Crazy things we do for our dogs...

Ok, I may be a little crazy....

Last summer Cory ruptured an eardrum (usually you see this after chronic ear infections, but Levi, Andy, and now Cory all as older dogs had ear drum ruptures with no history of previous or ongoing ear infections and no/minimal signs directly related to the ears- just were "not right" in training or in Cory's case, not quite eating normally and had ruled out all kinds of other issues.  I was looking for something that could cause ongoing nausea that would make him not want to eat and that was when I found the ruptured ear drum).  I treated it, it appeared to heal and the problem that had led me to find it (appetite a little off) resolved.  However, this fall I started to suspect that his hearing was starting to deteriorate.  He had reached what I call the "age of entitlement" (he turned 10 in December) where sometimes their response to previously known cues gets a little lax, and so at first I had attributed what I was seeing just to a little old timer slacking off.  But it soon became apparent that he was not hearing in certain situations.  Since he is still vigorous and active and still actively training in multiple venues, I decided to make an appointment to have his hearing tested.  Due to some scheduling issues it was going to be several weeks before I could get him in.  Not long after I scheduled the appointment, it seemed that his hearing took a nose dive and I began to suspect that not only did he have some hearing loss, but that it had progressed to a fairly profound level.

Today I took Cory to the FETCH lab at the University of Cincinnati (Facility for the Education and Testing of Canine Hearing) for a hearing test.  The test that is done (ABR or BAER test) is the same test used to evaluate hearing in newborns.  It involves applying a topical anesthetic cream (I told Cory I'd always known he was a numbskull already!), placing three electrodes by inserting tiny wires under the skin by each ear and on top of the head, and placing a soft earpiece that emits a series of clicks into the ear canal.  The electrodes measure the brainstem response to the sounds and give an evaluation of the dog's hearing capabilities.  Typically these tests are done in breeding stock or to evaluate young puppies before placement in breeds that have a high incidence of congential deafness such as Dalmations.  The test is not painful and usually can be done without anesthesia;  all that is required is that the dog hold reasonably still and tolerate the material in the ear canal. 

Cory tolerated the procedure well- he thought it was kind of a stupid way to earn cookies, and he was a little startled at first by some of the clicks, but overall figured that having the undivided attention of 3-4 people and cookies too was worth holding still for.  Unfortunately my fears were confirmed;  he has severe hearing loss in the right ear (the one that had the ruptured ear drum) and moderate to severe loss in the left.  It is likely that most of the impairment is aging related, although probably the issue with the ear drum did not help and may have contributed.  It's very typical for me to start to see hearing loss in my patients around 11 years old, so he was in the right age range although at the younger end.  However, I also think we tend to pick up on these things sooner in our competition dogs as most dogs can compensate so well around the house in familiar surroundings.  It is amazing how attuned they are to visual cues and how little the hearing loss impacts them in most situations.

So, unfortunately there is not much that can be done to return his hearing to normal.  However, as it happens, when I was a vet student one of my professors had done some work with hearing aids in dogs and prior to the visit when I started anticipating that the news might not be good I had done some research to see if anyone was still working with them (Dr. Marshall having long since retired).  As it turned out, the only person currently doing any work with canine hearing aids in the US was the very same Dr. Scheifele with whom we already had the appointment for ABR testing.  And, as it happens, I have pet insurance on Cory so I called prior to the visit to see if a hearing aid would be covered if he was a candidate.  Turns out no one had ever asked that question before, so they told me to apply for pre-approval but that they were cautiously optimistic that it would be covered. 

Hearing aids are not widely available in dogs for good reason;  they are not always a terribly practical option.  Teaching the dog to tolerate wearing them is not a simple task, but I am fairly confident that I could do this successfully;  Cory and I have a long training relationship and I had already started to lay some groundwork by conditioning him to tolerate gauze pads in his ear canals for short periods prior to the appointment.  However, an additional issue is that noises don't sound the same through the hearing aids that they did naturally and there is also a learning curve for the dogs from that standpoint as well.

Given the degree of hearing loss in the right ear, only the left ear would be a candidate for an aid.  My main reason for considering it is that Cory is still a vital and active dog,  he is still competing in agility, training in tracking, and finished his UD last spring (thankfully before the hearing loss- I struggled with trying to get his dad's UD after he was already having a lot of hearing issues and as a result never was quite able to get the final leg).  While the hearing aid would not be legal in the AKC ring, it might enable me to help continue to let him play in agility and maybe help me to transition him to running successfully without it.  I have spent a lot of time teaching him to listen to my verbals over my body language since I am so slow, now we have to find a new compromise.  It's also possible that it might be allowed in some of the other organizations that are more disability friendly.  I don't care if we ever Q again, I'd just like for him to continue to be able to play.  In addition, even just in everyday around the house issues his hearing has curtailed some of his freedom because he can't hear me calling him nor can he hear cars, etc. 

