Ceiling Crashes Down

I haven't posted in a very long time. I've been trialing with Kimi and Maggie; collecting MACHs and PACHs along the way. Working on Kimi's AGCH; just 3 STD Qs away.

In August, a massage therapist found a lump under Kimi's armpit. Shane -- who is 12 - is covered in lumps, so I didn't really think much about it. I was more concerned about getting some weight off Kimi, so I switched to a low-fat, low-quality food. The kibble happened to be a bit bigger than is regular food,  and probably tasted like cardboard, so it seemed natural that Kimi would have difficulty eating it. I switched back to his old kibble and he picked at that as well. Gave him some canned food and that seemed to be OK, so I got curious about his teeth. Off to the vet we go and got she found a cracked molar.

Dropped Kimi off for his dental and the vet called around noon to tell me that Kimi's Calcium was elevated and they couldn't do the dental. Explained to me that it might be a parathyroid cancer and sent his specimen off to the University of Michigan. A week later, the results came back with parathyroid-related protein, which suggests cancer somewhere. We schedule an ultrasound for the next week.

After an agility weekend, Kimi stops eating and started vomiting on a Tuesday so I rush to the ER, where they do the ultrasound and find nothing. Suggested I meet with their internist. She meets with me to discuss lymphoma. By this time, I had read everything I could find on the Internet about elevated calcium and lymphoma, so I was already there with the diagnosis. She aspirated his lymph nodes, gave me some prednisone, and I made an appointment with the oncologist.

The prednisone was magic. Kimi became ravenous and ate everything I gave him. Thanks to a Facebook group, I began giving him Dr. Harvey's Paradigm food with cooked turkey. I added Hemp oil. Apparently, starches feed cancer cells, so Kimi is on a Keto diet.

Finally, something will happen after a month of waiting. Still has the cracked tooth and we start chemo. The first week was several pills, cyclophosphamide. Kimi handles it well. Second week was a low dose of Vincristine, which he handled well too. Third week was a full dose of Vincristine. All great so far. Kimi's appetite is healthy and his tooth doesn't seem to bother him with the Gabapentin he's getting. Do wish they could pull it, but vet wants to wait until chemo is over.

Next week is the first dose of Doxorubicon, which is a heavy chemo drug. Not looking forward to it as I read about the terrible side effects. I have been hoping to get his AGCH title by the end of the year, so this is such a punch in the gut. My thoughts were to get this title and then just cruise through MACHs for the next couple of years until Kimi was ready to retire - 5 years from now. Now I'm looking at months, if I'm lucky.  Didn't think I would be ending agility this soon.

Saturday in the Park

I think it was the fourth of July.

And I've been waiting such a long time
For today

Saturday we headed to Karen's for our weekly sheltie get-together. Since it was a holiday weekend, Robyn was there wither her sheltie as well. Karen set up a Master's level course from one of the April shows. I haven't had much luck with Kimi there because of the traffic noise, so I decided to do the course on leash. He did great. We tried it again on leash. Same success. So I decided to take the leash off for the third run. He was amazing! I still need someone to hold the chute open and I still need to lure him through the weaves, but he did everything else fantastic! Including a flip back to the tunnel from the dog walk.

The rest of the morning we all played together. Kimi hid for a long time until Karen let her GSD Woody out to play. Kimi came out of hiding and we managed to get this group picture.

Left to right: Kimi, Rudy, Sophie, Dory, Woody, Siri, Chaos



Kimi's confidence grows daily. He is doing well in class. Once he figures something out, it's on to the next thing. I feel like a giant weight has been lifted from me and I am filled with nothing but joy.

One Second

This past weekend, we made the trek to Wichita Falls, TX for the first time. We drove and drove and drove up a country road for hours. We passed though several small towns that didn't even have a place to stop and pee. I was never so happy to get to a destination in all my life.

I set up my stuff and drove to the motel, which was another shocker. I still have difficulty with spending my weekends in crappy motels and dirty livestock arenas, but I got over myself by the second day. I kept picturing the 4 star Vegas hotel we stayed in last month and that didn't help at all.

On Friday, Maggie Q'd in both runs. She was doing so well. We barely made time in jumpers though. On Saturday, Maggie flew through the standard run. I've never seen her so fast in off-side weaves EVER. We managed to get 15 seconds under time. She Q'd in jumpers as well but it was a squeaker. On Sunday, she Q'd again in standard and I was getting shakey. Got a photo-shoot before jumpers and I think that may have spooked her. We missed our last Q by one second. ONE SECOND!

