The best laid plans....sigh. Well, I'd been planning on getting some good training in this summer on stock for all four dogs, and I came up against an obstacle. On June 6th I had a stroke, venous sinus thrombosis. Which, in english means that I have a clot in my brain in the vein that drains the blood in the gap between the two sides of my brain. The past two weeks have been spent in and out of hospital and diagnostic testing machines and on the couch. The dogs are enjoying having me home all the time, but not so thrilled with my lack of energy to do anything with them. Herding will have to be put off until after my neurologist appt and MRI in Sept, I'm on a lot of blood thinners and I can't risk getting injured by sheep. Disappointing to say the least, but at least on the island we can herd most of the year. Just gets wet and mucky in the winter. As I"m feeling better I'll get back to busy on working on some Novice Rally exercises with the four dogs. I don't think it will take much to have everyone ready, and I'm really hoping to premiere all four at teh Oct/Nov trials in Novice. Crazy much? Yah, maybe a little.
Stay tuned for the upcoming exciting news!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Some quick updates
As I seem to have completely ignored my blog, but manage to keep Porter's somewhat up to date http://mylifebyporter.blogspot.com I figure I should probably update the kennel one! Of course, as it's been nearly a year, many many changes around here!
First of all, I tragically lost Argus the beginning of November 2010. Someone forced open my locked gate and all five dogs got out, sadly Argus was hit and sustained numerous severe injuries, luckily the other four were fine, although very emotionally traumatized. Turner has been struggling with increasing seperation anxiety since the accident, I believe he saw it happen, and being such a sensitive little soul it has really affected him. Argus' loss has left a huge hole and I miss him every single day.
We've also added a couple new bodies to the house. Bazinga and Zazzles, two purebred lynx point siamese joined us in December from the Nanaimo SPCA. I went fully intending on one cat, and somehow ended up with the two brothers. They could not be a better fit in the house, and they constantly astound people with their love of the dogs. They're often found curled up with the dogs, washing their faces or playing with Porter.
I've decided to take the year off dog activities other than training. No one is ready for trialing yet, so instead of pushign them to be ready, we're just going to take the year to work on Intermediate for Impulse and Turner and Started for Porter and Cat. Next challenge is actually getting to a lesson and for schedules to coordinate for that to become possible! I'm really enjoying spending time with the dogs and not having pressure to have them ready for a show/trial. Cat is coming along, and hopefully will be ready to show next summer.
I've decided this summer will be about getting the yard cleaned up a bit. A veggie garden is in the progress of going in, lawn areas have been extended and it's starting to look like I'm going to be very busy maintaining it all! The dogs are enjoying being helpers out in the yard.
I'll post some pictures soon, but in the meantime, Porter's blog that I linked to above often has the most up to date pictures in it. Stay tuned for some exciting news!
First of all, I tragically lost Argus the beginning of November 2010. Someone forced open my locked gate and all five dogs got out, sadly Argus was hit and sustained numerous severe injuries, luckily the other four were fine, although very emotionally traumatized. Turner has been struggling with increasing seperation anxiety since the accident, I believe he saw it happen, and being such a sensitive little soul it has really affected him. Argus' loss has left a huge hole and I miss him every single day.
We've also added a couple new bodies to the house. Bazinga and Zazzles, two purebred lynx point siamese joined us in December from the Nanaimo SPCA. I went fully intending on one cat, and somehow ended up with the two brothers. They could not be a better fit in the house, and they constantly astound people with their love of the dogs. They're often found curled up with the dogs, washing their faces or playing with Porter.
I've decided to take the year off dog activities other than training. No one is ready for trialing yet, so instead of pushign them to be ready, we're just going to take the year to work on Intermediate for Impulse and Turner and Started for Porter and Cat. Next challenge is actually getting to a lesson and for schedules to coordinate for that to become possible! I'm really enjoying spending time with the dogs and not having pressure to have them ready for a show/trial. Cat is coming along, and hopefully will be ready to show next summer.
I've decided this summer will be about getting the yard cleaned up a bit. A veggie garden is in the progress of going in, lawn areas have been extended and it's starting to look like I'm going to be very busy maintaining it all! The dogs are enjoying being helpers out in the yard.
I'll post some pictures soon, but in the meantime, Porter's blog that I linked to above often has the most up to date pictures in it. Stay tuned for some exciting news!
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