I decided to enter Baughton show so I could train the agility class with Ember and Rum. Although I said I wouldn't enter indoor shows with Rum I had done this one in the past and knew that you entered the rings at the entrance to the school so there was no queuing inside nor fighting past other very wound up dogs in a confined area. It turned out to be a boiling hot day so it's a shame it wasn't an outdoor show, but then weather like this is a bit unheard of in March!!
Cas was entered in anysize on medium so she was clear round only, she had a fab round in the 5-7 jumping but had a bit of a loopy moment in steeplechase - merle brain was taking over a bit. But she had a fab time and was so happy to be doing agility :)
Ember had a lovely clear in 5-7 Jumping and results were combined with all sizes, she came 6th. In agility she sort of lost me after the tunnel but we were training anyway so I put her back over the A-frame, although she did get her contact she jumped off too early. Then she had a fab round in Steeplechase and came 2nd. Was really pleased with her as she really listened to me.
Rum I was really pleased with, the jumping class is quite a tight course at Baughton so he did struggle shortening his stride as you can tell by his jumping style! But otherwise he worked really well, I tried to tighten a right turn in jumping and he pulled off a jump as I directed him too early - with the bitches I am directing them before they take a jump but with Rum he doesn't commit as early and will normally turn as soon as I tell him and I forgot this! In agility I took his toy in just to make him realise he doesn't have to worry too much about his contacts so I was really pleased he was a bit speedier especially on his dogwalk. In the steeplechase he took the tunnel when he shouldn't have which was just down to where he landed it was the obvious option and I didn't really expect it so wasn't calling him.
So otherwise a good day and I was pleased with how they worked, Rum stayed calm especially when he went wrong I just did not make an issue of it and carried on like it didn't happen otherwise this again worries him if I make too much of an issue of it.
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Saturday, 10 March 2012
Lungworm
Well to cut a long story short and thanks to Julie Adams it seemed Rum had lungworm, we treated him before we went on holiday and a blood test last week showed his blood is back to normal. So again everything happens for a reason, if they hadn't fought then we might not have found out until they were all seriously ill!
The wedding and holiday was absolutely amazing, we've both been back at work for a week so it's back to reality and am off to Crufts tomorrow to watch Lee Gibson in the champ class - good luck Lee! Rum hasn't done any agility for a while so we're hopefully training next Saturday as we then have a unaf. show the weekend after - having watched Crufts online and raring to start the season!!
Here are some pics from St Lucia:
The wedding and holiday was absolutely amazing, we've both been back at work for a week so it's back to reality and am off to Crufts tomorrow to watch Lee Gibson in the champ class - good luck Lee! Rum hasn't done any agility for a while so we're hopefully training next Saturday as we then have a unaf. show the weekend after - having watched Crufts online and raring to start the season!!
Here are some pics from St Lucia:
Friday, 10 February 2012
Rum
My poor lad has been in the wars. He and Missy (my fiance’s shepherd) had a fight on Sunday. Rum seemed fine and his wounds looked okay but Monday evening the one wound on his chest had formed what we thought was an abscess.
Tuesday – a visit to the vet who said the abscess needed lancing and his foot x-rayed as it felt like he had splintered a bone.
Wednesday – he went in for the op. The vet tried to lance the abscess and found it wasn’t an abscess but a tumour, he also found a lot of bruising on Rum and said that his blood isn’t clotting properly so he needed to do a chest x-ray to make sure he had no internal bleeding which thankfully was clear. He couldn’t remove or take a biopsy of the lump as he would have bled to death! So he took a blood sample to look at platelet levels etc. He didn’t do an x-ray of his foot as he says if it was properly broken he wouldn’t be able to bend it and it is probably splintered which they can’t do much for anyway.
Thursday – the results of the blood test. I knew it was bad news when the receptionist needed the vet to speak to me. His red & white cells and haemoglobin are low and he has said this hopefully is the result of him losing blood from the fight as his blood wasn’t clotting. He is also very anaemic so is on strict rest as there is a risk he could faint. As expected his platelets are low which is what is causing his blood not to clot properly.
So next week he goes for another blood test to make sure his cells are back to normal levels as otherwise there’s an underlying reason. He will always have the problem with his blood not clotting properly so I just have to be aware of this in future.
