to the local TV station's website. In blaring red letters it said "tornado warning in Kansas City NOW". I ran outside to look at the sky and the streets almost immediately filled with kids from the local daycare being shepherded across the street to the city hall basement. Darrell from the hair salon two doors down said we needed to take cover there. I told him I had dogs to care for and was going to make a run for home.
Broke all speed limits getting home. Since the weather has been foreboding since the previous night I already had an emergency plan ready to implement. Collars and leashes on dogs, cell phone, purse and camera and into the bomb shelter we all went with the TV.
I watched the splashes of red, purple, and yellow inch their way north, and then the weatherman said for us to take cover, our town was going to take a direct hit. I grabbed all six leashes and hunkered down. As the wind, thunder, lightening and driving rain hit I realized dogs are kind of like small kids - each one had their own agenda.
Dusty: This cement slab sucks. Please let me go so I can find a place to nap.
Shiloh: Doom Is Imminent. I will cower beside you.
Daisy: Doom Is Imminent. I will cower beside you. Shiloh, do NOT let even a toenail or a single hair touch me or you're gonna get it.
Blitz: You all are SO annoying. What's the problem anyway? And where are the toys?
Moto: Mom is looking worried. I'll sit here and look worried too.
Pinch: My collar is on! My leash is on! We're gonna train! Why aren't we training? When is the training gonna start?
In a few minutes the storm subsided. I heard we had a tornado touch down in our area. Once the All Clear was sounded it was time to find out if everyone was OK.
Fortunately for us there was little damage. We'd lost some trees earlier but came through this intact.
We are lucky for now but the tornado season isn't over. Like an earthquake it's all about being in the right place at the right time. So for now, we breathe a sigh of relief and get to go about our lives.
And after this big scare, I've added some very important items to the bomb shelter:
a bucket and a roll of toilet paper.

New Title and Life Lessons

Moto got his CD this weekend, but it's hardly a cause for celebration: we received the three lowest consecutive scores I have ever had in my entire obedience career. The first two legs I could've lived with - significant deductions because of a lag on both fasts - but it was his third leg that was the absolute worst. Moto just didn't care to try.
No matter what I do with my dogs, no matter the outcome, I always want them to just TRY.
Our Novice run on Sunday was so bad I was actually hoping we'd NQ somewhere along the way as I didn't want to receive the score.
But qualify we did, and here we are with his CD and I'm left with a lot to think about.
It's rarely fair to blame the dog, and such is the case here. It's always been my opinion that the way the dogs ARE in the ring is a reflection of your relationship at home. Please understand: this does NOT mean the perfect-scoring dogs have a perfect relationship, that is a skilled trainer. What I mean is the dog's demeanor and attitude inside the ring. If there are any holes in your relationship, it will present itself in the ring.
Since Moto lazily followed me around the ring during heeling and didn't bother to sit or finish on the recall, his message to me was loud and clear: I'm Not With You.
OUCH.
I need to re-evaluate my training program with him. Moto is a well-trained dog and when he wants to, can display a high level of accuracy. While it won't be fair to ask him to attain an OTCH or a 200, it IS fair to ask for effort and a decent score.
So where did it all go so terribly wrong?
At this point in my ruminations, I think the broken link is where I fade food and toys in my training to where I become the "cookie" for the dog. With Dusty, Shiloh and Blitz this was no problem whatsoever, but with Moto - who is a much lower drive dog - I am once again guilty of going to far, too fast. I am not a very good "cookie" for Moto, and he doesn't care to please me. And it hurts. A LOT.
Another Life Lesson presented itself: after our awful performance I wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and be miserable.
This is where being a Good Sport came into play: keeping emotions in check and cheering on your classmates. I neede to put our bad moment away for awhile. There was one of my training classmates that attained a CDX after many struggles, a fellow Novice competitor that did very well and got High In Trial to name a few. It was nice to forget my troubles for awhile and I was genuinely happy for others who attained their goals.
It's easy to be a Good Sport when you've won your class. It's more challenging when you're at your lowest, but it's a good lesson to learn.
As with all competitive venues, it's always what you learn and apply to real life that are most valuable. And I did grow this weekend, but they were Growing Pains.

What To Do About Shiloh

It's been a bit over one year since Shiloh was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis. Lots of ups and downs, and sadly, the downs have greatly outweighed the bright spots. In all my research, in all my vet's research, I cannot find a dog that has as many problems as Shiloh. It's probably because Shiloh has so many other things going on.
Way before the disease took hold, he was going deaf. He is now completely deaf; only vibrations bring a response. He has an interdigital cyst on his front paw that cannot be removed because of his disease. It bothers him a great deal. It doesn't hurt, but it is causing the toes to separate to accommodate the growth. I have to be vigilant and keep bitter lemon on his paw or a doggie bootie. He tries to chew off the growth. This just breaks my heart.
Then there are the anxiety attacks. Again, I can't find another dog that has a similar problem along with this disease. When they hit no drugs can calm him down and he cannot be crated. He just has to work through it.
My vet and I are in touch regularly - heck, I have SIX dogs, and two with freaky rare diseases. Lucky me. She asked how Shiloh was doing and in "normal" terms, he is doing just fine. He's able to eat and drink as he used to, he's able to elminate like a normal dog.
But he's not normal.
This was the #3 obedience sheltie in 2006, a Eukanuba National Obedience Invitational competitor. He ran World Team times in agility, was brilliant on sheep, and had a "just do it" attitude. All that has been taken away from him because of his health.
As we struggled to find a diagnosis during the onset of Myasthenia gravis, his rear end was beginning to fail. After the tests proved it was indeed MG and drug therapies began, his ability to swallow returned and most of the control of his rear end came back, but not completely. His left rear leg does what I call "the funky chicken" when he tries to run. Between the cyst on his front paw and his non-functioning rear leg, his favorite thing to do - run - is gone.
All my retired dogs still have jobs to do that help them feel important: Dusty's is to walk with me to the mailbox daily, Blitz's assignment is to help me with the laundry (with some obedience thrown in while folding clothes). Interestingly enough, Shiloh, who used to deplore snuggling of any kind, demands that he be the new Bed Dog. He does this as if his life depended on it, and will not leave me under any circumstances until I arise in the morning.
We have some private ball games as he still adores a good game of ball. I occasionally still let him have his beloved Teddy Bear - which I used to only bring out on dog show weekends - and his eyes always sparkle when the magical bear appears. He loves to talk to it and bite it so that it will squeak. He can do this for hours or until I take it away.
I don't know what to do. If I were Shiloh, would I want to continue like this? Is he living, or is he just existing? As mentioned there are occasional happy moments, but overall the sparkle has gone out of his eyes. My heart breaks for him on a daily basis.
While he's fully functioning in biological terms, I cannot tell of this is what he wants to continue doing.
Even though Blitz's condition is also deteriorating, it's clear he still wants to keep going. He's a happy dog and still living his life to the very fullest. Dusty at his advanced age is also a very happy boy. It's Shiloh. I just don't know what to do, or what is right for him.
His prescription for mestinon - the drug that keeps him alive - needs to be renewed in a few weeks. At that time, the vet will go over Shiloh thoroughly to evaluate his health and overall condition. I have asked her to give me her honest opinion on what she thinks will be the right thing to do.
In the mean time, I ask Shiloh to tell me, to show me.
If anyone out there has been through a similar experience, please share your insights.
I'm at a complete loss. And keep us in your thoughts. Thanks.