Changes

Well, there are some big changes this year to the agility scene in our area. The biggest change is the closure of Red Gate as a venue that you can rent for personal practice time or a location to host seminars.

Red Gate also hosted some of the best fun matches and had a wonderful birthday party open house every year.  Although the fun matches were held over the winter months and it wasn't always the warmest place to be even with the propane heaters, the camaraderie always kept you warm. The Saturday fun matches ended with dinner at a local restaurant for those who wanted to attend which was a great chance to get to know people outside of an agility setting.

Red Gate will still be there but the owners have decided to expand their livestock business and need the room that the arena provides for an expanded flock of sheep.   They also have alpaca, geese, peacocks and chickens.

So today at what was our last practice at Red Gate, we let the Sheltie boys have a little play time before we did our agility practice; who knows when they'll all get to run like this again.  Probably not until the summer when we are down east again.

Sheltie Palooza

We have been lucky to have Red Gate as place to go and practice and we're still lucky in this area to have other venues available to us. Change is a part of life and we'll continue to play in the agility ring but just not at Red Gate any more. Next week, we'll see if the practice helped at all as Beckett has his first trial of 2013. 

Wordless Wednesday

Photo by Lisa

Tucker's Travels

On Tuesday, 7 Dec 2010, Tucker had a second ultrasound as his blood work from the previous week showed that his liver enzymes were still climbing.  This second ultrasound was necessary in order to do a guided needle biopsy of his liver.  They also took a urine sample while he was in for his ultrasound.

Tucker - June 2010

We got the results of the needle biopsy and urinalysis on 15 Dec 2010. There was good news and some not so good news.  His urine concentration was normal and the needle biopsy showed no signs of inflammation or of cancer, thank goodness, but the specialist vet did caution that a needle biopsy is a very small sample and in this case of a very large organ. Tucker's liver did, however, show early indications of Cushing's Disease. Since Tucker is not showing any real symptoms as of yet, there is nothing we can do but watch and wait. We will have more blood work done in March along with some other urine tests. 

I'm to watch for excessive drinking and urination but also for weakness and changes in appetite.  Now I'm second guessing things though. Tucker hasn't been able to climb a long set of stairs for about a year and while, I've called him "gator mouth" for ages, I'm wondering if these are symptoms rather than just normal aging and, what I just thought, was Tucker's love for food.

He's still on Peptid AC, pancreas powder and Zentonil and he does seem to have more energy lately, tugging on toys with Beckett and keeping up with us on walks, so perhaps things are improving.

From Evergreen to Christmas Tree

My 2010 Christmas Tree - a Fraser Fir

With just the lights

All Decorated



Tucker and Beckett wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!



Beckett Weaves!!

This past weekend, Beckett and I went to a fun trial at Red Gate Arena which is about 45 minutes in good weather from our place.  They have fun trials there about every other month but they fill up really fast because they are indoors.  This might have been our last fun trial before Beckett competes at his first AAC trial in January. I sent in my entry for both the fun trial in January and in February and found out this weekend, that while we're in the February trial, we're on the waiting list for the January trial.

Beckett did just great at the the fun trial; weaves entries and rear crosses to tunnels are things we'll have to work on. And after watching the videos, I can see that I'll have to give him more information sooner so he doesn't have to check in with me quite so much.

The video above is a weave collage from both the Standard and the Steeplechase and the two links are for the Standard run, of which only one run was videoed, and our two Steeplechase runs.

Beckett - Steeplechase runs - Dec 2010

Beckett - Standard run - Dec 2010

Go Beckett Go!!!

Tucker Turns Ten - a Retrospective

My tiny Tucker turns 10 today!!

Quite a big milestone in a dog's life. 

Tucker is my third Sheltie, my second sable male and my second sheltie from Dierenvriend's Kennel where his big brother Gryffon came from too. He was one of a litter of only two male puppies; the first litter for Dienrenvriend Bonnie Wee Mattie. Tucker's sire was Can Ch Fairfax As Good as It Gets.  Tucker's registered name is Dierenvriend's Mattie's Tucker.  Not my choice for the name although the breeder did use the call name I had chosen.

Mattie and her two boys.

Don't ask me which puppy is Tucker in the photo with his Mom, I don't know.  I used to visit the breeder's during my lunch hour. I almost gave up Tucker for his brother. My Gryffon was not the most social of dogs and I wondered how he would react with a new puppy. I had picked the smaller of the two puppies but then during one lunch time visit decided that I should take the larger puppy who was more outgoing. By the time I got back to work, I was feeling like I had abandoned Tucker and called the breeder to say I had changed my mind and would keep the smaller puppy. 

