Hattiesburg Agility Trial - August 2012

Maxie: 4 runs, 2 Q's, 1 3rd place, 41 MACH points, 4 videos
Lucky Lucy: 4 runs (3 clean), 1 Q, 5 MACH points, 3 videos

Despite surviving a tornado, locking myself out of the RV, only 3 Q's in 8 runs, and my most embarassing moment ever at any trial, in retrospect I am moderately pleased with our trialing weekend.  The RV's maiden voyage was mostly successful.

I left Baton Rouge Wednesday afternoon to give myself time to set up the RV and rest up before competing on Thursday. We had a very pleasant day and evening and all of us slept well.

Pepper, at 10 months, was excited but not nervous, and a great companion for Maxie.  He received many compliments.

Thursday, dogs ran small to tall and the FAST class went first (which I didn't enter), so Maxie's 1st run wasn't until around 9:30 a.m.  I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn until Friday, when he was the 4th dog on the line at 8, and even after the stress of being caught out in a tornado Thursday afternoon, I felt fine on Friday. Here's the video composite, with commentary (missed one). I'm still not satisfied with the audio, which sometimes cuts out.  Since both dogs are running the same courses now, I decided to put identical runs together for comparison.



In every run, Maxie ran the course in less time than Lucky, ranging from 1 to 10 seconds faster.  Odd considering the difference in their stride and leg length, and Lucky's strength.

Maxie ran well, only popped out of the weaves once out of 4 runs, and I pulled him off the second to last jump on another run.  2 errors out of roughly 80 obstacles.  His time was good but he had some stiff competition, including one Welsh Corgi, Stella, who smoked all the other 8" dogs every time by several seconds.  Lucky handled well and only made 1 mistake in 4 runs, she was reasonably focused, but again she didn't make course time 3 out of 4 runs.  Her weaves were slightly faster this weekend.  She walked less and ran more than previous runs.

Saturday I woke up with my shin muscles very sore, probably from my struggles in the tornado on Thursday.  I could barely maneuver my legs, was off emotionally, and it turned out to be a horrible day.  I hadn't entered my dogs, just planned to hang out to cheer on and video our novice competitors (our club has generated many new competitors this year, more than ever!)

My most embarassing trial moment to date: 

Ken and Casey on the start line Saturday,
Novice Standard

Ken, a new friend and enthusiastic club member, at his first trial, was 4th dog on the line early Saturday morning, his 2nd Jumpers run ever. I left my dogs in the RV and and ran to the arena to watch and video him. I was near the start line, camera running. Ken took a long lead out as we had practiced.  When Casey broke her start line stay, Ken headed back behind the1st jump to sit her again.  Before I knew it, confused on the rules myself, I yelled "NO, KEN, NO", the judge blew the whistle and disqualified him for "Outside Interference".  Shocked at this unfolding drama, I begged the judge over and over to give him another chance, it wasn't his fault, it was all my fault, etc.  But she said 'NO, SORRY, NO, BOTH OF YOU CAN LEARN FROM THIS EXPERIENCE, BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME".  Incredulous! 

I thought that was such an unfair ruling for a Novice A handler.  Punish me, not him.  Take away my last Q, whatever.  That would have somewhat assuaged me but nothing worked.  After he left the ring, I was unconsolable.  Ken told me later he would have led out again past the jump and been disqualified anyway, but that doesn't excuse my outburst, nor my confusion about the rules.  I left the arena, cried all morning, almost threw up several times.  Of course , nobody from our club had gone over the start line rules with him, Ken hadn't read the AKC regulations, and I hadn't reviewed the rules in 2 years!  Conclusion, something needs to change.

Reviewing the rules is something our dog club should do with every novice competitor.  Maybe as my penance, I should write those up in layman's language for us to hand out to our newbies, and to remind myself of the rules.

Secondly, nobody in our club had measured Ken's dog, so he's been jumping Casey at 20" all year long in practice. The VMO measured her at over 22", which required her to jump 24". She managed to do it, only knocking 3 bars, but barely cleared the rest. They Q'd 5 out of 10 runs the whole weekend, but the surprise height change was quite a shock.

Every dog in our club intending to compete in agility should be measured by the time they enter Advanced Beginner level.


Next trial I'm entered in is our own in Port Allen, just 4 weeks away.  Til then Lucky is enrolled in Monday night Competition class, Maxie is enrolled in the Tuesday night Competition class, and Pepper in the Wednesday night Intro Class.  Lots of Agility going on.

Upwards and onward!

Maiden Voyage of my new RV - Hattiesburg

New puppy, Pepper, lounges on the couch
of our dream RV, as we head to Hattiesburg.

Heading out to Hattiesburg (about 3 hours away) for our first trial since April, this was our first time on the road since bringing my new RV home from Florida last May.  I have spent the past 3 months working out every minute detail for comfort and utility for me and my dogs.  I knew I'd have a few more kinks to work out, but OMG nothing of TORNADO magnitude!  I filled the tank, and drove the whole trip at 65 mph, so next time I gas up I'll be able to calculate mileage at that speed, hoping it exceeds 8 mpg.  So far, my plan is unfolding.
 