Still 5 out of 6 is pretty good for Miss Maggie. I tried my new trick of giving her some wheat treats prior to her run to get the sugar rush going. I also teased her with her favorite treat - string cheese. She didn't sniff in the ring once.

The other part of our weekend was socializing Kimi, which went just OK. He is still deathly afraid of traffic, although it is getting better, and these flea-bag motels always seem to be right by the expressway. With Maggie pulling me one way to sniff garbage and Kimi fleeing the other way from the traffic, I about lost my mind. I resorted to walking them separately, which worked much better.

By Sunday, Kimi was much bolder and we all managed to take a walk outside the arena. Saturday evening, I took Kimi over the practice jump after everyone was gone and he was great. Very excited to begin competing with him this fall.

Maggie's Photo Shoot

 

Two Double Q's

Wish Miss Maggie enjoyed getting her picture taken. I've never been able to get her in the same frame as her ribbons. I'm trying not to be greedy, but I wonder if I had skipped the photo shoot if we would have Q'd. Oh well. The picture is beautiful and we had a wonderful weekend.

Emerging from the Fog

It's been a while since I wrote about my dogs. Quite the roller-coaster these past months. I hadn't written about my puppy because it was very painful for some time. Kimi is just a love but his fears had me worried. They seemed unfixable.

This week my trainer commented twice on how happy Kimi is. He no longer cowers under my chair.  We do all the exercises like everyone else in class. He's still a little unsure of our sit-stays while I dance in front of him, but I would be too.

We also left a very unsuccessful agility class to begin again at a new place and Kimi is blossoming. He does everything so far except the teeter. While others were working on wobble boards, I was just trying to get Kimi to touch a board, any board, so we are a little behind. He shows courage on the teeter so I'm sure he'll figure it out eventually.

Today on our daily walk, Kimi calmly walked by a  moving school bus, which is huge. Counter-conditioning really works.

Kimi spends his days under my desk sleeping or playing with Maggie, his best bud. We head out after dinner to play agility. Our future together is looking very bright and I vow to write more.

Kimi Keeping Me Company

 

Kimi Does the Tunnel

 

Kimi Jumping 

Here We Go 2013

Happy New Year!
2012 was an amazing year. Sweet Kimi came into our lives. Shane's eye degradation stabliized. Maggie got her MX MXJ, her PI Standard title, her PII Snooker title, and ended the year with her PII Gamblers title. She had her ups and downs, but in the end, she accomplished quite a lot this past year for a doggie who isn't really nuts about agility.

Not Too Shabby!

2013 will be about training Kimi and staying the course with Maggie. We are going to try some other venues to see if Maggie does better elsewhere. We've stayed mainly in one building for the entire year. We will travel a bit and experiment.

Shane may be done with agility entirely as his left front leg has developed some issues. We'll have to wait and see. He's quite a handful without some exercise.

Looking forward to the new year. Lots of possibilities and challenges ahead.

Happy Birthday Maggie May!

Maggie turned 5ish today. She came into our lives three years ago to serve as a companion to Shane while he pursued his agility destiny. I expected to spend all my time training this son of a world champion and wanted a little black dog to help Shane with his reactivity to black dogs. We had just lost Woody on December 23, so I gave that day to Maggie to be her birthday. Our hearts were broken when we lost Woody right before Christmas and Shane seemed lost without his brothers. Maggie came along and helped us all heal.

Maggie did agility in our backyard while I trained Shane so I decided to start her in classes. She wasn't as fast or confident when we weren't in the backyard, but I kept at it just for fun and exercise. When Shane was diagnosed with PRA, Maggie became my only agility dog for competition. We stuck with it and now Maggie has surpassed any achievements of all my other dogs. She's not the fastest, but every once in a while, she beats the buzzer for a Q. We'll keep plugging away while I train my next agility dog, Kimi, who is now Maggie's best bud.

Maggie and Kimi Play Every Day

 

Forgotten Friends Maggie May MX MXJ OF

 

Fall 2012 Season Kickoff

When I was a kid, I looked forward to the fall TV guide so I could see all the new shows and decide which ones I was going to watch. Later on that developed into an excitement over the September issue of Vogue magazine to see what was in style for fall. Now, I'm excited about figuring out which fall agility shows to enter. It's been a long summer.

