So given Scott's suggestion that there was nothing catastrophic Kenz could do at this stage I went ahead and entered her in the NYE Dances with Dogs trial at Gawler. We only needed one more pass her for her heelwork to music starters title before the new rules would require an additional pass and I was pretty confident she would come through for me.
Not really surprised but she came away with 2 passes from her two routines - one in novice freestyle and the other in starters heelwork to music. What did surprise me a little bit was she placed first in both her routines. The other surprise is that if you discount the marks she lost for barking and enthusiasm then effectively she also had the top scoring heelwork to music and freestyle routine of any class on the night.
Any way an awesome way to finish up my birthday - two lovely passes. Clever girl Kenz.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Monday, November 4, 2013
Kenz's Some Slightly Better News....
Have been agonizing over Kenz's appointment with the new ortho for the last couple of weeks. Apparently needlessly so. The report was much better then I anticipated. Scott doesn't feel the MPLs are significant at this point in time and the least of her worries. He had a good feel over the shoulder and felt the musculature on both sides was pretty even and there were no real sore spots anywhere.
As to why she came up so badly lame only recently - its really anybodies guess. A few different pathways from here on - some very expensive options involving MRI/arthroscopic examination and some not so expensive options which might mean a DogLeggs brace to use on her during any activity which I think might cause the shoulder to become a problem (if it really is MSI the issue) or even something like a steroid injection.
Scott was keen to get her in post a collapse episode so both he and Kristen could have a look at her. Not sure if its of any value at this stage so will give it some more considered thought.
He did feel that she could go back to obedience as he didn't think there was anything to drastically against that. Will see how she gets on I guess the option is always there if she suddenly comes up lame again to make another appointment.
Kenz currently weighs 12.8kg.
As to why she came up so badly lame only recently - its really anybodies guess. A few different pathways from here on - some very expensive options involving MRI/arthroscopic examination and some not so expensive options which might mean a DogLeggs brace to use on her during any activity which I think might cause the shoulder to become a problem (if it really is MSI the issue) or even something like a steroid injection.
Scott was keen to get her in post a collapse episode so both he and Kristen could have a look at her. Not sure if its of any value at this stage so will give it some more considered thought.
He did feel that she could go back to obedience as he didn't think there was anything to drastically against that. Will see how she gets on I guess the option is always there if she suddenly comes up lame again to make another appointment.
Kenz currently weighs 12.8kg.
Monday, October 7, 2013
A weekend of trialling - Kenz Rally Advanced Title
Just over a fortnight ago Kenz's world was turned upside down when Ness ruptured her cruciate just one day after her 13th birthday. The last fortnight has been focused on making sure everything would be set for Ness to have surgery. A few questionable blood results indicating potential kidney issues and waiting on a phone call from John with the repeat results have kind of left me a little preoccupied.
Kenz isn't quite sure what life is without having her big sister around. Suffice to say I wasn't really sure what I would get out of her given she has never trialled without Ness being there.
She certainly came through though and did two very nice rounds for her title and a spare leg. Couldn't be more thrilled with her attitude and performance in both rounds. She scored a 94/100 on Saturday with a silly error of jumping the sign rather than the jump and managed to score one better under "spooky" Keith on Sunday with a 95/100.
Kenz is now known as Winpara Dream Chaser CD RA DWDF.S JD
Kenz isn't quite sure what life is without having her big sister around. Suffice to say I wasn't really sure what I would get out of her given she has never trialled without Ness being there.
She certainly came through though and did two very nice rounds for her title and a spare leg. Couldn't be more thrilled with her attitude and performance in both rounds. She scored a 94/100 on Saturday with a silly error of jumping the sign rather than the jump and managed to score one better under "spooky" Keith on Sunday with a 95/100.
Kenz is now known as Winpara Dream Chaser CD RA DWDF.S JD
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Kenz's First Tracking Trial
With much trepidation Kenz was entered in her first tracking trial today. Track 1, 400m, 2 turns of ~90 degrees, 20-40 min time delay. Karron had agreed to lay her track as the "known" track layer. The day was forecast much warmer then I would have wanted and Kenz was scheduled as being the second track out for the day.
I had to rush from laying a track and then go out and run Kenz and to say I was stressed about how she would cope was a bit of an understatement. I was constantly processing and looking for signs of her struggling and didn't do a very good job of trusting her.
Judge Josie told me to trust my dog after she indicated the first corner and I didn't believe her. She then fluffed around and got frustrated and I was getting stressed out. She found the article and then went down the second leg only to get caught around the tree on the second corner. In the process of untangling she again fluffed around at the corner. I could see the frustration level increasing and with the warmer temperatures I was worried she wasn't going to make it.
In the end we sorted out the corner and she tracked down the final leg where luckily I spied Karron and it was a matter of just waiting for Kenz to find her which she did. Karron was met with plenty of squeaking :).
I cost Kenz some gradings but in the end she came away with a "Good" and passed her Track 1.
