Agility!

This weekend we headed to Oklahoma to support our NADAC friends. Legend needs two chances Qs for a second NATCH. We didn’t get them, but one was close. Then we played around in novice for some of the classes and picked up a few Qs. 

Epic came along and socialized, worked obedience and practiced agility at the warm up jump. It was a good experience for him. 


We also discovered this customized ice cream sandwich shop. And it was amazing. As you can see. 

Gus update

Gus had his heart procedure yesterday.  It took 5 hours but was considered a success.  He will probably have to stay on his beta-blocker for his whole life but hopefully no other meds.  He has a recheck in 3 months and then hopefully can be neutered and adopted!  He is recovering with a foster home in Columbia for the time being.  It's closer to the cardiologist if needed and also Frisco doesn't like Gus so it's easier for me. 

Vegas

Last week we spent in Vegas. Jerry wanted to see the 311 day concert and it coincided with a CE conference so we killed two birds with one stone. The conference was ok. We got to spend one evening with Kelly, and lots of time exploring the different hotels and casinos. A weeks is a long time to spend in Vegas though. We had fun, but it was nice to be home. 

We stayed in the Luxor-close to conference and concert. 

We had dinner at the Bellagio one night with an inside view of the fountains. 


Some dog statues we found. 





The New York New York was our favorite hotel. It’s like New York meets Vegas meets Hershey!

Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay

A Nashville writers show

Cool bar lights at our hotel

The conference highlight!

Nine

A lot has been going on around here. But I’ll start with this. A certain not so little person turned nine years old and is nearly as tall as me!

Gus and the broken heart.

As I mentioned before, Gus was surrendered to rescue because he had a significant heart murmur and couldn't be used as a working farm dog.  From the time he arrived he has been exercise intolerant and has episodes of staggering and turning blue.  Friday he visited the cardiologist to get some answers.  The news was not really what we were hoping for. 

 Gus has two congenital defects.  The first is a VSD which is fairly common and is a hole between the left and right halves of the heart.  His defect is small and by itself was not likely to become an issue for him.  The second defect is a double chambered right ventricle.  This means he has a fibrous membrane dividing this chamber of the heart in two.  This causes the pressure to increase in this half chamber, which causes the heart to work harder, which causes the wall to thicken, which further increases the pressure in a vicious cycle.  This increase in pressure also pushes the blood through the VSD and into the opposite side of the heart before it has had a chance to circulate through the lungs and become oxygenated.  This non oxygenated blood is then circulated back through the body causing his symptoms.  

There is a (very expensive) surgery that can correct this by inserting a specialized balloon that breaks down the membrane.  This surgery has the potential to give him a normal life. Although significant complications directly related to surgery are rare there is the risk that the membrane won't be broken down enough to improve his clinical condition and that the membrane may grow back.  Because the condition is so rare there are no meaningful statistics on the likelihood of this.  However, without surgery he will not have a normal quality or length of life.  At this time the rescue has decided to pursue surgery and give Gus a chance at a better life.

He’s looking sad in this picture because he peed in the house.  I’ll be glad when he’s healthy enough to neuter. We probably could now, but have elected not to take the risk. 

Full Circle

It has been almost a year since the shelter pulled Epic and the other animals from a severe hoarding situation. Today he ran his first 5k race to benefit that same shelter. And despite the hills and my cold we first in my age group. I think he’s very proud. He sure has come a long way in life!