Once there, I parked on a slanted slab so dreaded by my previous experience in Hattiesburg with my pop-up camper, but a different wheel base and my home-made leveling boards worked perfect to level the unit and keep her stable.  Still good.  I set up my 32' x-pen yard at the RV site, with my lattice skirt along the RV wall, and found that the lattice needs to be cut down 1/4" more to clear the door.  Humm, at my house it clears fine, but I'm not on concrete.  Maybe there's a dip in my yard. I marked the lattice and sawed the excess off when I got home.  I hit one pot-hole on the way home that made 2 drawers and the kitchen door fly open, but that just served to help me figure out how to bungie them shut in transit.  I timed complete set up in 2 hours on Wednesday afternoon, it was easy work, and every preparation was working great!

Lucky Lucy is comfortable on the bench,
while Maxie (who can't be seen) chose
to lounge in the open crate at right.

Until . . . . . Thursday afternoon, after my last run, with storm clouds gathering, I decided to pack my wagon and dogs and walk from the arena to the RV before it began to rain.  It was a long walk.  About half way, too late to go back, lightening split the sky and it started to drizzle, then rain.  I thought I could make it to the RV so kept going.  Lucky was in harness helping me pull the wagon.  We walked as fast as we could, getting wet, laughing, but with each crack of lightening Lucky's pulling became more eratic and the rains increased.  Eventually I unhitched her from the wagon.  Thank goodness, because within 20 seconds a tornado touched down, knocked me off my feet and flung the wagon 30 feet away.  I scrambled fast to marshall us all to the door of our motor home, but as I rounded the bend saw my x-pens had been knocked down, my table flipped over and there was lots of debris to get tangled in.  And then I realized the keys were still in my purse, in a wagon flung far away.  We were locked out -- in dousing rain and high winds, only barely protected by crouching against the wall of the motor home, which began rocking furiously back and forth.  There was no shelter anywhere else.  No choice, I had to try and reach my keys and get us inside.  I commanded the dogs to "STAY" against the side of the RV, which I figured provided them some protection from wind and pelting rain.  I headed toward the wagon as fast as I could.  Suddenly, it began hailing so hard, blowing almost horizontally, I was knocked to my knees. I had to crawl and keep my head down.  Afraid for my life, I abandoned the wagon idea and took refuge behind my neighbor's trailer -- a little trailer that could have blown off it's chocks and crushed me at any moment.  My prayer was that my RV wouldn't capsize and that my dogs were safer than I was and would stay put where I left them.  I couldn't even see them and dared not call. I was truly afraid for all our lives.  What seemed like 10 minutes later (probably 3) the hail subsided, and I see Lucky skulking my way in the downpour, dragging her leash, and she crawls up under the trailer and extends her paw to me then licks my face.  I grab her neck and melt into tears. Then I see Pepper wandering about, looking for Lucky in the blinding rain, and I call his name from my gut.  He makes his way under the trailer, totally drenched but otherwise unharmed.  Then I notice Maxie is still STAYING where I put him, I begin calling furiously, furiously.  And he makes his way to the trailer, me praying with all my might his leash doesn't get tangled in debris.  He made it.  I have never been so glad to have all my dogs near me.  I unhooked their leashes to prevent them further danger of getting tangled in debris in case we needed to run again.  There was no predicting what might happen next.   When the winds died down, but it was still raining hard, I ventured forth to fetch my keys.  They all followed me to the wagon and then to the RV.  They were all totally focused on my commands, no controversy, total trust but they didn't want to be separated from my side.  We were all drenched to the bone and dripping everywhere.  I no longer cared about keeping my carpets or upholstery clean. Who gives a shit about carpet compared to safety?????  They followed me in, I towel dried each dog as best I could, quickly changed out of my sopping clothes, then put on a poncho and went back out in the rain to fetch my purse, camera case, and dog duffle bag, which were all drenched.  At that point some nice lady walked by saying people and dogs had to head back to the arena immediately for safety, another even worse storm is coming within 5-10 minutes.  Without hesitation I leashed the dogs and we hurried back, and entered an air conditioned arena that was freezing cold to us wet people.  Maxie began shivering so violently I feared hypothermia, and I didn't even have a towel to wrap him in. 

NOTE:  Always carry a big towel in your gear.  Add a hair dryer to my equipment list.

I managed to borrow a towel, dried Maxie off as best I could, and held him in my arms for the next half hour.  Lucky and Pepper weren't so affected by the cold.  The trial stopped.  After an hour and no worse storm happened, the trial re-commenced and we walked back to the RV, where we stayed cozied up the rest of the night. I realized I need a big tub to put wet items in.  A few items in my cabinets were topsy turvy and I made notes for the future.  We learned later, one 5th wheel had been turned around 90 degrees, blown off it's jacks and suffered damage, the brand new little A-frame trailer to my left had collapsed, and other RV'ers suffered minor damage.  Part of the arena roof blew off.  Trees snapped off, and debris was flying all over the grounds.  No one was hurt. We were all extremely lucky.  I managed to salvage all my stuff along the fence line by the next day, and though wet, none of it was harmed. I dare not contemplate how I would have faired in my pop-up,

Next day, Friday, to my great amazement, we all felt fine.  Maxie Q'd one of 2 runs with only 1 problem caused by me to his NQ, and Lucky ran pretty well for her.  I was calm.  I didn't feel shaky until Saturday.

Saturday I wokd up with my shin muscles very sore.  I could barely rotate my ankles, was off emotionally, and it turned out to be a horrible day.  More on the trial-related horrible thing will be in my next post along with a summary of our runs.