I am not sure that given the degree of impairment in the "good" ear that pursuing the hearing aid is worthwhile.  I will have to think about it for a bit...my plan is to get some ear plugs, work on conditioning him to wear them and see how readily he accepts them.  I will probably go ahead and file the pre-approval paperwork with Trupanion and see if they will cover it (if not, the answer becomes easy!).  Then I will make a final decision as to whether we will give it a go or not. 

Regardless of what I decide, I am a little sad tonight...even though I expected to hear the results we got, it is one step into old age and eventual retirement and then loss of my buddy...I am so sad that we have a finite number of times left to train together.  Until you have trained a dog for literally years to be your partner, it is hard to understand just how different the relationship is from a dog whose function is primarily as a pet.  Cory is my pet and my baby, but he is also my partner and someone I trust and rely on.  He's a link to his father who was my heart dog.  How I wish I had the answer to keeping him forever young!

Thanksgiving

On a beautiful, sunny Thanksgiving morning I am thankful that I have time to train my dogs a little.  I have a lot to be thankful for, including my family that I will spend this afternoon with, but right now I am thankful that I have been blessed with dogs who love to work with me, no matter what venue I choose.  Lately we have been focusing on obedience and getting Cory ready to show in utility (the highest of the three basic levels).  Cory is the third dog I have trained in utility;  my first dog Levi earned his Utility Dog Excellent (UDX) title and Cory's father Andy needed just one more qualifying score for his UD when he died.  Utility is a tough class for green dogs, because it involves working independently away from the handler and making decisions between "right" and "wrong" (whereas, in novice and open, pretty much the choice is a more straightforward "do it or not").  There is heeling, a signal exercise where the dog must respond to hand signals from across the ring, a scent discrimination exercise where he must choose the dumbell touched by his handler, a directed retrieve where he must choose the correct glove indicated by his handler, and the directed jumping, where he must run away from the handler in a straight line across the ring, stop and sit when directed, and then take the correct jump indicated by the handler.  While utility is the hardest class, it also is the most fun.  

While those who know me might think I got into obedience because I am somewhat of a control freak, that actually is far from the truth.  My "obedience" dogs have all had varying degrees of basic manners, with my current two probably being the worst on a day to day basis for listening and minding me.  Training in obedience has become less about demonstrating control over my dogs, and more about developing teamwork and communication with them.  The bond with a dog that you have trained to a high level is so much more intense than the one you share with a dog you just "hang with".  It is hard to describe, especially without denigrating other types of relationships, until you have experienced it, but it is like the bond you feel with a teammate on that gold medal winning team, the bond with a child that you love desperately and have known from birth, and the bond with a life partner that is your 24/7 companion all rolled into one.  For me at this point in my life, obedience training is not about ribbons or placements;  it's not about scores although I hope before we are through we will reach the level we aspire to;  it is about acheiving the mental picture in my head and the synchronicity you feel on the days when you and your dog are perfectly in tune.  The obedience regulations state that the dog should demonstrate "the utmost in willingness, enjoyment, and precision".  We have a ways to go in the precision department, but I would like to think that my dogs fit the bill on the first part.  