Our first show of the fall season was USDAA, which we do not do very often. Maggie refuses to go down on the table in the ring, so I haven't been very interested in doing USDAA. This show was close to home, so we went.

Friday
Maggie was .01 seconds over course time in Jumpers. We got a PII Snooker Q, which we didn't even need. The PII Gamble was a piece of cake, but unfortunately we got stuck on the teeter in the opening and the buzzer went off as she was over the final jump in the Gamble. The timer was set up past the jump so I didn't have a chance. If the timer had been set up at the jump, she might have triggered it before the buzzer. Oh well.

Saturday
Performance Speed Jumping was first today. Very excited. Got up at 5:30 so I could be there in time to walk. Competition was light so I was so hopeful. We did 3 jumps and Maggie left the ring. She has never done that before. She just sauntered off.

Snooker is next. Another Q I don't need. The Gamble was easy again, but we never made it to the line. Maggie started out of the ring and when I called her back she got on the dog walk and time ran out.

Finally, Standard. We got to the table and Maggie went down. I think I stopped breathing. She got a mess of chicken at the end of that run.

Pairs is last. I will be in PII Pairs for the rest of my life. We had a clean run, but again our Partner failed us.

Sunday
Frank comes along with us and I think Maggie is more excited. We start the day with Standard and Maggie does a Down again for our PI Standard title. Finally. Pairs is next and I totally blew it. I will never complain about my Pairs partners again. We ran second. We go over the first jump, weaves are next and the numbers were removed. I started looking around for the number 3 obstacle and only saw 13. I had such a brain fart and couldn't get it together. Maggie started over the dog walk and it was all over. I don't think I've ever said Sorry more than I did after that run. I was screaming it out as we left the ring. I was the accomodating partner for the next person and of course we did great, but it didn't count for me. I had to redeem myself.

Gamblers is next. We nail the opening, but Maggie didn't have the momentum to do the Gamble. Last run of the day was PII Jumpers and she did great. I think we'll be able to wrap up PII at the next show over New Year's.

 

Sometimes it's fun to be the only dog in the class!

Kimi
Another project for the weekend was acclimating Kimi to the show environment. The last time we were at Belton, he was terrified of the traffic noise. This weekend he was skittish, but worked through it all. He had a blast at the show meeting people and walking around with Maggie and Shane. He continues to get better and better each day. I'm very hopeful.

Happy Friday

Friday is garbage day in our neighborhood. Since Kimi is afraid of the garbage trucks, we have never made it out the door for our Friday walk. He sees the garbage cans and won't leave the house.

Today we made it out the door and almost back home, but we ran into the truck. I picked Kimi up and we watched the truck go by. He wanted to run away for sure. After the truck turned the corner, I put him down and he pulled us all the way home.

I notice he gets more brave when he hears a dog barking. Shane was pretty mad that we were late in leaving the house and was barking a lot. Perhaps that helped Kimi. He stopped a few times but I was able to get him going by playing with him a bit.

Thursday class was great as well. Kimi did all the exercises and actually walked to the car after class. That was a first for us. I usually have to carry him because he freezes and I need to get home.

Last night I set up another course in the backyard because Maggie has a show coming up. Kimi went through the curved tunnel without any coaxing.

I am so proud of the way Kimi is blossoming. He gets more confident every day.

Just Do It

When your trainer tells you to do something, it pays to do it. My trainer told me that I need to feed Kimi by hand to get him to perform faster. I'm pretty lazy so I didn't do it. Last week in class, Kimi did a few things and then just laid on his mat for the rest of class. My trainer said he wasn't hungry. He hasn't associated food with work or fun yet.

For dinner that day, I took his kibble outside and we worked. I've been trying to get Kimi onto the table and he just didn't want to. So I put the kibble on the table and he eventually reached over to get the food. When he put a paw on the table, I said Yes and we kept going. He had all four paws on the table by the end.

Last night Kimi did a few tricks and then bunch of cars went by. Kimi ran to the deck and hid behind a chair. I sat there and waited and waited. The dog next door barked and Kimi came flying. After that we did the table like pros. He got on and stayed until I said Free. Shortly, he was driving ahead of me to the table and then we finished with a Down. Such joy to see him blossom. He makes me smile every day.

So I guess all those alphabets after my trainer's name actually mean something.

