Hello February

The Team hit the road again for the first week of February. A mixed bag of destinations: one ADAA agility comp, more vets, accupuncture and massage for Bigi, and a week of work for me. Our pad for the first weekend. It was in the sort of upmarket hood where kids were relatively safe in the streets.

 

About the trial we shall say no more - Sen's otherwise bitchin' good weaves took a trip to a parallel universe (7 x NQ). We hope they come back soon. If we are being positive I should report that these were the ONLY mistakes for most of the runs :). There were 2 off-course tunnels, one of which was plainly my fault, the other for which madam dog took a bizarre detour to, as the judge said "go right out of her way" to enter the wrong hole.

Bigi for the most part was on the way downhill. BUT then some hope. He tested positive for Anaplasma platys, a bacteria carried by brown dog ticks. This has been known to cause arthritic symptoms in dogs. After a course of antibiotics he seems to have perked up a little and is moving alot better. Now he has scary steroids to supress his immune system and see if that reduces the inflammation. Fingers crossed - at least now we have some type of theory to work with.

It was too hot and Bigi was too lame to do any serious exploring, so we just chilled, watched some cars go by and erected a new beach house. We hope you like Bigi's latest hair cut (home made version :))

 

Bigi's tale of trouble and woe

Hi, my name is Bigi, and it cost my ma $5300 to get me looking like this!

  

I took the man to Muroch University Vet hospital with a suspected broken shoulder. After the following:

- knee, elbow and shoulder xrays

- knee and elbow ultrasounds

- knee and elbow joint fluid samples

- elbow arthroscopy

- elbow tissue sampling

- chest and abdomen xrays

- blood tests

- biopsy of liver lump

- spleen tissue biopsy

- obscure tests sent to the US looking for strange bugs

- two nights in hospital in varying states of sedation,

 

we emerge knowing only that himself has either infection in his elbow joints, or inflamation. He also has moderate joint arthritis, and an odd thing where the leg bones are predisposed to split lengthwise that is normally a genetic quirk reserved for spanials. The cause of his lameness remains unknown. He has a shady looking spleen xray too. We wait for more test results.



Sen's agility debut

In the beginning there was Sen. A package of fear and fearlessness, shy but curious, a rather risky selection from the puppy box, but there was something about her (apart from the killer good looks; photo by Hannu Gummerus).

Last weekend my belle went to her first agility trial, and ROCKED. Mama was so proud - a double Q and two 1st places on her first outing (4 results out of 6 starts even). Here she is with her certificates and pretty ribbons, and her new competition record book I bought her as a present for kicking arse.

 

It was a rather long journey to success, in more ways than one. After the intial hurdles of broken leg and international moves, there was still the matter of 600 km of desert driving, which means rather limited scenic variation.

 

We ended up having a fine time in Perth. While Bigi was stuck in the hospital, we travelled the city. Visited a few beaches, had some nice river shore walks, and generally good gal time.

 

Should we, or should we not go to the beach?

 

Sen and Bigi on Twin Rocks Beach

 

Sen in the city

 

 

Sen at Kwinana Beach

Bigi's New Do

What do you do when changing from one climate extreme to another? Shed continuously of course! That had to be stopped and HRH was also having a little heat trouble. Who you gonna call? - the mobile salon of course! Ear flap windows - genious!

 

 

A few episodes of bad behaviour later and VIOLA! a whole new velvet you!

 



Dogs Down Under

OK, so we have been here for SOME TIME and there has been no post since we were up over. We have been busy adjusting etc, but a quick review....

Bigi and Sen endured prison life tolerably well. Bigi was unimpressed and Sen was toughened up considerably. Byford Resort was ok but FYI Byford, it is possibe to not wet the dog bedding when cleaning, and yes there is a chilly wind in your kennels.

Life on the inside was like so:

 

A rather dull affair, with totally weird new animals outside. The excercise yard was somewhat better, with its own lemon tree and REALLY BIG cones:

 

 

 

Finally we was busted out of the joint, only to find we are surrounded by a distinct lack of grass. Fortunately there was also no white stuff.

 

 

Oh well, we continue to explore just what can be done around here. See y'all soon!

 







Ta-daa!

Who'd of thunk it - not me at least. Bigi won an A3 competition! Not only that, but he had the second-fastest time of all dogs from all height classes. Strange things do happen :)

Action man Bigi :)

Here's a few action shots from Bigi's first international class coompetition two weeks ago!