I am including a video below of one of Cory's recent runs in Utility A.  (If anybody has any good tips for how to improve the quality either here or on youtube, let me know- the original video is quite sharp).   This was his second show, entering for the first time away from our home club.  I chose this trial because it was a small, one ring trial;  I knew it would be fairly relaxed and I had shown under this judge before.  Although it was a one ring trial, space was very tight at ringside with no room to have the dogs inside before their turn, not much room to warm up, and varying from quiet as a church (not good for us) to sounds that really stand out because there is not much else going on.  On our first outing at the previous show, Cory did not qualify but overall I thought did not do too badly EXCEPT that he barked (a lot) on EVERY exercise.  That is not looked on kindly in obedience and I knew it was going to be a big struggle for us.  I hoped the smaller trial would not rev Cory up quite so much (he barks both when he stresses "down" and when he stresses "up", and we had one of each types of run at the last trial).  Obedience people who look at this run will no doubt be unimpressed; we blew a signal and the first scent article, we had lots of places to lose points in chunks- he forged quite a bit on his heeling, we had a couple of no-sits (really, not-quite-sits), a sloppy moving stand, an anticipated finish, a bark or two on the scent articles and the go outs and a couple of times between exercises (a HUGE improvement over the last trial), and we didn't move particularly smoothly from exercise to exercise.  All duly noted and being worked on before the next trial.  But on this day I was SO proud of my boy I could just feel my heart clench each time I looked at him.  He was amped up to the max this day;  sometimes this can be an indicator of stress but on this day Cory was giving me every one of his signs that he was having FUN and was trying his hardest to play by the rules.  Unfortunately, he usually feels compelled to remind me of this on each exercise, especially the finishes, by commenting under his breath and in this little building it was pretty easily heard by all :-).  I know just how hard it was for him to keep his focus and not explode, and I am so proud of him for trying.  The next day he was not quite as hyped up, and he made it all the way to the last jump before he chose the wrong one and NQ'd. 

We get to try again next weekend...at our home club, where theoretically we might have a small advantage of a familiar ring.  Wish us luck- we'll need it!

Important Iams recall info and a little brag...

Important recall notice- Proctor and Gamble has issued a voluntary recall for canned cat food which does not meet quality control standards for thiamine content. This recall involves only North America and is for Iams Proactive Health all varieties of cat and kitten food in both the 3 and 5.5 oz cans. Affected lots have expiration dates stamped on the bottom from 9/2011 to 6/21012. Pet owners may call 877-340-8826 for more information.

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Apparently, cats at highest risk for problems would be eating canned food exclusively (and presumable, would be more likely to see problems in young kittens or older pets, particularly those who might have compromised kidney function). Signs of thiamine (a type of B vitamin) deficiency include lack of appetite, weakness, drooling, incoordination, tremors, and seizures. We occasionally see this in kidney failure cats who are losing B vitamins in their urine, and the classic symptom is the "wet daisy on a stem" appearance- they cannot lift their heads normally and kind of peer up at you just by moving their eyes. This is due to muscle weakness which seems to particularly affect the neck muscles. Again, this is primarily an issue of a nutritional deficiency with chronic consumption of the affected foods, NOT a toxicity issue.

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Since my two younger cats eat predominantly this food with a little dry mixed in, and all EIGHT of the cases of various flavors they have been eating from are affected by the recall, I tried to find unaffected cans last night. At the two pet stores I tried, their shelves were totally empty with notices of the recall, so I suspect it is going to be hard to impossible to find any of this food not affected by the recall until they can begin shipping new lots. We will have to either use another brand or they will have to make do with mostly dry for a while.

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I KNOW that I have seriously neglected this blog for a while, and will be making every attempt to store up some blog posts this weekend so I can be a little more regular in posting. I have posted numerous "mental blogs" over the past few months, I just need to get them transferred to my keyboard!

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And on a slightly off topic personal note, I'm sure you noticed the picture of the two absolutely perfectly adorable sheltie pups at the top of this post. Cory is proud to announce that on May 26 he became the father of a boy (left) and a girl (right) who were 7 days old in the above picture (they still DO look mostly like guinea pigs, but I think they are gorgeous!). Both are fat and thriving and we may have extra incentive to post about new puppy issues in the near future...congrats to breeder Tamara Jones and mom O'Sure Grace Like Rain (Zoe). Zoe is OFA prelim Good, CERF, and VWD clear by parentage. She is by CH Belmar's Joker's Wild x O'Sure Educating Rita. You can see more info about Cory at www.edgewoodanimalclinic.org/coryspage.htm. (Neither puppy is likely to be available, at this point we have more interested homes than puppies).

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(And if anyone knows how to keep blogger from getting rid of my paragraph breaks please post and let me know. GRRR!).

Spring hike

Last week on my afternoon off it was a beautiful day; I got my errands run early and decided that Cory and I needed to go find a place to take a walk.

One of my favorite drives is out Middle Creek Road in Boone county. This time of year the wildflowers are beautiful, and it is always a good bet for seeing good birds. At the end of the road is Boone Cliffs, a little used park which is popular with birders but a bit steep for me with my bad knees (I have plans to make it to the top, but it will be on a day with no agility trials right afterwards and I will definitely need my walking stick!). So we started with a drive out Middle Creek.

Of course, I forgot my camera so these pictures were all taken with my Blackberry (whose camera is terrible). The detail is not great, but the drive was beautiful.

