On the Rocks

Last week, I took the dogs, with me to visit my parents. No, we did not go to Newfoundland, which is also known as "The Rock" but to Moncton, New Brunswick.

But while I was there, I visited "Hopewell Rocks" on the Bay of Fundy with Tucker and Beckett. It's the site of some of the largest tides in the world. It's in the running to be one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world, the only other site in North America in the running is the Grand Canyon. Hopewell Rocks is very dog friendly, they are allowed on the trails and down on the ocean floor, the only places that they are not allowed is in the buildings (but I did take them into the pit toilets, didn't think anyone would mind that). I took the trail down to the stairs to the Flower Pots but there also is a shuttle. Not sure if the dogs are allowed on the shuttle although when I paid for my admission, they asked me if I wanted shuttle tickets and obviously they had seen the dogs. You do have to sign saying that you have read their dog policy and leashes can be no more than 6 ft long.

I planned our trip to arrive just after low tide; which was on the day we went at 8:45 in the morning. You can walk on the ocean floor some 3 hours before low tide and up to 3 hours afterwards. At high tide, you can take a kayak tour around these flower pots as they are called.


Tucker did really well on our little excursion. It was quite a long walk for him. The trail down to the stairs is about 900 meters and then there are the stairs which are open metal stairs with the last two flights of stairs having metal grate steps. I thought the dogs would have a hard time going up but it was actually going down where they needed a bit of coaxing since they could see the ground below, I think they were a bit nervous.


We spent about an hour exploring and then headed back up the stairs. At the top, we sat on the deck of the viewing platform to give Tucker a little break, one that both Beckett and I enjoyed too. Tucker was really tired out by the time we got back up to the top, he headed for some bushes and plunked himself down.

I also took Beckett to Cape Jourimain. It's a nature and intepretive centre just where the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island starts in New Brunswick. My sister Karen, her two daughters Alyssa and Kayla and a friend Megan came over on the shuttle from the Island and, after a picnic lunch, we spent the day exploring the beach.

When Beckett found a dead crab on the beach, I think he thought it was alive from the way he snuck up on it so tentatively. He also ran into the ocean chasing the little waves. He ran right in and when the water got a little deep he got a bit of a surprise having his feet lifted off the bottom. He stood there for a few seconds and then took a few paddles to get back where he could walk again. His first swimming lesson!

The rest of the week at home was spent visiting with my Mum and Dad. My Mum lives in a Nursing Home and all the residents are very happy to see the dogs. I even did a little agility demo for my Mum and some of the residents and the activity director asked if we would do one next year that all the residents could see. Maybe by then Beckett will be doing weaves!!

It was a good week at home.

Beckett Jumping Fool

My young bi-black Beckett was a year old on June 16th. I'm not the greatest dog handler or trainer but in my opinion he seems to be catching on to agility nicely. We started with a puppy seminar this past winter and I had him doing some flatwork and jumps without a bar in the basement until the weather was nice enough to go outside. During that time we also were taking Basic Obedience, I started to notice then that he would pick up things quickly; exercises we barely had a chance to practice one lesson to the next, he still seemed to improve his skill level and understanding by the next class.

We started with a Beginner Agility class and a Two by Two weave class in May. Last week we began the Advanced I class but the instructor moved Beckett up to the Advanced II class. It is an advantage to have most of the equipment in your backyard and to already have an understanding of handling required of the human member of the team. I have been doing a lot of basic jumping skills with only one or two jumps, wraps, lead-outs, go, here, etc. I also back trained the target of the contact obstacles but have to take a step backwards and refresh that skill as right now Beckett seems to have forgotten or lost that part of the contact work.

I was really surprised that he nearly taught himself the teeter. I was back training the teeter and had the teeter lowered and the up end on a small patio table when he started jumping up on the middle of the teeter and running down himself. So I promptly took the table away and made him go up from the end, he showed no fear whatsoever. My teeter is still lowered somewhat but Beckett has done full height teeters at two different locations so he seems to have acquired that skill easily. But as I said we still have to work on the independent target part again.

Two by Two Weaves however have been another story. He doesn't seem to be interested in them at all and rather than getting much better has been getting worse. We had difficulty moving from the first set of two poles and then once we had moved on to two sets of two poles he seemed to do fine. But then all of a sudden he was by passing the first two poles and just doing the second set so it was back to just two poles. We are going try channel weaves and see how he does with those and we'll keep on trying with the two by twos as it is supposed to make the entry a better skill in the long run.

I don't plan to trial with Beckett until he's nearly two so we have lots of time to work on those weaves and other skills. So for right now, he's just my Jumping Fool!!

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 Journey - The Last Post

Kelbren Ceilidh Everlasting - 21 Jan 2003 to 26 May 2010

On 26 May 2010, I let my little princess go to Rainbow Bridge. We had our surgical consult on 14 May but as Ceilidh had not been eating well, Dr Liptak wanted to wait until she was eating better before putting her through the additional stress of surgery. Things didn't get better, Ceilidh hardly ate anything and on the Friday evening before the Victoria Day long weekend, she was barely drinking and having dry heaves. I contacted Dr Bravo's Vet tech, Donna Dempsie, who thought that I should bring Ceilidh into see the emergency vet at Alta Vista as she was likely getting dehydrated. Ceilidh stayed at Alta Vista until Sunday afternoon on fluid therapy and getting all of her medications by injection. I picked her up expecting her to have a little more energy but she was still very listless, although she was no longer retching. Monday, all I could get her to eat was MacDonald's French fries and a little chicken. I asked my sister to make arrangements to come with me on Wed to let her go. On Tues morning, Ceilidh was more alert and had breakfast with us, peanut butter and jam on toast. I debated whether or not I should call Alta Vista to make the appointment to let her go. I called later that morning and Donna told me that if for any reason I wanted to cancel not to hesitate. Tuesday evening, Tucker and Ceilidh laid by the fireplace together. I had never seen them that close; I think Tucker knew what was about to happen. Wed morning, Ceilidh again ate peanut butter and jam on toast but she laid by the fireplace and I had to bring it over to her. My sister arrived about 9:30 am, Ceilidh tried to get up and couldn't, when I helped her up, she couldn't stand. Her eyes were so tired and filled with dismay. At Alta Vista, they made the process very gentle. Ceilidh rested on my lap on a comfortable sofa and when we were ready, Dr Bravo gave her the injection to release her from the fight against this terrible disease. I received the call from Alta Vista today that her urn is back so later this week, probably Friday evening, Ceilidh will be home with me once again.