Our sound sensitivity training continues too. Trying to isolate his issues and it appears to be high-pitched squeeks. Bad brakes is a big one. On Fridays, he has associated the garbage bins with the trucks, so he will not leave the house. Saturdays he is fine. I need to play the sound CD more often, as my trainer suggested. OK I get it now. I'll do whatever she says.

I was feeling sorry for myself that I got yet another dog with issues, but then I realized that most dogs have some issue and I just need to man up. I've been through so much with my dogs and Kimi is now benefitting from all that I've learned. I just need to do it.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

So here we go on another journey with a shy dog. I'm trying so hard to remember that Maggie wouldn't walk down the street when we first got her. She was terrified of SUVs and traffic. I used to get so frustrated when she would just freeze on me. I wish I could remember when it stopped and she became a joy to walk.

Kimi is having the same issues. We have been doing LAT and now he is good with regular cars. Today was the community garage sale and he melted down twice around the massive number of SUVs and trucks. At one point he was so plastered against Shane, but he made it through. I have confidence it will go away, but who knows when.

We have been going to a pre-agility class and doing very well until it started to get dark earlier. Tuesday night, Kimi just froze on me and woudn't move. After a long talk with the trainer, we decided to just wait until next year for agility training in class. That will give me more time to work on his fear issues.

Wednesday he went to day care at the same place while I had class with Shane and Maggie. He appeared to be afraid of the A/C unit noise, so it'll be good to be around that while he plays with other dogs, which he loves to do.

Today, Kimi did a 180 turn. I can send him out over 4 jumps after his toy. He's all piss and vinegar at home. Can't get him on a board yet though.

Kimi is very sound sensitive so we'll keep working on that. Funny he can sit with me watching a Formula One race on TV, but the garbage truck freaks him out.

Dog Days of Summer 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Roller Coaster Weekend

Another two months have gone by so it's time for a show! Not the best plan if you want to keep your skills. Maggie, Kimi, and I got up before dawn Saturday and headed to College Station. I brought Kimi along to see his brother and other Mom, Kay. It was hard to leave Shane at home, but I didn't want to deal with three dogs.

Our first run was STD and it was wonderful. It was the 10th Q for us and Maggie's MX Title. Susan Miller caught it for us.


Turns out that was our best effort for the weekend. Her JWW run was 1.44 seconds over time, which I thought was a little tight. We did T2B for the first time and she knocked the first bar, which I think totally spooked her. She started sticking on top of the Aframe again. Sunday was a complete mess. She seemed to have shut down on me for whatever reason. Maybe she missed Frank or Shane. Maybe she didn't feel good. Not sure. But she was sure happy to get home.

Forgotten Friends Maggie May MX MXJ

The other goal of the weekend was to expose Kimi to new experiences. He had a lot of trouble with the sounds around the arena, but with the help of his brother and Kay, we conquered the RV generator noise. At the hotel, we had more problems. Kimi was terrified of the squeeky door and the noisy trucks in the parking lot. I tried to potty them around 9:30 and it was pretty active in the parking lot. Kimi charged back to the hotel door and hit the glass. I can't even imagine the terror he felt. We went out at 4 am in the quiet and he finally pottied.

Back at the show on Sunday, Kimi got passed around a lot. He was happy and confident inside the arena. Susan Miller held him for the longest time near the teeter and he was happy and relaxed.

Happy Kimi

I've had my share of scaredy dogs, but this one is new for me. Shane charges. Maggie freezes. Kimi runs away. There is always something to work on.

Another nice surprise was the height card holder Susan Miller made for me. Kimi is named after a race car driver, so she hand stitched this amazing racing design on the holder. If you are interested, see her at the next show.

Maggie Loves Her Daddy

Frank has been gone on two business trips this month and it affects Maggie more than the other two. That's one of the reasons I don't travel much with her. She needs to come home and be with her Dad to recharge.

The sound of the garage door puts everyone in place. I hear the car trunk slam shut and then the door opens. Shane always hangs back but Kimi gets right in there for some rubs. Maggie is the one who cries.

Kimi's Name

This video sums up why I chose Kimi to name my puppy. Fast and crazy.

Baby Kimi

Kimi's other mom, Kay, sent me pictures of him as a baby. It's easy to spot him because of the large black spot on his back. Wouldn't you just love to jump into the pile of baby shelties!

Kimi is on the left

Kimi is on the right - see the big spot?

Kim is on the right - big spot!