The entire ground was carpeted with wildflowers of many types. Wild phlox were prevalent, as were blue-eyed marys. Bluebells, larkspur, and a dozen other varieties I don't know the names of were all visible.

After driving down Middle Creek Road, I decided to head over to Middle Creek park. I had never hiked there, but had checked it out on the internet previously. A group of my dog training friends tries to get together on non-show weekends and find different places to hike with the dogs, and this was one possible site that we hadn't gotten to yet. There are about six miles of trails shared with horseback riders, and the overall traffic in the park seems fairly low.

Here's Cory in the midst of the wildflowers along the trail. The trails are very wooded and follow the creek; it was an absolutely beautiful walk.

Cory HATES being America's next top dog model ;-).

Here's a closeup of the blue-eyed marys. Aren't they pretty?


And here's some wild phlox, one of my favorites.

Here's Cory in the larkspur; can you tell he's had about enough of this posing business?

Here is a picture of the trail we followed; it was so pretty it was like being in a movie set. We had the whole park just about to ourselves that day. Unfortunately, wildflower season is also tick season. Yuck. I had found a tick two days in a row attached to Cory before the hike, but had forgotten to put his Frontline on before we went.

So I tried an experiment when we got home that night; I gave him his Comfortis, which is the once a month flea pill. We just started using it the end of the season last year and so far have had excellent results for fleas. It is not labeled for ticks; however initial reports seem to indicate that it has some effect on ticks but probably doesn't last a whole month. So I figured it would be a good experiment to see if I could observe any effect. (As of this weekend, I found one dead, attached tick on him 10 days post pill; I have found live ticks that he apparently carried in that crawled off of him and onto me or the floor, but no live attached ticks since giving it). Yuck. I hate ticks!

The trail meandered along the creek and eventually I realized that we were walking in the woods I could see from the road when I was driving. I wish I had known long ago there were trails there!

There were ample dead fallen logs to sit on and relax along the way. Cory gets impatient with my rest stops!

Even he was pretty tired though, it was quite warm (above 80) that day and after a long winter we weren't used to it! No gradual warming this year!

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see Cory in the creek. He was very happy when we found a spot where he could get down to it easily and promptly jumped in and laid down. Fabulous. He had just had his bath and groom out for a seminar that weekend...luckily he has a wash and wear coat, a quick rinse of his legs with the hose when we got home and a three minute brushing was all it took to get the creek stink off of him.

Spring is really here! My red headed woodpecker was back on Friday, much earlier than previous years! They didn't show up until May 16 last year, though they came back on May 4 and 5 the two years prior. Unfortunately I have not been home to watch my feeders much lately.

If you haven't started your flea prevention, it is getting to be time and if you have tick exposure you are LATE!

Showin' off at the Pet Expo

Last weekend Cory and I went to the Everything Pets Expo downtown at the convention center. We had never been before. Parking was a bit tight especially as there was a Reds game going on at the same time, but we eventually were able to find a spot, drag all our stuff through the parking garage and down the street, and made it on time. Cory was unfazed by the sights and the sounds of the city- except he thought it would be fun to chase the pigeons.

The Pet Expo goes on for three days and includes agility, flyball and dock dog demos, booths selling every kind of pet product imaginable, and lots of rescues with animals available for adoption. There were auditions to be on David Letterman's "Stupid Pet Tricks" and America's Top Dog Model. The dog below was one of my favorite sights of the weekend; his owner was participating in one of the "creative grooming" demos. Being a big Bengal fan, this one has to go in my keeper file!

He was not the only dog all dolled up for the event. The general public is not allowed to bring their pets, but between all the demos and the rescue booths there were LOTS of animals there. Between the Bengals dog and the poodle below, Cory was starting to feel underdressed!

One of the booths was manned by the CARE center of Cincinnati, one of the referral centers we use frequently. They offer 24/7 critical care abilities as well as specialists in a multitude of disciplines and we are very lucky to have them so readily available.

For those like Cory who came underdressed, no need to fear. You could fully outfit your dog in one of many appropriate outfits for the day. Cory decided on general principles that he would continue to appear "au natural".

The expo was aimed at ALL types of pets, not just dogs. Some people were a bit startled by the appearance of the critter below right next to them.

Looking at all the displays of cool collars always makes me so jealous of people who can put them on their dogs and actually SEE them. My dogs are so hairy that it's a waste of money. But that doesn't keep me from window shopping....

