Agility Adventures

Farewell to the 2008 WAC

2008-05-13T16:20:00.005+10:00

Day 3 of Competition was the Team's events. To compete in this Australia would need 3 competitors with at least 1 competitor running a mini or toy dog. So we spent the day in the stands cheering on the other teams and watching in awe of some of talented dogs and awesome handling. I was really itching to be down there running Gizzy in the Agility and Jumping legs of the teams. I just felt we were starting to meld and that I was understanding his needs more and fine-tuning my timing; and the courses looked challenging yet do-able. But it wasn't to be... Still the closing ceremony and the presentations were great. The team results were Russia 1st, Netherlands 2nd and Canada 3rd.

Gizzy and I had ended up being placed 16th in the Maxi class All-Round Challenge (Agility + Jumping + Snooker + Gamblers). I'm very proud of this achievement considering we first met on Wednesday afternoon for a brief training session before working together for an hour on Thursday at the official practice session and Friday and Saturday competing together.

Gizzy is very different from my own dogs in nature and to run, but we had a lot of fun together once I got a feel for what he needed from me as a handler. There are many things I have learned over the time I've been working with Gizzy... the plan I had loosely laid out in terms of games to play to help our bonding went out the window the first day and I realised that everything needs to be completely flexible to fit with what the individual dog finds rewarding. I had made assumptions going in that I should not have made. Perhaps the first and most important thing is to discover the list of rewards the dog has from most rewarding to least rewarding and use these accordingly.

So it is all over now, and today I leave Ingelmunster and start on the next part of my trip. There were three very very special people I've met here in Belgium that have made our stay very welcoming... an experience I will never forget. So to Ronny, Els and Niko, a HUGE thank you! Competing at the WAC for Australia would never have been possible without your willingness to loan us your dogs and then your constant and unwavering support throughout the event. Ronny was always nearby, quick to answer questions about Gizzy and to help us celebrate each run. I hope one day to be able to return the favour and hospitality!

Mal's Runs

2008-05-13T16:16:00.003+10:00

I will be uploading Mal's runs with Malinka to this blog. I will edit the entry as I get each run up online.

Saturday's Snooker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw1kAJQkyxA

Saturday's Jumping

Day Two of Competition

2008-05-11T15:23:00.012+10:00

Wow! What a day! Four runs today with Gizzy and with the exception of our snooker run I was really pleased with each. It was fun! I came off the three courses feeling like we are really starting to click and that my timing is improving. I wish we were running tomorrow too!
In the snooker, he tried really hard for me but just got very confused about running past obstacles. I could really feel his frustration with the game. In Belgium they do not play games often. But the gamblers was a good run; it was hard to know how to plan the opening section as I still didn't have a feel for his rate of travel, so was one obstacle short of where I had planned to be when the whistle blew, which I was quite happy with, but that meant that my run down the gamble line was closer than I'd intended to be, leaving myself no room to push back in on him after obstacle 2 toward the tunnel. I was still ecstatic with our opening though; it wasn't huge on points but it was fairly flowing which was my aim for us both to start out the day. Both the agility and jumping runs were a lot of fun and I'd love to do more.

These are the videos of the runs with the course plans. (Sorry no video editing software with me, so they are still in raw format!)
Run 1: Gamblers

Run 2: Agility

Run 3: Snooker

Run 4: Jumping

After each run, Ronny, Gizzy's owner was there to help celebrate and to reward Gizzy for his efforts; it was always good to share that 'after-run' feeling, and made it feel like a team effort. I couldn't have asked for a more supportive and helpful owner from which to borrow a dog. Ronny has been incredibly generous in offering his dog to the Australians and then has gone out of his way to help us in any way possible. I can not thank him enough!

Day One of Competition

2008-05-10T14:43:00.005+10:00

Today was Day 1 of Competition
We started with the Opening Ceremony with all teams in full uniform. Dogs were optional... I felt Gizzy would benefit from staying in his crate. The atmosphere wasn't as stimulating as I had feared, but I am still happy with the decision.
It was a teary moment moment heading out onto the field and thinking that it is all about to start... hearing and seeing the supporters and I was glad to be wearing my sunglasses.

The first course was Power and Speed and was judged by Cathy. Some really nice runs in that; though also many eliminations within the power section as dogs blew weave entries or missed contacts. Both Mal and I were E'd off early in the power section. Gizzy and I missed our weaves... I have a new word to learn... sounds a bit like "Poledjar".

Second run was Agility. Nice course from the Russian judge. Gizzy and I had a really great run with which I was pleased. We coped well with the discriminations. We incurred 10 faults; so one weave entry problem and one refusal at a serpentine. We were placed 17th in the class. Unfortunately no video footage of this run. But below is the course.

The final run of the day was jumping. I had some good moments in this run but Eliminated Gizzy at a pull through to the cloth tunnel as I was just way too slow to tell him about the turn. But I was thrilled with our connection over the early part of the course.

Ring Practice

2008-05-10T05:54:00.004+10:00

Gizzy and I had an interesting day. I was really happy with some of the work we managed to put together during the practice sessions, especially what we accomplished in ring 1. He needs me to support his line a little more than I am used to having to do, but at the same time he is more than willing to work really hard for me. This dog really loves his agility! Though at the same time, he is still not wanting to play with me... he likes to do things on his terms; I don't think the four days with which I have to play with him will convince him that my terms are better ;-)
Here is a short video of some of our practice session.

Tonight was the welcoming dinner as well. We had our Aussie koala and Aussie flags flying high! The ceremony was great and we got to meet a number of officials and handlers from around the world. Already people are approaching us arranging gear swaps... hats for hats, shirts for shirts! There is a bit of an art to negotiating the best swaps I'm finding! At the moment I'm on a promise for a US team shirt, a Belgium hat and a Netherlands hat. I'm wondering what I'll get for the blow up Aussie finger that is being waved wildly from the grandstand...

Gizzy it is!

2008-05-08T14:58:00.005+10:00

So we had a productive practice session Wednesday arvo and settled on the dogs we will each run for the WAC. I'm honoured to be running Gizzy. Mal will be running Malinka.
Gizzy adores his handler Ronny and was quite focussed on him at our session yesterday and play was a little hard for me to engage; but put an agility obstacle in front of him and he was more than willing to work it! So I'm very excited about today and the next few days of the WAC. Today I get to work him at the arena in the rings. My focus will be on keeping myself moving and talking to him a lot throughout the obstacles to keep a connection with Gizzy. And keeping it upbeat and lots of fun. Ronny plays rough with Gizzy so he is definitely more a Zoom type dog to engage with than a Jonty dog. He loves balls... but the challenge for me with the ball is getting him to return to me with it. So I'll be focusing today on using a tug toy even though it is not his absolute favourite toy. He loves movement too... so quick and short 1-2-3 games will also help build the connection. And the sessions will be short as I'm exhausted after a couple of minutes of full-on play with him... definitely no faking it with this puppy!!!

Overall it is so very exciting. I also got my uniform last night... and couldn't help myself; had to try it on! The green and gold... it made me feel very Australian! Actually it was a bit of a "war dance" moment... hence the silly grin! Forgive the mirror shot, best I could come up with at the time, to record that 'OMG' moment.

More this evening after the practice sessions!

Arrived in Belgium

2008-05-07T07:42:00.003+10:00

Well, I've arrived in Belgium; our GPS has decided it does not wish to work, so we got a little lost and had a scenic tour from Paris to Ingelmunster, but we are here now! After a week in Philadelphia with limited internet access I am a little behind on my blog and my emails. So imagine my surprise when tonight I log in to find a best wishes YouTube video from the ADAA crew. Thanks guys... you are all too awesome for words!

Today we briefly met with one of the dogs and her owners. And we have another session scheduled tomorrow afternoon with both dogs to work out which dog with which handler. Thursday is the official practice session with the dogs at the grounds with Australia having a half hour slot in each ring. Thursday night is the welcome dinner and then the opening ceremony at 9am Friday. Then we start running these puppies for real!
Aside from all the logistics, it was nice to get a chance to work with a dog again today. I feel like I'm coming back into my element. I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to tommorrow arvo and am thinking about the best plan for that time.

