Oh Yeah, You Blend

So progesterone was 5.4 again this morning. Not lower, which is good, but not higher, so presumably yesterday’s number was real and not a fluctuation.

So we are starting Regumate, which is a synthetic progesterone that they use in horses. It should hopefully help maintain the pregnancy until the puppies are cooked enough.

She is so close to full term now I want to be sure I am doing everything I can while it still seems to be in her best interests. With that in mind: Zhora is acting totally fine, eating well, lots of energy, seems comfortable even though she is large.

I am very grateful that Dr Gray was willing to text with Renee and the other techs here while out of town so we could make a plan and decisions sooner rather than later. I am also glad that we have options which can help and a vet who is up to date on their use!

It does seem that lower levels can be normal for some bitches, and they can even carry to term with “too low” levels, but I’m following Dr Gray’s advice.

Hopefully ultrasound and x rays next week to make sure everything is still ok in there.

I expect my hairstylist is going to be covering a lot more of my gray hairs soon… I will be lucky not to get an ulcer. This is not for the faint hearted.

Lobo (Alkemi Beowulf del Roble LS UD PT RATM CGC NDD TKA) earned his first agility title today with his Novice Agility title! He and his mom Jan have now earned titles in drafting, obedience, Barn Hunt, herding and agility! What an amazing team! That’s what you call versatility!

Hi all. Thank you so much for your kind messages and support over the last year and a half of the rollercoaster we’ve been on since my mum’s diagnosis. Sadly, we learned today that the pancreatic cancer wasn’t going to lie down and take it despite surgery and radiation and chemo, and it has metastasized to her liver. This is in all likelihood a terminal diagnosis (pancreatic cancer is a bitch and a half, she has already lived more than a year beyond the normal prognosis for someone with pancreatic cancer). She is now in palliative care and being well looked after, she is as comfortable as she can be. We have to do what we can to maintain some degree of normal life during this sad time, but please excuse me if I do not want to talk about it or if I am not my normal snarky self, sometimes you need to NOT think about the giant horrible looming inevitable thing in your life, you need to think about puppies and work and shopping and agility in order to stay halfway sane. We have had a long time to prepare ourselves, but that doesn’t really make it suck any less, it just makes us more prepared. I have sadly had a lot of experience in this area over the last several years, and it really does somehow help to know what to expect, even if “what to expect” is, well, what this is. My mum is being her normal brave English self throughout, wisecracking and apologizing for causing such trouble and worrying about us. She’s my mum. The best mum I’ve ever had, and the best one I could have wished for.

Nina qualified in Master Jumpers yesterday for our first MACH points! We also qualified in FAST.

Tish is running beautifully, the weaver is not at 100% functionality but she is running very well and we’re getting some flashes of mojo working.

(I didn’t write this, but I love it)

Not just a brag, not just a stepping stone to a higher title, not just an adjunct to competitive scores, a title is a tribute to the dog that bears it, a way to honor the dog, an ultimate memorial. It will remain in record and in memory for as long as anything in this world can remain. Few humans will do as well or better in that regard.

And though the dog itself doesn’t know or care that its achievements have been noted, a title says many things in the world of humans, where such things count.

A title says your dog was intelligent and adaptable, and good-natured. It says that your dog loved you enough to do the things that please you, however crazy they may have sometimes seemed.

And a title says that you loved your dog, that you loved to spend time with it because it was a good dog, that you believed in it enough to give it yet another chance when it failed, and that, in the end, your faith was justified.

A title proves that your dog inspired you to that special relationship enjoyed by so few; that in a world of disposable creatures, this dog with a title was greatly loved, and loved greatly in return.

And when that dear short life is over, the title remains as a memorial of the finest kind, the best you can give to a deserving friend, volumes of pride in one small set of initials after the name.

A title earned is nothing less than love and respect, given and received, and permanently recorded.

-Sandra Mowery

Nina finished her CPE level 4 Handler Games title (CL4-H) at Boom Towne, Farmington, NY today with a Q in Colors. AND! We got a start line stay more than once!

So…Loki-formerly-Diziet is sleeping her last night in her crate here. I’ve had a good cry. I will miss her terribly. I hope, hope, hope that I’ve made the right decision. She was my first pick after all, until I fell in love with Tish, with her funny little ways and her insistence on becoming part of our family. I guess I know in my heart that this is the right way around, but my goodness…she is a beautiful dog, and so sweet and loving, and it is breaking my heart to see her go. I know her new family will love her and give her the life she deserves, and I know there is no way I could raise two of them and do both justice. I hope she will be happy and bring happiness to her new family.  But…this one really hurts.  I am placing what may well be the best dog of the litter, conformation-wise, because she doesn’t have the temperament I want.  My dogs are pets first, agility dogs second, and show/breeding dogs last, and Tish seems to fit that bill better…so I know my choice might not be someone else’s…but Diziet is so sweet, and so gorgeous, and I love her so much, I can’t believe I’m letting her go, even though I know it’s the right thing to do.  I don’t know if you get used to this or not.

…once the puppies got a taste of the outside world, they want to be out and about all the time! They come out and run around numerous times a day, plus they go outside and run around as well…but they want to be out getting into mischief 24 hours a day now. They are very boisterous now, always wrestling and playing and biting each other, us, Nina, Rakki and anything else they can get their little teeth on.  They have all been on the baby teeter, and they will get the puppy tunnel this week to eat run through.

Clicker training is going well, they all pretty much have “sit” working for them now.  Triangle Boy doesn’t like cheese much, but he loves chicken, and he is so happy to work with you that he doesn’t care if there’s a reward or not, what a good boy!

Tomorrow is temperament testing day!  They will have a whole host of new experiences thrown at them, so we will hope they handle it all well.

My dad died Saturday night at about 10.

About poor Mimi.