My poor lad, I still don’t think I have taken it all in. He is quite okay in himself, just very lethargic and his wounds are starting to make him scratch and are aggravating him. To look at him though he doesn’t look that ill and I just hope his bloods are back to normal next week. In a way I am glad that it happened as now we know about his blood then I can be more aware if he ever is wounded in the future but I can’t believe all the problems it has unearthed!! I personally think the lump is like a mass of blood rather than a tumour as it wasn’t there before but is that just me not wanting to think about what it could be? If it hasn’t reduced in size the vet will look at removing but it is a risk because of the problem with his blood!
So at the moment he is wrapped up in cotton wool and being spoilt rotten.
Tuesday – a visit to the vet who said the abscess needed lancing and his foot x-rayed as it felt like he had splintered a bone.
Wednesday – he went in for the op. The vet tried to lance the abscess and found it wasn’t an abscess but a tumour, he also found a lot of bruising on Rum and said that his blood isn’t clotting properly so he needed to do a chest x-ray to make sure he had no internal bleeding which thankfully was clear. He couldn’t remove or take a biopsy of the lump as he would have bled to death! So he took a blood sample to look at platelet levels etc. He didn’t do an x-ray of his foot as he says if it was properly broken he wouldn’t be able to bend it and it is probably splintered which they can’t do much for anyway.
Thursday – the results of the blood test. I knew it was bad news when the receptionist needed the vet to speak to me. His red & white cells and haemoglobin are low and he has said this hopefully is the result of him losing blood from the fight as his blood wasn’t clotting. He is also very anaemic so is on strict rest as there is a risk he could faint. As expected his platelets are low which is what is causing his blood not to clot properly.
So next week he goes for another blood test to make sure his cells are back to normal levels as otherwise there’s an underlying reason. He will always have the problem with his blood not clotting properly so I just have to be aware of this in future.
My poor lad, I still don’t think I have taken it all in. He is quite okay in himself, just very lethargic and his wounds are starting to make him scratch and are aggravating him. To look at him though he doesn’t look that ill and I just hope his bloods are back to normal next week. In a way I am glad that it happened as now we know about his blood then I can be more aware if he ever is wounded in the future but I can’t believe all the problems it has unearthed!! I personally think the lump is like a mass of blood rather than a tumour as it wasn’t there before but is that just me not wanting to think about what it could be? If it hasn’t reduced in size the vet will look at removing but it is a risk because of the problem with his blood!
So at the moment he is wrapped up in cotton wool and being spoilt rotten.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
It's Been a While!
It’s been a while. I made the decision not to do any shows over winter:
1) Rum doesn’t cope with indoor venues, I don’t want the stress behaviour to return so it would be long journeys for just Ember to compete.
2) I have a wedding to pay for!
3) It’s cold and dark and miserable.
4) I only have a normal car so wet muddy, indoor school surface covered dogs aren’t really suited to it!
5) I want to get the dogs (and me) up to a better standard.
So we are training every other Sunday to see if we can better our standard as we were all over the shop this year, having too much fun and not concentrating enough! Next year I want the dogs back up to a competitive standard but still enjoying it and I still think we will stick to smaller shows as I just can’t ever see with Rum ever coping with the bigger shows. My fiancé has said I could use a caravan next year but the trouble is this would cause Rum even more stress and we would be back to square one so we will just be sticking to local shows as well.
Training is going well especially with Ember, I have always struggled with things like pulling off jumps, pull throughs when she’s ahead of me and allowing me to cross behind so these are the things we have been working on and she is picking it up well this time round, before I have never seemed to get her to really do it. Also she didn’t like the wider spaced weaves so we have been working on those along with entries and of course the usual contacts!
With Rum he is starting to push me a little in terms of contacts and waits, he is self releasing off contacts and pushing his waits a bit. So I think we might start with some UKA shows and take a toy in. His control, jumping etc is still fab and he listens every step of the way.
This weekend we hadn’t trained for long when the wind and rain set in so we had to call it a day which was a shame.
Cas will be 12 soon, she’s still fit as a fiddle and very healthy, to look at her you wouldn’t think she was that old! Her only problem is she can’t eat dry food without almost choking and the vet can’t see anything wrong so it’s a bit worrying but when we soak her food she is fine and she’s been like this almost a year now and it hasn’t worsened.
Dizzy is 13 next year and she has her good and bad days, her back legs can be very wobbly and her one front shoulder does cause her some pain however she recently had an MOT at the vets who said she was very good considering and she had a blood test which just showed her kidneys are slowing down a bit due to old age but other than that she is fine.