Second horrible thing, I was packing up the RV to go home Saturday afternoon, dogs inside, me moving stuff in and out, when the f'ing door locked itself and I was locked out!  Keys were inside.  95 degree weather.  What??????   After recovering from jaw slapping shock, I found my iPhone in my pocket and used it to call 911. They offered to contact a locksmith, meanwhile I went back into the arena to see if anyone could help, but of course the trial secretary was busy recording scores, also told me campus security wasn't on site.  After an hour 911 couldn't rouse a locksmith, but eventually sent a sherrif out to pick my lock.  (They didn't send anyone at first because "we can't pick locks on motor homes, only on vehicles."  I thought fast, and assured them that my Class C motor home was built on a van chassis, so it was just a vehicle  So they agreed to try.)  But this took 2 hours, with the dogs inside and me out in the heat.  At least my dogs were air conditioning, but I wasn't.  I used my time wisely re-arranging the outside storage compartments (which I had planned to do anyway), staying in the little ribbon of shade beside the RV.  But towards the last half hour I was getting hot, parched and while still not frantic, considerably nervous.  Finally I remembered the broken window latch I had taped shut on the drive home from Florida, managed to force the window open and get inside by standing on the handle of my little step laddar, and just as I got my butt in, my feet dangling out the window, the sherrif arrives!  Lucy, I had some 'splainin' to do!

NOTE:  Hide a second set of keys in a magnetic box and put it outside somewhere.  I hear one can purchase a magnetic box with a combination on it.

Made it home without further incident, pacing myself, exhausted and not caring about our agility performance.  Haven't even watched the videos.  I'll assess this when I feel better rested.



Upwards and onward!

Foray Into Conformation

Pepper watching Mommy and keeping quiet.

On Saturday, August 4, I made my first foray into Conformation -- attending a show at the Ponchartrain Convention Center in Kenner, Louisiana with Pepper, just to see what goes on.  Louisiana Kennel Club was the host club, the show was huge, with hundreds of dogs and 10 or more rings.  I only filmed in the small room with 3 rings.  Several dog agility friends were there, some showing, others looking for a mate to breed their dog with, others looking for a breeder to purchase their next champion puppy from.  As it says on the AKC website, "the purpose of a dog show is to evaluate breeding stock."

I mostly went just to investigate the process, and to see the Papillons.  Wanted to see how Pepper compares in appearance to known conformation Paps.  Maybe talk to a judge about Pepper's qualifications.  It was a very bustly place, though.  I never got to show Pepper to anyone competent to assess him.  My own assessment is that he is taller, more long nosed, long legged and long bodied than the others.  He has a mature, statuesque look to him than the others, but it has its own beauty.

I arrived around 9:30 a.m., and the Papillons didn't go into the ring again until 10:30, so I had time to make a few trips to the car, haul in my crate, my chair, my video camera, and talk to a few Pap owners.  As with agility, many of them seemed to know each other, having been on the conformation circuit for many years.  I was, again, a complete newbie.  The doors were plastered with "No Unentered Dogs Allowed", so I was immediately a renegade breaking the rules!  But I had come 90 miles in the rain, I couldn't leave him out in the car in 95 degree weather, and knew I wasn't going to hurt anything, so I got up my gumption, entered, set up my gear in an out of the way place, and prayed that Pepper would crate up and keep quiet, which he did as long as I was in sight.  The few times I disappeared around a corner he began howling, so I stayed close or walked him on leash with me, and nobody threw us out. What a relief!

I positioned us as best I could to video the Paps and handlers.  I must have missed an earlier judging because what I captured was very different from the videos I took later of a friend in the dachshund ring, where the dogs were lined up in a completely different way than the Paps.  Here is what I got.

I saw some beautiful Paps.  I couldn't really tell who won, except when the photographer began taking photos of the "Best Of Winners" and "Winners" category.  One winner looked like a Chihuaha, nothing like a Pap, which confused me.  I found out later from cousin Lois that photos can be taken of different toy breeds on the same table at the same time if judged by the same judge.  Surely, then, I missed an earlier judging of the paps.

Some of the handlers were clearly professionals, others were just dog owners, and I couldn't shake the feeling that the professionals knew the judges ahead of time and were being favored. 
Most of the Paps there were around 8.5-10".  12" is a disqualification fault, but anything under 12" is permitted, though 11" or under is preferred.  I'm not sure of Pepper's height at 10 months but suspect it is about 11".  I need to get him measured.  Lois assures me he has quit growing at 10 months, and his pasterns will drop up to 1/2" at about a year of age.  I dread the thought of running him in the 12" jump height category in agility, where he will be one of the smallest having to jump the highest.

Anyways, I got a feel for the whole conformation process.  It is complicated, confusing, and loud.  There are several categories (Puppy, 9-12 months, etc) , and in each category there is Winner's Dog, Winner's Bitch, Best of Winners, Reserve Winners, Best of Show.  All you do is check the catalog to see where to show up, dress up, fluff up the dog, position them to stand for exam, walk too and fro, walk around in a circle, lure the dog constantly to pay attention to you, leave the ring.  With a few cursory glances and touches, some judge decides who's the best, and onlookers get a second or two to see the lineup of who wins.  Sometimes you see a judge hand out a blue ribbon.  Not much fanfare about it.  And all around the ring are people talking about which dog looks best. I saw no discernable test for agility, obedience or intelligence -- just breeding for looks is not the best plan in my view for designing great breeds.