There were also booths selling all kinds of animal art and neat gifts. A new store called "Indigenous" in O'Bryanville is owned by the people who used to have "A Show of Hands" at Kenwood and is art done by local artists. They brought a terrific selection of their animal related items and I can see I am going to have to make a trip there soon.

One of the big exhibits is the Dock Dogs demo. It is a huge crowd favorite and lots of fun to watch. In addition to the experienced dogs, they allowed some of the other dogs who wanted to to participate. I think Cory might actually like this- he likes the water, unlike my two previous shelties. However, in the interest of keeping him looking good for his own demos we elected to pass this time.

I didn't want to use a flash, so my action shots are not the best, but I thought they were still kind of fun even if blurry.

It reminded me of the dolphin shows in Florida- if you stand too close to the pool you're going to get wet!

If you look closely at the picture below you can see a big open mouth going for the bumper in the middle of the splash!

Hamilton County SPCA had their van there with animals available for adoption.

A horse rescue had three week old foals on display.

The Cincinnati Police brought some of their mounted units in. They were corraled right next to the main demo ring and watched the agility with interest!

There were demos with frisbee dogs as well; my action shots of these were just no good with the slow shutter speed due to the low light.

The purpose of Cory and I attending was to participate in the demos put on by Queen City Dog Training Club. We did mostly agility demos throughout the weekend. It was a great chance for the dogs to get in a little practice with a high level of distraction, but without the pressure of a real trial.

Maryann and Edge below did a great job in the relay races.

Connie and her dobie helped to keep her team in the thick of it.

Mary Jo and Jamie were flying!

Cory and I both really enjoyed the agility relay races. We set up two identical, side by side courses consisting of jump-weave-jump-tunnel and back and had teams of four run each course simultaneously. The dogs had a BLAST- we typically don't run head to head in real trials, the courses were short with all the emphasis on speed, and Cory thought he had died and gone to doggy Disneyland. I was very happy with his weave pole entries which are still a work in progress, but he did fairly well hitting them at speed.

Sharon and Baylin enjoyed themselves as well- they are Cory's favorite tracking buddies.

Linda and Freya were zooming too!

We thoroughly enjoyed our Pet Expo experience. If you have a chance to go next year, come on down- especially if you have any interest in finding some fun activities to do with your own dog. All of the dogs demoing there are primarily pets; those of us who are addicted do pick our next dog with competition in mind, but these dogs are for the most part every day dogs who snooze on the couch all day and get to play at this one or two nights a week and on weekends. There is something fun for everyone, no matter where your interests lie. Your dog will love it!

When Pigs Flu.....

You can't turn on the news these days without hearing about "flu" of one sort or another. Swine flu, avian flu, dog flu.......it makes the head swim! Here is a brief synopsis of the significance of influenza to your pet. I have no flu pictures, so I decided to belatedly post some halloween pictures instead!




This is my very favorite Halloween costume ever- our beloved "Grouch" who passed away last December dressed as him namesake, Oscar the Grouch. You have to admit there is a distinct resemblance! (note: green Kool Aid does NOT come out of the fur. For a very long time).

Back to the flu. Type A influenza viruses can affect many different species. In GENERAL, influenza virus is species specific- that is, dog flu affects only dogs, not humans. However, type A influenza viruses are known to mutate and cross species, which is why a while back we had a big concern about avian (bird) flu and this year's hot topic is swine flu. In the case of canine influenza (H3N8), it is thought to have mutated from the equine flu virus. Canine flu first showed up about five years ago in groups of racing greyhounds. It is common practice to feed these dogs raw horsemeat and it is thought that that may have been a factor in the virus jumping species (just one of many reasons we do NOT recommend feeding raw meat). The outbreaks at greyhound tracks have occurred in clusters and seem to have a higher incidence of severe disease than the cases we see in the general canine population. The largest number of cases have occurred in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Colorado, but cases have been reported in more than 30 states including Ohio and Kentucky.

Here is Cory's costume for this year- Peter Pan, which seemed appropriate! Unfortunately I forgot my camera and had to make due with my cellphone, so the quality is not the best!

Because canine influenza is a relatively new virus, very few dogs will have any natural immunity and the morbidity (rate of infection) may approach 100%. Approximately 20% of dogs affected will show no clinical signs, but will be contagious to other dogs. The vast majority of dogs will show mild symptoms similar to "kennel cough" syndrome- initially sneezing and nasal discharge followed by a cough which is characteristically a softer cough than the "goose honk" we hear with kennel cough. Fever may be present (rarely seen with kennel cough). A small percentage of dogs may develop the severe form of the disease which presents as rapid progression to severe, often hemorrhagic pneumonia. Racing greyhounds seem to be much more likely to develop the severe form. Less than 1% of dogs who are exposed will die of the disease. Dogs may be contagious BEFORE developing symptoms, which can make controlling spread of disease difficult.