Mum and I have tickets to Olympia on the Saturday for the evening performance so am looking forward to seeing the agility. I was always a bit disappointed Rum never qualified for the Novice Olympia, we never seemed to get clears always 5f here and there, two runs stand out where he had the fastest time and I could have kicked myself for making silly mistakes. He would be fab powering round that course however looking back it is a good thing he didn’t as he just would not have coped with the atmosphere at all, it would have completely blown his brains! I am a great believer in that everything happens for a reason.
Wow that’s a long post! We’re in New York over Christmas so I probably won’t blog again, Happy Christmas to you all!
1) Rum doesn’t cope with indoor venues, I don’t want the stress behaviour to return so it would be long journeys for just Ember to compete.
2) I have a wedding to pay for!
3) It’s cold and dark and miserable.
4) I only have a normal car so wet muddy, indoor school surface covered dogs aren’t really suited to it!
5) I want to get the dogs (and me) up to a better standard.
So we are training every other Sunday to see if we can better our standard as we were all over the shop this year, having too much fun and not concentrating enough! Next year I want the dogs back up to a competitive standard but still enjoying it and I still think we will stick to smaller shows as I just can’t ever see with Rum ever coping with the bigger shows. My fiancé has said I could use a caravan next year but the trouble is this would cause Rum even more stress and we would be back to square one so we will just be sticking to local shows as well.
Training is going well especially with Ember, I have always struggled with things like pulling off jumps, pull throughs when she’s ahead of me and allowing me to cross behind so these are the things we have been working on and she is picking it up well this time round, before I have never seemed to get her to really do it. Also she didn’t like the wider spaced weaves so we have been working on those along with entries and of course the usual contacts!
With Rum he is starting to push me a little in terms of contacts and waits, he is self releasing off contacts and pushing his waits a bit. So I think we might start with some UKA shows and take a toy in. His control, jumping etc is still fab and he listens every step of the way.
This weekend we hadn’t trained for long when the wind and rain set in so we had to call it a day which was a shame.
Cas will be 12 soon, she’s still fit as a fiddle and very healthy, to look at her you wouldn’t think she was that old! Her only problem is she can’t eat dry food without almost choking and the vet can’t see anything wrong so it’s a bit worrying but when we soak her food she is fine and she’s been like this almost a year now and it hasn’t worsened.
Dizzy is 13 next year and she has her good and bad days, her back legs can be very wobbly and her one front shoulder does cause her some pain however she recently had an MOT at the vets who said she was very good considering and she had a blood test which just showed her kidneys are slowing down a bit due to old age but other than that she is fine.
Mum and I have tickets to Olympia on the Saturday for the evening performance so am looking forward to seeing the agility. I was always a bit disappointed Rum never qualified for the Novice Olympia, we never seemed to get clears always 5f here and there, two runs stand out where he had the fastest time and I could have kicked myself for making silly mistakes. He would be fab powering round that course however looking back it is a good thing he didn’t as he just would not have coped with the atmosphere at all, it would have completely blown his brains! I am a great believer in that everything happens for a reason.
Wow that’s a long post! We’re in New York over Christmas so I probably won’t blog again, Happy Christmas to you all!
Sunday, 16 October 2011
It's a fine line
It's a fine line between a dog not worrying about doing their agility round right and a dog that just isnt worrying at all!
Rum yesterday at shrewsbury had a lovely couple of rounds in agility, one being an unplaced clear but you could tell he was going steady and making sure he did everything right, worrying about getting it wrong. This morning (back at shrewsbury show) he's gone it to the ring and flown round like a demon possessed, he was relaxed & not stressing at all but he flew round, missed contacts (normally unheard of) and missed his weave he was going too fast. It's a fine line, especially with him as I don't want to knock his enthusiasm & I know full well if I had corrected his contacts he would have then turned into Mr super creepy I am making sure I get that contact. It's very hard to know what to do with him, hmmmmm. Only jumping classes left now though & no more shows over winter so I guess am going to have to really get some drivey contacts going in training.
