We started off the new year with a CPE trial January 17-18. Yes, it was indoors (at our training building) but it was brutally cold outside and not all that much better in! I was concerned about my dogs getting too cold as it was especially chilly in the crating area. I put several blankets and fleecies in with Bryce and (being Bryce) he pushed them all aside and used them for a pillow instead, so I guess he was OK. Raven was pretty chilly – whenever I got a chance I took her into the main room to sit on my lap. She was very funny, watching the runs like someone watching sports on TV. Possibly critiquing them in her head too!

I think Jayda kept herself warm worrying (about whatever she could find to worry about).

Sunday I had my adrenaline rush BEFORE I got to the trial. It was snowing a little when we left, but since it didn’t look TOO bad and it was supposed to stop soon I decided to head up and just take my time.

It was interesting that the roads got progressively worse as we neared Garnerville. The Garden State was wonderful (we may pay exorbitant taxes to live in NJ, but they do clear our roads!). The Thruway was OK. The Palisades? One lane clear (for the Palisades that’s really good). Then we got to 202 … uncleared, and the snow was packed into ice, and a slushy ice that was sticking in tire treads! Did I mention most of that stretch of road is down a fairly steep hill with lots of curves? I put my car in 1st, drove less than 5mph, stayed WAY behind the cars ahead of me (so I could see the worst areas well in advance) and tried to keep a tire or two in the non-icy snow, but it was still white knuckle time!

I was very pleased with Bryce this weekend. I’d only entered him in 5 runs and he qualified and looked good in all of them. He was also very proud of himself after each, as well he should be! Saturday he finished his 2 remaining Level 4 titles with Q’s in standard and jackpot.

Sunday he got his first 2 level 5 Q’s in those same classses. We also ran jumpers – unfortunately there was an error in his run level which I didn’t catch until after the class finished so it won’t count – damn! (Note to self: check trial confirmations more carefully in the future!). He seemed a little tired Saturday night but bounced back Sunday and was his usual perky self Sunday evening. He slept a little during the day both days, which helped.

Jayda ran in 10 classes, qualified in 8 and finished another level 3 title. She only needs one leg each in standard and jackpot to get completely out of level 3 – that was fast!

After being diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma last April, Bryce is still with us and still looking/acting very much like himself.

The disease was fairly stable through the summer, so I didn’t start him on treatment. Then his protein/glubulins started climbing and I made plans to finally start treatment. As luck would have it, the bloodwork before he was initially to start showed his white cells lower than normal, so his oncologist recommended starting him on Prednisone (half of the protocol) for a couple of weeks to see if they came back up before adding in the Melphalan (which can itself drop white cell counts). After a couple weeks on the Pred his globulins were stable, his albumin was the best it’s been since before we discovered this, and his white cells were well within normal range.

Side note: If you ever want to make yourself really crazy, check your dog’s bloodwork every month.

With the go-ahead to start on the chemo, next thing was trying to find a pharmacy that could make it up in that small a dose! Finally found one and picked it up yesterday – I haven’t given it to him yet, fingers crossed it will go well when I do. It would be tempting to just leave him on the Pred (which is in itself a treatment protocol for myeloma) but the average remission/life expectancy times are dramatically different – 560 days with the Melphalan/Prednisone vs 270 with Prednisone alone.

Bryce has been participating in all his normal activity all this time. He hasn’t been completely on top of his game in agility, but he had a few good trials, some really amazing runs and collected quite a few Q’s. I notice he’s REALLY tired at the end of a day/weekend – most pronounced at indoor trials because he doesn’t SLEEP! When he’s outside in the car, he’ll nap between runs and was ending the days with a fair amount of energy.

At home he’s been going for walks, playing with his sisters, making “amorous gestures” at Jayda and generally being his bouncy happy self. I’m hoping the chemo doesn’t change that, but he’s in no hurry to leave us and if I want him to stay around for a while yet I think that’s the road I need to take. Although he’s acting fine now, it’s almost certain this disease will eventually do bad things to him – the longer I can put that off the better.

So since the middle of September we’ve had a short but fairly-busy agility season – 2 CPE trials, 2 NADAC trials and 1 AKC trial. I ran both Bryce and Jayda all season, Raven isn’t ready for prime time yet. I’ll report on all 3:

Raven

Raven’s in class and HAD been her crazy, fearless self until one week when she left me for the umpteenth time to run BACK up the A-frame … got near the top and for some reason that apparently seemed like a good idea to HER at the time, bailed off the edge, landing in a scary face-plant on our mats! My heart was in my stomach and I immediately ran over to her – she limped for a second but fortunately there was no major PHYSICAL harm done. Thinking about all the things that COULD have happened, that was VERY fortunate!! However, she now has avoidance issues and contact phobias contacts to work through .

There’s a method of teaching contacts some instructors are using where the dog is initially encouraged to turn around on them, reverse direction and go back over them, even jump off the ramps early-on, treating the contacts like a jungle gym. The theory being that the dog builds strength and gets confident on the obstacles. Raven’s first classes used this method – I was skeptical, but I was in the class, I tried it…

Verdict: I HATE it. I’m convinced that this early conditioning was responsible for the accident. It’s definitely responsible for her thinking it’s OK to turn around and go BACK over contacts! Sorry, I don’t care who’s promoting this or how many Machs/Adchs/Nationals/World Team placements they have. Contacts are a one-way street and IMO should be taught that way from day #1. Never again.

Jayda

What can I say? Jayda continues to surprise me and be the Big Black Q Machine. I take some good-natured teasing from people about her leisurely take on “running a course” – I laugh about it all the way to the ribbon tent.

And she’s not just qualifying – she’s occasionally WINNING her classes! I’m not quite sure how we pull THAT off except that she makes very few mistakes and usually runs a nice, efficient line. And occasionally she has a burst of speed – there were a couple of NADAC trials where she was feeling good and I realized mid run that I was working pretty hard to keep up with her!

I do wish she wasn’t so nervous at outdoor trails though – she’s OK in the ring and in the car but in between she gets SO stressed :(. I feel bad for her – at home she always has a non-stop smile on her face (see photo), I would trade all the ribbons in the world to see her smile like that at a trial.

Anyway, this Fall she earned a shoebox full of ribbons and finished another fistful of titles (5 of them) – I’m too lazy to try to list them all here, but the girl’s doing alright for herself :)!