Agility practice without dogs or equipment

2008-04-28T12:03:00.003+10:00

So I'm preparing for the WAC whilst oceans apart from my dogs. Mental strategy is part of the equation. Physical fitness and conditioning is another. Yet another is handler decision making. So I have been analysing some courses set by the WAC judges and other judges from around the world; considering how to solve the handling challenges. Whilst practicing my decision making on paper is a useful tactic, what would normally make this a learning exercise rather than an application, is setting up the courses or challenges and running them as planned. By running the course / challenges it is like grading yourself on your decision making. You test your theories on what would be the best strategy and discover what works, what doesn't and which turns produce the fastest lines.

Of course this is a little hard to implement without equipment or dogs. So this is where my awesome friends at home are helping me out. Not only are we comparing notes on how to handle different courses, but they are setting them up and training with them and giving me feedback as to the flow and strategy. This is helping turn a useful actity into a learning activity.

It is also interesting to see how different striding and turning dogs are coping in slightly different ways with the handling strategies. This feedback will help my analysis of my courses once I meet and learn more about the striding and turns of the Belgian Border Collie I will be running.

Reminding myself of the Good Habits

2008-04-26T04:17:00.007+10:00

So in thinking about how to prepare myself for when I meet my dog in Belgium I've been reviewing some artices and books on attitude and mental management. Yesterday it was Lanny Bassham. Today I was reading stuff by Jane Savoie, a dressage rider and coach and author of "It's Not Just About the Ribbons" and "A Winning Attitude". Admittedly it is not about dog agility, but I believe that many of the same concepts will translate into our sport. She writes that... "A winning attitude is more important to your success than any other single factor. You may not be able to choose the hand you've been dealt, but you have total control over how you're going to react to that hand."

This struck a chord with me, as did her advice on preparing a horse at a show as listed on this site. I am already familiar with these techniques but re-reading them and thinking how they can be applied to agility has been a useful exercise as the WAC approaches. Here are some of the highlights as they might transfer to dogs and dog agility:

1. First, try to figure out what might make you get nervous. Are you worried about what people think of you? Are you afraid you won't measure up to the expectations of others? If so, QUIT! Quit worrying about what others are thinking, it is beyond your control (and most likely they are more centered on their own problems and performance than to be bothered with thinking about you).

Or have you put unrealistic pressure on yourself to win? If so, focus on "performance goals" rather than "result goals". In other words, rather than having a goal of going clear or placing in the top 3, make a new goal that reflects your effort rather than the outcome. For example, how about running the course without any panicked commands to your dog, or concentrating on the execution of your turns for an entire test?

2. Do you run defensively rather than attacking your course because you're afraid that your dog might leave the ring, blow you off or shut down at a new place or a big event? If so, go to the grounds early. Play with your dog; maybe some retrieve or tug games. Take them out of the crate several times before the comp for walks or sniffing around the arenas. By the time you compete, your dog should be comfortable with the surroundings.

3. Use humour to break up tension. Go to comps with friends who get silly and make you laugh. Or give you "cowboys" as part of celebrating goals. The less intense you are, the more fun you'll have. Remember that it is always a beautiful day if you are out doing agility with your best mate (sure beats work!!!) As you about to run your course, look to the judge, think to yourself, "Get ready to have your socks knocked off!" Watch the previous dog finish and say under your breath, "Hurry up! I want my turn!" As you walk away from your dog have a favourite saying such as "Up, up and away!"; Let's fly!" or "Ready Spaghetti".

4. Also think about what happens to you physically when you're tense. Muscles get tight and respiration and heart rate increase and this is easily communicated to your dog. The good news is that with a little work, you can regulate all of these reactions. Jane outlines techniques to learn how to regulate these; teaching yourself how to relax tensed muscles and control shallow breathing. For me I like to do a big full body stretch and a deep yawn if I feel myself tensing up.

5. Know your course like the back of your hand. That way you can concentrate on handling your dog rather than thinking about where the numbers go. You shouldn't be thinking; "Now I make a front cross, then I have to pinwheel to the left, then where... oh the dogwalk." If you're focusing on where you have to go next, you can't concentrate on what your dog needs from you and/or you may lose your connection with your dog.

I was also reviewing notes I made from Lanny Bassham... specifically his "When the Going Gets Tough...QUIT!" column.

1. Quit worrying about whether you can do it!

–Be positive! Instead of panicking as you walk the course about not having practiced this particular challenge, or whether your dog will get their weaves right, think about the training you have done that will assist you in handling it, and visualise you and your dog doing it!

2. Quit deviating from what you know works!

-If your focus is tied to the environment around you and the environment changes, so do your thoughts. If however, you are focussed on the fun you have with your dog when running agility and letting all the excellent work you both do in training speak volumes out there on course, then you are focussing positively on the process required.

3. Quit worrying what others think of you!
–Easier said than done. But if you focus on yourself and your dog and insulate yourself from wondering about how you look or what others think of you, you’ll stop wasting valuable mental energy. Don’t worry what others are thinking because you’ll never know and 75% of the time they are standing there worrying about their own performances. The other 25% of the time they are simply wondering about whether they should eat now, where the toilets are, and whether they should go now or later.

4. Quit beating yourself up over a poor performance!
–This is a huge one. The more you beat yourself up as a bad handler or a poor trainer the more you are imprinting a negative image of yourself in your mind, which in turn will impact on your behaviour. It is okay to be humble, it is not okay to negate your good performances. Practice saying thank you when someone compliments you on a run, rather than bringing to the fore all the negative parts of the run. When you get a compliment, you should smile and celebrate it, even just if it is an “internal” celebration. And if you goof up, don’t beat yourself up, rather, look at it analytically, try to learn something from the mistake and focus on a solution that will help you achieve success next time.

But it's not your own dog??!!

2008-04-25T02:20:00.012+10:00

A number of people, even those who know nothing of agility, have been asking me what it will be like to compete with a dog that is not my own. It will indeed be challenging, but it is not an unfamiliar concept within the realms of companion animal sports. In particular the format of the Individual FEI Showjumping World Championships brings this into play, as does the Modern Olympic Pentathlon.

The format for the final day of the Individual FEI Showjumping competition at the WEG entails the four best riders from the preceeding rounds jumping their own horses over a set course and then rotating and riding the horses of their rivals over that same course in order to decide the individual title. This format was designed to be the ultimate test of a versatile horseman or woman.

Similarly in the Olympic sport of the Modern Pentathlon (that consists of shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and cross-country running) the equestrian leg is supposed to test the athlete's horsemanship skills by requiring them to ride an unfamiliar horse. The riding discipline involves Show jumping over a 350-450 meter course with between 12 and 15 obstacles. Competitors are paired with horses in a draw 20 minutes before the start of the event.

So the concept of being tested as a rider or handler through your ability to partner with an unknown animal is not unusual at a World Championships or even the Olympics.

But what will the experience be like? Well I can't answer that fully until it is done. Though I know what it means for me is that I will have different goals of my performance at the WAC than I would if I was competing with my own dog. If I was running my own dog my goal would be consistent, accurate and faultless teamwork. My goal in competing with an unknown dog is to demonstrate my versatility as a handler; I will feel successful if I come off that course with the sensation that the dog and I shared a connection out there.

Awesome Opportunity comes Knocking

2008-04-24T10:12:00.008+10:00

Well, it has certainly been a while between blog posts; but I feel I have a legitimate excuse as I only got the opportunity to compete in one agility competition this year before leaving Australian shores to work overseas for a few months. Unfortunately I had to leave my dogs at home due to quarantine, so I'm travelling solo (my hubby Glenn is at home taking care of the clan). But as part of my overseas travel I had planned to attend the IFCS World Agility Championships which are in Belgium in May as a spectator.

One month into my travels and I am located in Texas in the US working with colleagues when I get an email from ADAA...
The IFCS have made a provision in their rules that permits handlers at the World Championships to compete with borrowed dogs if their ability to attend is hindered by quarantine restrictions (such as Australia and NZ).
Well yes, okay, that is great news. [reads on]
AND the host nation Belgium is offering Australian handlers two dogs with which to compete.
Wow, that is fantastic news, Australia is going to compete at the WAC. [reads on]
AND under the circumstances yourself and Mal Williams are the handlers the ADAA board have approved to represent ADAA and Australia. Are you interested?
[sitting there stunned, then...]Oh My God, oh my God, oh my God!!!