Stevie, our clinic cat, dressed as "The Little Mermaid" this year. His costume is a little difficult to appreciate (sadly the bikini top and tail are hard to see!) but the expression on his face says it all!

Last spring a vaccine for canine influenza was given conditional approval. At this time we are not recommending its use for our patients. In general, we try to avoid using new products such as this the first year it is available, particularly when it does not have full approval as is the case with this vaccine. Locally canine influenza does not appear to yet be presenting a significant threat. In addition, it is important to know that this vaccine does NOT prevent your dog from developing symptoms; it decreases the severity of the symptoms and lessens the length of time the vaccinated dog is contagious to other dogs.

At this time, canine influenza does not appear to pose a significant health threat to our patients as the overall incidence in our area is low, and the vast majority of dogs who do become sick will have relatively mild symptoms. It is important to keep in mind however that some dogs do develop more serious symptoms; our recommendations for vaccination may change if the disease becomes more prevalent. It is likely that dogs who are most at risk would be dogs who attend dog shows and training classes, stay at boarding kennels, or go to the groomer or dog park. If more cases of canine influenza begin appearing, our recommendations for these dogs may change.

This is Boris Wedig, one of our patients who sends us pictures of his Halloween finery each year. Boris and Stevie seem to share a similar opinion of dressing up...they think it is more trick than treat!

Canine flu has not been reported in people and is not considered a health risk to humans. However, in the news last week it was reported that a cat had been diagnosed with swine flu (H1N1) which it appeared to have contracted from its human owners. This appears to have been another case of a type A influenza virus jumping species. Also within the past few weeks there have been a handful of cases of H1N1 reported in pet ferrets. Ferrets in general are more susceptible to the influenza viruses than dogs and cats, and so it is not totally surprising that this could occur. At this time, it is not believed that cats or ferrets (or other household pets) will harbor the swine flu virus and serve as a source of infection to humans- it actually appears that the opposite was true and the humans transmitted the disease to the animals.

Based on our knowledge of influenza viruses, it is wise that if you are experiencing symptoms of flu that you avoid close contact not only with human family members but with your pets as well (no sleeping on the bed!) and wash your hands frequently. The same holds true if your pets are the ones with symptoms. The risk of transferring infections is very, very low, but not nonexistent. Also, it is more important now than ever that if your dog develops respiratory symptoms such as sneezing or coughing that you see your veterinarian to ensure that any evidence of severe disease is caught as early as possible. Our diagnostic lab is now offering a panel which tests for the eight most common causes of canine upper respiratory disease. This panel is not inexpensive and is not something we would necessarily recommend for every dog with symptoms, but for dogs with more serious evidence of disease or who may serve as a source of infection for large numbers of other dogs it may be a valuable source of information.

Natasha Wedig, Boris' "sister" in her Minnie Mouse outfit. She doesn't look any happier than Boris and Stevie!

So follow the common sense advice above, be vigilant and observe your pets closely for respiratory symptoms, and stay tuned for new developments. We hope both you and your pets stay healthy and happy this flu season!

Deja vu all over again...

Cory and I went to Zanesville OH this weekend for the Parkersburg Obedience Training Club's agility trials. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL weekend to drive and the leaves were much more changed there than here. We had a great time although Cory was in "butthead" mode most of the weekend. We had no Qs, but he did try very hard for me on the standard course. We were 100% in all three classes for startline stays, contacts, and no knocked bars, so we are getting there...

The first video is of Cory's standard run this weekend and the second one is of his dad Andy almost 10 years ago when he was still a young green dog. It is amazing how little has changed! (including my hairstyle and my handling; you would have thought I'd have learned something in that time frame. And I think I still have that shirt in my closet). I HAVE apparently done a better job of training contacts as Cory doesn't creep down the contact like his dad (although I have no complaints because Andy was pretty reliable on his contacts, though he would push if I let him). When I watch video of them running though they are SO alike in so many ways. Not all of them good!

Sorry about the quality in Andy's video; I stopped taping our runs because I was tired of seeing my big butt and now I regret hardly having any video of him!

I am so lucky to have had two dogs with such drive and enthusiasm. They truly are a joy to train and live with. Even if I do gripe about Cory all the time :-). That's half the fun!

