On Saturday, we celebrated with cake from Gourmutt's Bakery (they did a lovely job, as always).
Duncan also got some cookies from his Aunt Mary.
The birthday boy was very patient while we took photos.
Right up until he decided he was ready for the cake, that is.
This year, Duncan decided he was old enough to eat his cake in bed.
As part of his birthday celebration (although the timing could be a coincidence), I decided to start slowly reducing his phenobarb dose. Even with the small reduction, I'm already seeing signs of improvement. He's showing interest in his jolly ball again, and tonight he jumped two in a row four times! Another indication that lowering the dose is a good thing - Duncan put a beat down on Kodiak when the pup snarked at him a little while ago. Duncan had gotten to where he would try to hide from Kodiak rather than stand up for himself. Tonight, though, Duncan obviously remembered that he is the big dog!
Happy birthday to a wonderful boy! May you have many, many more!
Earlier this year, as I was scanning the list of classes offered by Teamworks Dog Training for what had to be the 8,000th time, I decided it was time to get more information about the Virtual Agility League. I was trying to find classes that Kodiak could take and, ideally, pass without having multiple meltdowns. Nothing looked particularly promising, but I knew I needed to keep him in training of some kind. I contacted Michele Godlevski (owner of Teamworks and founder of VALOR agility), told her about my dogs and asked if she thought VALOR might be something worth trying. Naturally, she said yes. I decided to start with Duncan since I didn't know anything about agility and I didn't want to risk screwing up Kodiak before he had a chance. As we all know, Duncan took to jumpers agility just fine, as long as I run the course in a way that compensates for his natural tendencies. For various reasons, Kodiak didn't actually have his first agility lesson until June 17.
Kodiak had a very hard time with his pre-agility class, he stresses over new people and places and things and sounds and textures and smells and everything else, and he often forgets that something he did yesterday didn't actually kill him, so I wasn't really expecting a lot for his first lesson. Not surprisingly, he was concerned about the gate to the agility field and all of the new equipment. Somewhat surprisingly, he was taking cookies from Michele (although not quite ready for petting) and not too worried about her being in his general area shortly after the lesson started. We worked him on jumps (which he loves) and tunnels (which he likes) and the table (which terrified him). It was really nice to watch his ears and tail perk up every time he sailed over a jump. He wasn't too interested in paying attention, so we kept him on leash for that session.
His second lesson was the following week. Jumps - yay! Tunnels - okay! Gate - scary! However, he was willing to get on the table that time. Big yay! He also took several obstacles off leash with only occasionally having to be directed away from the fence. The biggest thing, though, was the plank. Michele had a flat plank on the ground that we wanted Kodiak to walk along. The first time, I had to put him on the plank. The second time, he eeeeeeeeased himself on and managed to walk without looking too stressed. Off to the jumps for a break, and then an amazing thing occurred. We were going past the plank on our way to something else and Kodiak deliberately walked over to the plank, stepped on it, and walked its length. Twice. I say again, it was an amazing thing. I was so proud of my little boy! Michele and I were both very excited about his progress and she mentioned that for his next lesson, we should see if we could get him to touch the A-frame. Crazy idea, right?
Monday was Kodiak's third agility lesson. This is where I remind you that Kodiak has consistently demonstrated that he is afraid of the world. Keep that in mind. Third lesson, afraid of the world. He seemed a bit skittish, so we decided to keep him on leash so he would have the physical connection with me. We started with jumps and tunnels, then headed off to the table. "The table? Oh, yeah, I've been sitting on the table for years." Everything was going well, so we headed for the A-frame, hoping we could get him to touch it, figuring we'd be feeding him lots of treats the whole time. He walked towards the A-frame, stopped, looked at it, and then strolled right up the thing without a care in the world. He stopped at the top, looked around ("I'm king of the world!"), and strolled down the other side. You could have knocked me and Michele over with a feather. We turned him around and up he went, no resemblance at all to the pup who was completely freaked out by the little baby ramp in the pre-agility class a few short months ago. The plank thing? From the week before? That was nothing compared to this. And Kodiak wasn't done.
