This morning we went out rather late to do our duck chores. (I called Lisa and woke her up and we chatted for almost two hours!) The dogs got to run while I watered the ducks and then we went down the lane to drop some mail in the box for pickup. More running ensued. And then, since I was up and out and coupled with the forecast of another potential couple of inches of snow, I decided to stay out with the girls and scoop the yard. Callen is still likely to munch on the available poop-cicles so I have to either not let her outside unattended or keep up with the scooping. I’ve been doing the former but figured that if it snows and the yard is poop free, then she can be let out to play without me having to stand outside and watch her.

That was at 9:30 this morning. It is now 3:45 and we’ve had no snow. But that’s okay. The yard is still poop-less and Callen will be allowed to go out and run without me watching her every move. Something she is bugging me to do right NOW!

So this morning the girls are ‘doing their thing’ here in the kitchen while I get caught up on my computer time. I’m doing a bit of laundry and then we have to carry the holiday table out to Mike’s shed and get it stored for the year. We only use it on Thanksgiving and now, for the first time this year, Christmas. It’s just too big to keep in my tiny house year-round. I’m hoping to find the energy to take the girls for a long walk since they’ve been short-changed on quality time since before Thanksgiving. We’ve gotten in some ball-playing but they really need a good, long walk to work those muscles and air out their brains. I’m also hoping to get Trey some time on the ducks this week if the weather and my energy holds. If I want to trial her at the advanced level next year then I need to take advantage of every break in the weather this winter. It doesn’t help that I don’t enjoy herding as much as I do obedience, but I have to hold up my end of the bargain I made with Trey – she did obedience for me and now I’ll do herding with her.

So another year is drawing to a close and I am thankful for my husband, my extended family, and my friends – both dog and non-dog. And of course I am thankful for Beckett, Trey and Callen!

Tara has gotten more accepting of the dogs being loose in her house as long as they don’t jump up on her or the furniture and also they must leave baby Ellie alone. Well at first they were a bit excited (except Beckett who is on muscle relaxants for her neck injury and was content to stay in her crate). Tara’s house has laminate flooring throughout and the dogs slip a bit as they wriggle around to greet Joel and explore. But after a bit they settled down (or Callen settled as much as a high-energy, seven month old puppy can).

Callen was curious about Ellie, especially when she made noise of any kind. Being as she is still pretty much a puppy we were super-vigilant about keeping an eye on her whenever Ellie was in her little bouncy chair on the floor. Callen would try hard to get Ellie to play and that would include nosing her face and pawing at her, so we would let her sniff once and then have her lie down with a chew toy.

But Trey went into ‘Super-Momma mode’. We first noticed this when we visited on Veterans Day. We had the dogs gated off in the office area because Tara wasn’t eager to have ‘dog germs’ near her week-old baby. That’s okay. We were in her house with her baby, so she gets to make the rules and the dogs were not hurt by those rules. But each time Ellie fussed Trey would yip/bark until we brought Ellie to her to see that everything was okay with the baby. And the same thing happened here over Thanksgiving – Trey ‘mothered’ Ellie and was worried each time she fussed.

So this visit was more of the same with Trey needing to be reassured that Ellie was okay even if she was fussing. When we laid Ellie down in her playpen for some ‘tummy time’ Trey went over and sniffed and then laid down right next to the playpen while Ellie was there. The height of the ‘Super-Momma’ behavior was on Friday afternoon when Ellie was in her seat by the dining room table and we were getting ready for an early supper so I could head home. Joel had just gotten home so Beckett was out to greet him. She was just passing in the vicinity of Ellie when Trey darted out from under the table and put herself between Beckett and Ellie with a snarl and a showing of teeth. She was very definitely guarding the baby.

As cute and endearing as the behavior is, I don’t want Trey to be that possessive of anything or anyone. Dog fights are ugly and loud and bitch fights are downright dangerous, especially if one bitch thinks she’s protecting her young. So I had Trey move away and lie down and had Beckett come over to sniff the baby (not something she really wanted to do as Beckett really has no interest at all in Ellie). Then when Beckett moved away on her own, Joel picked Ellie up out of her chair and removed her from Trey’s almost obsessive mothering.

It really is sweet to see Trey be so ‘involved’ with Ellie to the point of putting herself between both Beckett and Callen if they get too close. But it’s not a behavior I want to encourage to the point of zealousness. Protecting family is a good thing, but guarding behavior isn’t acceptable. But it has put Trey in a good light in Tara’s eyes. She said that she ‘almost likes Trey now’ due to her super-momma-ing. And that is high praise from Tara!

Beckett has all the “classic” signs of cervical pain – reluctance to jump, pain when coming down stairs, stiffness when turning her head in one direction - and also a not so classic but not unheard of sign – difficulty eating hard or crunchy food.

Yesterday at the vet’s office, we spent almost a half an hour evaluating Beckett’s responses to various physical tests. This was all hampered by Beckett’s “normal” attitude at the vet’s which is a low-hung head, hunched shoulders, and a general desire to avoid Matt at all costs. I don’t know who I feel sorrier for – Matt or Beckett – Beckett who just generally hates going to the vet’s or Matt since he’s never done anything to Beckett to warrant the attitude.