Tucker - Christmas 2000



I got to take Tucker home just as I was starting Christmas holidays so I picked him up from the breeder on my way home to my parent's in Moncton.  I think he started off being really well socialized that way, something that I didn't ensure for poor Gryffon, who was very shy with people and aggressive with other dogs. 


Tucker discovers the Christmas Tree



But Gryffon turned out to be a great big brother. Tucker could crawl all over him and even fall asleep on him.  Gryffon, in fact, seemed always to be very interested in whatever Tucker was doing.  They played tug of war and jousted with their heads, mouths snapping at each other. The only thing Gryffon didn't share was his tennis ball, poor Tucker never got to get the ball, Gryffon was such a ball hog. That's why to this day I say all Tucker learned to be is a cheerleader since when we were playing ball all Tucker got to do was run back and forth, barking.  

Gryffon watching Tucker intently.



Tucker - gangly boy!



Camping with Gryffon, Bogart and my niece and nephew Jessica and Daniel

 

My favourite picture of Gryffon and Tucker.



Tucker and I lost his big brother, Gryffon on 23 August 2002 from complications following exploratory surgery which found that he had an abdominal wall infection. Gryffon was only 7 and half years old. So far sooner than I expected, Tucker became an "only" dog.





Tucker and Ceilidh - Summer 2003

 In March of 2003, Tucker got a little sister, Kelbren "Ceilidh"  Everlasting.  That summer we moved from New Maryland, New Brunswick to Angus, Ontario.  I started obedience classes at Barrie Canine Connection with Ceilidh and, since they also gave agility classes, decided to put Tucker into agility. I had heard about agility but had never had the opportunity to take classes anywhere. We got hooked. Tucker proved to be a good agility dog, he wasn't too fast but he was a thinker.  Initially,  I didn't think that he would be all that succesful even though we got a qualifying score in Jumpers at our very first trial and he got his Agility Dog of Canada title in less than a year. Once we were out of Starters, Tucker had difficulty making the course times but as soon as he moved to Veterans, then we started to progress. 



Tucker's first trial at Dream Fields which was before we even moved to Ottawa.

The summer of 2006, saw another move for Tucker, Ceilidh and I from Angus, Ontario to our Nation's capital Ottawa.  By now both Ceilidh and Tucker were competing in agility and we quickly discovered the active Ottawa-Kingston agility community.  The next summer, we entered the Ontario Regional Championship for the first time. Tucker did very well and qualified for Nationals.  Tucker competed at Nationals in 2007 at Halton Hills, Ont, in 2008 in Sussex, NB and in 2009 in Ottawa, Ont.  At Nationals in 2008, he placed he placed 8th in one of Gamblers events. It was the first time he completed a National or Regional main gamble. He would have placed 10th overall in his height class except that in the other Gamble event, I got greedy for points and tried to put him over a two point jump near the dog walk. Tucker took the dog walk instead and when the buzzer sounded, he was on the dog walk heading away from the main gamble. Tucker did do that main gamble but just not in the time allowed.  At Nationals in 2009, Tucker placed in every event in his height class and placed 7th over all for his height class, 6" Double-Drop Veterans.  

Tucker - 2009 AAC Agility Nationals - Ottawa, On

Tucker also completed all the title requirements for the Agility Trial Champion of Canada title, the Bronze Award of Merit and his Bronze Versatility Award during his agility career.  Not too bad for a dog that I initially thought would have difficulty getting his Agility Dog of Canada title.  So to use all of the letters for his titles after his registered name, he is:

Dierenvriend's Mattie's Tucker, SADC, VGDC, VAADC, VAGDC, VMADC, VMJDC, VMGDC, VMSDC, VMTRDC, VATChC, ExJ Bronze, ExSt Bronze, ExTR Bronze, Bronze Versatility, Bronze Award of Merit.

At Nationals in 2009, Tucker nearly slid off the A-frame in the rain and was having difficulty meeting the course times. After Nationals, he refused to do A-frames and he continued to have difficulty meeting the course times. I made the decision that it was in his best interest to retire him from competitve agility; he still likes to play for fun when there are treats in the ring and no A-frames.

Tucker and Ceilidh got a new little brother during the Labour Day weekend of 2009, Triadic's Glenciaran Beckett.  Tucker accepted him pretty easily but Ceilidh was not too impressed.



Tucker and Beckett - Summer 2010



Sadly this past May, Tucker, Beckett and I lost our Ceilidh girl to Mast Cell Cancer. Beckett wasn't really affected by the loss but I think Tucker missed her; I know I sure did, still do.



Last Moments Together - Ceilidh and Tucker



Recently as a result of having pre-op blood work done for dental work, we have found that Tucker has what is suspected to be chronic pancreatitis. He is currently on medications and dietary supplements which seem to be working but we won't know for sure until additional blood work is done once we have completed the course of medications. He does, however, seem to be somewhat more energetic already so I hope the medications are effective and will clear up the pancreatitis.