The A-frame went so well that we said what the heck, let's try the dog walk! Michele wanted to start him nice and slow (its much narrower than the A-frame) so she had him step on the lower portion from the side and walk down. Kodiak seemed a bit confused by that, but he was willing to humor the silly humans. After a couple of tries, Michele told me to pick him up and put him a little higher on the ramp facing the ground so that all he had to do was walk to safety. We did that once and then Kodiak decided to take matters into his own paws. I was getting ready to pick him up again when he strolled right up the ramp, along the full length of the dog walk and down the other side, no worries at all. He immediately turned around and did it again. Apparently, he didn't need to start nice and slow.
After such unprecedented success, we figured we'd break out the video camera and see if we could take him through an entire course off leash. I still think it was a good idea, even though it didn't work. It turned out that Michele is okay, but Michele with a video camera is worrying. Kodiak couldn't get his focus back on me and kept turning to see what Michele was doing. To distract him, I decided to take him over a couple of jumps. Well, I distracted him all right - I forgot he was on leash and didn't manage to get it over the jump support, which resulted in the leash pulling the jump over right after Kodiak's front paws hit the ground. That was it for him; he wouldn't go over any jump after that without me literally pulling (or pushing) him over it. I have to admit I'm actually surprised that was the first time I'd ever done that with him. Even though running the course was no longer an option, we had him go over the A-frame and dog walk a couple more times so that he would end the lesson on a good note. He wasn't as enthusiastic as earlier, but he was still willing to do the obstacles. The video is a little dark (it was nearly 9pm) but you can see him on the A-frame. On the dog walk, you can mostly see his brown legs.
He has a lesson next week and I'm hoping he'll be willing to go over the jumps by then. I've managed to get him to jump the one we have in the back yard, so maybe he'll be okay (enough) by Monday. Paws crossed... Regardless of how things ended, I'm so excited about how far he's come in only three lessons. I really do think VALOR agility is going to be a wonderful thing for him.
Duncan made it a whole 36 days between grand mal seizures this time. I think he had a partial seizure Thursday before I got home, although I'm not positive. I know for a fact, though, that he had a GM Thursday night. I swear he's deliberately starting to pick awkward spots where he could hurt himself - this time he was smashed up against the entertainment center and I had to work at keeping him from bashing his head into it.
Dr. Lapham and I talked a few days prior to the seizure and agreed that if he had another GM we'd add Keppra to his meds. So now he gets Phenobarbital twice a day and Keppra three times a day. Duncan had his first dose of Keppra Saturday morning and the side effects hit him hard and fast. When he walks, he looks drunk. He can't get two legs to go in the same direction without really paying attention. If anyone bumps him, he falls over. He's peeing and pooping on himself because he can't balance and keep all four legs out of the way. And my formerly bomb-proof dog now startles at almost anything. I know we're just at day three with this new combo but I really hope he can get past these side effects quickly. He's not a happy boy, and I really hate seeing him this way.
To add to the drama, Duncan started having a lot of trouble with his back end a couple of weeks ago. Lots of foot dragging and twisting, and standing/walking much too low on his hocks. I took him to see Dr. L and his theories are that its either long-term damage to the joints courtesy of the med-induced weight gain (my pony weighed in at 127lbs a week and a half ago - he should be 115lbs) or nerve damage that's too minor to spot with regular tests but significant enough to cause trouble. In other words, Dr. L has no idea. So we wait and see if anything changes, or if he gets bad enough that the folks at the vet school might be able to actually find the problem. Assuming I could afford to take him there, of course.
I was trying to get Duncan swimming once a week or so to help strengthen his back legs and lose some of the weight, but I guess that's on hold for a bit. Even though he wears a life jacket when he swims, I don't want him in water that's over his head while he's having so much trouble with his coordination. Lucky for us, we managed to get in a session this past week the day before his seizure. These pictures are from a few weeks ago (taken by James Tock) - he doesn't need the long leash anymore to show him where to go. For a pup who wouldn't get in water deeper than his belly unless I was swimming next to him, he sure does seem to enjoy splashing in the pool.
Duncan made it almost exactly four weeks between grand mal seizures. His last one was Tuesday, April 17, and after that one we increased his dosage of Phenobarb. This morning, he had two grand mals back-to-back at 2:50am. The first one lasted about a minute, he was clearly post-ictal for another minute, and then he fell over and had a second grand mal lasting about 45 seconds. Then another minute or so of post-ictal, followed by some ice cream once he was up and moving. After his usual twenty minutes of anxious pacing and a meaty snack he went to sleep, the lucky pup. I stayed up with him until nearly 4:00, just to make sure another seizure wasn’t waiting for me to turn my back. I finally managed to fall asleep when my clock went off at 5:00.