What an awesome opportunity! What a scary opportunity! Two days in which to meet a dog and build a working relationship, some teamwork and the all important timing with that dog before competing on the World Stage. Oh, and by the way, the dog doesn't speak English! Yes, just a little bit scary. But on the flip side of scary, what an incredibly exciting opportunity... I get to play with and run an awesome dog, compete at the international level under world class judges and be there with the top in the world as they battle it out on an agility field. In the words of the Pointer Sisters, "I'm so excited! I just can't hide it!" But it is not official yet... a few days of tense waiting.

[A week later and I'm still pinching myself... can this really be true????]
Yes indeed it is. The news is really starting to sink in as it has now been announced in Australia. And I'm reminded what a great circle of friends and family I have with their supportive and timely emails. So WOW, I'm going to represent Australia at the WAC. In fact there will be five Aussies in total... Steve Drinkwater is the Head Judge; Cathy Slot one of the four competition Judges; Penny Mead as Australia's Team Manager; Mal Williams and myself as competitors. I can't help but already be thinking ahead to how many opportunities this opens for Aussies for 2010!

So for those interested, this is the link to the 2008 WAC in Belgium. I will be updating this blog every few days in the lead up to the WAC with my thoughts and preparations. Of course my preparations are going to be unique as I am without my dogs or access to associates' dogs with which to be practicing and honing my skills. This opportunity has come to me completely out of left-field with now less than 4 weeks to the championships. [And yes, I would love to ditch work and go spend some one-on-one time with a coach and a team of dogs for the next few weeks but alas it cannot be so]. I have work commitments and a tight travel schedule right up to the WAC (I'm now in Amherst Massachusetts and will travel next week to Philadelphia in Pennsylvania). But while this could be problematic I see some advantages in that my concentration will be solely on me and preparing myself physically and mentally. No concerns about peaking with my dog at the perfect moment, just a matter of keeping myself fit, sound and maintaining a winning attitude. [But yep, I am regretting packing primarily work clothes, and in particular not packing my well broken-in running shoes and workout gear... time for some emergency shopping!]

Farewell Bilbo Baggins Man

2008-01-30T11:10:00.000+10:00

Many tears fell in our house yesterday; they are still falling today. We said farewell to our sweet boy Billy. He has been our companion for the past 14 years and was our first sheltie. He would have been 15 in April and led an eventful life... he was named for Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit adventurer, and it was a fitting name. He befriended everyone and every animal he met and seemed to have the disappearing act as one of his "gifts". He followed me everywhere when I was still riding horses, covering many miles on a daily basis. He continued to be my constant shadow around the house until his last day. If something was happening he wanted to be part of it; he hated being left behind. Though, in the past 12 months, he has aged very quickly losing muscle tone and strength and then his eyesight. He really did seem to miss having Katie around too.

It was in 1997 when we moved to the Gold Coast and I decided to get him obedience-tested to reduce his council registration fees that I found the world of dog sports. It was with Billy that I started to learn about competing with dogs. I started in obedience, he achieved his CD, and then I saw agility and embarked on another adventure with him at age 7... Who said you can't teach old dogs new tricks?! And he also taught me how much more effective training with positive reinforcement is. He was not a natural agility dog but managed to get his SAAD title before I retired him at 10. He would have loved the regular program.

We almost lost him when he was 8 years old after he went missing from Glenn's parent's yard in Kingaroy; he was found four days later over 200kms away by some forestry workers. He also slipped away one night from WAAG training, in the days before I discovered the endless benefits of crates. He was recovered trying to cross the Gold Coast Highway. His other near-death adventures included eating a box of rat poison, being run-down by an impetuous colt and coming face to face with an angry snake. But it was old-age that he couldn't dodge in the end.

With many tears we buried him next to Kate overlooking the dam in his favourite oil-skin jacket that he won some years ago at a Cross-Country Fun weekend hosted by Suncoast. He leaves us with many cherished memories. Glenn, Missy and I will miss him dearly, and I'm sure Jonty and Zoom will notice his absence too as our pack restructures itself again.

2008 and Agility is on the horizon again

2008-01-21T14:20:00.000+10:00

Had an enjoyable weekend thinking and starting to plan for another year of agility. On Saturday Nat came round with her new pup to see how he was going and introduce him to yet another environment. We then took the dogs swimming in the dam... and it started me thinking and planning my agility goals for 2008. It was raining Sunday so I re-watched some of my favourite DVDs- Great Dog, Shame about the Handler; Crate Games and Success with One Jump. So the exercises I've planned out for the next 6 weeks include:

Zoom:
1. Improve our lead-outs and understanding of positional cues with box exercises
2. Improve my timing on short 5-6 obstacle sequences from cleanrun
3. Improve our discrimination work with some tunnel-contact exercises
4. Proof understanding of fast and angled weave entries

Jonty:
1. Faster weaves by improving his striding and rhythm on 12 poles; open up the 2x2s a little and work short sessions with lots of drive
2. Improve the independent performance on contacts. Exercises to proof his release.
3. Faster start-lines with 1-2-3 game and crate releases

Missy:
1. Maintain safety on her contacts with lots of rewards for her contact position

That is probably more than what I'll be able to accomplish in that time, but they are good goals for the first half of 2008. I have put Missy into the Regular agility program after the scare at the end of last year and will take it easy and see how she goes; she's had a great career and she has always enjoyed the 250mm heights so I'm happy to just let her go out and have a blast doing just a few rounds for fun at each comp.
Then maybe (just maybe) a new sheltie puppy later in 2008...

Life is like a Rollercoaster

2007-11-12T12:46:00.000+10:00

I've put off writing this story as my stomach has been in knots for the past 4 weeks while I've been playing the wait and see game.... wait and see how much longer I would have my MissMoo in my life.... wait and see whether miracles do happen.

On October 13 we went to Caboolture for a weekend of camping and the Suncoast Fundogs Double Header. We had a good trip up and I left the dogs in the car while I flipped the camper trailer out. When I went to let them out to put them in their crates I found Missy had discovered my stash of Chico jube lollies and had devoured the remainder of the packet. It is not the first time she has done this and it hasn't had any negative effects in the past. I wasn't especially concerned, just cranky at myself for having given her the opportunity to eat them. I figured she wouldn't much feel like running agility now with a stomach full of glucose lollies.

Well I ran the first class with her, open jumping and she was indeed sluggish, running clear but just overtime. So I pulled her out of the next run advanced agility. As the evening cooled I thought I'd give her another go in gamblers- usually her best event. Still sluggish and not really motivated so I called it quits with her for the night. I ran Jonty and Zoom in the remaining events and went back to camp to find Missy had thrown up in her crate. So the chicos had come back up. I cleaned out her crate and put a fresh bed in for her and tucked her in for the night.
She woke me at dawn with a little whimpering so I let her out, only to find she was disoriented and moving like she was drunk. I watched her for the next half hour and found she was getting worse; walking in circles, pacing rather than walking; she was bumping into things and was agitated and certainly seemed disoriented.

I talked to Glenn and my friend Sam and decided I'd best get her to a vet as soon as possible. I phoned a local to get the nearest vet's phone number; they directed me to the Brisbane Veterinary Specialists about 20 minutes away. So into the car and off we went. When we got there we met a lovely vet who helped Missy relax. She ran a battery of neurological and eyesight tests to come to the conclusion that my little girl had a brain tumour and it was causing blindness and the neurological symptoms and inability to coordinate her limbs. The prognosis was not good; it might be possible to operate on the tumour but it would require a CT scan and spinal tap to determine whether it was in a place and was of a type that was operable. She ran me through what to expect over the coming days or weeks but couldn't give me a timeline of life expectancy without a CT scan. She also said that there was a small possibility that Missy may have had a cerebrovascular accident, though she was lacking the head tilt or head turn that is most commonly associated with canine strokes. Her symptoms were more closely aligned with Meningioma located in either the cerebellum or forebrain. She recommended prednisone to reduce the inflammation and allowed me to take Missy home to decide if we were just going to continue with palliative care or whether we wanted to get a scan to decide whether operating was possible. As we were leaving the vet squeezed my hand and said "Hope for the best; miracles have been known to happen."