Behind the scenes, I bet a lot of folks are visiting the winner dogs' crate areas and wheeling and dealing about stud fees and puppies.  I didn't get to see any of that. Maybe another time.

There were a dozen or more vendor booths, and one reason I went was to get a white nylon show leash.  I couldn't find one of those (boo), and nothing else tempted me (yeah)!

One neat thing.  At the Onofrio Dog Shows website, all the upcoming conformation shows are listed, plus all the results from past shows.  Lois was able to go there and confirm who the winners were in my video above, and verify that they were all, as I suspected, professional handlers she is familiar with.  What a magnificent website for those interested in Conformation.  And it's FREE.

Upwards and onward!

Club Newsletter Editor

Last month I stepped in as our dog club's Newsletter Editor, the previous very popular gal  having had to resign suddenly for personal reasons.  I had already been contributing articles, ideas and feature stories for the past few years, and had been helping proof each month's draft for a couple of years, so I already had the template on my computer and pretty much knew the drill.

In fact, I already had an interesting feature story written up on Tracey Roth, a long time club member who pursues AKC's Versatile Companion Titles, so I had material for the June issue on short notice, and have been working on other articles as well.  What I hadn't encountered yet was the cost of mailing hard copies to our 5 club members who don't have email.  Our Constitution requires that each member receive a newsletter, and most are sent out electronically, but we charge $6 per year to those who request hard copies.  I hadn't realized how inadequate that fee is.  I bought postage yesterday to last thru 2012, at $22.75, and realized that mailing out 8 pages costs .65 cents a month per person (up to 2 ounces), not to mention color printing costs (an even larger expense).  All tallied, it actually costs our club $21.00/year per club member to mail out hard copies.  And we charge $6. I learned that the previous editor ran these costs thru her employer, but I don't have an employer so either the club will have to pick up the tab or we need to find another donor.
Yikes!  I have to bring this information to the board immediately!  So that's my job today.

Tomorrow morning, Saturday, Ken and I go to the agility field with Max, Lucky and his novice dog, Casey, and begin training in preparation for the Hattiesburg Trial, only 3 weeks away.  My hip is still sore, but not debilitating at the moment.  Hope I can pull this off.

Upwards and onward!

2nd Anniversary of this blog

Today, July 17th, is the 2nd anniversary of this blog.  I've been trying to figure out how I might commenorate this day, but up to this morning nothing had come to mind.

I have some cause to celebrate besides the anniversary, though.  Last Saturday night I volunteered to help set courses at our club's agility field.  I brought Lucky and Maxie out for a bit of socialization (we haven't trained nor competed since April due to my very sore hip).  But when I arrived at 7:30 p.m., the courses were already set up, so, nothing to do.  I decided to try running both dogs, my adrenilin got to pumping, and I ran each dog twice without the slightest hip pain!!!!!!!!!  Perhaps I've sat out long enough that my hip has healed.  It didn't start aching until the next morning, but only slightly.  If I take it easy and don't overdo, I can possibly manage 4 runs per day.

So today I decided the best celebration I could imagine is to re-enroll in the Monday night advanced class, and sign up for my next trial. I filled out the paperwork for Hattiesburg August 8, 9, 10 (3 weeks away) and I'm going to go mail it in right now. Suddenly I've got my mojo back to put the final finishing touches on the motor home, and get this agility show back on the road.  WHEE!

And, as I've been watching Cake Boss on Netflix and wanting to bake and decorate a masterpiece, just needing a theme and an excuse, I ran to the store and bought a carrot cake mix, buttercream icing and some glazing tubes, and commenced attempting a cake resembling the artwork shown above.

Unfortunately I suck as a cake decorator!  It was fun to do, though, and my tongue and fingers turned blue from licking the mess off the blue tube. Maxie found that perplexing!  We'll all get a slice of cake after I get back from Conformation class with Pepper.

Upwards and onward!

Is Agility Expensive?

John, Nathan, Audrey and I had the pleasure of attending my grandson's final day at summer camp last Friday-- a week long adventure at Bennett's Water Ski Camp in Zachary.  Kids from all over the world attend this camp, to the tune of $775 for a week, plus lodging.  The staff comes from all over the world as well, usually attending ULL (University of Louisiana Lafayette), which has a world renouned water ski program.  We met staff and students from Columbia, South America, Australia, Mexico, and other far-off places. 
Here's a 360 video of the campus.  Pretty impressive.  More pix on their website.



We also took videos of my grandson doing his final "beginner ski" run in Lake #3 -- my son rode in the boat with my iPhone, and I videoed from the shore with my Sony 3.3 megapixel HDD Handycam.  For some reason, Jonathan got quite a few more passes around the lake than the other students -- perhaps because he is athletic and strong and could take the beating.



I also think it's because he's a good student -- he doesn't get rattled when he makes a mistake, just gets back up and keeps going.  He seems to understand that there is "a learning curve", that it takes lots of practice to get good at anything.

