Reconsider

So I'm finally getting around to posting about last weekend's trial.  As you might imagine since it took me a week to write this, I'm not that excited about it.  It wasn't terrible by any means, but no real breakthroughs.  Legend ran pretty well-she picked up two open jumpers legs to finish her OJP and just missed the weave entry on sunday.  Two of the three days she refused the a-frame and one day the teeter.  The day she did all the contacts she took two wrong courses.  But she did manage to pick up a standard Q the day she only had one refusal.

Lyric refused the teeter all three days.  And the table two.  But she ran fast and weaved like a champ.  So frustrating.  Which brings us to the title of this post.  Given that we are not really getting anywhere in agility (well AKC anyway) I think once Legend finishes her NATCH we will reconsider our choice of dog sports to pursue more seriously and redefine some goals.

We like agility and will continue to do some training and trialing as it is convenient.  But, Lyric will not run AKC standard for a year.  This gives us lots of time to work teeter and go to other places with teeters and not feel rushed to get ready for the "next" trial.  Then if after a year she continues to be afraid I think that will conclude our attempts at AKC standand runs.  At that point she will be 7.5 and we will have been dealing with this teeter thing for over 2 years.  I think that's fair enough.  In the meantime we will continue to work on some NADAC skills and maybe some obedience.  I'd like to get her ready for the pet therapy test at the very least so why not try for a CD as well?

Once Legend finishes her NATCH we will continue to trial when we feel like it but given her chronic a-frame issues I think we will try and put more energy into getting a tracking title.  I've always wanted to do this but have always had too many dogs in too many sports so maybe now is the time.  Maybe we'll even work some obedience stuff again.  I'm excited about working on some new things with the girls but still plan on having some agility fun.

Product Review: Orijen treats

I was recently given the chance to review a sample of Orijen treats by Chewy.com.  The sample we were sent was the freeze dried Ranch Raised Lamb.

First off, all the dogs (my three plus Finn) loved them.  Not that I have any picky eaters here, but I took them to the agility trial with me as a test of how motivating they were and both girls seemed to be more than willing to work for them, even under the stress of a trial setting.

I really like that they are freeze dried.  Freeze dried treats are not stinky or greasy which is nice for people who do a lot of training and are carrying around treats and breaking them into smaller pieces.  But, they seem to maintain significant appeal to the dog at the same time.  As far as breaking them apart goes, they do break easily but can be a little crumbly.  This is better than being difficult to break  but can be a bit messy and sometimes wasteful as I end up giving the whole treat as crumbs instead of just in several smaller pieces.

They are also of limited ingredients (just lamb in this case) which is nice if your pet has a known (or unknown and you are still experimenting) food allergy or sensitivity.  They did not seem to upset Lyric's GI issues.

Bottom line, I would definitely use these again or try another variety! Here is the direct link to this treat line.
http://www.chewy.com/s/orijen%2cForm_facet:Treats

How

I get asked all the time how we can give up one foster dog after another and aren't we ever just tempted to keep one.  Although the last thing we want is four dogs of our own, there is actually a lot more to it than that.

Jingle (Kelly) was a heartworm positive stray.

 Peyton, Tess, and the rest of their family were in a dirty, disease-ridden shelter with a high euthanasia rate.

 Josie was in a local shelter and could not be kept indefinitely. 

 Trip ended up in the shelter with his mom after they were found wandering the streets together.

 Lilly also found herself in an unpleasant animal control facility.

 Ribbon (LeeLoo) and Po (Clancy) were born in the woods to a stray dog who took months to catch.

 Sport (Jax) was a stray who ended up in yet another shelter.

Stormy, Holli, Abby, and Quinn were all "out of time."

Savannah (Summer) and her littermates were living in poor conditions where they were all exposed to parvo. 

Finn's owner passed away. 

For every dog we foster, there are always more that need help.

Every puppy we foster gets the chance to grow up in a home with love, instead of on the street, in a shelter, or not at all.

Every adult dog we foster gets to give up a past of neglect, abandonment, sadness or mystery for a chance to know what it's like to be loved forever.

That is how we are able to do it.  That is why we do it.  And that is what will drive us to continue to do it. 
So does our house seem a little quiet tonight? Yes.  Am I a little sad every time I put away the empty crates, extra bowls, and leftover toys? Yes.  Is it worth is?  Always. 

Congratulations are in order

First off Finn has been adopted! A local dog trainer friend of mine saw him at the trial and asked to take him home for a test drive. She didn't bring him back. He's doing great with his new mom and dad and his two golden brothers. He's blended right in to his new home and has already been to the park and out for ice cream. He will be doing lots of ball playing and maybe some rally and obedience training. And best of all I still get to see him! We are happy for all of them but I have to admit I was a little sad tonight when I saw the big red squeaky ball sitting on the deck not being played with!

And second, apparently my BFF eloped this weekend. Congrats to a special couple!

Misrepresented

Zodiac is a nice dog.  He's very sweet and would never hurt anyone or condone violence.  Which I why I have some issues with certain movie titles.  For instance, a few years  back there was the movie Zodiac based on the Zodiac serial killer.  Granted, I don't know what else they would have called it since it was based on a true story.  So maybe it's that I take offense to the fact that a serial killer somehow became known ans the Zodiac.

Some of you may already knowthis but in case you don't, Zodiac's nicknames are Z and Baby Z.  So know what have they come out with now?  World War Z, an apocalyptic horror film about a zombie pandemic.  Really?  Uncool.

