Pictures to follow

Trip's mom invited us out to the fancy private dog park they belong to after the trial on Sunday so all the dogs could play and swim.  The park was great-90 acres all fenced in, two agility fields, a lake with a dock and plenty of room to run and hike.  Lyric got to do the teeter while we were there to regain her confidence which was great.  Then the dogs, well the three that like swimming, had a blast diving, swimming, splashing and fetching.  Legend jumped off the dock once, but wouldn't do it again.  We took a little walk and they had so much fun just running all over.  Lyric stayed right with me and Mary but the wild children were everywhere.  It was fun to see Trip with his old buddies and his new ones all together.  I took some pics but they need edited so I will post them later this week when I am home.  Oh, and Trip got an ILP (well actually PAL) as a Border Collie-he is officially "Extreme Power Trip."  Cute huh?

The rest

The rest of the weekend was good, but not quite as good as Friday.

Yesterday was a wash for Legend. She apparently forgot all her listening skills and was doing her own thing left and right. But having fun. Too much. But the crowd enjoyed it!

Lyric had a nice standard run. She had one wrong course (wrong end of the tunnel-I told her she better not pick up her sister's bad habits!) and then I guess touched the broad jump on the way down. So she got an NQ for that but otherwise good. Her Jumpers run was perfect-course time was 52 seconds and she did it in 28!

Today was a bit better. Legend NQ'd on the jumpers course, but to her credit, it was tough. She did redeem herself and get a standard Q though. Just one more leg for her MX! Lyric had a pretty good day today. She had another table fault today and then it took me 3 times to get her in the chute where yesterday it only took once. But she did it so that was good. But then she bailed off the teeter. Granted a lot of dogs had trouble with this teeter but I really wish that wasn't her last impression of the teeter in a trial setting. I'm hoping to get to do some teeters other than ours before the next trial. But the rest of the run was great. In jumpers she had one refusal-she didn't want me to cross behind her when I sent her in the tunnel so that is something we can easily work on. She also ran past the weaves but then came back and did them perfect. So she got another Q. That's 4 Qs and 4 firsts for her this weekend. I'm really pleased with her and now we know what to work on. And she seemed to adapt to the 24 inch weaves very well.

And if you are keeping track, yes she did get 3 jumpers legs this weekend. But no title because it was all the same judge. Darn one ring trials!

Only the beginning

So I was going to wait until the end of the weekend to post about the trial but the girls were so good today I had to brag on them.

Lyric was a star! I know that's a shocker huh? But really, for a dog trained almost exclusively in my backyard, she was amazing. Being an AKC trial she was exposed to things like winged jumps that she had never seen before. I didn't even think about that but she didn't care. She had a clean run in jumpers and a first place! Then on to standard. She had a few bobbles with the tire and chute, plus a table fault but ran the rest like a pro-no fear! Ended up with another Q and a first place.

Legend pretty much rocked too. She got MX leg #8 and 15 points. She got about halfway through her jumpers run before she stubbornly took an off course. And I say stubborn because I was very clearly yelling (actually sort of screaming) "here" and she never thought about turning. But hey, she was running fast and you won't get far if you don't have that going for you.

Still have two more days of fun!

Unexpected

Spring, my sweet but giant bunny, suddenly passed away last night. Jerry called as I was getting off work (in STL) to say she was not eating, lethargic, and weak. By the time I got home she was already gone. We found that she had a very small (about the size of my pinky finger or less) hernia in her body wall. She could have lived her whole life with a hernia that small and never had any trouble. But unbelievably intestines went through the hole, got trapped, and died. I'm guessing the toxins released from the dying tissue and the pain is what caused the death. A dog or cat would not likely have died from this, so long as surgery was pursued. But rabbits are so fragile. It's hard to believe it all went downhill so fast. It's hard to know it was something that could have been fixed, if I'd known it was there to fix. It could have been there since she was born for all I know, a birth defect. She would have been 3 late this year.

You know you are a veterinarian when...

Just some things for you all to ponder!

You know you are a veterinarian when...

