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.