I am so proud of my little girl. Its a battle against her issues but she had a blast out there. I won't say it wasn't without "cost". She was struggling on her RH this afternoon and then was also lame in her front end. She has been well drugged tonight and will have a few very easy days of not very much.
I did let her have a bit of a play with Seeker on-lead and she had a ball though - a small price to pay to see her happy :).
I had to rush from laying a track and then go out and run Kenz and to say I was stressed about how she would cope was a bit of an understatement. I was constantly processing and looking for signs of her struggling and didn't do a very good job of trusting her.
Judge Josie told me to trust my dog after she indicated the first corner and I didn't believe her. She then fluffed around and got frustrated and I was getting stressed out. She found the article and then went down the second leg only to get caught around the tree on the second corner. In the process of untangling she again fluffed around at the corner. I could see the frustration level increasing and with the warmer temperatures I was worried she wasn't going to make it.
In the end we sorted out the corner and she tracked down the final leg where luckily I spied Karron and it was a matter of just waiting for Kenz to find her which she did. Karron was met with plenty of squeaking :).
I cost Kenz some gradings but in the end she came away with a "Good" and passed her Track 1.
I am so proud of my little girl. Its a battle against her issues but she had a blast out there. I won't say it wasn't without "cost". She was struggling on her RH this afternoon and then was also lame in her front end. She has been well drugged tonight and will have a few very easy days of not very much.
I did let her have a bit of a play with Seeker on-lead and she had a ball though - a small price to pay to see her happy :).
Thursday, July 25, 2013
The latest in the run of "bad luck"...
Despite some improvements around home with the stairs and life generally Kenz has been having a few random screaming issues and a bit of front end lameness. I have been putting off getting Matthew's opinion over John's thoughts re further MPL surgery because I was quite happy living in a bit of a state of denial. That is until she started refusing her "beg" trick and I started to see a little to much front end short striding.
So yesterday the girls were back to see Matthew for a check up. The "good" news is that Matthew felt the patellas weren't significant enough to warrant surgery. They seemed to withstand a reasonable amount of pressure and remain in the groove correctly. He didn't doubt that they were still able to luxate just that he didn't want to push it to that point.
That was about the best of the news he had re Kenz. He said he could feel lots (presumably scar tissue) in her LH stifle. Her back was showing significant evidence of roaching. He made a few adjustments to her sacroiliac joints which should help with the extension and movement as she was pretty jammed up through there.
The news he gave me over the front right shoulder wasn't especially good. Matthew feels that Kenz has medial shoulder instability :(. The interesting thing is only a month prior John figured the shoulder felt fine. Hindsight is probably that at the time Kenz went to John I had been resting her pretty heavily for the 6 weeks prior aside from twice weekly UWTM sessions and lots of drugs. Over this last month I have basically said screw it and eased her back into life.
Any way Matthews general view is that I shouldn't worry about putting Kenz through further MPL surgery with the front end bothering her as much as she is. He also doesn't feel we have a full handle on what is going on.
We spoke about appropriate pain management and working within her present limitations - that unfortunately also means her obedience days are over. She is still allowed to do tracking so long as its at a moderate pace.
Have organised more meds from John as she is just about out of her latest supply. I have her entered in a Track 1 tracking trial in a fortnight so she is on fairly heavy exercise restrictions and pain meds as necessary until then in the hope that she can get around her track.
Included in this blog post are a couple of photos taken last weekend at the tracking trial when Ness passed her track 3 for her TD title and we were busy chilling at the oval waiting for presentation.
So yesterday the girls were back to see Matthew for a check up. The "good" news is that Matthew felt the patellas weren't significant enough to warrant surgery. They seemed to withstand a reasonable amount of pressure and remain in the groove correctly. He didn't doubt that they were still able to luxate just that he didn't want to push it to that point.
That was about the best of the news he had re Kenz. He said he could feel lots (presumably scar tissue) in her LH stifle. Her back was showing significant evidence of roaching. He made a few adjustments to her sacroiliac joints which should help with the extension and movement as she was pretty jammed up through there.
The news he gave me over the front right shoulder wasn't especially good. Matthew feels that Kenz has medial shoulder instability :(. The interesting thing is only a month prior John figured the shoulder felt fine. Hindsight is probably that at the time Kenz went to John I had been resting her pretty heavily for the 6 weeks prior aside from twice weekly UWTM sessions and lots of drugs. Over this last month I have basically said screw it and eased her back into life.
Any way Matthews general view is that I shouldn't worry about putting Kenz through further MPL surgery with the front end bothering her as much as she is. He also doesn't feel we have a full handle on what is going on.
We spoke about appropriate pain management and working within her present limitations - that unfortunately also means her obedience days are over. She is still allowed to do tracking so long as its at a moderate pace.
Have organised more meds from John as she is just about out of her latest supply. I have her entered in a Track 1 tracking trial in a fortnight so she is on fairly heavy exercise restrictions and pain meds as necessary until then in the hope that she can get around her track.
