Obedience Match

Today Amanda, Kim & I made the 2 hr drive to Okotoks to participate in an Obedience Match.
We are all going to Medicine Hat for a trial in 2 weeks. We needed to get our dogs out to a different venue then what we have been training in to see just where they are at in their training.
To say I was pleased is an understatement! Tate doing his novice work is pure pleasure for me...I never thought I could put a CD on him ! He is 9 years old & if Tate doesn't want to do something then there is no convincing him otherwise! Up until just a few months ago Tate did not want to heel, at all, he was laggy & beaten looking :) I don't know why he has decided heeling is fun at the age of 9 years, but I'm going with it!
Kort continues to amaze me! When he got his CD last Nov. Amanda told me I could have him ready to enter Open the following May. I just laughed, no way I thought ! But just look at him, except for today, he has being doing well on his broad jump. We have been struggling with his sit stays but today he held them at a new venue for the entire 3 minutes :) He "just" started his retrieve over the high jump, this is probably his 3rd time doing it ??
His drop on recall needs work, but really, I am super stoked !
To put things in another light, the last time I was in the Open ring was 33 years ago with my collie Ben ! Yeesh!!
Anyway, I am looking forward to the trial & the next 2 weeks of training as well !
Enjoy the videos......

Tate's run....
It is so much fun to see him so happy :)



Kort's run....
I couldn't have been any happier, what a good boy !

Cheesy Videos!

So here you have it...my first 2 cheesy videos ! Sorry for the quick zooming & the fast turning, I'm a beginner :)
These are from Sat April 23 when Amanda & I took the dogs for a walk in Indian Battle Park.

Finally Framed !

Wendy took these photos of the boys at an agility trial last August, I finally got around to framing them & am happy with the result!

Indian Battle Park

Today Amanda & I got together to do some training, then we headed out to Indian Battle Park to get some pictures of the boys. I had never been there before even though I have lived in Lethbridge for 3.5 yrs! It was such a great place to walk, even if everything is still brown !
Amanda took so many wonderful pictures it was hard to just post a few :)
These are some of my favourite favourites :)), there will be more to follow!

Tate having fun!......

Handsome Tate ......

I absolutely love this shot of Kort......

Amanda had a great idea to use bubbles, I think it turned out awesome !!......

Me & my boys ♥......


Thank you Amanda !!!!

Children's Festival 2011

This is a bit of what we did today at the Children's Festival.....it was such an awesome day & all of our dogs were so good! Hurray for the Lethbridge dog people , you rock !!!

This is Donna & Epic's Freestyle routine......

This is Kim & Bosley doing carting......

Some Kind of Joke ?

Mother Nature is a truly cruel woman....this is what happened in Lethbridge over night :)
oh. I just changed to my summer tires yesterday :)....not my winter like I say in the video

Kort Come!

Tonight at obedience class we worked on getting faster recalls through fun motivation, Amanda took this video of Kort's recall, I called him, then hid behind the castle, he had so much fun, me too !!!

Fancy :)

Kim e-mailed me awhile back about this site she found for dumbbells. They were the most gorgeous dumbbells I'd ever seen, so when Kim said she was ordering one I decided to also :)

It came today, isn't it wonderful!.....and yes, we have already used it :))

Nine!!

♥ Happy Birthday Tater Dog ! ♥

Answers

On Friday morning bright & early I headed out to Calgary for a long awaited appointment with a rheumatology specialist....a 2 year wait to be exact.

See, I have been suffering with pain all over my body & joints forever, too long to even put a date to it. The pain comes & goes, can be mild, or excruciating, can last 2 days or a few hrs., or overnight. It involves my neck, shoulders, chest, lower back, elbows, wrists, hips, knees,& ankles. I feel tired all the time, sluggish, like I could sleep forever, even after a full night of sleep. Some days I feel like crying, so I wondered is it depression? I would often say to Wendy & Amanda I feel dizzy, or drunk, like my head is foggy :))
You start to feel silly, like a hypochondriac, your Dr. does numerous xrays but all looks good, just normal wear & tear for a 50 year old.