Kim is in front

Sweet Baby Kimi

Kimi 5 months

Boom Boom Too

Another thunderstorm last night. Everyone sat with me watching TV without any drama. Granted the storm wasn't as noisy as the previous one, but I still consider it a win. Now the hurdle of getting dogs to potty in wet grass. So picky.

Cape Fear

Working on Kimi's fear of traffic this weekend. I purchased some sound files of garbage trucks and freeway traffic and played them while he ate his meals. He was a little skittish at first, but by Sunday night he gobbled his dinner down as usual. This morning during our walk, when he saw a truck, he went into a sit and watched it go by. Huge improvement. I use Look At That as well, but he is still too stressed to take the treat until the truck is out of site. 

We got to stop and greet our neighbor and her poodles today. Everyone did so great. Very proud.  

Maggie guards the side yard

Kimi guards the rear

Sweet Kimi

Maggie hides under the chair in my office

Boom Boom

The night before the 4th and the golf club set off their fireworks display. Caught me off guard. Maggie handled it like a pro. I played Boom Boom Treats with Shane and he was fine. Kimi had a panick attack and ran to hide under the bed. I tried everything to get him out. Nothing worked. Finally opened the jar that contains his food and made quite a racket with it. He appeared!  We went outside and played a bit. I think he's OK. For now.

Every Two Months

It's been two months since Maggie and I competed. Time sure flies. We acquired Kimi and I almost broke my foot in the hiatus.

Friday we all headed up to Belton. The first show in the domed arena and I didn't have a clue what to expect. It turned out to be a great event. The A/C was fabulous. The surface not so much. The 4/8 inch dogs ran and then my 12 inch group pitched a fit over the surface. I didn't know what was going on, so I was waiting at the gate to run as we were pretty close to the top of the list. Waiting. Waiting. What the hell is going on. Finally, an announcement. Run or don't run. We don't care. Man was the negative energy heavy around the ring. All because of a few people. Finally got to run, and Maggie was flying!  Blew the down side of the dog walk. People said she got it, but who knows. I do know that the Judge was pretty upset over the hubbub about the surface. In jumpers, I ran like an idiot trying not to trip on the ruts, so Maggie was pretty slow. We didn't Q in either run.

Kimi became a bit of an issue. He seemed so frightened to be outside. Not sure, but I think it was the sound of traffic. He suddenly became afraid of big trucks after hearing the garbage truck let out a very loud hiss. I also noticed that one of his canines was at a right angle to his mouth, just hanging there. A fellow sheltie lover tried to pull it out, but it was still attached. One more day he told me and it fell out that night.

Shane was great. I try to take him over the practice jumps a few times, but could never find a good spot. At one point, we were climbing the stairs in the arena, and he stopped at the top for a treat like he had just navigated a course. Too cute.

The surface on Saturday was much better. Maggie Q'd in Standard, but still too slow in Jumpers. Kimi got to visit with a lot of people, but I didn't make him go outside. Luckly, my day was short so he got home in plenty of time to potty. We have to work on this fear.

Sunday, I had very high hopes. Left Shane and Kimi home so I could concentrate on Maggie. Just one more Q for Maggie's MX and sure enough I blew it. I worried too much about getting into place for a front cross and she ran past a jump. Jumpers was painfully slow, but the course time was very generous. We Q'd with no points.

Two months until the next show. Maggie needs to lose a few pounds as do I. Kimi has to get over his fear of trucks. Busy summer ahead.

Kimi's Off to School

We started a couple of puppy classes. One is an agility foundation class and the other is strictly behavior. We're a little behind in both classes, but we're holding our own.

Kimi is working on different surfaces in agility pre-school. I've found that he won't do stuff if I ask him, but if I leave him alone, he'll do it on his own. Everyone else is working on backing up and we're still working on getting on. I was so driven with Shane, but this time I'm taking it slow.

In behavior class, we are working on being around crazy dogs. Man, if I had to deal with what these other people are dealing with, I'm not sure I'd ever get a dog. Kimi is developing some fears, and I want to nip those in the bud. We were walking last week when the trash truck went by and now Kimi is afraid of large trucks. He seems to work things out on his own though. We had trouble the other day walking by a parked boat, but yesterday he was fine.

So far, Kimi has learned Sit, Go Get It, Leave It, and Spot. Down is going to be tough with this guy.

Playing Fetch with Frank