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[13 Nov 2009|08:21pm] |
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Until last Sunday, Flyer was a happy, healthy, silly Flat-Coat. Then she had the first of a series of Grand Mal seizures. Her condition declined rapidly over the week. We were hoping an infection of some sort was the cause, but the lab results came back today. There was no infection to treat. We let her go to the Bridge this afternoon.
She was always willing to go anywhere and do anything. She enjoyed conformation, obedience, rally, and flyball. She enjoyed agility as well, but her human wasn't up to the challenge and she never showed. After my stroke, she happily ran flyball for other people until I was able to stand long enough to do it myself. She learned to accomodate my new weird manner of walking once I was able to attempt classes again and earned her RN last spring. She was almost ready to go into Rally Advanced. We will miss her more than words can express.
CH U-CD Crossraguel Exuberant Flyer CD RN ONYX
March 13, 1999 - November 13, 2009
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| Flyer update |
[10 Nov 2009|08:14pm] |
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No more seizures, thankfully. Unfortunately, she's still blind, very wobbly, and doesn't respond to voices. She's very confused. I'm not sure how much is due to the phenobarb and how much is brain damage from the suspected tumor or the seizures. If it's the phenobarb, she'll get mostly back to her normal self even if her vision stays gone. If it's brain damage, she won't be coming back. Since she's very unhappy and lost as she is, we will need to send her to the Rainbow Bridge. I'm talking to the vet tomorrow to find out how long it will be before we know if the drugs were causing the problems.
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| Flyer update |
[09 Nov 2009|09:49am] |
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It's not good. She had 2 more seizures during the night. We were at the vet's when he opened.
He's doing bloodwork to rule out tick borne diseases and few other possible causes, but there's an 80% chance that it's a brain tumor. She's getting a loading dose of phenobarb via IV this morning, and she'll be coming home this afternoon with phenobarb pills. That should stop the seizures.
She can see light, but her vision is mostly gone; she was walking into things at the vet's. She was VERY confused this morning - she got lost on our front porch when we were leaving. We're supposed to pick her up this afternoon. My poor baby!
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| Flyer woes |
[08 Nov 2009|07:17pm] |
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She had a Grand Mal seizure this morning. Just flopped over and started twitching and jerking while foaming at the mouth. After it finally stopped, it took about 5 more minutes before her rear legs would work. Then she walked in circles for about half an hour. Her motor function then returned to normal, but I'm pretty sure she now has some visual impairment - she's bumping into things.
This evening she seems comfortable, but Penny and Giddy keep sniffing her as if they don't know her, so her body chemistry must be off somehow.
I called her vet this morning, and he wants to see her first thing in the morning. I'll thus be leaving the house waytooearly in the morning.
If she does have lasting visual problems her careers in Flyball and Rally are over. If she feels okay, I'm fine with that. I just don't want her to have to go through that again!
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| Wanna see something pretty? |
[21 Aug 2009|04:10pm] |
Last month, I had Flyer's portrait done while we were at the Reliant Series of Dog Shows. At 10 1/2 she still looks pretty good!
She is officially known as CH U-CD Crossraguel Exuberant Flyer CD RN ONYX. Her lack of advanced obedience and rally titles is entirely my fault, and we are working on changing that, as well as continuing her flyball career.
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| Flyball |
[08 Aug 2009|10:37pm] |
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For the first time, Penny seemed interested in flyball tonight at practice. In the past, she just wanted to go home - wouldn't take treats, wouldn't play with toys or tug, nothing, even though she was a food and toy obsessed brat at home.
Tonight, she was wagging like mad while watching the other dogs. She wanted to chase any stray tennis balls. She RAN to me over the jumps! She still has miles to go before she'll be racing, but at last she's interested and having fun!
Of course, the whole time I was working with Penny, Flyer was howling in desolation in her crate. My grey-bearded old girl firmly believes that she should be the ONLY flyball dog in our household, whereas I would really like to have more.
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| Have I mentioned how much I love dog-people? |
[15 Jul 2009|09:57pm] |
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chipper |
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This weekend is the biggest dog show of the year in Texas, the Reliant Series of Dog Shows. Four days of Conformation, Rally, Obedience, and Agility plus 3 days of Flyball, all in air-conditioned comfort. There are about 4000 dogs competing each day between the various sports and over 300 vendor booths filling a 700,000 square foot facility.
I could manage to get around the flyball area on foot, but I'd have to forgo everything else; my legs won't hold up for that kind of work-out. My flyball teammates bought me a used mobility scooter after my stroke so that I'd be able to get around this show. (Insurance and Medicare say that if you can walk around inside your house, you don't need one and they won't pay.) The problem: I can't get the thing in and out of my van with one arm and a gimpy leg. One of the members of my obedience club just called to volunteer to pick it up tomorrow night and have it waiting for me Friday morning. (I'm spending tomorrow at the vet and the groomer, and then taking Flyer's crate and my chair to the flyball area to set up. With handicap parking right by the door, I can hobble in with the crate and chair.)
Then the flyball people are going to load the scooter into the van Sunday night to go home. Friday and Saturday nights I leave it there, hooked up to the charger. I put a LOT of mileage on that thing at Reliant! Without all this help, I wouldn't be able to enjoy all the aspects of this event. Shopping and watching conformation would be out. Obedience, Rally, and Agility are all fairly close to the flyball area, so I could probably hobble that far if I had to.
And another piece of good news: the Pre-Novice instructor saw Giddy and me working in the Basic 2 class last week, and decreed that we will be moving immediately to the Pre-Novice class. I'm very pleased about the early promotion! Giddy is doing quite well with heeling, sits, finishes, downs, and recalls. Stays are still a BIG problem for her, but we're working on it.