I don’t know what we’re going to change, if anything. I’m waiting on the vet to give me a call. Duncan’s still having a hard time with the side effects from the Pheno so I really don’t want to increase the dose again. Unfortunately, I think he’s also had two partial seizures since we increased the dose the last time. I didn’t witness either one, but I saw evidence of a partial both times. Maybe we’ll look at adding a second medication to the Pheno to see if the combination helps. I’m sure there will be more side effects, though.
This past weekend, Duncan and I had an APDT Rally trial scheduled (four trials over two days). Normally, I would have entered him in all four trials ahead of time, but because of the seizures and meds I decided to do day-of entries. That gave me the option to enter him based on how he was doing at the time. My hope was that we would finish up two titles. Duncan needed two qualifying Level 1 runs (score of 170 or better) to finish his RL1X title. He also needed two QQ's (qualifying runs in Level 1 and Level 2 in the same trial with scores of 190 or better) to finish his ARCH.
We started with Level 1 Saturday morning. Duncan was very spacey and clearly had trouble concentrating on what he was doing. Amazingly, he still managed to get a 187. Its just as well his score was under 190, because I might have felt like I needed to enter him in Level 2. I'm glad I didn't, because I don't think he would have done very well.
Saturday afternoon, we tried Level 1 again. I definitely had Duncan back with me. His focus was great and he responded promptly to every command. He ended up with a 204, finishing his RL1X on a high note. The lady holding the two qualifying ribbons was the morning judge, and the lady holding the fancy RL1X was the afternoon judge.
I was optimistic going into Level 2, but it just wasn't to be. I put Duncan in his crate while I walked the course and then got him back out to keep him warmed up. I really think he had a partial seizure in his crate while I was walking - his behavior changed significantly within that few minutes. He was still focusing, but not like he had been earlier, and he was slower to respond. We started the course, which had a jump as the second exercise. For the second time in his rally career (the first being the first time he ran a course with a jump), Duncan refused the jump. That was an automatic NQ, of course. I decided we'd finish the course, since practice is always good. Duncan did the next couple of exercises with no problem and then I lost him. Even the judge could tell something was wrong because she came up to me and told me to take him out, that he wasn't enjoying himself. Not only was he not having fun, he'd also started having trouble with his back legs. I decided at that point that we wouldn't go back Sunday - there will always be more Rally trials.
After we got home, I figured Duncan would just rest. But no, he wanted to play with Kodiak. Unfortunately, the meds make him clumsy, and when you add in a partial seizure and balance issues, you have a problem. Duncan turned too quickly, lost his balance and fell hard, resulting in yet another rear leg injury. Poor boy, he just can't win. Thankfully, Duncan seemed content to do nothing more than sleep on Sunday. He's not limping anymore, but he's still worrying at the knee a little. I swear, I really wonder sometimes if the meds are doing more harm than good. Preventing seizures is great, of course, but the side effects cause so much trouble on their own.
Today was the last day of VALOR Nationals. It was significantly warmer than yesterday which made running the courses a bit more difficult. Duncan started out energetic, but the heat wiped him out pretty quickly. He ran a clean Intermediate Jumpers course first (I figured we'd get the harder course out of the way) and then a clean Beginner Jumpers course. Other than occasionally thinking maybe he'd like to go around the obstacle rather than through/over it, Duncan did a great job. I really love that VALOR doesn't have a time limit - that means we can run the course at the speed that works for us, as well as take our time lining up for the jumps. VALOR also doesn't disqualify a dog for passing/refusing an obstacle. All you have to do is turn the dog around and try it again.
Here's my pooped pup with all his loot from this weekend. He was happily snoozing away just a few minutes after I took this picture.
Duncan and I had a great weekend. He showed that he enjoys doing agility, which makes me happy. But the absolute best part of this weekend is that we made it through without any seizures. We're 12 days seizure-free and counting!
My boy is awesome! Duncan had a wonderful day at VALOR Nationals today. We started with the Beginner Jumpers Round 2 course. Not only did Duncan have a clean run, but he did it on the first try! I love watching this video and seeing his energy and enjoyment of what we're doing.