That day Missy continued to have petite-mal seizures. The next morning though you wouldn't have even know the previous day had happened. It was like I'd woken up and it had been a nightmare. Missy was up to her usual antics wrestling Jonty on the bed and bringing me her squeeky to play with. Our vet suggested that the prednisone can have this effect, reducing the inflammation a little, and reduced the blood flow to the tumour which in turn had eased the symptoms. His advice was to wait 10 days and see whether improvement had continued before deciding on the CT scan.

We waited and indeed the improvements continued. After the 10 days we returned to the vet and he found that her sight had largely returned and based on there not having been any neurological incidences during that time he reassessed her diagnosis. He now felt that it was most likely that Missy had indeed had an ischaemic cerebrovascular accident (stroke) that may have been induced by a diabetic seizure suddenly stopping the flow of blood to her brain. Nothing could be confirmed for certain without scans but in assessing her condition and the incidents preceeding the event, he felt this now seemed the most likely scenario. So we are still on the wait and see to reassure ourselves that the stroke was not caused by an embolism or thrombosis, but she is continuing to improve.

So a month after the event and my stomach is still in knots and I'm still watching her like a hawk. She has pretty much all of her coordination back and is active again. She is sleeping more and is a little less tolerant of the other dogs. But there do not appear to have been any major behavioural changes even though some brain damage must have occured. I find myself often replaying in my mind that moment with the emergency vet, hearing her say miracles do happen, and I get teary and think yes, they do.

Some links on brain tumours and strokes in dogs:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_meningioma.html
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/vascular_accident_in_the_brain.html
http://www.vetspecialists.co.uk/06_Animal_Welfare/Neurology_Facts/Stroke.html
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/docs/brain_tumor.html

ADAA Grand Prix 2007

2007-11-12T08:47:00.000+10:00

It has been a while since I updated this blog. It has been a rollercoaster of a year as far as my dogs have been concerned. But this story is to report on one of the highs on that rollercoaster... the ADAA Grand Prix that was held on the last weekend of September in Uralla NSW. The Grand Prix is the "nationals" of the ADAA calendar- it is their premium event held over three days of competition with International judges, this year Karen and Peter DeWit of New Zealand.
I only took Jonty and Missy to the Grand Prix as Zoom has a soft-tissue injury that is taking some time to mend. We arrived on the Thursday afternoon and spent Friday relaxing and helping to build rings and unpack equipment. Friday evening saw some fun with the 24 weave pole challenge and the winner-takes-all steeplechase.

Saturday was the start of the individual and team challenges. This year there was the Medallion Stakes Final and there were four major challenges: the Individual All-Round Challenge with one round of agility, one of jumping and one of the game gamblers; the Individual Agility Challenge with one round of agility and one of jumping; the Individual Games Challenge with one round of gamblers and one of snooker; and the Team Challenge with two team games.

Our first event was the medallion stakes final. Jonty had won this event at the Grand-Prix in 05 and 06; we had to settle for second this year with a fast run over the agility course but 0.3 secs behind the cocker spaniel Maverick. Missy had a good first run but incurred 5 faults.

My next run was in gamblers under Peter DeWit. It was an achievable gamble challenge but the time would be tight requiring fairly precise placement when the horn sounded for the closing sequence. The time allowed in total was 56secs. Missy was my first run and had a lovely run with 31 points in the opening and good placment when the first horn sounded. She achieved the gamble in 54.95secs with 62 points. YAY! Jonty was a little quicker over the ground and required for me to put in an extra loop of hurdles in the opening with 34 points, but when the horn sounded we weren't in as nice positioning as Missy, but Jonty was flying through the distance challenge, over the last hurdle when damn, the second horn sounded indicating we were over the time limit for the gamble: 56.09secs. Bummer! Only one dog other than Missy acheived the gamble challenge- Monty. Jonty was placed fourth with April accumulating 36 points in the opening sequence.

The next event was the first round of the individual all-round challenge, agility, with Karen DeWit. Jonty had a great run to win the class in a time of 42.61secs, just 0.09secs ahead of Bobbi with Ian Weston. There were six clear rounds and Jonty was the third fastest dog over the course but both April and Magpie had incurred 5 faults each. Unfortunately Missy was eliminated when I miscommunicated a pull-through and she back jumped. It looked as if this year's Grand Prix was going to be a very closely fought competition in the Mini height category.

The next event was the pairs run for the Team Challenge. Jonty's team was Formula Pawed with Sophie and Jo Lewohl, Harvey with Sarah Jane Weston and Taffy with Heidi Bradshaw. Jonty's pair was Sophie. They had a blinder of a run and won the class with a combined time of 48.57secs. Missy's team was the Bravehearts: four shelties with Missy being the "old hand" and her other team members young and brave! Missy paired with Black Pepper to gain a qualifying certificate and a time of 50.47secs.

Starting to tire now, but round five, Snooker, before a dinner break. It was a challenging course requiring 47 points to qualify. Missy went first and had a mistake in the weaves in the opening finishing on only 9 points. Jonty went next and would you believe also had a weave error but had accumulated 16 points. But that would put both dogs out of the running for the games challenge.

The final event on Saturday night after a dinner break was Open Jumping; the first round for the Agility Challenge. It was late and cold by the time the little dogs were running. Missy was tired and ran steady in 44secs and had a rail down. Jonty was quicker and clear. He was placed fourth with the first four placings: Magpie 33.7, Maverick 35.5 , Sophie 36.4, Jonty 36.7.

And so ended Saturday and a few short hours later Sunday dawned. It was a beautiful day!

First class was Open Jumping for the Individual All-Round Challenge. It was a wonderfully challenging course, technical but flowing. Jonty ran first with a gorgeous clear round but alas the timing equipment failed- we'd have to run again. Missy also ran a really tidy round in 42.37secs. It was her best run of the weekend so far. Jonty had his re-run and posted a time of 39.23secs. There were six clear runs with Jonty 1st and Missy 2nd. That was the last round of the IARC... I figured Jonty had a good chance of doing well with two firsts both clear and a non-qualifying 4th in the gamblers run.

Next class was Open Agility for the Individual Agility Challenge. Jonty was up first and flew round the course, very pretty in 47.6secs. Missy was also clear but much steadier in 57.6secs. Course Time Allowed was 60secs. There were 3 clear runs with Jonty 1st, Peppa 2nd and Missy 3rd. That was the last run in the IAC and Jonty had two clears with a first and a fourth.

Third class was team challenge. Missy's team was place fourth coming into the run-off but unfortunately eliminated. Jonty's team was placed first coming into the run-off and ran clear and fast to keep that position. Go Formula Pawed! Mini Team Challenge winners!

Last run of the day was gamblers. Quite an achievable distance challenge so points accumulation would be important. Jonty run well with 37 points in the opening and achieved the gamble. Missy was pretty tired but still accumulated 32 points and achieved the gamble. Jonty placed 3rd and Missy placed 6th both with qualifying certificates. That certificate finished off Missy's AAGD2 title.

Sunday night was the challenge presentations.
Mini Individual Agility Challenge winner was Jonty
Mini Individual Games Challenge winner was Magpie
Mini Individual All-Round Challenge winner was Jonty and Missy placed 4th.
Mini Team Challenge winners were Formula Pawed: Jonty, Sophie, Harvey and Taffy.

What a fantastic effort by my little 'uns... awesome!

And so ended Sunday and a few short hours later dawned Monday, another Beautiful Day with just a fun game in the morning and then I was judging the advanced class.

The game was Four Corners with Karen DeWit and shaped up to be a lot of fun. Missy thought the game looked like fun and ran nicely for a qualifying certificate. That finished off Missy's MAAD7 title. Jonty, not to be outdone, had a great run with a qualifying certificate and first place. A great way to finish off three days of competition.

And so ended our weekend. All I can say is WOW! I have awesome dogs who give me so much pleasure. And now I look forward to 2008 and having Zoomy there and competitive. Below is a video with some of our runs from the weekend...