After his turn, we visited the Pro Shop to get a cold beverage.  The shop was small but packed from floor to ceiling with water ski paraphranalia from vests, caps, bathing suits, wet suits, underwater cameras, ropes, goggles, and, of course, rows and rows of skis.  I was shocked at the prices!  The skis I liked were $1500, and a used water board propped up in the corner with a "For Sale" sign on it read $500.  Everything costs a fortune.

Each lake had a ski boat on it towing students one after another.  Our boat was the smallest, a MasterCraft, which we were told cost $65,000.  No telling how much gas it burns in a day. There is nothing cheap about water skiing!

And that's just to pleasure ski.  Competition water skiing, getting to the venues, lodgings, etc., must be very expensive as well.

Made me appreciate that agility is a relatively inexpensive sport -- an agility Pro Shop unnecessary.  Most of the equipment is stuff we'd use to care for the family dog -- a crate or two, leashes, dog beds and cushions, treats, dog food and bowls.  Add a few camp chairs, an exercise pen, a rug, a cooler, a battery powered fan.  No fancy attire required - your everyday shorts, tennies, jeans and T's.  A sweat band or two.  A few jumps in the back yard, and a place to practice that has all the "expensive" equipment.  Or, like me, you could have your own fully equipped agility yard for under $1000 iif you build your own.

Of course, our most essential piece of "equipment" is the dog!  And that, we'd probably have anyway.

Upwards and onward!
Michele

Conformation Class with Pepper

Min-E-Me wins Reserve Winner's Bitch,
6-9 month puppy class,
on June 16, 2012

Tuesday night I took Pepper to his, and my, first conformation class ever, encouraged by cousin Lois who just showed Pepper's half sister, Min-E-Me, and won "Reserve Winner's Bitch" in the 6-9 month puppy class.  The show was in Florida, June 16, the puppy is 7 months old.

We were the only team that showed up for Netta's class so we got a private lesson.  There's more to this conformation stuff than meets the eye. 

• Walking a puppy on leash with their head held high and a few feet out from the handler, not sniffing the ground, wabbling too and fro, or looking all around,
• keeping a steady trot that shows off the dog's structure, in a circle and also in a straight line,
• dog standing frontways to the judge,
• having an "interesting expression on command",
• stacking on the table,
• standing for exam,
• not minding having their teeth and body examined by a total stranger,
• having the dog interested in the bait, but not lunging for it.

That's a lot to train for.  So our first lesson I pretty much got exposed to the lay of the land, but no information on how to train these skills.  My homework is to work on a good stack, which is "front feet near the edge of the table, shoulders straight, and back feet placed so the rear pasterns are perpendicular to the table, pretty much as in the photo above.

I also got a few important pointers on how to behave at a show:

• Get to the ring early and watch how the previous dogs are asked to move around the ring by your judge.  Then when it's your turn you can concentrate more on your dog than ciphering the judge's instructions.
• Make sure the dog is freshly washed and well groomed.
• Handlers are often seen holding the dog's tail in the UP position BECAUSE even breeds who usually carry their tails UP will tend to drop their tails when approached by a stranger or even just ill at ease at a show.
• Get the recommended thinnest possible white show leash for Pepper, so it won't show up in his white neck hair.

There are tricks to every trade!   

Pepper was feisty, as usual, concerned almost entirely with smelling, exploring the parking lot, and getting his chicken gizzard treats.  In other words -- all over the place and pulling hard on his leash.  Netta remarked she wished she had a video camera to film her pupils so we could see our gait, I whipped my brand new 4GS iPhone out from my pocket, and she took my first video on that phone.  Learning to point and shoot with an iPhone takes some getting used to, and all but one position requires rotating in Windows Live Movie Maker, but here's the little snippet she got.



Being as Pepper is trained to sit when I quit walking, I was pleased how quickly he caught on to remain standing, though I couldn't get him to face the judge rather than me.

When I got home, all the dogs were psyched.  They don't like being left behind while I take Pepper places.  Pepper and Lucky began a friendly tug of war, with Maxie watching on.  This went on about 5 minutes before I decided to video that, too.  John held the camera.  We are always amazed at the way Lucky regulates her tugging to suit her playmate (she's very strong and can tug your arm off, shake you up and drag you across the room), and the way she handed the toy off to Pepper time after time.  It was in a darkened living room, so we got to test the flash feature on the new iPhone.  It lit the room moderately well but made the dogs' eyes look like Tasmanian Devils.  Even so, the video is an interesting study of cooperative dog behavior (sharing a toy), and self-regulating behavior, so I'm sharing it below.



Upwards and onward,

Cushings Disease and Fooh Fooh

FoohFooh and Maxie

Yesterday, after he bit my foot, John and I took our 12 year old American Dingo (Carolina Dog), FoohFooh (for whom this blog is partly named), to the vet to see if we could find out what's wrong with him.  He's been acting weird, and we fear he is becoming a danger to ourselves and especially to house guests.  Three weeks ago he lunged at my mother's arm and broke skin, trying to get at a piece of toast she was carrying around.

His presenting symptoms have been excessive water consumption, excessive urination (including indoors), excessive begging, ravanous appetite, weight loss, dull hair, lethargy, loss of muscle tone, irritability, food guarding, eating whole toilet paper rolls, plastic bags, paper towels, mail, raiding trash cans, and growling if you try to take them away, lying in the doorways and halls then snapping at us if we try to step over or move him (why he bit me), not coming when called, reluctance to go outside.