Devil Prince

Tucker has been a great dog and companion, laid back he always takes everything in stride. I wish he had another ten years with me but I know how unlikely that would be.  Today, we are going to enjoy the day together and then, this evening,we'll be giving out treats to the Trick or Treaters. The little kids always wish him Happy Birthday when I tell them Halloween is Tucker's birthday. I'm going to make him some low-fat pumpkin oatmeal muffins for his birthday cake. There's no doubt that my food hound will enjoy that. 

Happy Birthday Tucker Boo!!







Have Ewe Herd

Have ewe heard, Beckett is a sheepdog!

Beckett had a really busy weekend. On Saturday we attended the Krazy Kanines Fall fun trial. We were very lucky to have nice weather for the long weekend. The field was still somewhat soggy though as a result of all the rain the previous week. Beckett and I ran the Starters Standard and then the Advanced Standard. He did really well and I was really happy with his contacts.  Beckett and I had to leave the fun trial to go to his agility class. I got back to the fun trial in time to let Tucker do a Jumpers run, after all the old guy still likes to play and the young guy can't have all the fun.

Sunday, my family had our Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's place but the dogs always get to join us. The sad part of Sunday was closing down the agility field that morning. As you never known in this part of Canada, we could have good weather now for weeks but we could also have snow by the end of the month.

But Monday was the day we were really waiting for, Beckett went for a Herding Instinct Test. It was a gorgeous fall day; a great day for a drive to Ewenique Farms in Alfred Ontario, which is about 55 kilometers from my place.  We got there in time to see about five other dogs being tested. It was amazing to see the change in behaviour when dogs realized that they could move the sheep. Then it was Beckett's turn; he was the last dog to be tested.  At first he didn't seem interested at all and then a little nervous when the Border Collie ran at the sheep.  But he was a brave boy and kept coming back to me, each time he spooked. It seemed to me that our test took longer than some of the other dogs, maybe because we were the last dog but then maybe it just seemed long because I was in the pen just hoping that Beckett would show some interest in herding the sheep. Natalie, the tester, twice pulled a sheep from the herd for Beckett to check out. The second time I gently made him get really close, afterwards he seemed to catch on that the sheep weren't going to bother him and then he realized that he could move the sheep around. Then you could see those instincts kick in as he ran back and forth behind the small herd of sheep. He really seemed to be enjoying it by the end and was confident enough to move away from me and go herd sheep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjw2ZGuMk2w

Beckett passed the herding instinct test, so my little Beckett boy really is a sheepdog and not just a "sheepish" dog. Well, maybe just a little bit sheepish.

We had a lot of fun trying it out. I went to the test just wanting to see what he would do but you never know, maybe there are some herding lessons in Beckett's future.

Beckett's Agility Fun Trial Debut

Last weekend, I took Beckett to his first agility fun trial at Dogz, a training facility in the west end of Ottawa. We had trained there before so the location wasn't totally new to him. I decided before we went that I would try to run the complete courses (with treats provided at key locations) but if it proved too much for Beckett to handle we would just do short sequences. I also decided that we would not attempt the weaves at all but I didn't want to just run right by them. Fortunately in the Standard course, obstacles 3 and 4 (two jumps) were parallel to the weaves so I just did those two jumps a second time rather than run by the weaves. It was a good thing too, as it was 12 weaves that were set up on course and Beckett isn't even doing 6 weaves yet. We're getting there though.

It was beautiful agility weather, cloudy and cool with some sunny periods, although sometimes it was a tad warm when the sun was out which meant jackets on, jackets off. Tucker also came along as a spectator but I did take him over to the practice ring where he did a few jumps and tunnels for his favourite treat, chicken hot dogs. What am I saying Tucker's favourite treat is any FOOD!! Beckett also got to have some free play time with his best bud, Whistler, a sable Sheltie only 3 days older than Beckett.

In our first Standard run, I tried a false turn to get Beckett from the jumps to the tire, since we should have been doing the tire from the weaves, it made for a very awkward entry to the tire. The second time around, I did a front cross which worked so much better and put Beckett on a nice line for the tire and the next obstacle, a tunnel. We have to work on our contacts though, he likes to sit at the top of the A-frame now and usually stops way up on the down ramp of the dog walk but for a young fellow his teeter isn't bad.

In the Jumpers course, the first time around we did the Starters course and the second time we did the Advanced course. In the Starters course, he didn't get out to the second jump of a pin wheel and I wasn't in a good position, having tried a front cross, which put me behind him going up the field. When we ran the Advanced course, I didn't front cross but just stayed on his right side which worked much better. In his Advanced run, I wanted to try a hard false turn from a jump to a tunnel, unfortunately, there was another tunnel right there so in my mind I'm thinking "false turn, tunnel" so what did I do, but put him in the wrong tunnel. Even with the extra tunnel, he ran the course in 28.9 seconds and the standard course time for Minis was 47 seconds. I'm going to have to work on distance with that boy because when he gets going, I'll never keep up.