Thanks to Doidy for the photos. See more at http://www.pbase.com/doidy

See all the ADAA 2007 Grand Prix Results at http://www.adaa.com.au/articles/gpreport07.htm

A Golden Moment

2007-06-15T12:17:00.000+10:00

Well, back from Bundaberg double-header over the Queen's Birthday weekend. I left home needing just 8 more quali's for my Gold Handler Award. I thought there was a good chance I might acheive it over the weekend. I also had Zoom with me; she was entered in two runs each day. She is currently stabilised (and quite happy) on 5mg of prednisone per day- next week we start increasing time between doseages till we get to 36 hours then 48 hours then hopefully we'll be able to completely withdraw it. So I took the opportunity of a moment of stabilisation to bring her out to play. Her calcinosis is starting to clear up- her skin conditions in general are improving and her coat is starting to grow back. I'm seeing light and the end of the tunnel and am so glad Chris Zink convinced me to have faith that I could bring her through this.

Anyway, back to Bundy- Saturday and my first run was advanced jumping. Eliminated with both Missy and Jonty; though both had nice sections. Second run was open jumping- clear with both Jonty and Missy; then it was Zoom's turn. It was a really nicely flowing course... and my girl just absolutely flew- she attacked the course with vigour and seemed to be having a ball; our only fault was her foot on the first plank of the long jump. I came off the course struggling for breath, not so much because I'd run hard but I couldn't get a breath past the tears that were streaming down my face. My girl is still alive, still with me and running with joy- what a feeling! Unfortunately I missed getting it on tape- Murphy's Law: the best runs and special moments are never recorded! The feeling however will never be forgotten.

Zoom had one more run later in the evening in open agility- it was not such a great run, without the same boldness of her earlier run, and with 5 faults, but it was still nice to be out there with her; you can see the video of the end of the run below- the lighting and quality are not good unfortunately.

So I ended the night with 5 quali's in total- Missy got open jumping & open agility; Jonty got open jumping, open agility & snooker. But the highlight for me was Zoom's open jumping run!

Sunday dawned and I still needed 3 cards. First run was gamblers and I miss-timed the gamble with all three dogs, though Zoom again had a blinder of a run and was oh so close. Open agility and both Jonty and Missy had contact issues... I was pleased though that I maintained my criteria instead of allowing them to continue to run. This worked well for advanced agility where Jonty nailed his contacts with speed and accuracy- but I failed on a pull-through, same issue that I'd had on the advanced course on Saturday, so I found a hole in his understanding that will need some remedial training. So 7 runs for no quali's yet.... that Gold Handler acheivement might need to wait till the next comp!

But then a change in rings and Open Jumping- Missy ran clear and under time (just)- not her best run of the weekend but consistent and a card. Two cards to go (omg how outcome focussed had I become!!!). Jonty ran hard and fast, but I muffed the course, forgetting to pull away from the weaves to set him up for the next obstacle and ended up causing him to drive past it for a refusal... sorry little man... great dog, shame about the handler! Zoom also ran hard and fast but took an off-course option due to my very late timing with a false turn- at least it shows she understands to drive to the plane of the next obstacle.

One course left- Helter Skelter. Two cards required... three runs to get them with... and a "deceptively" simple and super-fast course.

Missy was up first- she flew; best run of the weekend for her. Clear and well under time. One card to go!

Jonty next and he carved up Missy's time, but again I muffed my handling of one challenge causing a refusal. I actually noted all weekend that my timing is off with this new fired-up faster Jont-man and the Zoomy-pup; something for us to work on. One card to go and only Zoom left to run!

And run she did. She just ate the course up. The same off-course from the open jumping was still there, but my timing was better for this run and she turned off the obstacle and nailed that weaver entry. She did the tight turn out the back and kept the bar up; correct tunnel entrance and then that 10m long "deadly" flat-out run to the last hurdle...the bar was still there! Clear! I didn't need to check time, I knew it was fast enough. Oh, go you good thing! How Poetic, that my Zoomy, the girl I nearly said goodbye to 6 weeks ago, and who is still not 100% fit and healthy, just scored the 300th quali card for me and earned herself immortalization in a portait (based on the above photo). More tears! And a dog that is very happy to be back playing with her Mum again; her smile was like a cheshire cat. It was definitely a golden moment!

Jonty IAD

2007-05-16T08:37:00.000+10:00

We had the ADCQ comp on over the weekend; a double-header. There were 3 advanced runs over the two days, so I thought Jonty had a good chance of achieving his International Agility Dog title if I got it right. When we returned last year from Uralla and the sheltie nationals I knew I had to stop focussing on smooth clean runs and start increasing our speed and drive on course. So when we started back training in February, after a long break away from agility over the summer, we started working at home at building intensity and speed with really short "full-on" sessions and only rewarding fast attempts. We've also gone back to our circle work and speed circles of hurdles and tunnels. It seems to be paying off, on Saturday night he ran like a dream, in terms of attitude. I made handling mistakes with him though in our earlier runs to collect 5 faults in agility and an E in the advanced agility. He came away at the end of the night with a quali and win in open jumping; but two E's in each of the advanced runs. Despite the E's I was exceptionally happy with all his runs as he was motoring and getting closer to the drive and speed I know we are both capable of.

On Sunday I was pleased with myself for maintaining our contact criteria in the first run in open agility. This paid off for the 2nd run in advanced agility as he stuck his contacts beautifully and ran fast (seven seconds under time) and smooth for a win and our IAD title. YAY! One outcome-oriented goal for this year achieved.

Yet, I know he can cut another couple of seconds off that time yet; that's an ongoing process-oriented goal. And while the advanced was an awesome and enjoyable run; his best run was the last one of the day in open jumping as a round of the medallion stakes. We serpentined the opening sequence running a very tight line and kept all our turns around the tunnels tight. It was a nice run, fast and clean and very enjoyable with his times comparable to the winning midi dog times. Felt awesome.
So the little man is now Jonty IAD AAC MAAD7 SD

This is a video from March showing Jonty having a tidy and consistent snooker round, typical of the type of round that earned him MAAD7 but lacking the full-on enthusiasm and drive I am now seeking from him (as the relationship on the start line shows AND what was I thinking with the rear-cross on the flat after the dogwalk??!!)

This is a video of open agility from the competition on the weekend. Unfortunately I don't have his advanced run or his open jumping run which were his best; this one is a 5-fault round (Great Dog, shame about the handling!). But I think the improvement in his rate of travel and enthusiasm is apparent even since March. Now I just need to keep that improvement happening (and stop flipping my dog away with a C-arm!!!).