Qualifying with this run gave Duncan his Beginner Jumpers title, which means he can continue at the Beginners level to work on his Cum Laude title, as well as move to the Intermediate Jumpers level. For kicks and giggles, we gave the Intermediate course a try. We decided the best plan was to take our time, line Duncan up for each jump, and give him plenty of room to build his momentum. Duncan did a beautiful job, earning his first Intermediate leg on his first attempt.
We have the chance to get another Intermediate leg and a Beginner Cum Laude leg tomorrow. Its supposed to be a lot warmer, so we'll just see how things go. The photographer working today got some great action shots and will hopefully get more tomorrow. I can't wait til I get the disk!
Despite the fact that we've only had two training sessions, Duncan and I are participating in VALOR Nationals this weekend. The league is still small enough that "National" means a group from North Carolina and a group from New Jersey, but its the idea that counts.
Yesterday was the first official day of the event, with an early-bird option Thursday evening. Different Jumpers and Standard agility courses are offered each of the three days, giving teams multiple chances to earn legs. Duncan and I signed up for a late evening slot on Thursday, since I wasn't sure I could get out of work early enough Friday. We only run Jumpers - Standard includes obstacles that neither of us wants to attempt. I was concerned that Duncan might not do too well Thursday as he's still dealing with side effects from the increased dose of Phenobarb (a week and a half seizure-free!). My boy tried so hard, but he knocked a bar on the first run and things went downhill from there.
I decided we'd give it another try Friday (same course, yay!), so we signed up for the last slot at 5:30. I rearranged a few things at work, did a conference call from home and we made it out there with time to spare. We ran our first attempt just after 5:30. Duncan was moving nicely but he knocked two bars - including the very last one. 45 minutes and 6 attempts later, success! And no, Duncan was not running full courses for the 45 minutes. A couple of attempts were aborted at the first or second jump and he had a nice break while we let a couple of other people run their dogs. Unfortunately, it was a good bit warmer than was ideal for Duncan, so by our last run his tongue was hanging practically to his knees. As always, though, Duncan did his best to give me what I asked. Our last run was a lot of work for both of us - we've learned he does best when he basically has to chase me through the course, and if I slow down, he slows down. I also have to line him up and give him plenty of room to build up his speed before each jump. This was not a pretty run, but it was clean, and that's what matters in VALOR. And yes, I am pulling up my pants in a couple of places...it turns out I've lost almost 10lbs since I started back on my meds and I didn't realize how loose those jeans had become. Not to worry, though - I'm wearing a belt today!
We got home around 7:15, I fed the pups and cats and before I could even get my dinner started, Duncan was passed out cold on his bed, snoring away. He was one pooped pup. Not that I can say anything - it was all I could do to stay awake until bedtime.
Last night gave Duncan his second leg towards his Beginner Jumpers title (he earned one a few weeks ago during our training session). Today should be a lot cooler than yesterday, which should help both of us considerably as our run is scheduled for 2:30. Paws crossed we nail it on the first try, or even the second.
This past weekend was a mix of good and bad, fun and frustrating. We started with plans for Duncan to do an agility run. Duncan has recently joined VALOR, which is a virtual agility program. You get the course maps, rent the space, videotape the run and submit it as an entry. Since you can try as many times as you need, every entry should be a Q for the dog. VALOR has a series of levels through which the dog can progress, or you can stay at the beginners level forever. Kodiak will also be joining the league, which I hope will help with a lot of his fear issues.
Brother John had agreed to man the video camera for Duncan's run and then we were going to go to lunch. Unfortunately, an hour before John was supposed to arrive, Duncan had a grand mal seizure. I'd been hoping to lower the dose of phenobarb that he takes - he's still having trouble with the side effects - but it doesn't look like that's an option now. I'm still going to talk to the vet about it, to see if there's something else we can try that might not have such strong side effects on my poor pup. What really worries me this time is that his last pair of grand mals was just about two months ago, when he had about seven months between the first pair and second pair. I say pair because that's what he's done before - a second grand mal a few hours after the first. Saturday was different - the meds must be doing something useful because he only had one grand mal this time. Assuming he didn't have one outside after I'd gone to bed, of course.
Since we'd already made plans, John and I decided to go out for brunch. The rest of my Saturday was quiet, spent doing chores and keeping an eye on Duncan.