Some parts of the weekend were bittersweet though. Beckett looks so much like Ceilidh that there were times on the videos that it was her I saw. Two moments in particular stand out, in the first Starters course after running the course, we were practicing jumps to a tunnel with a rear cross and on the second attempt, Beckett refused the tunnel and began to spin and jump; it was classic Ceilidh. When I saw the video of the first Jumpers run, just the way Beckett sat on the start line and then sprung off the line, for the first few seconds I saw Ceilidh. At the beginning of the second Jumpers round it had started to rain but by the time it was Beckett's turn, the sun had come out again and there was a beautiful rainbow. I tried to take a picture of the rainbow but my camera batteries were running low. Luckily for me, Lyne had videoed a few seconds of the rainbow which I incorporated into my video on Beckett's debut. The video is long so if you don't have a fast internet connection, it will likely take quite a long time to download.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVl3msHlRq0

We are looking forward to our next fun trials, Krazy Kanines in October and Red Gate's in November and December. Maybe by then we'll try the weaves. Go Beckett Go!!

Tucker - Travelling On

On Monday, I got the results of Tucker's triglyceride tests; there was no change from three weeks ago. The vet wanted to do a cholesterol test but when I asked why, it was just to see if there had been any change in those levels as a result of being on a low-fat diet. Since Tucker has really only been on the low-fat diet for two weeks (I took one week to convert him over from his old food) and since there really is no treatment, other than diet for hyperlipidism, I decided not to have any more blood tests done at this time. In mid to late September, I'll have the triglyceride and cholesterol tests repeated to make sure his levels are, if not lower, are at least remaining steady. The vet said that it is likely that he is predisposed genetically to having higher cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

We've cut out nearly all of the people food, he still gets two bites of my toast in the mornings and some vegetables and a little meat once in a while. For treats, he's getting sweet potato/duck treats and carrots. So I am also hoping that he will lose some weight, which certainly couldn't hurt.

I have noticed that he has a little more energy and that he has less difficulty laying down and getting up so perhaps even though the blood tests didn't show any change, there has been some improvement. I'm hopeful that if he continues to improve that maybe in the fall he can do some agility trials at least Jumpers.

Tucker's Travels

All the while I was dealing with Ceilidh and her cancer, my older Sheltie Tucker was also having some medical issues. At his annual checkup, my regular vet recommended that he should have his teeth cleaned and two teeth pulled. Since we had just completed Ceilidh's surgery and were starting chemotherapy, I opted to wait awhile to have the work done. In late April, I took Tucker in for the pre-op blood work necessary because of his age to go forward with the dental work. The results showed that his liver enzymes were elevated and his cholesterol very high. We then began a series of blood tests to find out if he had either Cushing's Disease or Hypothyroidism. The test for Cushing's came back slightly abover the normal range but it wasn't high enough to be significant. The thryoid panel came back normal. So now he is on a low fat diet to see if we can get his cholesterol down. We will have the triglyceride tests done again at the end of the month to see if the diet has been effective. If it hasn't, we'll have to look at an ultra low-fat diet or home-cooked diet. The very high cholesterol is very likely the reason he is so lethargic. So for now, it is a low fat diet, no people food (except for two bites of my toast at breakfast) and only sweet potato and duck or carrots for treats. I certainly hope the diet works for him as I have read that medications designed to reduce cholesterol in people are only used as a last resort for dogs since one of the side effects is liver toxicity.

Ceilidh's Chemotherapy - Week One

Today, 12 Feb 2010 marked the first week for Ceilidh on Palladia, a drug recently approved in the US for mast cell tumours in dogs. So far I have not noticed any side effects from the drugs. She had an accident in the house today but that is likely due to the Prednisone and not the Palladia. She still has a healthy appetite. She's on 25mg of Palladia on Mon, Wed, and Fri and half a 5mg tablet of Prednisone on Tues, Thurs and Sat. She's also on a anti-nausea medication on the Palladia days and half a 10mg tablet of Peptid AC every day.

Yesterday marked three weeks from the date of her surgery to remove the tumour. The incision healed up nicely and she is starting to get a short hair coat back. At least now she's black all over, no more white skin showing.

Our next appointment with the oncologist is next Friday, 19 Feb 2010. Hopefully things will continue as well as this past week has and she will have no major side effects from the drugs. I'm hopeful she'll be able to some agility trials this spring.

The photo was taken a bout 2 1/2 weeks after surgery. I bought her the red jacket as I figured that it must be just a little bit cold without any hair on her back.