A tentative but hopeful way forward for Zoom

2007-04-26T10:54:00.000+10:00

It has taken me a week to write this blog. After Zoom's diagnosis of Cushings we started with her withdrawal from pred. In reaction to this Zoom had an Addison Crisis last Thursday, a week ago today. Her system simply didn't cope with the withdrawal of the Pred. The initial conclusion based on her very low blood cortisone levels even after prednisone dosing was that her adrenal glands may be atrophied beyond the outer layer and may not be able to produce cortisone again. Which essentially meant that she could not live with or without the cortisone in the long term. Needless to say I was shattered. And as much as I tried not to, I blamed myself for not being more assertive in chasing the definitive diagnosis we needed back in August / September last year when I first knew she was not herself; and for not making myself fully aware of ALL of the side-effects of any medication my dogs take, and putting all together for a holistic picture rather than treating each problem as a separate issue. I've struggled so much over the past few months watching her go from one medical problem to another, and whilst there are times when she is better than she was in January or February, she has not been close to being the dog she was 12 months ago- there have been times when she was improved, but I am getting so used to a lethargic Zoom, that it is blurring my memory of what she is like in true health. Though gosh, just two weeks ago she was competing and qualifying in agility. The things our puppies do...
In the early hours of Saturday morning, I had decided that I couldn't continue to put Zoom through this barrage of drugs, tests and stress on her system. She looked in so much pain trying to recover from the Addison crisis. Where Katie had just looked tired toward the end, Zoom looked in serious pain and her eyes seemed to be begging me to make it stop. Whilst she was much improved by the Friday night there was a still a dullness and listlessness that was so unlike her. I didn't want a repeat of this attack, or for her to slowly decline to the point where there was no energy, no spark, no joy left in her body. Glenn and I decided to stabilise her again on the cortisone and give her a few weeks of doing all her favourite things in life, like swimming, chasing Missy in retrieve games, running on the beach, going anywhere in the car, sleeping on our bed and of eating all her favourite foods like roast chicken skin, bacon rind, lychees, meaty bones and pigs ears. We generally wanted to embrace her with all the love we could give her before putting her to sleep.
Over the weekend I attended the Chris Zink seminar in Brisbane. I "had" been looking forward to this for at least 6 months; but my mind was not at the seminar, it was continually thinking about Zoom and Glenn at home, hoping he was being attentive and super-observant, and in many ways thinking I should be with her instead. Then I had the opportunity to speak with Chris about Zoomy and her medical history. She completely turned me around. She was of the opinion that a 4 year old dog can come back from this; she believed if we took it slowly enough that she could regenerate the tissue and function required in the adrenal gland as long as it is only the cortisone that is the basis of the Cushings. She laid out a plan where we could reduce it milligram by milligram over a long period of time; then increase the dosing period hour by hour, until she was eventually free. Her confidence in this plan working was contagious. She had buoyed my spirits. I wasn't ready to give up on getting my big girl healthy again; I scheduled an appointment with my vet again for Monday evening.
Well it seems he'd had the same thoughts over the weekend. He had spoken intensively with the specialist again on Monday morning, and low and behold they had put together an almost identical plan. The specialist believes her organs will support her on her current dosing of cortisone for 12 months without too many problems, so we have that time to slowly wean her from this drug. I now have a treatment plan on the kitchen wall that has Zoom drug free by the end of October (with no set backs) and has an exercise plan to slowly rebuild her musculature, endurance and strength in line with the reduction of the drugs.
2008 will be the year of the Zoom pup! Happy, healthy, fit, strong and loving life again with the zest that she was named for...

Calcinosis Cutis

2007-04-16T19:44:00.000+10:00

The lab results from skin samples today confirmed that the lumps and bumps are calcinosis cutis. So now we need to wait until Zoom is weaned from the Pred and it is cleared from her system before further testing, initially ACTH test, to ascertain whether Iatrogenic Cushings and, then if necessary Low Dose and High Dose Dexamethasone Suppression Tests to determine whether PDH or ADH.

What next....Iatrogenic Cushings???

2007-04-15T12:57:00.000+10:00

Well after the success at Yamba we went back to the vet for a check-up yesterday; mostly as Zoom's alopecia is not improving and she has an antibiotic-resistant rash on her back. Below is the medical history of Zoom.

Zoom was diagnosed with Discoid Lupus in October 2005 and has been on 10mg of Prednosone per day since then; she is 500mm tall and weighs 16kg; her DOB was 22/5/03; she is a tricolour Border Collie.

Around August 2006 I noticed Zoom had a pimple-like skin rash over her back towards her tail and had started to get a redish tinge to her coat and it was thinning in the areas of the rash. By October she had started to get more lethargic and less active on hikes and at training. A routine CBC at this time showed a low White Blood Count at 3.21, low Albumin at 22 g/l and elevated glucose at 6.5. Otherwise everything was within the normal ranges. We treated the skin rash with anibiotics and monitored her. She started increasing her water intake dramatically and was also wetting her bed during the night. Back to the vet who placed her on Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Her condition worsened over Christmas with discenable coat colour changes (people thought she was a chocolate tri) and dramatic thinning of the hair; she was also drinking and urinating lots; was continually hungry and had started guarding food sources (the fridge, food plates etc). The pimple-like rash was still present and spreading.

In January she had an eye ulcer and a tooth infection at the same time. Whilst treating for these we tested her bloods again, this time including thyroid and found her T4 was very low. Hypothyroidism was diagnosed and she commenced on Thyroxine; 0.4mg tablet twice daily. It seemed that many of her ailments fitted this disease and I was looking forward to having an improvement in her condition. Her t4 had stabilised in the normal range in February. Though as my previous blogs tell, she then got a staph infection across her back and neck and we started her on cephlexin antibiotics; she is still on this. Two weeks later Demedex was also diagnosed and she commenced 7 weeks of ivermectin treatment. It was apparent she had no immunity.

Now we are in April, and the positives are her staph infection has cleared and she is regrowing thick black hair where the infection had been. A skin scraping has cleared her of demodectic mites, though she did lose another tooth over Easter. But generally she is more happy and active again and has recommenced agility training and competing (and is enjoying it!). The negatives are (as depicted in these photos) that she has a new, or at least more noticeable, rash on her back and the alopecia is continuing or at least not improving in areas other than where the staph had been; her hair feels dry and brittle and breaks easily. She has some mottled black pigmentation in some areas of the alopecia. The rash is hard and raised, not puss-like, but rather dry and crusty.

My vet believes this rash to be calcinosis cutis (though says he has only seen it once before) and based on that, her varied symptoms and long-term medicating with 10mg per day of pred has tentatively diagnosed Iatrogenic Cushing's disease. He is having me wean her off the Pred slowly over the next month. No discussion of how to manage the lupus without the Pred yet.

Since this tentative diagnosis I have had time to read more about Cushings and concur that her symptoms do match this disease; but then the symptoms are quite similar to those for Hypothyroidism. She seems young to have Cushings, but I am wondering if the average age I am reading about (10 yo) is for pituitary and adrenal based cushings rather than the veterinary-induced version, which I'd guess from its nature could occur at any age. Her bloods do not really seem to be indicating Cushings from this description, no increase in specific liver enzymes. She also does not have the distended abdomen. I have been having problems with rebuilding her muscle tone though she has had no weight gain since 2005, but I am very careful with monitoring all my dogs weights for agility which was why thyroidism took a while to diagnose also.

I guess this diagnosis raises questions for me surrounding the doseage levels of cortisone that is likely to induce Iatrogenic cushings. Most of what I am reading on veterinary sites is suggesting that it is brought on by overdosing. I would not have thought that 10mg per day in a 16kg dog was an overadministration; though another site has given me another view by suggesting it is more the length of time she has been exposed to that doseage, than the doseage itself. This site at Newman Veterinary suggests anything longer than 3 weeks is prolonged use and may affect the dog's "HPA"....the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis; which means the adrenal glands, in turn, may "shrink" (atrophy) due to lack of stimulation.

I'm really stuggling with getting my girl stable and healthy again, and want to be sure that I'm "crossing the t's and dotting the i's" in sorting out what her problems are. We had a great weekend over Easter and I had thought we were well on the road to recovery, but was still concerned that her rash had not cleared after 8 weeks of antibiotics and that the alopecia was not reversing after 9 weeks on the Thyroxine. Now I am just plain worried that she may have the Pituitary Dependent Cushings which accounts for 85% of cases and has a far from positive prognosis; or that she does indeed have Iatrogenic Cushings but her adrenal glands have atrophied to an unreversible point.

For more information on Cushings Disease:

http://www.kvh.com.au/cushing_disease.htm

http://www.kateconnick.com/library/cushingsdisease.html

http://www.newmanveterinary.com/Cushings.html

Yamba Easter Agility Festival

2007-04-14T15:54:00.000+10:00

Wow, what a fantastic weekend. The weather may not have been ideal, but the grounds, the hospitality, the courses and the camraderie were fantastic.
We had a successful weekend coming home with 18 quali cards and three new titles. The best news for me was that Zoom was happy and ran beautifully, earning three cards and her SAAD title. She coped well with the weekend and has recovered quickly, already wanting more. I'm hoping this is the sign of good things to come where her health is concerned. Her best run was snooker on the Good Friday afternoon; even though she didn't quali, she had a really nice run.
As for the shelties...
Jonty earned his MAAD 7 title and came home with 2 purple cards- just the one to go now...
Missy earned her MAAD 6 title, though by the end of the weekend was starting to gather noticeably before take-off; so even though she had some great runs, is still not 100% fit. We'll keep working on that over the next few weeks.
In fact the entire WAAG contingent ran well, with results on their webpage.

A very sad day - goodbye Kate

2007-03-11T16:32:00.000+10:00

26.10.89 - 11.3.07

We said goodbye to our Katie yesterday. I knew on Saturday night when I left for the comp that the lump in her throat/mouth had enlarged significantly, and even though she was active and eating well, it was sore to touch and was starting to affect her breathing. I had a disturbed night's sleep listening to her snores and restlessness.