I saw Dr. Fitzgerald at the Foothills Science Center, she did a complete history on me, then a complete exam of my body. I had numerous tender areas, one in particular was at the side of my right knee, I was shocked at the pain I felt when she pushed there, I actually yelled out it hurt so bad, sorry Dr. :))

I also have had on going pins & needles in my right hand, mostly my thumb & first 2 fingers, it is really annoying actually.

In the end Dr. Fitzgerald explained to me that I have fibromyalgia. I have heard about it before & actually read about it, just wasn't sure if this is what I really had. After the pain in the knee when the Dr. touched it I have no doubt now that she is right ! The best way to describe the feeling of fibromyaglia is like having the flu, you just ache.

I didn't realize my sleeping habits are also part of the condition, I have always been a light sleeper, I can wake up at the drop of a pin. I also wake up every hour, every night :(
The Dr. explained that fibromyalgia sufferers never get into the deep dream state, we hover just on the verge of wakefulness, mostly because of the pain. She is going to recommend a drug to my family Dr. to help me with this.

Also the pins & needles is most likely carpal tunnel, I was a dog groomer for 30 years, so I'm sure she is right. I will be having a nerve conduction test & may require surgery to open up the nerve in my wrist. I will have it done, I can't stand the constant feeling of pins & needles in my hand.

So that is it in a nutshell, I am already doing something right by staying active, the Dr. said most people with my condition curl up on the couch & don't move due to the pain. That is not me, I have too much living to do so I push past it. I might get frustrated alot as I can't run in agility like I want to, or move fast enough when showing my dogs, walking the dogs with pain in my hips gets frustrating, even housework can be a problem, but I do what I can & rest.

At least now I don't feel crazy anymore :)), oh & that foggy feeling I was mentioning, it has a name , fibro fog!!! Go figure!

Time....

Where does it go?.....
Drake, July 4, 1990 - April 6, 2001
10 years, seems like yesterday

Nov 5, 1990, picking Drake up at the airport......



Drake at 10 years after competing in Veterans......

Bloopers!

The Red Deer weekend just wouldn't be complete without the Bloopers video :))
Enjoy !

Behind The Scenes

Now that my Red Deer weekend is over I can share my "behind the scenes story"
On Thurs. night, before I was to leave for Red Deer , my mom suffered a mini stroke.
I was a mess, having just lost my dad in July, I just couldn't loose another parent. It is so hard to be here in Lethbridge when things happen back in Thunder Bay. We have an awesome support system though, I have my brother, sister, & sister in law in Thunder Bay looking out for mom.
At one point I wasn't sure if I would be flying home, or going to Red Deer, I had my plan in place, & my alternate plan, depending on mom's outcome.
Thankfully mom had made it to the hospital in time to be give a drug called TPA, it is basically a clot buster drug, however it can have some serious side effects. For one thing, it must be given within 3 hrs of the stroke for it to benefit the individual. It can cause a bleed in the brain as well. My mom had a clot in her brain which caused the stroke, she had to lay still, flat on her back, for 24 hrs for the medication to do it's work. It was hard going to Red Deer, ask Amanda :) I hadn't slept the night before going & I didn't sleep the first night in Red Deer.
Right now mom is doing well, she is out of the ICU & the clot has dispersed. She is still in the hospital undergoing some more tests as well as physio. My mom is a strong lady :) me, not so much...I talked to mom on the phone before leaving for Red Deer, I told her she had no business being in the hospital & scaring me, I still need her, I will always need her, I love her more then anything ♥
Hang in there mom, you have alot more living to do :)

Marathon Weekend

We were in Red Deer this weekend.
It is late, & I am tired, so here are 3 videos for you to enjoy, I think they speak for themselves anyway :))......

Day 1, Kort's first attempt in Advanced Rally, Score 97/100......



Day 2 of Rally, Kort scores a 94/100......



Here is our Scenthurdle Debut! We had such a good time !......