Included in this blog post are a couple of photos taken last weekend at the tracking trial when Ness passed her track 3 for her TD title and we were busy chilling at the oval waiting for presentation.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 14 and other fun and games...
Yesterday I came home from work and drove the girls to the bush track for a gentle stroll in the afternoon sun. Let Kenz out the car and from the moment she got out she was a serious mess. I couldn't work out why she was really quiet when I got home yesterday afternoon as normally she is all over me wanting to do stuff.
Poor girl we hardly got very far at all and most of the time she was lagging behind to the point where when I offered to carry her and she was more then happy to be in my arms. Ness on the other hand was racing around like a mad things charging up the path and turning around impatiently waiting for us to catch up. So very unlike Kenz to be not up the front.
She also had some issues with her LH patella popping out :(. I bought her home and gave her an anti-inflam and put her to bed for the night. I was seriously wondering if I should cancel her UWTM session today because she was really a bit of a mess.
Kenz woke up this morning though full of life and so I went ahead with her UWTM session. Managed to get them to increase the speed up to 2 MPH and she had 1 x 5 min session and 2 x 6 min sessions. No problems, slept a little bit in the car on the way home but hit the ground running and was feral from the moment we got home. All good signs :). If we are going to continue with UWTM Robby has suggested working up to 30-35 minute at a rate of between 2 and 3 MPH. I am not sure whether its value for money at this stage so will give it a bit of consideration over the weekend.
This afternoon we headed out for another walk and she was back to normal. Leading up front just as she should be.
She has also run up and down the stairs a couple of times this afternoon.
Our other "homework" has been to work on the penguin trick. I have finally managed to fade out the hand touch to get the behavior.
Here is the latest effort from tonights training session -
Poor girl we hardly got very far at all and most of the time she was lagging behind to the point where when I offered to carry her and she was more then happy to be in my arms. Ness on the other hand was racing around like a mad things charging up the path and turning around impatiently waiting for us to catch up. So very unlike Kenz to be not up the front.
She also had some issues with her LH patella popping out :(. I bought her home and gave her an anti-inflam and put her to bed for the night. I was seriously wondering if I should cancel her UWTM session today because she was really a bit of a mess.
Kenz woke up this morning though full of life and so I went ahead with her UWTM session. Managed to get them to increase the speed up to 2 MPH and she had 1 x 5 min session and 2 x 6 min sessions. No problems, slept a little bit in the car on the way home but hit the ground running and was feral from the moment we got home. All good signs :). If we are going to continue with UWTM Robby has suggested working up to 30-35 minute at a rate of between 2 and 3 MPH. I am not sure whether its value for money at this stage so will give it a bit of consideration over the weekend.
This afternoon we headed out for another walk and she was back to normal. Leading up front just as she should be.
She has also run up and down the stairs a couple of times this afternoon.
Our other "homework" has been to work on the penguin trick. I have finally managed to fade out the hand touch to get the behavior.
Here is the latest effort from tonights training session -
Monday, June 24, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 13 and not so great news...
Will start with the not so great news...
Kenz has had a few issues again with her LH patella luxating over the last weekend. I also had an email from John regarding what I had seen the weekend before in relation to both patellas slipping and Kenz ending up balancing herself on her front limbs.
The current recommendations from John are as follows:
Surgery for the right MPL
4 weeks of rest
recheck exam with radiographs
if all looks good, start slow UWTM at 4 weeks post op
recheck at 6 and 8 weeks
By 8 weeks, if all is doing well, we could do the left MPL at that time.
If only my life would start working out and I could afford to put Kenz through further surgery. Never mind the fact we will be facing 4 months more crate rest for the poor girl.
This afternoon was her usual Monday UWTM session. She happily managed 3 x 5 min sessions at a speed of around 1.9 MPH. She looked great once she settled and didn't seem to show any signs of a problem. Particularly hopeful for me considering she has been showing a slight tendency to short striding in her front end over the last few days.
So we are still taking things a day at a time and hoping we can continue to avoid what is looking like inevitable further surgery.
Kenz has had a few issues again with her LH patella luxating over the last weekend. I also had an email from John regarding what I had seen the weekend before in relation to both patellas slipping and Kenz ending up balancing herself on her front limbs.
The current recommendations from John are as follows:
Surgery for the right MPL
4 weeks of rest
recheck exam with radiographs
if all looks good, start slow UWTM at 4 weeks post op
recheck at 6 and 8 weeks
By 8 weeks, if all is doing well, we could do the left MPL at that time.
If only my life would start working out and I could afford to put Kenz through further surgery. Never mind the fact we will be facing 4 months more crate rest for the poor girl.
This afternoon was her usual Monday UWTM session. She happily managed 3 x 5 min sessions at a speed of around 1.9 MPH. She looked great once she settled and didn't seem to show any signs of a problem. Particularly hopeful for me considering she has been showing a slight tendency to short striding in her front end over the last few days.
So we are still taking things a day at a time and hoping we can continue to avoid what is looking like inevitable further surgery.
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