Puppy Play Day

I'm just now getting around to posting these pictures.  My dad took all of these when they came over to visity with Lacy.  It appears everyone had a good time.

 The horses seemed uninterested. 

 Isn't she growing up pretty?

Still available

Who wants this handsome fun boy?

Rain? Again? Really?

Is it going to rain at everything I do this year?  It rained during our race in Nashville.  It rained at the one outdoor agility trial I go to.  And then it rained at our long awaited concert.

Saturday a friend and I attended this concert to which we had sandbar/pit tickets.

We arrived at the time the gates were opening in order to get a good spot only to be greeted by a downpour and a rain delay.  We sat around for an hour and  half watching it rain from a lounge at the stadium.  Then because of the significant chaos, confusion (not to mention lack of security) when they finally decided to start and let people onto the floor we did not quite get where we wanted to be standing.  But pretty close.  There was still a pretty heavy shower during Kacey Musgraves so I didn't get out my camera yet.  But,  it started to get a little lighter during the Eli Young Band

By the time Eric Church came on it was pretty dry.  The pictures for Eric were the best.  Partly because of where he stood to sing-right in front of us.

And partly because of the timing of the sunset at the stadium.

By the time Kenny Chesney came on it was getting a little dark for decent pictures, but I tried anyway. 

Overall it was super fun being up close.  But even at that, the stage is so big that when the performers were on the far sides it was hard to see (it doesn't always pay to be 5'3").  I think if we did it again we would try to stand in a different spot and try to be in the first row-which was our original plan anyway.  Also, I could have done without the huge security guard standing right in my way the whole time.  I tried to convince him to trade me spots but he wouldn't.  He wasn't doing anything anyway, I'm sure he could have just stood there doing nothing behind me instead of in front.  Also, they really let way too many people in the pit area.  I know everyone wants those tickets but it would probably be better if there was room for people to move. 

Anyway, here is a video of Kenny and Eric singing together if you are interested. 

The Unusual: Part 7

Thanks to all my great staff who help me collect these!

1.  Tech: What kind of worms are you seeing?
     Client: The regular kind.

2.  Client insists on a Friday afternoon appointment for a vomiting cat.  Radiograph looked ok so I offered some symptomatic meds which they declined.  Apparently, his girlfriend the vet tech was planning on using herbal cat nip tea.  I don't have anything against what sounded like a harmless home remedy but also was unsure of  how they were going to administer this, what the appropriate dose was, and how effective it would be.  I asked if they would like to at least take the meds home just in case given that it was Friday afternoon.  They declined.  Not really sure why they came in.

3.  Client called to ask about tick control and then wanted to know what kind of "poison" was in the ticks this year as one had bit her foot and it looked just awful and she had tried several home remedies and it just wasn't working.  She told the receptionist she would show her when she came in to pick up the tick prevention for her dog.  And she did.  And it was nasty.  She was advised to seek medical care after discussing ticks with our staff for no less than one hour.

4.  A woman and her adult son, who both seemed a little off, present with a barely examinable, fractious dog for a rabies vaccine and also wanted some bloodwork just to make sure everything looked all right.  At the end of the appointment they announced that they had forgotten to mention the dog's occasional lameness which was the whole reason they came in.  Evidently the primary goal was not the rabies vaccine or the bloodwork.  And evidently she thought the bloodwork might show cause of lameness.  Um, not typically.  She also wanted to know (after we gave it) if the dog could get rabies from the vaccine.  Also no.

5.  Clients arrive with what is obviously a mixed breed black and white puppy.  According to the owners one of his parents was a chocolate lab and the other a black lab.  The breeders were giving this one away because they couldn't sell him as he was not standard.  I don't know if they breeders were lying or just unaware of lab genetics but either way they had an "accident."

6.  Overheard clients on their way into the exam room saying they were not sure if the dog had been bitten or had cancer.  This really made me curious as to what I would be seeing.  I think everyone involved (dog included) was relieved when the diagnosis was "hot spots."

7.  Someone placed their dog who was having a seizure in water thinking it might help.  FYI, it does not.

8.  Owner asked if she could put Frontline on herself because she had ticks.

9.  Receptionist: It is a long, short or medium haired cat?
     Client:  It has hair like I've never felt before, like a mink.
     Receptionist:  (pause) So, is it long?
     Client:  Well it's not really long, but it's not short either
     Receptionist:  So let's go with medium
 
    Once again kudos to my receptionist for keeping a straight face.

10.  Owner comes in explaining that his dog had some bite wounds which seemed to be healing but about a week later he had found a dead beaver whose dentition matched the bite wounds on the dog and he wondered what he should do.  Seriously dude?  Not to judge a book by it's cover but this did not appear to be someone who had any expertise in the field of forensic odontology.  We advised a rabies booster anyway.

Not a lot to blog about

I know it's been a while but there really hasn't been anything exciting going on.  Mostly work.  I worked all day, every day last week (crazy huh?) and spent three night out of town as well.  Plus I worked a rabies vaccine clinic for the local spay neuter group yesterday morning.  When I wasn't getting paid to work we were working in the yard, cleaning the house and slaving away at a remodeling project (more on that at a later date).  So not really much time to blog either!

I finally got back to running today.  My training has been abysmal since Nashville.  First it was two weeks off to rest my knee.  Then two weeks of light running. Then two weeks of being sick.  Then catching up on sleep and stuff around the house.  So, I don't have big aspirations for the 10k next month but at least I'll be there.  Hopefully.  I don't know if I'll make my 1000 miles this year but there is always next year.

With any luck I'll have time to post more interesting things this week.