On Sunday morning we put her up on the bed for a cuddle, saw how prominent the lump was and decided it was time. So the three of us lay there for an hour just cuddling and stroking and sharing our love, we then got the clan together to say farewell before going to the vet. She is now laid to rest in our pet cemetary overlooking the dam, the yard and the property. We will miss her so much; she was one of the most loving, giving, uncomplicated dogs imaginable. She was our 'support crew'. She's been a huge part of our lives for over 12 years and to have her live to 17 was itself such a gift.

Today everything is off-kilter, too much food defrosted, too many plates, an empty bed, and no schmoo bear. There's a big hole and lots of tears. Love you always Kate...

A motivational day

2007-03-11T16:10:00.000+10:00

On Friday I had the great fortune to again be under the instruction of Susan Garrett. We worked through some double-box exercises using Greg Derrett's method of handling. It clarified a lot for me; reminded me how sloppy I was being; and showed up some huge gaps in my training. It felt so beneficial to have Susan's eye reminding me to be consistent; and pointing out where and when I wasn't being. Oh to have her critical eye assessing you and reminding you to be a better trainer more often! It was good to have a number of the people I regularly train with there too though, as we can now pick on each other and push each other to be more consistent and to set our goals higher. The entire day motivated me to sit down and plan out a training schedule for myself and my dogs again. It was also evident that I need to make the effort to video my training sessions much more often; as well as my competitive runs, that way I can see when my timing sucks or where my position was off.
Priorities include: improving the timing of my turns; working and testing my 270s; testing my dogs independence in the weaves and on their contacts; and of course, ramping up the "fun" factor; all training sessions need to be short, hard, fast and fun! Put the time into preparing the session and evaluating the session; the session itself is short and snappy.

What next??!!

2007-02-28T08:57:00.000+10:00

Well, just got back from our "weekly" vet's visit. Good news and bad news. Good news is that the T4 results are in the normal range at 34 after 4 weeks on thyroxine. YAY!!! Hopefully this will help boost Zoom's extremely compromised immune system. Zoomy has certainly been more energized and happy again in the past week so I had expected a good outcome with regard the thyroid.
What had been worrying me is that while the skin on her back is healing her chin is red raw and she has a couple of red-raw patches on her feet. So we did a skin scraping as well as her bloods, and guess what, my 3 year old (nearly 4) dog has demodex caused by an infestation of demodectic mites!!! Arrggghhh... what more can happen??? Obviously her immune system was so compromised that she couldn't counteract the mites that commonly live on dogs in small numbers. Usually localised demodex is seen on puppies, but as I found out today it is also reasonably common for dogs with low thyroid function to succumb to demodectic infestations. Of course if her demodex becomes further generalized it will be very frustrating to treat and uncomfortable for Zoomy especially with both the lupus and hypo-thyroidism and the related medications. So, the vet is trying to "nip it in the bud". This translates to an initial treatment cycle of 8 weeks of 1ml of ivermectin per day (she is between 15 & 16kg in weight). She needs to have two "clear" skin scrapings at the end of this cycle for it to be considered under control.
I'm extremely nervous about this treatment having been exposed to many years of warnings against ivermectin use in shelties and collies (intolerance due to mutation in the multi-drug resistance gene (MDR1) that is apparent in as many as 75% of collies). I'm working from home for the next day or two to watch for any adverse reaction to the ivermectin. In all honesty I would have been more comfortable if we'd tested Zoom for the mutant gene prior to commencing the treatment, but... well... fingers crossed.
In addition, she also has another 2 weeks of Cephalexin antibiotic to ensure that the Staphylococci infection is completely gone and to ensure the demodectic mange doesn't become infected.

For more info on demodex:
http://www.sniksnak.com/doghealth/demodecticmange.html
http://www.geocities.com/schlosser44/Demodex.html

For an article on treatments of Canine Genereralised Demodicosis (CGD):
http://www.all-creatures-vet.com/demodex.html

The Merck Veterinary Manual excerpt:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/72005.htm

For info on multidrug sensitivity in Shelties and Collies
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-VCPL/

ADAA fundraising comp

2007-02-28T06:25:00.000+10:00

Well, Last Saturday nite was another ADAA fundraising comp, this one hosted by ADCQ. Of my three puppies, only Jonty was fit for agility, so off he and I went. On the trip up the car in front of us backfired a few times (sounded like the crack of a gun firing) and he got most upset. He managed to pull backwards out of his seatbelt harness and ended up under my feet. Needless to say I had to pull over; I grabbed some rewards and fed him for lying quietly in the seat, after he relaxed a little I belted him back in and we were on our way again with randomly timed treats for his continued dropped position in the passenger seat. Seemed to help as he was his normal self again once we arrived at the comp and was also good on the way home.

As for the comp we had four runs, open agility, advanced agility, open gamblers and open jumping. We started with a clean run and a win in open agility, but I was annoyed at myself as I didn't stick to my criteria. Jonty has been doing great 2o-2o contacts on his dogwalk, but in that round clean ran off the end; in the split second I had to make a decision, I made the wrong one! I allowed him to keep running. When I am inconsistent like this on acceptable criteria I just make agility all that much harder on both of us. Despite that I was very happy with his run.

Our advanced run started out really well, but there was a simple distance handling challenge built in; a tunnel under the dogwalk with a long jump on the far side of the walk; but Jont ran past the longjump. It reconfirmed for me that I have a hole in his training in working away from me consistently. As he doesn't "fetch" I haven't rewarded distance and independence through placement of the reward by throwing a toy. I've been slowly working on "fetch" as a fun game but it isn't ready to be combined with agility as a reward yet, so instead I'll start out with some jump lane work with a food target at the end and we'll back chain through the jumps to it, till he's happily working through five / six jumps ahead of me. Then I'll vary that to angling the jumps, putting in a spread or long jump, adding a tunnel, then weaves etc. I'll keep reinforcing fetch as a game as well, so that eventually the toy will be able to be thrown to reward his position.

The next run was gamblers, with a distance challenge of course! We got this distance challenge for a quali and a win. The hardest part of the distance challenge was a push out to the furtherest tunnel entrance. I assisted him to get this challenge through the angle we approached the hurdles and tunnel at. So he is now 4/7ths of the way to his GD title.

The final run was open jumping. Lovely course with a "blast-around" section as well as some tight pieces. I ran one of the tight sections as a serpentine sequence and it worked really well for us. But I fell back into "cruise" mode rather than "attack" mode, so whilst it was a tidy clear run for us, it wasn't as quick as it should have been. I need to run every course like it is an advanced course! A really lovely run was put in by Bobby for a win. He also earned his first purple card in advanced earlier in the night so the mini class is starting to heat up again!

There was no presentation ceremony which made for a 9:30pm finish YAY! But perhaps lacked a little collegiality where we usually sit around gas-bagging at the end of the night and then cheer folk on. Hard to get the right balance between time and social elements, though I was sure pleased to be home by 10:30pm.

Friday night training

2007-02-18T06:06:00.000+10:00

Well, our WAAG training Friday night was very enjoyable. I only had Jonty with me, but it felt like it was a positive training session and I reminded myself to practice what I preach. He started out the night very distracted sniffing and piddling all the way from the car to the field. Our first warm up run was also plagued by his distraction and I felt myself getting frustated. Rather than rehearse and/or reinforce a slow, inattentive run though, I made the decision to end the run; I scooped him up part way through the sequence and placed him back in his crate. At the time I was uncertain what effect my action would have; I didn't want my frustration to stress him out or intimidate him, nor did I want him to think that his behaviour was acceptable. Apparently it helped rather than hindered though, as 10 minutes later he came out a different dog. We engaged in excited play and tugging before our run and even though there were footballers running and kicking the ball right beside his path he remained focussed, fast and accurate. YAY! First success of the night. But I then reminded myself that I needed to maintain that energy and connection the entire time he was out of his crate, not just before a sequence, and during a sequence but also after. The game starts the moment I open the crate door with a 123 release, tugging and playing, then hard and fast through the sequence, reward at the end and then fast and fun back to the crate. Keep the cues clear that we are going hard at agility, not just going for a stroll around the park. At all times he is out of his crate he has my focus, I have his focus, and we go hard. If I want more speed and attitude on a course then I need to rehearse for it. Free time for both of us comes at the end of the night when I allow him his sniffing/piddling "boy" time and he allows me to chat with friends. But the focus when it is our turn on the equipment is 100% on each other and 100% effort and energy from both of us. I can't expect him to give 100% if I'm laid back and cruisy or if I'm inconsistent about when I want his attention and when I don't. I need to keep it simple and black and white. I'm reminded of the addage "you get out what you put in" (and the workout from giving 100% energy to your dog sure beats a session at the gym!)