Off to the Smokies Part 2- agility trial!

My pictures finally came so I can finish telling you about our North Carolina trip! To pick up where I left off, we drove down to our cabins on a Tuesday night and spent Wednesday and Thursday relaxing with the dogs and doing just a little sightseeing. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday we were entered in the Blue Ridge Agility Club's trials. Prior to this, Cory has been entered in standard only 3 or 4 times primarily to practice his startline stays and contacts. The last time I ran him was last December at our club's trial in the FAST class, where he did come close to Qing. In fact, that was the last trial I had been to and the last time I ran Andy. I knew Cory still wasn't ready, but time was catching up with us and I had to get motivated to start really training again. Since we were there, and this club had absolutely the BEST entry fee package, I figured what the heck and gave it a shot. I didn't really expect to qualify but thought we could sort of see where we were and evaluate. I was a little worried about running him in jumpers as stringing together long jump sequences is where we start having problems (he is way too handler focused and doesn't send well yet, especially to jumps), but we needed to see how bad the issue would be on a full course with a full head of steam.

My roomates Kathy and Sharon did not have to be to the trial until later, so I was first up and on the road from my cabin. You guessed, it, more rain. Luckily this trial was held at a really nice, outdoor covered horse arena with near perfect footing for me. Driving through the mountains that morning was really beautiful, and I was zooming along in quite a good mood when suddenly it occurred to me that this was the first agility trial I had been to since Andy died. Not only that, but other than Levi's very first agility trial at the sheltie national way back in 1997, it was the first agility trial I had EVER gone to without Andy- he came along just a couple of months after Levi got that first leg and went with me to every trial from then until he died. I admit I got a little teary; I still miss my boy every single day and one of the reasons that I haven't really worked Cory in agility much is that I just get a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach running without Andy. As I was driving and sniffling a little bit, I noticed the song on the radio- it was an old country song by Ricky Van Shelton called "Wild Man". That was what I would always call my Andy at the agility trials- when we headed over to line up for our turn in the ring I would always tell him "Come on, wild man" and he knew that it was his turn to run. The words of the song kept repeating "I'm a wild man, that's what I am"...almost like Andy was letting me know a little piece of him would be with me at every trial for the rest of my life. I'm not really one to believe in "signs" so much....but I don't believe much in coincidence either and what are the odds that that particular seventeen year old song would be playing on the radio?

I miss you, my little wild man. I'm glad I have a piece of you in your son, but it still will never be the same.

But on to Cory! I have to say that, despite the LONG days this club's trial was very nice, the facility was great, the setting was beautiful (when we could see it through the pouring rain!), the food was EXCELLENT and the courses were without exception flowing and fun. Plus we had real indoor bathrooms! I wish I had pictures of the mountains surrounding all four sides of the arena to show you, but sadly the weather was just too icky to get any. We definitely could appreciate WHY they're called the Smokies, though! At times it was like something out of a Tolkien novel.



I was SO proud of Cory- all weekend, through 8 classes, he had intense focus and energy; he NEVER lost it and ran amuck, and he tried very hard 100% of the time to play by my rules. His startline stays were solid (well, ok, he blew one but it WAS partly my fault), his contacts were great, and he even hit both weave pole entries the first day on the first try! The rest of the weekend we had almost all right sided poles and I think he got them all on at least the second try. It took his dad a LONG time for me to be able to say that! He does need to learn to drop his head and drive through a little more- he still has a lot of wasted motion, but that will come with experience.

I was especially pleased with his jumpers runs. We have definite issues with stringing together more than 2 or 3 jumps- he gets very revved up and starts to spin back and bark at me. He is VERY sensitive to my body language which is not at all precise, and way too handler focused. He sends to the weaves or contacts much better than to jumps. The course the first day was really a good one for us with "bowtie" loops so I didn't have to run too hard to keep up and he did much better than I expected. Day two we had to sit on the startline for about an eon while some course adjustments were made; the course was not so good for me and I needed to do a long lead out pivot which he is not really solid on to keep myself in position. He held the startline stay for a lead out long enough that we didn't both fit in the frame of the video camera even zoomed out all the way, but missed the pivot and got stuck in a spin cycle we never recovered from. Day three he broke his only startline stay of the weekend; I broke my cardinal rule of NEVER allowing my dogs to continue (I can honestly say I don't think I have ever failed to carry my dogs off if they broke their stay). I hesitated long enough to pull him off his weave pole entry, but ultimately decided we needed practice running full courses more than startline stays. I think in this case it was a good decision- we worked the stays separately afterwards, he held both of them later in the day, and he actually had a MUCH better run than I expected with only two places we got sticky- one due to needing more training and one due to me just being too slow. The improvement from Saturday to Sunday was immense, and I was so pleased.