As soon as I told the vet, she said it was almost certainly Cushings Disease, a brain tumor on the pituitary gland that causes symptoms easily confused with "old age", but treatable, and a relief to know it is not painful to the dog. 

She spent a lot of time listening to his heart.  Feces and blood work came back "normal", no diabetes, but there was blood in the urine-- a unirary tract infection.  She put him on Keflex for 2 weeks.  After that he goes back for a second evaluation and to establish a course of treatment for Cushings.

The vet said "Look Cushings up on the internet.  There is a lot to learn."  That was a first -- a medical professional advising me to research a condition myself!  So this morning I Googled "Cushings Disease Dogs" and found that it is a disease of the endocrine system (see diagram).  Here are the most suscinct summaries I pieced together from here and there.

Symptoms: Symptoms of Cushing's disease can be vague and varied and tend to appear gradually and progressively. It is thus easy to mistake Cushing's disease for normal aging. Additionally, many of the clinical symptoms are not unique to Cushing's and could reflect a number of other health concerns.

The most common symptoms include:
• increased/excessive water consumption (polydipsia)
• increased/excessive urination (polyuria)
• urinary accidents in previously housetrained dogs
• increased/excessive appetite (polyphagia)
• appearance of food stealing/guarding, begging, trash dumping, etc.
• sagging, bloated, pot-bellied appearance
• weight gain or its appearance, due to fat redistribution
• loss of muscle mass, giving the appearance of weight loss
• bony, skull-like appearance of head
• exercise intolerance, lethargy, general or hind-leg weakness
• new reluctance to jump on furniture or people
• excess panting, seeking cool surfaces to rest on
• symmetrically thinning hair or baldness (alopecia) on torso
• other coat changes like dullness, dryness
• slow regrowth of hair after clipping
• thin, wrinkled, fragile, and/or darkly pigmented skin
• easily damaged/bruised skin that heals slowly
• hard, calcified lumps in the skin (calcinosis cutis)
• susceptibility to infections (especially skin and urinary)
• diabetes, pancreatitis, seizures

There are several types of Cushings, and different treatment for each one, but they all affect the pituitary and adrenal glands.  Here's a summary of that:

In health: In order to understand Cushing's disease, one needs to understand the basics of the negative feedback loop that operates in a normal, healthy dog. The pituitary gland, located at the base of the brain, produces ACTH (adrenocorticotrophic hormone), as directed by the hypothalamus (another part of the brain). This hormone is released into the bloodstream and stimulates the body's two adrenal glands, located near the kidneys, to secrete glucocorticoid (cortisone-like or cortisol) hormones into the bloodstream. Cortisol helps the body respond to stress. It is necessary for life and impacts a wide variety of bodily functions including blood sugar levels, fat metabolism, skeletal muscles, kidney function, nervous system, cardiovascular system, and immune response. ACTH/cortisol secretion is increased due to stress, including infection, pain, surgery, trauma, cold temperatures. When the blood cortisol levels are high enough, the pituitary stops secreting ACTH. When the blood cortisol levels dip low enough, the pituitary secretes more ACTH. The adrenals respond by secreting glucocorticoid hormones in response to the pituitary, just as the pituitary responds by secreting ACTH in response to the adrenals. The net effect is that a mildly fluctuating balance is achieved. This is an oversimplified picture of cortisol homeostasis in the healthy dog.

In Cushing's Disease: The feedback loop has gone awry for one of three reasons: a pituitary tumor, an adrenal tumor, or veterinary interference. The result is a chronic excess of blood cortisol. In effect, the dog is being poisoned with too much cortisol and cannot rely on its own feedback mechanism to regulate the blood cortisol level.
Cortisol increases appetite and thirst, so owners may notice that they are filling their dog’s food and water bowls much more often than usual, and in fact may report that their pet’s appetite is ravenous. Likewise, they often report abnormal hair loss that is symmetrical on both sides of their dog’s body, along with loss of muscle mass especially in the legs. Muscle atrophy and corresponding redistribution of weight often give dogs with this disease a “pot-bellied” look. They also commonly have poor wound healing. Dogs with hyperadrenocorticism are predisposed to developing other problems, including heart failure, diabetes mellitus, infections and high blood pressure. Typically, several of these signs appear at or around the same time. As the disease progresses, affected dogs’ signs typically worsen and increase in number. However, because Cushing’s is largely treatable, possibly curable and usually manageable, it is important for dog owners to become familiar with the signs of this disease.

Prevention:   Unfortunately, other than managing the medical use of corticosteroids, there is no way to prevent hyperadrenocorticism in dogs. Functional tumors of the pituitary and/or adrenal glands occur for unknown reasons, and until the cause of those tumors is discovered, prevention of Cushing’s disease is not realistic.

Bottom line: Cushing's disease is a common condition in older dogs and is often mistaken for signs of normal aging. Although most dogs with Cushing's disease cannot be cured, their quality of life (as well as the owner's quality of life) can be improved, and their lives may be extended with early intervention. It is often possible to successfully manage this disease for years. It thus behooves the pet owner to become familiar with the typical signs of Cushing's and the treatments available.



Fooh Fooh blocks the gate and won't move.