1) you have had anal glands sprayed in your face
2) you have had dewormer sprayed in your face
3) you have had bordetella vaccine (you guessed it) sprayed in your face
4) you have tasted one or more liquid medications because they smell good
5) you have accidentally vaccinated yourself for rabies, distemper, parvo, feline leukemia...
6) you have contracted one or more zoonotic diseases
7) you have sniffed bodily fluids in a cage in order to find out if it's urine or vomit (this can be important information!)
8) you can't sew on a button or repair a hole in clothing without a needle drivers and thumb forceps
9) you think a/d smells good, especially when you are hungry
10) you often bring up inappropriate topics at the dinner table
11) a perfect stranger (aka client) shows you their wound or rash, and also shares with you the story of their colonoscopy
12) you have a greater fear of chihuahuas than pit bulls
13) you choose a breed of dog to own based on how accessible it's veins are
14) you have an overwhelming desire to look in the mouth of every animal you meet to check it's teeth
15)you have yelled angry things at a uterus while trying locate it during a spay

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

True story.

This week at work the other doctor in the clinic was seeing a vomiting dog. Radiographs showed a possible foreign body in the intestines. When the doctor showed the radiographs to the owner, she embarrassingly admitted she thought she knew what it was. Apparently she has several boob shaped eraser/pencil toppers left over from a bachelorette party (and this is not even the best part!). She happened to have one in her car (???) so she brought it in for us to see. We compared it to the radiograph and it was a perfect match.

So I'm thinking if said object was indeed stuck in the intestines does that make it a "boobie trap"

Admit it, you're laughing aren't you?

Blog Award

We've been given this award by both Cedes of Change and Exercise Finished

One says to share 7 things about yourself and one said 7 things about your dogs, so here are both (because I know you care so much about these random facts)

About me...

1. I'm an agility addict and practice veterinary medicine in my spare time

2. I'm NOT a morning person

3. I will get up for agility!

4. I don't like to cook, sometimes I don't even want to make a sandwich

5. I won't paint any wall in my house white, off white, eggshell, cream, etc

6. I have a tendency to collect coats, jackets, sweatshirts, etc but I hate cold weather

7. I love my iPhone

About the dogs...

1. Zodiac barks at the rabbit every time I get out the vacuum

2. Legend attacks the vacuum

3. Lyric eats bugs

4. Legend is a dainty eater, but a sloppy drinker

5. Zodiac will try to herd dogs, horses, pigs, and rabbits, but not cats

6. Lyric likes Legend to go outside with her so she can bark and chase her around the yard

7. All three were dogs someone else didn't want anymore

Now I'm supposed to pass this on to some other people. I'm sure some of you have already gotten this but here it is again! And yes I'm too lazy to put a link in for everyone

4 Dog Craziness

Ricky's Life

ManyMuddyPaws

Sara, Oreo, and Misty

The Portuguese Waterblog

Greg's Dog Blog

Life With Kana Dogs

Adventures of the Painted Creek Farm

Dig it Fetch it Herd it

Border Collie Mom

Why Everyone Should Train Dogs

The Rainbow Dogess

Happy Blogging!

In other news

Squirt's feet are much better. He can walk around like a normal horse now and requires no special treatment.

Lyric rocked at agility practice the other night, despite an unfortunate incident involving a jump still set at 20 inches. Oops.

Zodiac got sprayed by a skunk while I was gone last week. Jerry did a great job bathing him but he's still a bit stinky when wet. I bathed him again this weekend so he LOOKS great, but smells a little skunky.

Legend would prefer to spend all day playing ball and swimming, so no real change there.

Eliminating Chaos

Most of you remember I quit my job early this year and started doing relief work (substitute vet) until I found a more permanent situation. The work was fun. I got to see a lot of different clinics, learn some new things, and meet a lot of great people. But it was crazy. I worked all over the place, spent a lot of time driving and tons of time away from home. Well, I think all of that is about to go away. I took two part-time ("permanent" relief jobs) somewhat close to home. One is a bit of a drive but will only be 1-2 days a week. The other is 2-3 days a week and (dramatic pause here) a whopping 4 miles from my house! Better yet, if I like it, there is the possibility of this one becoming full time down the road. And by full time I mean 4 days a week, 8:30-6 with no weekends. Sweet huh? And I get an office! And if I want to wear jeans and scrubs to work, I can!

