Life has been hard ...

We've done lots of traveling and I'm enjoying it, but life has been hard without my Jack. We had such a special connection and I still miss him so much. It's hard to believe he has been gone almost two years. It's sad that I have to keep from thinking about him too much because it still hurts so bad. 

I'm going to try and post more often but I doubt anyone is reading.   

Agility Toe Injury Study

A team of researchers from Washington State University, North Carolina State University, and Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital are conducting a study designed to 1) gather data about common toe problems in agility dogs and identify potential risk factors for injuries, and 2) analyze the return to athletic performance in agility dogs who had one or more toes amputated for any reason.

Toe injuries are very common in agility dogs but there is minimal information available to help understand why these injuries occur or how they may impact performance. In many cases, a veterinarian may recommend amputation all or part of the toe. When faced with these surgical options, owners of agility dogs often want to know what effect toe amputation might have on subsequent agility performance. There is almost no scientifically valid information on which a veterinarian can answer that question. The goal of this research project is to provide agility enthusiasts with information about toe problems in the sport, and veterinarians and dog owners with information to assist with decision-making in amputation situations.

 

The retrospective study will examine owner-supplied information about the cause and treatment of toe problems, as well as dogs’ return to performance after recovery from amputation (if applicable).  All agility dogs are eligible, regardless of whether the injury occurred during agility training/competing or whether the dog returned to agility after recovery.  All types of toe problems (injury, disease, tumor, etc.) are included in the study.

 

For additional information about this study, visit their webpage here:http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/researchVCS/agilityToes.aspx

 

If you think your dog may be eligible to participate, the online survey can be found here: https://www.research.net/s/WSU-agility-dog-toes.  The questionnaire takes approximately 3-5 minutes to complete for dogs that were not treated with a toe amputation, and 10-15 minutes to complete for dogs who had one or more toes amputated.

Little Pink Drink

Check it out http://www.PaulaIsPink.com

Jack

PACH Harv's Apple Jack Be Nimble RA MX MXB MXJ NFP MXP9 MXPG MJP7 MJPG PAX2

12/4/01 - 9/15/13

You will live in my heart forever - I miss you SO SO much.

Redwoods

We had an awesome day among the Redwood trees. I have always wanted to see them - it was a happy day for me!  To top the day off, we stopped and watched a herd of Elk. 

Cecil - CAT

I forgot to mention that Cecil got his first Coursing Ability leg!!  He LOVED it!!  Like I said - we've been BUSY!!!

Busy busy busy

The last two weeks of August were hectic! We bought a new motor home (which takes more time than one would think). Our intentions were to just look, but a few hours later we left with me asking "did we just buy a new house"!!  We'd had the Bounder since it was new in 2000. 

Katie hates it and is stressed out, but Jack and Cecil are right at home. When we started moving stuff from the Bounder, the door to the new one was open - I opened the door of the Bounder and Jack got out, came to the new one and stayed!!!! He got out once to go pee - went back in the Bounder to get a drink of water and came back over here (all off leash!!

Also during this chaos Jack had  to go to the vet twice, but all is well. His thyroid meds needed to be lowered and he had a UTI; which was my  original theory. 

Katie had some great agility runs, but we didn't get any Double Qs. I think the stress of the new motor home is affecting her. Hopefully she'll adjust and be back to her old self by our next trial!!

We left the Seattle area yesterday and are heading down the coast headed towards the Redwood National Forest - very excited to see these massive trees!!!