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| BBCA |
[09 Jul 2009|07:49pm] |
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We just got BBC America today, and I just saw an ad for Torchwood:COE. How deceptive - Captain John is all through the ad!
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| General Update |
[08 Jul 2009|09:46pm] |
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Flyer and I are in our first advanced Rally class. I'm learning what the signs mean; Flyer knows her part pretty much. If we don't get her RA, it will be because of the offset figure 8. Flyer has to heel nicely off-lead around bowls of food and/or toys. She is both food and toy obsessed; getting her to ignore those temptations is going to be a challenge, to say the least.
Giddy is in her first class in over 4 years, since before my stroke. Her heeling is actually pretty nice once she gets past the initial excitement of being in class. Her recall and finishes are pretty good too. Her downfall thus far is stays. She. Just. Can't. Stay, especially if I begin to move away from her, even if it's just a foot or less. We'll keep working on it. If she can learn to stay with me fairly close, she can compete in Rally. If she ever reaches the point that I can walk across the ring from her, we'll do obedience trials too.
One embarrassing moment in class tonight: I managed to trip on oneof the matts, and went splat. Since my left arm and leg aren't very cooperative and I'm a fat woman, I had to wait until 2 strong men could be found to lift me to my feet. Giddy, bless her clingy little heart, stayed glued to me while I was on the floor. The instructor had to drag her out of the way while they were lifting me up, and she flew back to me as soon as she was released. Some of the other dogs in the class have to be on a longline for recalls, because they'll go running around the room playing "catch me if you can". Giddy comes straight to me and does a perfect front. Such a mama's girl!
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| Victory complete! |
[02 May 2009|08:02pm] |
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We did it again! Flyer and I got that all-important third qualifying score in Rally Novice today. She is now officially known as CH Crossraguel Exuberant Flyer CD RN ONYX!
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[29 Apr 2009|08:15am] |
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I spent the last 2 days at a seminar, learning how to better communicate with my dogs and how to relax/destress them so they can learn. I'm still slow and clumsy, but I think I'll improve with practice. Penny and I are both exhausted; all that learning is hard work!
Saturday and Sunday morning Flyer and I go to another trial to get that all-important third Rally Novice leg; zubiedad will come get her each day around noon, while I stay to steward the afternoon obedience trials. Until Saturday, I plan to be a vegetable - I'm tired from the last 5 days!
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| We did it again! |
[25 Apr 2009|05:24pm] |
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Flyer qualified today and took 4th place in Rally Novice B! We'll try to complete her title next weekend.
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| Flyer remembers! |
[19 Jan 2009|10:09pm] |
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I've been in novice Rally classes with Flyer since last spring, when I finally felt like I could be on my feet enough to attempt training again. Flyer already had obedience titles, but after a 3 year lay-off from training, she had random bouts of amnesia. One week she remembered "heel" but forgot "stay"; the next she remembered "stay", but forgot "down", etc. In class tonight I finally felt like we were working in sync again. It was wonderful! Her heeling was good, her attention was great...if this keeps up we'll be entering some trials this spring. My old girl (10 in March!) may get another title after all!
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| Only a few more hours... |
[19 Jan 2009|10:05pm] |
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and we'll have a President that I can actually respect! Of course, being the hermit that I am, you couldn't pay me enough to be part of the huge crowd in DC tomorrow, but I will be joyfully watching on my television. I'm actually starting to feel hopeful about my country again.
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| Sigh... |
[31 Dec 2008|09:51pm] |
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The morons are out in force early this year. My inner city neighborhood is home a lot of idiots who think it's fun to celebrate the New Year by firing their guns into the air. The macho fools don't seem to know that the bullets eventually come back down. There is damage to roofs and injuries to people almost every year from this nonsense. Usually they wait till about midnight, but this year they've started about 9PM. It sounds like I'm in the middle of a war zone right now. I don't think it's anybody on my block, but the surrounding blocks are really noisy tonight.
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| Update: no chicken soup tomorrow |
[25 Dec 2008|10:40pm] |
You'd think Earl would know after 20+ years with dogs that you cannot leave food out unattended, but no, he's a very slow learner.
He got a helping of leftover chicken and LEFT THE ROOM for a moment without putting the chicken in the fridge. Penny got it. So much for boiling down the carcass for soup...
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| Merry Christmas! and Penny has magical abilities! |
[25 Dec 2008|06:56pm] |
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Merry Christmas everyone! Unlike the frozen north, we're warm and humid in Houston today - about 70F. I think it's going to be cold again Sunday or Monday, though, at least for Houston. Maybe the 40s or thereabouts.
We already knew Penny was magic, since she can get to things that are 6-7 feet off the ground without disturbing anything around them. There's nothing for her to climb; she evidently levitates and hovers like a helicopter.
Today she displayed a new magical talent. I cooked a regular Christmas feast today. Roast chicken, two side dishes, rolls, and two desserts. At various points I had to leave the kitchen with food on the stove or counters. Twenty-five years with largish dogs has taught me that they cannot be trusted to leave food alone, and I know the current crew are all incorrigible thieves, so I shut the kitchen door behind me when I leave the room. I left the baster on the counter near the stove, ushered the dogs out of the kitchen, and shut the door. Two minutes later, Penny appeared under my desk, happily crunching on something. It was the remains of my baster. I looked, and the door was still shut. She didn't have it when we left the kitchen, so how did she get it?!!
A few minutes later, she appeared with a brand new toothbrush, still in its packaging. I haven't bought one since opening our last new one a few weeks ago, so where did she get it? She must have the ability to conjure items too! Either that, or teleport them from a neighbor's house...
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