So starting soon I'm looking forward to more time at home which means more time to train and more to blog about!

Quit Stalling!

As usual, pun intended. After putting it off for almost 6 years we finally got stalls put in for our poor horses. And it only took one day! No thanks to the Ozark Orscheln's, that's for sure. We had to special order 2 ten foot panels to fit the dimensions of our barn. They couldn't find the price the day we were there so they were going to call us and confirm the price and place the order. After several days I checked in because they hadn't called and they were finally able to look it up for us. Then they told us they would call when they came in after I specifically confirmed that this was the case. I even gave two separate people my phone number. No call. So today we decided to check on them. Yep, they came in Tuesday or Wednesday. We told them no one called us and barely got and "Oh, sorry" out of them.

Anyway we got the rest of our supplied at Lowe's and everything went great. The wood lining on the walls was already there so all we really needed was to do a little prep work and anchor the panels to the wall and connect them to each other. It was more convenient on the installation to use the panels that hook together than to use gates. But it's a little more trouble to open and shut the panels because they rest on the ground so they don't swing freely. But we won't be using them too often. They are having dinner in there tonight and spending a few hours getting used to the idea of being so confined. They seem to be taking it well.

What do you thing-do they look comfy and cozy?

Barney was worn out after all the excitement of the day!

Shed Happens

I frequently get asked if there is anything that will make a person's dog shed less. And the answer is no. There is not anything you can feed your dog, put on your dog, bathe your dog with, etc that will eliminate shedding. It's biologically impossible.

Dog (and cat) hair grows in three phases: Anagen-the growing phase, Catagen-the in between phase, and Telogen-the resting phase. Telogen hairs are the ones that are falling out, or shedding. The individual hairs are not on the same cycle and thus some hair will always be in the Telogen phase. Occasionally a severe illness will push all hairs into the telogen phase and they will all fall out, but this is not a desirable way to end shedding.

Your best bet is to brush regularly and collect all the Telogen hairs in one spot. Then you can dispose of it before it gets dropped off all over the house!

Obviously some dogs (typically those that require routing grooming or clipping) such as poodles, bichons, and certain terriers don't shed as much. Their hair cycle and biology is a bit different but don't expect these breeds to never lose any hair. Remember, people don't "shed" but we still lose hairs just from regular "grooming!"

Shaving your dog (and I'm talking about the dog that are not meant to be shaved) does not make your dog shed less. It makes them shed shorter hairs. These hairs are often them embed themselves in clothing, furniture, etc and are near impossible to get out!

Now if you want to shave your dog for other reasons that is your prerogative. But I'm going to come right out and say it (and I don't mean to offend anyone) but I hate, hate, hate when people shave dogs not meant to be shaved. Think Goldens, Shelties, Border collie, Collie, Aussie, Pyrenees, Husky, Malamute, Lab, German Shepherd, etc. Yes, I have seen people shave short haired dogs like labs. I don't understand it, but I see it. Be aware-repeated shaving of these dogs often causes the hair to eventually fail to regrow like normal. It will be fuzzy, short, dull, patchy and irregular in length. It's easy to spot a dog that has been repeatedly shaved-in my opinion, they look terrible. Sort of like what you would expect a hypothyroid dog on cheap dog food to look like. So consider yourself warned!

As far as shaving your dog to keep them cool the jury is out. I have read lots of threads on shaving on a well known veterinary forum and the opinions vary widely. I will stick with recommending not to shave and encourage use of the good old AC but others will likely have another opinion.

Cautiously Optimistic

Legend had another good day today. Well, good attitude anyway. She was super out of control in Standard. I actually almost took her off the course after she totally blew off her A-frame contact, but what the heck, she was having fun so we attempted to finish. She had a nice run in jumpers though and picked up another Q. Too bad she didn't get both Qs in the same day. We could have used another double. Of course when can you not use another double? So now with two trials in a row with no stressed out runs I'm hoping she's turning a corner. But you never know with her. But more trials coming up so we shall see...

That's it for us today but big congrats go out to Lori and Maggie, from the Border Collie Mom blog on finishing their MACH today! Maggie was adopted from MOKAN Border Collie Rescue! Way to go guys!