My other news of the day was the results from Zoom's skin swab. The rash is now a staph infection. So we'll add another week of the antibiotics to ensure we have really got it under control and cleared up. Hopefully that in conjunction with the thyroxin will have her "system" back in some semblence of balance and health. I washed her again in the malaseb which seems to be helping clear up the skin and remove the scurf from the rash. The skin appears healthier and I do believe the beginnings of hair growth are apparent. YAY!
Missy is still limping, though it is much more apparent on hard or pebbly ground. So perhaps it is a deep seated bruise to the pad rather than a wrist strain.

Progress maybe

2007-02-15T12:24:00.000+10:00

Well Zoomy is definitely feeling more energetic! She's been in and out like a jack-in-the-box this morning. Her sores across her back are looking healthier, but still quite tender. She is continuing to lose chunks of hair as the scabs from the rash come loose; but the good part of that quite gross description is that it is healthy looking skin under those scabs rather than the ulcerated sores we had earlier in the week. Now to watch to see if the hair is starting to regrow.
Missy came out of her crate this morning without limping, but after following Zoom out of the house at a million miles an hour she was limping again. [And of course I thought "Stupid handler; Bang head here!!!]. So she's back in her crate again now. I'm still not sure what is causing her soreness, but it seems that a few days of crate rest is going to assist rather than be detrimental. Then we'll try for some swimming and controlled exercise to see how she's distributing her weight.
In the meantime Jonty and I will continue to work on our shaped retrieve and we'll also do a few "wild" 123 games each day to improve his acceleration towards me. When I'm happier with his drive we'll tackle the weaves again, slightly off-setting the 2x2's so that we can work on getting a better stride pattern and rhythm happening again.
Entries need to be posted for the ADAA competition being hosted at ADCQ today... I'll send off entries for Missy and cross my fingers. Zoom won't be fit enough by then.

Back to the Vet

2007-02-13T19:19:00.000+10:00

Arrggghhh.... My poor Zoomy is still not looking / feeling so good. And now Missy is also limping after a rough play session this morning!

Zoom has Discoid Lupus and was recently diagnosed with Autoimmune Hypothyroidism. She hadn't been "herself" for nearly 6 months, so the recent diagnosis was something of a relief in that we had a potential solution to getting her feeling great again. But I was back to the vet this morning with her after just 10 days of thyroid medication and a week of antibiotics. The skin lesions on her back that have been present as a rash since August last year have now turned nasty. All that time the rash has been present, but without having any real consequence on her behaviour. We'd hoped the thyroid treatment would improve the skin problems, but that's certainly not the case yet. The rash seems to have become a deep infection in the root bed of her hair folicles, causing large clumps of hair to come out with the skin. So she's back on a strong antibiotic for two weeks and a skin biopsy has gone off to the specialist for analysis. Meanwhile she needs to keep her elizabethan collar on as she's wanting to scratch and bite at the wounds. She'd also lost half a kilo in body weight so I haven't got the balance quite right yet, so I'm increasing her food by another quarter of a cup daily. Despite all of this though, I swear she seems brighter in herself. Her eyes are coming alive again. Fingers crossed we can get her healthy and happy again soon.

As for Missy; I'm thinking she's bruised for off-fore foot pad as it seems tender to touch and she is reluctant to put it down or place weight on it- most noticably on rough surfaces. I'll give her a day or so observing it and see if this is the problem or not. ... And we had such a nice training session last night after the rain. I've been working on her jumping after putting together a plan based on the wisdom from a combination of articles written by Susan Salo and Jo Sermon and the One Jump DVD by Susan Garrett. Hopefully this is a short-term injury.

2007 and finally the Agility Bug has Bitten

2007-02-13T14:51:00.000+10:00

Saturday night saw the first ADAA trial of the new year for me. I have felt odd about the new year of agility starting; I haven't trained or trialled since October last year when I decided I needed a break. I'd thought over the Xmas holidays that the bug would bite again and I'd be back into the swing of training and impatient to be competing again. But it didn't really happen... When club started back in the first week of February I still didn't feel that bug bite. On top of that Zoom has been unwell and the worry has been eating away at me; but last week we finally arrived at a diagnosis of Autoimmune Hypothyroidism (alongside the Discoid Lupus diagnosed this time last year). So I've felt odd about the year starting back and it was with some trepidation and a certain amount of reservation that I made the trip up to the PADS trial on Saturday afternoon. Where was the excitement and focus I usually feel???

Before we started the trial there was a presentation of titles and awards from last year. A nice surprise to receive the portrait from my Silver Handler award. The sketch of Jonty, based on the photo on the right, is fantastic! Again I felt choked up with emotion when seeing one of my puppies immortalised in a portrait. It didn't quite hit me the way Missy's did when I first saw it, but it was still a teary moment.

The first event was Snooker. The course was not too difficult and I chose a path that would be do-able in the time as I really didn't have any idea how the dogs would run after such a long lay-off with no training and just basic fitness. I was feeling a little anxious and walked my course multiple times. Missy ran first and had quite a nice run, improving in her jumping confidence as we went. It was a qualifying run though not the highest point option; a safe run rather than a winning run. I figured Jonty would also cruise around quite nicely- but he surprised me with a bar down; only the second time I can ever recall him pulling a rail. He was a little distracted in his focus as well. This concerned me a little, though he has always found PADS a tough ground to cope with.

The next class was Open Jumping. It had some tight challenges (I was glad not to be running Zoomy on it); but not quite so difficult for the little guys. Jonty ran first and was a little slow off the mark but did the technical section very very nicely. I waited for him though at the hurdle after the cloth tunnel to do a rear-cross which cost us a second or so, as he too hesitated. So clear on faults but a fraction of a second over time with a handling misjudgement on my behalf. Missy was a little hesitant over the first couple of jumps then absolutely flew around getting faster as she went; this time I put in the front cross and the whole course felt lovely. A nice clean run. I was starting to relax and smile again.

Then a change in rings and Open Agility. A straight-forward flowing course, but the recent rain from the storm had me cruise around a little more cautiously. Again clear for Missy, she is getting better with each run. Jonty though went around a tunnel entrance, so I used the opportunity to hold his contacts and praise him. I was pleased with both runs and my smile was widening.

The final run was Advanced Agility on a very do-able, yet suitably challenging course. I was first to run with Jonty. I couldn't have been happier with his run, it was focused and quite quick- though his weaves have regressed a little again. He was clear and under time, yahoo, purple card!!! That smile was a beam now. Though I still had Missy to run; and oh my didn't she run. She responded nicely pushing hard across the dogwalk and through the weaves and nice acceleration on the run home. Felt quick! And yes, she shaved 3/10ths of a second off Jonty to steal his purple card. LOL! I couldn't have been happier!!!! What a fantastic way to get back into agility; my two little dogs are marvels; they come back from 3 months off to just blow their Mum away with their talent and enthusiasm.

Guess that bug has had a good hard bite again now, as I took the time this morning to do up my ADAA trial entries for next weekend. Over lunch I sat down and planned out a training schedule for each of the dogs with my short and long-term goals and problem areas to be worked on. In particular I want to extract more speed from the shelties as they are both more than capable of much quicker times; particularly through the weaves for Jonty and in turns and jumping for Moo. As for Zoomy, health will tell, but in the interim we are working on our start-line and her general fitness and muscle tone as the thyroid treatment kicks in. Then, when she's fit again we'll work some jump drills (ala Greg Derrett's box of 7 and Susan Garrett's one jump drills) to improve our communication, my understanding of Zoom's commitment point, and my timing when running her.