Highs and Lows

The last 3 weeks have been both terrible and wonderful in the lives of our dogs.

Just prior to Easter saw the start of the roller coaster as out beautiful goldie Tammy stopped eating. When a retriever stops eating it is an immediate cause for concern so we rushed her to the local vet. At first we suspected a blockage as the dogs had been in the bin the night before and there had been some chop bones in there. However when she still wasn't eating 2 days later we took her back and discovered she had high calcium levels. A retest confirmed the worst and we raced off to Perth Veterinary Specialist to speak to their oncologist. They wonderfully stayed open late for us and took her in for a night of IV treatment and scans. We had been prepared for the worst (lymphoma) so were much relieved when they discovered a parathyroid problem - a problem that could be fixed with surgery!! She was prescribed calcium treatment,  and after another couple of nights in emergency later in the week while they got the right drug, we took her home to rest and gather strength for surgery.
Thinking everything was going well we returned for her checkup only to have a swollen lymph node discovered in her neck which would require tests before surgery could take place.
Then it got REALLY bad... the dreaded word - lymphoma :( Instead of surgery Tammy was admitted for more tests including a bone marrow test which was to provide the diagnosis we dreaded - Tammy has Leukaemia. Pretty much the worst diagnosis we could have gotten.
DEVASTATED - doesn't even come close to how we are feeling. Tammy has had one dose of Chemo and today we return to make decisions on what path we want to take from here. Sadly there are no options that will give us long with her and there have been plenty of tears shed.
Tams has been Graeme's faithful companion for nearly 10 years and they share a very special bond. They have competed in both Obedience and Agility together with her Agility career sadly cut short by a couple of dodgy knees (I really wish I could have seen her compete). Whilst she has only been 'my' dog for a short time we have also developed a special bond - she is our 'brat dog' full of mischief and fun - the only dog I have ever know to break her tail by wagging it too hard!! Last week we were due to become registered as a Therapy Dog team - our special thing to do together, and in 2 weeks we were going to take on the challenge of Rally-O, she would have been brilliant at both.
For now we are enjoying every day that we have with her. I am lucky to have been on holidays so we have been taking trips to the park together and yesterday we went for a walk with all of Tammy's doggy friends to Nedlands foreshore. Tammy was so happy to be out, rolling in the beach sand, swimming and playing with her friends. It was a special time for all of us. I think she is loving some of the special privileges - specially cooked TammyTooStew for meals, carrying her squeaky ball everywhere with her and best of all - being allowed to rip apart soft toys without getting in trouble!! She will always be our special brat dog who we love to bits :)


On to the highs
With such an emotional couple of weeks we really hadn't focused as much as we probably should have on the State Trials last weekend - and in the morning trial it showed! Between 2 of us and 4 dogs we didn't have a single pass. We came painfully close in a number of runs, but close doesn't get you into finals. The afternoon trial was a different story. Selby was soooo close again in Open Jumping and then went on to have 3 amazing runs and make finals in Excellent Jumping, Excellent Agility AND Open Agility, Maverick made the Open Jumping final and Cade the Novice Agility final (gaining his title in the process)
Sadly we divert briefly back to the lows - Amos unfortunately had an accident during the week and dislocated his knee. Although he had a good attempt in the morning trial he pulled up sore and had to withdraw from the rest of the States and will now be rested for at least the next month :(
Sunday saw the finals and a VERY nervous handler. Excellent Agility was up first and Selby backed up her performance from Saturday with a lovely run to finish in FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!! I have a STATE CHAMPION!!!!!!!
Open Agility was also a great run but unfortunately I lost contact with her out of a tunnel and we missed a jump - my fault entirely. Was pretty cool to be up against 'the big kids' in a final and we did finish in 8th place which I'm really happy with.
Final run for Selby - Excellent Jumping. Another fantastic clear run :))))) This time second place to the incredibly fast Liryk and Megan.
No luck for Mav or Cade but was still amazing to have 3 of our dogs in finals.