So, it looks like I'm on another voyage of discovery.  SIGH!  I always question the concept that there is no cure for things, and will commence exploring whether there are homeopathic remedies. There are so many other things I'd prefer to be doing but it's hard to ignore a 40 lb. dog that growls and snaps and limits my freedom of movement in my own home.  And I love my FoohFooh, though I must admit, my fond feelings for him diminish in proportion to his increased and unpredictable aggressiveness, as well as ruined carpets.  If anyone out there has experience with this disease, or with these feelings, please offer me your advice.

Upwards and onward, I guess . . . . .

Blog Action Day Takeaways - "Attitude"

Having read all 54 posts sent in by agility bloggers on June 6th on the subject of "Attitude", the main point made seems to be that everyone struggles with developing and maintaining a good attitude, most people have had experiences with rude competitors at trials, and most people approach agility as "fun".  Here are my favorite takeaways and links to some full articles.  A list of all the articles can be found here.


“Attitude controls Altitude.” ~unknown

"If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it”. ~Mary Engelbreit

"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right." ~Henry Ford

"There are exactly as many special occasions in life as we choose to celebrate." ~Robert Brault

"Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." ~Oprah Winfrey 


http://www.flyingpoodles.com/2012/06/06/attitude/
I don’t think a one-size-fits-all approach to dog training works. Dogs, like people, bring different personalities to training. One dog can be resilient, another slower to bounce back.
I have been taking a Control Unleashed course from Greta Kaplan, with Dancer. It has taught me a lot about reading the very subtle signals. . . . .

http://jility.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/dont-you-know-who-i-am/
There are plenty of attitudes in agility; some good – some not so much. For some reason, there are people in this sport who . . . . . think that being able to get a dog around an agility course successfully, gives them permission to treat those they perceive as less worthy, poorly.

I love it when something goes wrong in a run, but the handler smiles and never blames their dog. When the run ends, they smile at their dog and their dog smiles back, never knowing anything went wrong. Now THAT is a great attitude!

http://www.reddogsrule.net/2012/06/agility-blog-action-day-attitude.html
Your ability to be persuaded to change your attitude is directly linked to your intelligence - low intelligence and high intelligence are struggle to change; whereas, average intelligence are more able to be persuaded one way or the other. Same goes for self-esteem. Those with super high self esteem or low self esteem find it more difficult to move the needle on their attitude; whereas, those with average self-esteem are more open.

http://blog.teamsmalldog.com/2012/06/thing-about-attitudes.html
Life is too short to be an asshole or to let one under your skin.

http://allstaragility.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/attitude-handling-with-emotion-cues/
While we put a lot of emphasis on how dogs read our motion cues (forward, deceleration, lateral, etc), something I believe comes in a very close second is our body cues and specifically, emotion cues.

http://agilitynerd.com/blog/agility/handling/HandlingWithIntensity.html
For me the most important aspect of handling, next to using Proactive Handling, is bringing an intensity to my execution.

When it is time to run the course I try to push everything else out of mind and have a narrow focus on executing, closely watching/cuing my dog and really driving myself to those points where I need to be. Handling still must balance where you need to be with providing the cues your dog needs when they need them. But as soon as my dog knows what is needed; I try to be unrelentingly driving forward to my next spot.

http://2mindogtrainer.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/2-minute-dog-trainer-tunnel-vision-and-attitude/
A positive attitude isn’t something that comes naturally to all of us.
But I have practiced the journey to that happy place often enough that I can easily find my way. I just have to want to make it so, and I do.

http://budhouston.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/passage/
It’s hard to make a case for being passionate about not giving a damn (it’s only a game) without it sounding slightly discordant. That being said, I’m a student of the game, and a coach in the game. But on a very personal level, it’s just a game I play with my dogs.

http://www.poodlesinmotion.com/2012/06/06/i-want-to-be-like-my-dog-when-i-grow-up/
Lots of poetic affirmations on this post, such as:
When I’m 74 years old, I will wake up each morning with an attitude that says, “more please”. I will lift my body from the sheets, display a few downward facing dog yoga poses to alert my joints and muscles that the day has begun and shake my body with a vigor that leaves my checks nicely smoothed out from the creases left by pillow. I will venture forward to void yesterday and make room for today’s surprises.

http://viewfr4inch.blogspot.com/2012/06/chair-in-middle-of-room-attitude-of.html
As Samurai took a U-turn to check out the trash . . . . . Daisy Peel (my trainer) calmly said,"No, just wait for him. Sometimes when I do this, I just pull a chair to the middle of the ring."  And as she said it, she pulled two chairs into the ring. And sat.  After awhile, Samurai, apparently bored of his explorations, came flying back, taking a jump for kicks. . . . Daisy clicked it. His curiosity piqued. He circled and ran toward us. Clicked again.  Sam sensed it and began to offer more behaviors. Soon he was acting as if he must surely be the smartest and most charming Papillon in the world.

We must honor, respect and find joy in a dog's endless ability to be uniquely and utterly itself . . . . . To realize, allow and accept this fact in total is to open a font of positive energy that can be channeled to many things. It surpasses control because it is a response that is freely given and grown in an attitude of openness.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Plenty more worth reading and remembering, but these are the ones that struck me the most.

Upwards and onward,

Blog Action Day - "Attitude"

This post is part of a quarterly Blog Action Day initiative started by Steve Schwarz.  You can read other agility bloggers' posts on "Attitude" here.

