December 2008

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and have a good new year

Well December has been quite quiet, training has been cancelled a few times due to bad weather but we have still managed to get a bit done. Dre is still making a good recovery. He is even back jumping again, he still needs quite a bit of work to build him back up to what he was, and we need to start him back at training as we have lost some technical ability (mainly our contact stays) but overall we can't believe he is jumping again. We even had a competition to go to, not that many happen over the winter months, which gave us chance to meet up with lots of our friends and we all did very well winning lots of rosettes.

The painting of Dre I received for Xmas

The painting of Snoop we received as a wedding present

Santa brought the boys loads of pressies, the best was from grandma and grandad and of course mummy and daddy. Santa also brought me a lovely painting of Dre, which matched the one we got as a wedding present from LDTC. The painting of Dre was done the week Dre was first sick with his current condition and before any of the side effects of the drugs took place so looking how he originally did

Snoop's Rosettes

Snoop attended cool agility Ltd show and gained a 3rd and two 5ths in grade 4-6 classes and then a 6th, a 9th and a clear round in grade 1-7 classes. Such a good boy and is really picking up some speed. we still need to do a bit of work on speeding up his contacts but out of seven classes this week end, only one did he make an error which was my fault for moving too quickly.

Dre's Rosette

Dre also attended cool agility Ltd show and did very well, although we made a couple of errors, mainly due to the lack of training he has been able to do or attend, he did manage a clear round, giving him a 5th place in a grade 1-3 class. Things are really looking up for him, fingers (and paws) crossed this continues well into next year (but only time will tell) Dre as always has so much energy and is really so keen to complete the course in as fast as time his little legs will take him.

November Pictures

I promised I would post the Dog Vegas show photos from April 2008. The weather has defiantly been cold enough for snow but none as yet. So here are the Easter photos to make you feel all wintry. Yes it was minus 6 and we were in our old caravan which isn't very warm. Thank you to Jo who allowed us to warm up in hers and of course agility was cancelled!

And here is Snoop's rosettes from Newton Heath Agility Show where he got three clear rounds.

November 2008

How time Flys!! and how cold it has become!!

Well this month has been quite quiet. Snoop competed at Newton Heath and got clear rounds in all his classes, just outside the places, but he is really speeding up now.

Dre on the other hand has been having a break from agility competitions and training. As you are aware he is on high strength steroids to help control his lupus, well one of the many side effects (which he seems to have suffered from all of them) from the steroids is muscle wastage, which Dre has experienced a lot, loosing 25% of his body weight (which he couldn't afford to loose), it didn't help matters that he also had colitis and a bacterial infection the other week where at the height of it he lost 2kg in 3 days and on 16 tablets a day to try and control everything. This has meant Dre hadn't even the strength to do small jumps.

On a slightly good note, due to all the side effects Dre has been experiencing from the steroids, the vet decided to drastically reduce them when the colitis started, since then the colitis and bacterial infection have cleared up and the vet has continued to reduce the steroids. The plan is for the steroids to be stopped in the new year. Best of all none of the ulcerated sores have come back yet so things are looking good (and fingers crossed). Dre has even started putting on a little weight and has really cheered up a lot, very nearly back to his normal mental self. I did do some strengthening training using agility jumps and the DAQ jumps at the week end, just a little just to see how he was, I think a few weeks more and he can start joining the classes again, and if the steroids stop my plan is to get him fit and ready to compete in April (but then there is no rush).

Apart from all of that Snoop and Dre have been enjoying the rest.

October 2008

Well the main agility season is over - what will be do with all the spare time we have ..... training!

Dre had his dew claws removed at the beginning of the month, he looks so funny with half his legs shaved but in the long term it will stop him ripping the nails off which he has done about 5 times this year already. This led to some complications and a nail biting few weeks, First the wound looked as if it was starting to get infected, so antibiotics were prescribed, then the wound came open, so he had to go in for an emergency operation to stitch him back up, then he came out in ulcers mainly over his tummy and in his mouth, this led to lots of concern and yet another operation for biopsies and blood tests, though we had to wait a couple of weeks for the results, initial thoughts were that he had had a drug reaction to one or more of his medication. The results came back to be collie lupus a rare and aggressive immuno-suppressive disease trigger by a drug reaction, though it would have come out quite soon anyway. So this means Dre is currently on high dose steroids and some Stomach tablets (as the steroids can rip though the stomach). He is experiencing some side effect including increase thirst which results in frequent weeing. He has also sores appearing all over his body but on a good note he is happy and contented in himself most of the time. It is just a waiting game now to see if the medication will work as there is no guarantees it will.

A sad but happy moment happened also at the beginning of the month, we brought a new caravan and said goodbye to our old one. Our new one is bigger and has a bathroom and it was time we upgraded, our old one did last over two years, and we found a very good home for it.





I have been sorting through some photos from the shows this year and seemed to have missed putting some on here for you all to see, so this month there is the following pictures from Spring at Shuttlworth we attended in April - take note of all the sunshine! Next month I will post pictures from Dog Vegas and the 6 inches of snow we woke up to.




And here are some of Snoop at the KC festival in August

September 2008

At the start of September we went to Cornwall on holiday and also attend a dog show. The boys loved seeing Grandma and Grandad as well as swimming in the sea and then doing their favorite sport agility. We even had very good weather considering most of the other shows at the same time in other parts of the country were cancelled. Below you can see pictures of the boys enjoying the beach and sea

Daymer beach

Snoop on the beach

Snoop and Dre on the beach

Dre on the Beach

It was really hard to get the boys to stand still. Below is some picture and results from the agility show we have attended this month.

Snoop at Cornwall Agility Show

Snoop's Rosettes

Snoop Achieved Two 3rds, Two 5ths, a 7th, Two 8ths and Six Clear Rounds at Cornwall, Bromsgrove and Lincoln Agility Shows. Snoop always looks so handsome in photos. Snoop has really been coming along the past couple of weeks, his speed around the courses has again increased to the point at Bromsgrove, Snoop didn't have chance to slow down for the weaves resulting in a few missed entries, but proved at Lincoln will a result in every class that he can indeed run fast and get the weave entry.

Dre at Cornwall Agility Show

Dre Practicing his weaves at Cornwall Show

Dre's Rosettes

Dre Achieved a 5th, a 10th and Five Clear Rounds at Cornwall, Bromsgrove and Lincoln Agility Shows. In Snakes and Tunnels, Dre managed to beat Snoop's time by 0.2 seconds achieving a 5th place compared to Snoop's 7th. I Still can't believe Dre beat Snoop and the potential he has. I love seeing Dre in photos doing agility, you can see how close he is to the wings and poles and as always having so much fun