Rum yesterday at shrewsbury had a lovely couple of rounds in agility, one being an unplaced clear but you could tell he was going steady and making sure he did everything right, worrying about getting it wrong. This morning (back at shrewsbury show) he's gone it to the ring and flown round like a demon possessed, he was relaxed & not stressing at all but he flew round, missed contacts (normally unheard of) and missed his weave he was going too fast. It's a fine line, especially with him as I don't want to knock his enthusiasm & I know full well if I had corrected his contacts he would have then turned into Mr super creepy I am making sure I get that contact. It's very hard to know what to do with him, hmmmmm. Only jumping classes left now though & no more shows over winter so I guess am going to have to really get some drivey contacts going in training.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Monday, 10 October 2011
Ember Update
Back at the vets for a progress check. Vet was really happy with her progress, the infection has gone and therefore her toe wasn't as swollen so he could get a good feel of it & found that it is not actually broken all the way through & is just split the nail a little. He said she has done really well and can return to normal activity including agility & just watch how she goes, so fingers crossed she's sorted. We'll see how she goes off the medication and if she is still okay she can compete at the weekend :)
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Ember
So Ember had a trip to the vets today, he has said she has broken her nail in her toe and got an infection - nail bed infection. He's worried me a little as has said sometimes the nail needs removing which can damage the bone in the toe meaning the toe needs amputating!! So she's on metacam & antibiotics for a week - poor girlie, I feel so sorry for her!
Saturday, 1 October 2011
UKA Top Barn
Wow what gorgeous weather, can't get over it, yet it's not too humid so it's just nice.
Well Rum was up first with his senior agility class, he was a bit creepy on his dogwalk and I pulled him in too tight on a left turn causing him to knock a pole, otherwise he ran nicely and did an awkward bit at the end lovely, he would have won the class without the pole knock. Then was senior steeplechase 2 and he was flying round this, we messed up in the middle as he turned the opposite way out of the tunnel and whilst I corrected him I sent him into another tunnel! Oops! Senior Steeplechase 1 I got him there to go in first and had calmed him down, we were virtually on the start line when someone came along telling me she was helping so had to go first, I told her no she couldn't, I had Rum off his lead and ready to go. I don't mind letting helpers push in but when I am virtually running my dog, sorry but I wasn't having it and Rum was in a perfect frame of mind. So I got to go first and he had a lovely round and won the class. Finally another senior agility and we made a right mess of one part, I was trying to flick him over a jump with the wrong arm! Goodness knows why!!
Ember had her two steeplechases and she just felt a little sluggish and flat, I got her back to the car and she was starting to develop some lameness in her one back leg, I couldn't see or feel anything wrong. Anyway she starting biting her inside toe so I looked at it and my god it's double the size it should be! So a trip to the vet is in order, I am no vet but it does actually feel broken and I wonder if she did it at Blenheim when she really knocked that wooden pole in her agility and pulled up - but she hasn't been lame at all in the meantime? Just seems funny she pulled up at Blenheim after that class.
Finally Cas who just had Casual Steeplechase, she bombed round it and won it, I love that dog she is fabby :)
Rum is doing really well and not stressing at all, am really pleased with his progress. Here's a piccie taken at the show. We're supposed to be at Shrewsbury but I don't think we will now, so next show is TAG.
Well Rum was up first with his senior agility class, he was a bit creepy on his dogwalk and I pulled him in too tight on a left turn causing him to knock a pole, otherwise he ran nicely and did an awkward bit at the end lovely, he would have won the class without the pole knock. Then was senior steeplechase 2 and he was flying round this, we messed up in the middle as he turned the opposite way out of the tunnel and whilst I corrected him I sent him into another tunnel! Oops! Senior Steeplechase 1 I got him there to go in first and had calmed him down, we were virtually on the start line when someone came along telling me she was helping so had to go first, I told her no she couldn't, I had Rum off his lead and ready to go. I don't mind letting helpers push in but when I am virtually running my dog, sorry but I wasn't having it and Rum was in a perfect frame of mind. So I got to go first and he had a lovely round and won the class. Finally another senior agility and we made a right mess of one part, I was trying to flick him over a jump with the wrong arm! Goodness knows why!!
Ember had her two steeplechases and she just felt a little sluggish and flat, I got her back to the car and she was starting to develop some lameness in her one back leg, I couldn't see or feel anything wrong. Anyway she starting biting her inside toe so I looked at it and my god it's double the size it should be! So a trip to the vet is in order, I am no vet but it does actually feel broken and I wonder if she did it at Blenheim when she really knocked that wooden pole in her agility and pulled up - but she hasn't been lame at all in the meantime? Just seems funny she pulled up at Blenheim after that class.
