Big Boy

Big Boy will be 8 years old in October, if he lasts until then!   He has a very long medical history:  

• he developed Elbow Dysplasia when less than 6 months old, had several operations to scrape cartilage off bone and allow it to renew; 
• he developed a lifelong ongoing gastritis condition as a result of his medication; 
• being a labbie he stole chocolate and ate the end off a horse lead rein so required treatment and in the case of the lead rein an operation to remove the blockage; :)
• he developed a perforated ulcer and consequent abdominal operation as a result of his pain medication; 
• his anal glands needed emptying monthly; :)
• he developed multiple allergies requiring gluten-free food, natural products, evening primrose oil for his coat, anti-histamines all summer long etc etc, 
• as he aged he developed hip dysplasia despite the excellent scores his parents had recorded;
• his spine is very stiff and inflexible - probably spinal arthritis
• two years ago he developed a mast cell tumour (Category II) on a back leg.  At 6 years old he had an operation - a large amount of tissue removed from his thigh muscle; followed by a follow-up op at the vet hospital.   After two operations and chemo-therapy he was a physical wreck.   After a period to recover from the ops he had chemotherapy - which was interrupted as his white blood cell count kept dropping - but it did eventually came to a close.  However, his fat and muscle mass was re-distributed due the chemo and steroids so his skeleton was never the same again.
• He is now on just over 20 pills a day, the latest being the third of three painkillers (Previcox, Paracetomol and now Gabapentin) but it has improved his pain level and he is much happier.
• At the moment he is happy but despite his relatively young age, when he has more bad days than good days I will grit my teeth and make the decision that it is time to say good-bye and send him over the "Rainbow Bridge".

Olympic "Gold" for Little Girl!

What excitement!  After only a few months training Little Girl achieved 3rd place in Beginner Class of Agility Club's end-of -term fun competition!  

Feel very, very proud as she has only mastered Dog Walk in last couple of weeks (is high up, off ground so a bit scary as she is quite clumsy) and only managed see-saw (scary as moves and bangs when hits ground) in the last week or so. Couldn't believe she did so well so need to keep up training until session starts again in August!

Extinguishing Behaviour

Today tried to teach Little Girl to 'Hold' when bringing back retrieve - but managed to start to extinguish her 'Retrieve' in one action.  Here's how - so you don't make the same mistake...
Threw toy, asked her to retrieve, she did, but holding it for a few seconds when I said 'Hold' instead of dropping it near my feet as usual, so rewarded her with a treat.
Threw toy, asked her to retrieve, she did, but despite me saying 'Hold' dropped it near my feet as usual, so I turned my head away and ignored her to illustrate my disapproval.  
Not having made myself clear about what I wasn't happy about, she thought I disliked the retrieve, so when I next asked her to 'Retrieve' she stood looking at me blankly - something she never does.  I realised immediately MY mistake and we started a play-game of 'Retrieve' so she is back doing that OK and we will work on 'Hold' later!