This and That

Sammie

Sammie gave us a bit of worry last weekend.  He got very lethargic and was unable to control his urination in the house.  He was having trouble with going in the house some time ago.  It was strange - we had him tested for UTI's over and over and the tests kept coming back clear.  But we would give him a round of antibiotics and things would seem to clear up.  He hasn't had issues in a good long while, and I was very concerned.  He wasn't even asking to go out while we were home - he was just letting loose wherever he was!

I was about to make an appointment with the vet to have "the talk".  Not just because of the urination - he seemed generally distressed in addition to that.

But then on Monday something occurred to me.  I have vet permission to give Sammie a second pain med if he is having a particularly difficult time.  With the arctic chills a couple of weeks ago, I had added that med back in for him.  I was just thinking on Monday that I could stop giving it now that the temperatures had gone up some and it hit me like a ton of bricks that this med may be the problem.  He hadn't taken it in forever.  I couldn't recall if he was on it when he was going in the house before, but I figured I would stop it for a few days and see what we would see.

Not only did he stop peeing in the house, but he seemed to be feeling much better in general.  On Sunday I had given him two of Speedy's old plushy toys to destroy and he barely touched them.  By Tuesday he was going to town tearing them to bits!

Now he is back to normal.  Yes, it's a 14 and 1/2 year old normal, but he's plugging along!

I am relieved.  While I realize that he has lived a very full live to a great age and that he will not live forever, this would have been way too close on the heels of Speedy's sudden loss.

I'm glad the old coot is feeling better!

Dean

Dean's response to Speedy's loss has surprised me.  They were very good friends and they always enjoyed playing ball together.  I really expected that Dean might become a bit depressed with his ball buddy gone, but lately he is perkier and more energetic than I have seen him in years.

After losing Maddie, Tessa and I bonded very strongly.  Dean and I are bonding over this particular loss.  And Dean seems to be thriving.

He is enjoying the heck out of his targeting class!!  He thinks that all of the nose targeting, and now paw targeting, is the best ever!

Here is one of his class videos!  This was a new paw target for him . . .



I am most eager to enjoy the rest of this class with him!

The thing that is amazing me is how energetic he has become.  In this video, and often just in every day life, he is acting more like a young adult than the almost-8-year-old he is!  I love it!

Tessa

Tessa is enjoying our Precision Heeling work.  She loves any and all training and this really detailed foundation work is exactly what she needs at this point.

Here is one of her training videos:



We have had some good Agility trials recently - we only need 5 more Level 3 Q's now to finish the level entirely!!  We are actually on a short hiatus from Agility trials for the time being, but we will finish that up in late spring.

Right now I want to take some time to focus on Freestyle and Rally FrEe with her.

Goals

The goal setting workshop is going well.  Since I didn't see fit to narrow down the skills that I want to work on, I made a "skills box" my goal.  I made a list of all of the skills that both dogs need to work on and I have printed that.  I am going to cut the paper up so there is a skill on each little slip.  3 - 4 times a week, I will draw out three skills and work those with each dog.

My current specific, measurable goal is to get the box made by Saturday.

So, onward we go . . . good work going on right now!