Sunday was a busy day. Reyna had a tracking session that morning. She did very nicely - when she felt like it - especially considering she hadn't done any tracking in a long time. The silly girl would show no interest at all, then tear down the track straight to the glove, and then become totally distracted by anything and everything. The trainer just kept shaking his head, looking bewildered. Despite that, he's agreed to continue working with us in hopes that we can get Reyna ready to take a tracking test.
Back home, a quick lunch, and then it was time for yard work. But first, play time! Duncan seemed pretty together so I hitched him to his wagon for some drafting practice. He grinned the entire time we cruised the cul-de-sac. After unhitching Duncan, I took Kodiak for a walk through the neighborhood. He did very well - only once did his tail start to tuck under his belly. We managed to do about a mile and a half before his brain started leaking out his ears. That's huge progress for him. I spent about 30 minutes throwing the ball for Reyna (she was feeling good that day) and then actually managed to fit in some yard work. Not surprisingly, all four of us crashed early.
I should have known things were going too well with Reyna. She hadn't had anything significant wrong since the bump on her rump back in January. Which was a good thing, since pretty much all of my energy was taken up with Dad, Mikey, Per'la, Duncan and Loki.
Last Friday, I was testing out the theory that Ben-Gay might keep Reyna from chewing on her tail. I was drying off her tail and I noticed little streaks of blood on the paper towel. Sigh. I checked her tail and finally found this:
It doesn't look too bad, right? Of course, this being Reyna, I took some photos and sent a couple off to Dr. L so he would be aware of it. His recommendation was to monitor for a week or so and see how it progressed. By Sunday, the red bump was gone. My guess is that Reyna managed to snag it with her paw during on of her many fits of chase-the-tail. It was raw, but not awful. By Monday evening, Reyna was obsessing over the spot and had created a second sore. By Tuesday evening, we had ickiness (I'll spare you that image. But trust me, it was icky). Wednesday morning, Reyna was on her way to the vet. They shaved it and put her on antibiotics for two weeks, hoping we can get ahead of the infection. I also have to hot-pack it and clean it with betadine twice a day. Reyna's very tolerant of that, thankfully, although she's already fighting me on the antibiotics. Here's what it looks like as of Thursday evening:
The top area is the result of the initial mass. The bottom spot is what Reyna contributed. Paws crossed it doesn't get any worse.
Oh, and it turns out that Ben-Gay *will* keep Reyna from chewing her tail. But she doesn't seem to realize its on there until she gets a big mouthful of it. Silly girl.
I'm exhausted, sun-burnt, and my foot is killing me, but it was SOOO worth it! Duncan and I attended a drafting workshop near Charlottesville, VA, yesterday. We left the house at 5:15am, got home at 7:30pm, and were passed out on the couch by 8:30pm. It was a long day but so much fun. The Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Central Virginia hosted the workshop and allowed all breeds to attend. Duncan was the only GSD, but we also saw a Siberian husky, a poodle, two corgis and a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. The workshop was geared primarily towards new dogs and handlers, but there were several advanced handlers there to both help and show their skills. Duncan and I were assisted by Jerry, a fellow who's had drafting dogs for many years - several of them with Master Draft Dog titles.
After taking Duncan through the basic steps of pulling a drag, a sled, and walking with shafts near his face, Jerry quickly realized Duncan was ready to be hitched to a wagon. Duncan definitely liked this wagon a lot more than the cart that was made for him a couple of years ago. This one was much, much lighter and very nicely balanced. Before the morning was over, Duncan was handling bumpy terrain and making turns like he'd been doing it for ages. After lunch, we put Duncan through the paces of a Novice Draft Dog test (without the additional 20lbs he'd have to pull). He did everything just fine, including the weave poles, the narrows, and even backing the cart up. There's a two day Draft Dog test at the end of September near DC - I really hope Duncan and I can get there.
Thursday was my sweet girl's 8th birthday and Saturday was party day.
Aunt Mary gave Reyna a brand new basketball! Reyna wasn't too sure about it at first, but after a bit of shaking and gnawing, she decided it was A Good Thing.
And then it was time for cake! As always, the cake from Gourmutt's Bakery received the Pup Seal of Approval.
Happy birthday, Baby Girl! May you have many, many more.