Finally Cas who just had Casual Steeplechase, she bombed round it and won it, I love that dog she is fabby :)
Rum is doing really well and not stressing at all, am really pleased with his progress. Here's a piccie taken at the show. We're supposed to be at Shrewsbury but I don't think we will now, so next show is TAG.
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Blenheim
Oh I was a little bit stressed first thing as I had 3 runs first in the ring all fairly small classes so I warmed Cas up and took her in veterans, she had a messy clear. Then Emz into her agility and she proceeded to go jump and fly off the down dogwalk plank from the top so I picked her up and took her out – I am not having that!! Then Rum in his G6 Agility – oh he was stressed going to the ring I could feel him winding up, there were only 2 dogs in the queue and I couldn’t seem to wind him down. I didn’t have mum with me to queue so I had to try my best in the queue, he did a lovely round on a fairly tricky course just backing out of a tunnel as he wasn’t sure. Then I was back in the ring for Cas in anysize and she had a 5th .
I was grateful for the break but a little concerned as to how stressed Rum had got I was almost ready to go home then I thought for his comb 6-7 agility I would get to the ring and sit with him outside to calm him down and go when the queue was very small. You could see him relaxing as we sat and chilled so I took him when there was 1 dog in the queue, he was loads better, no stress! I held his contacts in this class, I think he had a pole down but that was it, I love Rum and his contacts, he’s a good boy. In his grade 6 jumping I admit I let him break a wait, wasn’t in the right place and completely messed up the whole of the course – it was awful but all my fault!!
Ember had another agility and actually got her contacts which I held a bit (not great position but better than her flying!!) but she slowed down loads and when she finished she just sat (not like her she’s normally running round barking) and although she walked back to the car occasionally she would stop and sit. I think she must have pulled something in her back so I didn’t run her jumping although she seemed okay later on I didn’t want to risk it.
So I know now not to take Rum straight into the ring and to get him to chill before we go in and Ember seems okay now as well. We have quite a few shows planned for October, I got a bit carried away I don’t know why I hate the cold and rain lol!! I missed Bromsgrove’s closing date.
Mark and I had THE most amazing time in Vegas and he asked me to marry him, I said yes of course and we are hoping to be married February next year – somewhere hot!!! He proposed when we were stopping on the Grand Canyon Ranch, we were out on the sunset horseback ride and asked me, giving me the ring. It was perfect, I couldn’t have wished for anything more, I’ve always fancied life as a cowgirl so I was enjoying being one lol!!
We’re looking after Diz while mum is away, she’s 12 now and is very wobbly on her back legs and struggles to climb or go down steps, and falls over a few times a day – poor old girl, but she is so happy and still charges about wanting to play like she’s a 2 year old! She isn’t too impressed that Clee keeps stealing her bed though, there’s not really room for two of them!!
I was grateful for the break but a little concerned as to how stressed Rum had got I was almost ready to go home then I thought for his comb 6-7 agility I would get to the ring and sit with him outside to calm him down and go when the queue was very small. You could see him relaxing as we sat and chilled so I took him when there was 1 dog in the queue, he was loads better, no stress! I held his contacts in this class, I think he had a pole down but that was it, I love Rum and his contacts, he’s a good boy. In his grade 6 jumping I admit I let him break a wait, wasn’t in the right place and completely messed up the whole of the course – it was awful but all my fault!!
Ember had another agility and actually got her contacts which I held a bit (not great position but better than her flying!!) but she slowed down loads and when she finished she just sat (not like her she’s normally running round barking) and although she walked back to the car occasionally she would stop and sit. I think she must have pulled something in her back so I didn’t run her jumping although she seemed okay later on I didn’t want to risk it.
So I know now not to take Rum straight into the ring and to get him to chill before we go in and Ember seems okay now as well. We have quite a few shows planned for October, I got a bit carried away I don’t know why I hate the cold and rain lol!! I missed Bromsgrove’s closing date.
Mark and I had THE most amazing time in Vegas and he asked me to marry him, I said yes of course and we are hoping to be married February next year – somewhere hot!!! He proposed when we were stopping on the Grand Canyon Ranch, we were out on the sunset horseback ride and asked me, giving me the ring. It was perfect, I couldn’t have wished for anything more, I’ve always fancied life as a cowgirl so I was enjoying being one lol!!
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