A large majority of agility enthusiasts express the same positive attitude that "as long as you are having fun, you're doing good."  It's so obvious, they never question it.  And I totally agree -- NOW.  But it hasn't always been so.  So I thought I'd share the bad attitude I had to overcome to get to the "fun" part.

Long before I could begin to grapple with a good attitude towards agility training, I had to overcome my father's strong opinion that pleasurable pursuits are frivolous.  A product of the Great Depression and WWII, he was so afraid his children might starve, I suppose, that all he approved of was educational excellence and good jobs.  Our focus must first be on self-sufficiency, and then on improving society.  Perhaps without quite meaning to, he convinced his children that hobbies are superfluous.  Even though he played golf avidly, he always told us it was "strictly for business".

He thought that doing things for "personal relevance" is pure self indulgence (biblically, a waste of one's talents), and the fastest road to hell. He was not an appreciater of art or literature, either, unless it was the classics. I can still hear him say, "if you can't paint like Michaelangelo, don't waste the canvas. If you can't write like Shakespeare, don't clutter the world with your drivel. If you're not prima ballerina material, I won't throw away money on ballet lessons." Extrapolating from that, he might say "If you can't be Susan Garrett, don't train dogs". Of agility, he once asked "are you making money at it yet". That was his criteria. Never, ever, "are you having fun".

I bet most of the rest of you didn't have this impediment to overcome!


I've had to learn to pursue my hobbies guilt free.  Getting rid of his parental influence in this area has been a life's work, and from my success at it, I can attest that:

1. If you let other people's opinions shape you, you can not live your own life.
2. If you dwell in the past, you're future becomes so weighted down with old issues it can't take flight.
3. If you set your sights too high, you may never start your journey.
4. If you don't cultivate gratitude for the many good things around you, the negatives can swamp you.

I was well into adulthood, almost 40 in fact, before realizing that Dad's opinions weren't binding on me, that hobbies are healthy, that progressive learning is unavoidable, that skill-building takes time, that there is plenty of room for people in the middle.  We can't all be super-stars.  I learned to take responsibility for my own personal happiness, to value myself as worthy of such happiness, and to reach for and be content with "my own personal best".  Not to compare myself to the brightest stars in the sky, but just shine as brightly as I can.  To take pride in my progress. But it took me many years to quit carrying around that big bag of guilt for doing things I naturally love to do, even if they don't make money or win me high recognition.  I've had to learn to take care of my own inner child, to be my own parent, to praise and encourage myself the way I see other parents praising their kids (and dogs) for every little thing they do.  My blog helps me do that. Every now and then I notice another "guilt" boulder I'm carrying around, and heave it. Yeah!

I expressed my hard won mindset in a poem to my son in 1990, as I struggled to learn to live a joyful life, free from unnecessary struggles and needless grief!  It's called "Mamma's Last Request", and imagines the final piece of advice I would give to anyone about "attitude".

With that mountain mostly climbed, it frees me to work towards a winning attitude in agility.  Of course, more mountains to overcome there.  I'm absolutely no athelete.  I've had to learn and relearn to get up early (I'm a total night person).  I've had to spend money on coaching, developing a precompetition routine, a thicker skin, and get comfortable with the fact that I'll never be a Susan Garrett.  Setting realistic personal goals, not comparing myself to others, are all important tools in my "agility attitude" tool kit.

Counting my blessings is another big tool.  It's the tool kit itself.  This often takes the form of putting positive spin on what seems like a constant stream of negatives.  Here's a poster I used to keep on my wall which, to me, exemplifies the "spin" trick.

     The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.

     While to others I may seem more confused than ever,
     and to myself as well,

     I believe I am confused on a higher level

     and about more important things.

Perhaps I'm not over the guilt yet because I'm still motivated to justify my hobbies.  But here's my spin on having 5 dogs and spending so much time and money on training them.  First and foremost, my dogs are heap good therapy. They pay their way 100 times over. They add structure to my retirement.  I wake up every morning full of motivation (a priceless treasure), and agility is simultaneously my social life, my physical therapy and my antecdote to alzheimers! No telling how much money I save not needing a psychotherapist or anti-depressants to get through life's confusing, sometimes discouraging, jungle. Far from being "superfluous" or even "optional", I consider my dogs and their training essential to me living "the good life".

Pepper guarding his rock, age 7 months.

My dogs, unlike any humans I know, inspire me to stretch beyond my current abilities, then pay me back immediately with acceptance, affection and devotion. They exude confidence in themselves and in me, thus are ideal companions!  They keep me laughing -- heap good medicine!  It's exhilerating to love and be loved so intensely. Maxie, Willow and Lucky Lucy are my therapy, and now Pepper, so full of cocky Papillon attitude and enthusiasm, with his future all ahead of him and totally trusting that I keep him safe and teach him all I can, is another motivator.

Expressions of gratitude for all my blessings, effusively and frequently offered throughout my blog and elsewhere, keeps me rich and mostly upbeat, too!  Money can't buy that.  My cup overfloweth, and I know it.  Hopefully I carry that into the arena.

My dogs are what is motivating me now to heal my aching hip, fix my cataract surgery gone wrong, both of which have about stopped me in my agility tracks, so I can get back to training and trialing with them -- perfecting those well-timed front crosses, serpentines, running contacts, and reliable start-line stays, and giving everything all the intensity I've got.

Thanks for letting me share,