Oh Yeah, You Blend

One week ago we lost Tish. Fourteen years and nine months to the day since I held her as she entered this world. Last Sunday, we held her as she left it.

Tish was born in our very first litter. I knew I wanted to keep a girl with a tail, and she was one of only two who fit that description. The other girl was prettiter, significantly. But Tish…Tish had something about her. I just really liked her. I couldn’t imagine her leaving. So she stayed.

Tish loved everyone and everything from the very start. For all that she was an excitable, over-aroused, barky little weirdo, she was also the sweetest, kindest, most generous, and friendliest little dog. She loved everyone and everything. She loved men, women, ESPECIALLY children (she would turn inside out with joy around children, I always half wanted to see if she could be a therapy dog, but she was SO excitable). She loved big dogs, little dogs, male dogs, female dogs, puppies, old dogs. She just loved, that was her calling.

Tish loved Bert when he visited that summer:

Tish loved to lie in the sun, we called her Suntish.

She loved to be outside on the deck.

She had shark teeth.

She didn’t love agility trials, but she tried her best for me anyway. Eventually I respected the fact that she was saying “no thank you” to trials, and retired her.

She especially loved when we had visitors, and she’d sit and wait for whoever it was to get up in the morning.

She loved her family.

We installed a storm door with a dog door in the spring, and she loved it. She could indulge her inner Gladys Kravitz

Tish loved Jim.

A couple of months ago, Tish developed a corneal ulcer in her right eye. It was bad, as deep as it can be. Her eye was at risk for rupture. We stayed up all night giving eye drops. We went to the eye doctor so. Many. Times. And Tish withstood the eye drops. So many eye drops. And the cone. And the brief encounter with the OptiVizor. And Jim and I did it, We saved her eye. She got cleared to lose the cone and that was wondrous. And she was an absolute trooper through the whole thing, she handled it with grace. Jim had been saying for a long time that Tish was having the best time of her life as an old lady. She was a high quality old lady.

Looking back I really do think that while she’d probably rather NOT have had the ulcer, it did mean she was the center of attention for the whole summer. And I am selfishly glad for that now. I spent more time with her, more of my time was about her.

Monday September 9th Dr Mineo the ophthalmologist said she was doing great, come back in a few months for a recheck. We were thrilled. But I also had a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. Tish had been stumbling over the last week or two. It had come on gradually but it was definitely getting worse.

Her appetite, which had been great for an old dog with failing kidneys, had gradually disappeared.

I ran bloodwork that Monday. Her kidney values were overall a titch worse but really pretty stable. But her proBNP, which indicates stretch on the myocardium, which can indicate possible heart failure, was through the roof. And of course doc was going away the end of that week.

So I took her back to work on Wednesday. The heart murmur she’d had was gone. Sometimes that happens because it happens, and sometimes that happens because the chordae tendinae, the cords that anchor the heart valves, have detatched, which can be catastrophic. But she had no cardiac symptoms whatsoever except the wobbliness. She wasn’t pale or shocky, her x-rays were normal. We didn’t know what was wrong, but something was wrong.

We decided to give her an appetite stimulant. Saturday morning before I left for agility I gave her a dose. She ate a whole jar of baby food for me. Jim offered her food throughout the day, and while she did eat some that morning, her appetite waned again and by the time I got home she was looking terrible. She did manage to get up to greet me (before Trulli knocked her over by mistake), but as the evening wore on, she started fading away.

Jim stayed up with her that night. He said she got up and marched around a couple of times, then he found her beside the little donut bed she loved, so he put her back into it, and by the time I got up Sunday morning it was clear that she was on her way out. Peacefully (natural death isn’t always peaceful, but sometimes it really is just drifting away). Jim and Tish had always had a special bond, and I know she knew he was with her.

I picked her up, bed and all, grabbed a blanket for her, and took her outside. I put her, cozy in her bed, on the deck, facing the sunrise. We sat there with her for a long time, the other dogs in and out, sniffing, snoozing, more or less a normal Sunday morning.

I hope she could smell her beloved outside (Tish would have lived outside if we’d let her). I hope she could see and feel the sunshine one last time. Her beloved Jim was with her, I was with her. Her dog family was with her, and each came to say goodbye in turn, as they often will.

Then she really was gone.