I was really happy with our standard runs; I think he will Q in standard soon. We came very close on Sunday. He had great runs on Friday and Sunday; on Sunday I forgot which dog I was running and didn't support his contact sends well enough and he ran by each one- very unusual for him. BUT we didn't have a single spin until we got to the very last jump- a tough for us sequence of tunnel-jump-chute- jump and out, so you can imagine how far behind I was when we got to the last jump. His contact performances were very solid. On Saturday I pushed it just a little too far; we had a dogwalk-tunnel-aframe sequence and when he came out of the tunnel he wanted to "buzz" by me once before hitting the aframe; I held him on the frame contact a LONG time thinking I would settle him down (and also to let me cross in front and get into position) and after a LONG time he did pop off before I released him and I carried him off. I really regretted that after I thought about it though, as he probably waited 10-15 seconds- an ETERNITY in agility time- on that contact while I strolled into position- that's a lot to ask of a green dog! I shouldn't have pushed it.

But the best part of the weekend was Cory actually Q'd and placed second in FAST on Friday! FAST is a "games" class; you have 30 seconds to accumulate points. Each obstacle is worth a certain point value. To qualify you have to accumulate a certain number of points AND successfully complete the "send", which is a sequence of obstacles where you "send" your dog across a line and handle the sequence from a distance without crossing the line. Once the 30 second whistle blows, you lose one point for every second it takes you to jump the "out" jump and stop the timers. It is great fun and nice for novice dogs as you can reattempt obstacles if you need to, or avoid obstacles your dog isn't ready for (as long as they aren't in the send).



He SHOULD have qualified in FAST on Saturday as well, if his dumb handler had paid more attention when she walked the course. FAST and standard ran in the same ring, and in standard both days before running fast the course started with jump-dogwalk. I set him up for the opening in FAST on Saturday with jump- teeter- not even thinking that he was pattern trained to expect the dogwalk, and being a greed dog, would have difficulty telling the teeter and dogwalk apart when approached straight on. You guessed it, he flew off the teeter quite spectacularly- I don't think it dropped at all and he ran right off the end; "yelled" at me by barking with teeth showing that it was all my fault but did a great job when we reattempted it; I think this may have been the reason we had the contact run bys the next day too- he wanted to get a good look at them. Sadly he knocked the bar on the double in the send or we would have had Q number two. Oh well, c'est la vie. I learned an important lesson about looking at things from my dog's perspective and in the context of the whole weekend.

Running Cory was like deja vu in many cases- he is SO like his father in so many ways, especially when Andy was young and first starting out. I guess that means I haven' t learned anything and have made the same training mistakes! He does care a lot more about playing by my rules and he tries REALLY hard to do things right though- Andy played by my rules only because I'd carry him off if he didn't, he always thought he had a new and improved way to do things! This weekend was a great bonding experience for Cory and I- we had just started to come together as a team when Andy died, and left alone together we kind of had to redefine our relationship. I think Cory had the best time of his life all week with the agility trial being the cherry on top of the sundae.

Since getting my new laptop moving pictures and video around in blogger is a pain- not sure why, same software and OS but that's Vista for you- so I'm not going to post any video here, but maybe I'll post one of Cory running and one of Andy when he first started for comparison later. Now I have the bug again, we are entered in Zanesville next weekend and at our club's trial next month and are back in class again. I have set up the longest send I can manage in my basement (about 50 feet- he bounces most of the jumps) and as of last night Cory can now send over 5 jumps to the table OR call off after 4 to the tunnel on the left, all while I am sitting on the couch in front of the TV. We haven't quite managed to direct him off to the side to the baby dog walk after the table without me getting up though. Maybe by next week!

Our fun was not dampened in the least by the weather nor the fact that I-75 was closed on the way home and it took the better part of an hour to detour around it (a few members of our group were stuck sitting there for FIVE OR SIX HOURS! YIKES!) . Nor by the amount of red dirt ground into Cory's white furnishings; we actually borrowed a hose at a gas station on the way home and blasted the worst of it off of him! We also really tried to take his picture in front of "Flealand" which has billboards all over down in southern KY, but their directions weren't very good and I couldn't find it! I really wanted that shot!

Thanks to VW Perry and Furry Fotography for the great pictures!