My little puppy is a State Champion and State Runner-Up but the BEST part of the weekend by far - Tammy was able to be with us for both days, wagging her tail and carrying her ball everywhere she went :)

Happy 4th Birthday Selby

On Sunday my gorgeous puppy turned 4! It wasn't much of a celebration as I wasn't too well, but she did enjoy a pig's ear along with the other 3 pups and got a nice walk around Lake Gwelup. It's hard to believe that I've had her for 4 years already but when I look back at what we have achieved together I'm pretty proud of my little 'Quokka dog.'

Here's some pics from the early days

Selby's First Obedience Round - CDD - Second Place and a Q 11 June 2011

The Perth Obedience Trial was our first 'for real' Obedience trial (and the only one we will do before the nationals next week)

I was so happy with Selby. It was a cold windy day and Graeme and Maverick were working in the next ring so she was a little distracted. Scoring an 89 she lost all 11 points in the healing which I must take the blame for - I was really nervous and don't think I gave clear enough signals, woops.

On the positive side check out the Stand for Exam! I was terrified having Frank as judge as he tends to stand over the dogs which can be quite intimidating for them, however Selby was a star and stayed still throughout and got a perfect score, as she did for the recall and stays :) Overall she managed to get her first pass AND placed second.

The day was mostly about me getting ring experience and learning the judges calls. Getting through a whole round makes me feel much more confident about the Nationals next week. I have no real expectations for the trial, but it's nice to know that she has completed a trial and had a pass before we go (she can do it)

Hopefully the ash cloud will be well and truely gone and it will be smooth travels and a fun trip over to Queensland

Obedience - Not in a Million Years!!

I have always vowed "Obedience isn't for us... Don't like it... It looks boring... Selby (and I) would be hopeless at it... I'm NEVER going to do it"

And then .... 97/100 at her first trial last weekend!! Amazing how things change!

So what happened to my vow? Graeme was planning to take Mav to the Obedience Nationals in Queensland in June and asked us to come too. Before I knew it flights were booked - only problem - Selby had NEVER done anything that resembled obedience in her life!! A couple months of mad training later, along with the realisation that it would probably be better to actually get into the ring before we rock up at the Nationals, and she was in her first trial. It was a members comp at Northern Suburbs which seemed like a nice 'safe' go at it. I can't say I have ever been that nervous at an agility trial where once you get into the ring you don't have time to feel the nerves. I was so impressed with Selby's healing and she got all her positions (we need to straighten them up a little but she couldn't even do a stand 2 weeks ago so I'm not complaining)

One thing I learnt is that it is probably a good idea to know the rules BEFORE you go in the ring. I lined up for the recall with Selby sitting beautifully at my side expecting the judge to say "leave your dog" instead I hear "forward" ... "What? I have to go forward first?" Short discussion with judge then I step forward and woops Selby isn't really with me and misses the sit :( There go our 3 marks. She did do a beautiful recall though so again not unhappy with her - totally my fault.

On to the stand. My little tactile defensive dog that has only just learnt how to stand is not ready to cope with being examined as well so we opted for the 30 second stand (the judge thought I was crazy and given that I had never practiced more than about 10 seconds she probably wasn't too far off) I was amazed that Selby completed this exercise successfully and would go through to the stays without being DQ'd. The stays TERRIFY me!

Stays, along with the exam, would be the main part of obedience that has stopped me from even considering training Selby for trialling. She really doesn't like being touched and is very possessive of her personal space. Leaving her to sit amongst other dogs that she doesn't know - NEVER in a million years! Turns out she was just fine, although she is a real sticky beak and spent the whole time looking around for what mischief she can get into. I had been advised to give her the "evil eye" if she looked like getting up - which would be fine if she ever made eye contact with me!! The 1min sit and 2 min drop felt like an hour but even with Maverick working in the next ring she didn't get up Yay!

We finished the day with an amazing 97 which I'm thrilled with (shame there were also dogs that got 98, 99 and 100 so she only placed 4th)

Obedience Nationals here we come!!!

My Beautiful Puppy

Friends

Selby Agility 29 Nov 2010 - Including first pass in Excellent agility