I will miss cuddling with her while napping on the couch. No dog will ever be as good at that as Tish was. I will miss how happy and welcoming she was to every person and every dog who ever came here. She would be so excited about vistors she would SHOUT about it (Tish loved the shouting).

She stayed with Zap and Sherry when Jim came with me to the first Agility Invitational Nina was invited to. She attended their wedding. When she came home her voice was gone, and I asked them just how much barking had gone on, and they said “oh not much”. Like liars. Heh heh.

Tish barked. A lot. Tish was anxious. Very. Tish was irritating sometimes. Tish was frustrating sometimes. But Tish was also the sweetest. The kindest. The happiest. All of the time. She could find a way to get along with everyone and everything. She was an agent of peace. A very loud agent of peace.

There is a Tish-shaped hole here now. We miss you our little fish.

If there’s something after, I hope you have found Rakki and Nina, and are barking your fool head off.

Good friends and good people helped us through more than I can say.

Tish (Alkemi Alpina LS OA OAJ NF CL2 CL3-S), January 15, 2010 – September 15, 2024

As I’ve posted about here, Evie has been a bit challenging for me. She’s not giving me a hard time, she’s having a hard time as they say. We have struggled with connection, focus, and trial stress/excitement leading to zoomies and visiting. We did several months of FEO.

But!

With loads of help from Sue (including her pointing me to Jess Martin’s Focus30 course), I feel really positive about how things are headed with her.

Sometimes I should also listen to my own coaching. I tell my students all the time not to fix things, then I go and fix things. Then we disconnect and anything good that had been happening is undone. I am so glad I video everything because it’s absolutely stark.

Here’s what happens when I fix things:

Here’s what happens when I don’t:

Evie Excellent FAST:

Evie Time2Beat:

…a total eclipse of the…sun?

When Riley’s people asked about another puppy, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. They loved Riley so much I knew my little blue collar boy had hit the jackpot. He was called Connelly while he was a baby, because the B litter were born on my sister’s birthday, and her name is Jennifer, so all the puppies were named after famous Jennifers. He was the third to be born, so he was Connelly (Aniston, Beals, Connelly etc)

He had a long white v-neck sweater white chest, with a little gray spot. He was adorable, and I knew Nichole and Chris would be his perfect home.

His new big brother Riley welcomed him and taught him how to be a good boy and also how to get all the snacks.

Nichole’s Instagram is filled with pictures of their dogs living their best lives. Their Sunday Funday adventures, their travels in cars and on boats. Their dogs are family.

Colby learned agility and even got some titles! But most importantly he was loved, he went places and did things. He never met a stranger, pretty well everyone he met was his favorite person. His tail wagged constantly and he always looked happy to be wherever he was, even at the vet!

After a while, he lost his big brother Riley, but then he welcomed (after a while 😉 ) his little sister Jovie. He taught Jovie the things Riley had taught him: how to get the snacks, how to bark properly, how to go for walks and love Sunday Fundays.

I am so sad for Nichole and Chris. So, so sad. They are the most amazing people. They love their dogs fiercely. They do everything right. The world is a better place because of people like them. I know their hearts are broken and I wish there was some way to unbreak them.

Colby loved them for his whole life, and I know they will love him for the rest of theirs.

Colby came into this world on a Sunday, and he left on a Sunday too. I know his big brother Riley was there to welcome him with a wagging tail.

(almost all images by Nichole and Chris B)

Today was Jovie’s pregnancy check ultrasound and unfortunately there are no baby Jovies on board.

I am still planning a litter for this year, but if you have sent me an application and do NOT wish to be kept on the list for a 2024 litter, please let me know. I generally don’t start seriously going through the applications until I know I have puppies on the way, so if I haven’t reached out to you, that’s why.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

It do be like this sometimes.

After multiple progesterone tests, Jovie finally ovulated last Tuesday (we’re calling it January 23rd).

So Kat kindly agreed to meet me halfway between us in Herkimer NY last Thursday and the breeding took place!

The sire will be Foxberry Wookiefoot. He’s a lovely red natural bobtailed boy with a super sweet and stable temperament, so reds and bobtails are a possibility!

Now we wait! More updates soon!

Jovie’s people texted me this morning to say she was on day 1 of her season already! I’d just checked my records and thought we had at LEAST another month.

So today was a lot of scrambling around to get my ducks in a row (you know, like getting her established with my awesome repro vet, which I’ve been meaning to do for months).

I don’t know if they’re in a row yet, but at least I think I have ducks now.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

Here’s my application if you’re interested in a puppy from me. A reminder that I don’t do “first come first served”, I match puppies to homes, although I do consider homes in the order I receive applications.

(oh, and it’s “timing”)

We are excited to announce we are planning a litter for 2024! The sire is still TBD (although we have a pretty nice shortlist!), and the dam will be the lovely CH Alkemi Daydream LT. Jovie is a speed demon in agility, has a tremendous work ethic, and is sweet and gentle with people and dogs alike. And she’s pretty too!

Our application is here

I’d thought last year was the last year Zhora and I would travel to Florida for the Invitational.

Then she got invited again, and I thought “why the fuck not?”.

So we went. Ruth and Orbit came with us to show. The drive down was a doddle.

In all the years I’ve gone to the Invitational thanks to the awesome dogs I have and have had the honor of running with, I have never had a dog have a perfect weekend. There’s always been one little thing that costs us a Q.

Not this year.

At 11 years old, Zhora managed to lay down FIVE OUT OF FIVE clean runs. She was pretty over it by the last round, and needed some cheerleading. Jumpers has never been her favorite, and you do TWO Jumpers courses at the Invitational, you start and finish with them. At the time I wondered if she was sore, but watching the videos, I think she was just tired and rolling her eyes at another Jumpers course. She was bright and sparkly in the courses with contacts (Standard and Hybrid), so while I came home feeling guilty for making her finish her weaves in the last round because I was worried she was uncomfortable, I don’t think that was the case.

That Sunday Jumpers course, the last of the weekend, was the only time I think I have ever asked Zhora to do agility “for me” like that, and I didn’t like that feeling at all. I have always seen agility as absolutely a team sport, and my dogs absolutely do get to have opinions about what they do and don’t do. It goes against my basic philosophy to “insist”, but once in a blue moon maybe it’s ok.

She finished 35th out of 175 dogs. and was the 15th out of 66 bred by exhibitor dogs.

I couldn’t be more proud of her. She has been an amazing and professional partner (in addition to just being a great pet and lovely dog to live with), she has always given 110%, and I feel like we both laid it down this time. She will go back into semi retirement now, she’ll still run until I feel like she doesn’t want to anymore, but she’ll do one day a weekend or so.

Zhora Friday Time 2 Beat:

Zhora Saturday Round 1 Jumpers:

Zhora Saturday Round 2 Standard:

Zhora Sunday Round 3 Hybrid:

Zhora Sunday Round 4 Jumpers:

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The drive back….was something.

I glanced at the forecast and saw there was a storm pending, but it looked like we’d outrun it.

We didn’t.

Partway through Virginia the road signs started warning about winter storms and a need to be prepared. The skies up ahead started looking threatening and I started getting a bit worried.

Then, halfway up a mountain in West Virginia the snow appeared and literally we went from dry roads and normal visibility to 20 feet or so of visibility and so much snow I was finding the road using the rumble strips. If we hadn’t been behind a truck so I could follow its wheelmarks, I don’t know what we’d have done.

And then when we got to the top of the mountain, back to dry roads. But that was enough, we stopped for the night in Clarksburg.

Despite my doomscrolling about the weather, we made a later start the next morning and the roads and weather were absolutely fine the whole way home.

I am so very, very proud of my amazing Zhora. She’s a consummate professional working dog. She travels well, she tolerates changes in temperature, climate, location, you name it, with grace. She tolerates hotels, cars, loud and oppressive environments, other dogs, people, and lots of crate time, with equanimity. She’s amazing.

I sure don’t.

Yesterday if I stuck my nose right up to something I’d get one single very muted whiff of its odor, then nothing.

Today?

Not even that.

It’s super bizarre. I can’t taste anything at all. I can still taste sweet, salty, bitter, sour, etc, but absolutely no flavor whatsoever.

I hope this goes away. There are kits you can get to help retrain your nose and brain to smell. At least I’m not the only one and this has been a symptom for a long time so there’s been some research.

But suddenly losing two out of five senses? Not great.

Realllllllly not great.