Matt did what he (and probably others) calls the “Jane Fonda” test where he takes her muzzle and moves her head in all four directions – up, down, and side to side. No indication of pain or stiffness (or no more than her general resistance to Matt). He then did the same thing with a food lure. Nothing clear-cut but perhaps a bit of hesitation to turn as tightly to her right.

Then he took her to a bigger area and started to lure her into circles in both directions. She wasn’t cooperating and so I told him that I have that trick trained. Matt said, “of course you do” since he’s found that I have a lot of behaviors on cue which have helped in the past. He had me circle her alternately in both directions a couple of times and then had her do three circles clockwise and then three counterclockwise. Bingo! She could do the first three and then once counterclockwise but then she pulled out of it and sat down. I could get her to do it but it wasn’t as tight a circle as in the other direction.

We went back to the exam room and Matt palpated the front of Beckett’s chest and found that she was painful on the right side of her prosturnum, so we are assuming that is where she took the brunt of the blow. Matt said that it’s possible she chipped something off a bone in that area (the point of her shoulder or prosturnum) but he feels that it is more of a deep bruising issue as she moves soundly and was not really lame in the past two weeks since the accident except for the first day or two.

So then came the discussion of whether to do x-rays or not and we decided not, as a picture would only confirm what we’re sure of now.

With the diagnosis in place, we went over the treatment protocol. Beckett has been on Deramaxx (NSAID anti-imflamatory) for two weeks but cervical injuries respond better to steroids. Unfortunately, the two don’t play well together, causing ulcerations of the stomach and GI. Ideally, we’d like to have her off the Deramaxx for 10 days but that isn’t possible with her pain level. So we started a potent stomach-protecting drug (Cytotec) right away. And I had gotten the heads up the day before that they may need her off the Deramaxx so I didn’t give her the morning dose that day, meaning she’d already had a head start of eliminating it from her system. Matt dispensed the dexamethasone injectable for me to take home and I will be talking with him or his tech every day for the next five days. If Beckett needs the injection today, we’ll give it to her, but ideally we’d like to give her another 24 hours off the Deramaxx (and on the Cytotec) to help protect her stomach. I am to continue her Tramadol TID and keep her quiet – no running, jumping, or stairs - which is no problem as she doesn’t feel much like doing any of those things.

The Dexasone should give her immediate pain relief and can last up to 72 hours. That is great except that the 72 hour mark occurs during the weekend and this weekend I am on the road for dog shows and not able to run to the office and get another injection should she need it. So Matt gave me two doses but we are both hopeful that she’ll only need one. But better to be prepared in case!

So short-term pain relief for Beckett is now in the works. Hopefully the Dexasone will calm down the injured cervical vertebrae and they will start to heal. Long-term I am still looking at taking her to the chiropractic vet when she has a bit less pain and see if there is any realignment needing done. So fingers are crossed here that Beckett will soon be out of pain and on the road to recovery.

Before I left Matt told me about another client whose young German shepherd ran into a broken off post. He hit the end of the post with his chest. It knocked his breath out of him but his owner said he sat up and shook it off almost immediately and then continued to run and play. About five minutes later, the dog keeled over and died. The blow to his chest bruised his heart and killed him, much like when kids get hit in the chest with a baseball and die. Too very sad and, yes, this scenario did cross my mind when Beckett’s accident first occurred. Guess she and I were very, very lucky.

Inquisitive puppy noses and their innate desire to ‘taste’ everything are of great concern for two reasons – 1) I don’t want my decorations redecorated with tooth marks and, 2) I don’t want to have to pay for a surgical removal of said decorations from a puppy gut. After having Riley with me thru his first Christmas season, I learned that the tree needs to be in the living room so it’s not in an area where the dogs are constantly, and most of all that an ex-pen in front of and around the tree is a must.

Three years ago the shortest ex-pen I had was 24″ tall and it looked like the tree was in prison. I tended to take it down because I didn’t like the way it looked and of course then Riley would knock something off or try to eat an ornament. This year I have an ex-pen that was made for small animals (guinea pigs, rabbits, etc). It is only 12″ tall and is coated with blue and green plastic – not too unattractive. The height is the best as it gives the dogs a visual barrier but doesn’t hide the tree.

Now it doesn’t prevent the dogs’ tails from sweeping ornaments off the tree, nor does it stop Callen from reaching over and snagging an ornament. But it does give them a physical reminder to stay away from the tree. We made sure not to hang anything too tempting at nose level and the living room is gated off when we’re not in there so constant supervision isn’t required. And the longer the tree is up the less ‘new’ it is and Callen’s curiosity will diminish.

Mike did hang a small metal bell on a branch that sticks out near the ex-pen. After showing it to Callen and ringing it, he hung it on the tree. A bit later Callen was sniffing the tree and her nosing made the bell ring. We didn’t say anything but she backed off from the tree. During the evening she would go by and ‘ring’ the bell – touching it with her nose just enough to make it tinkle.

Callen't bell

It was pretty cute and on the plus side, it was the only ornament she bothered as it apparently has piqued her interest.

But at the beginning of this past week I noticed little signs of pain, mostly a whine when she moved ‘wrong’ or too quickly. I immediately added a Tramadol to her midmorning to help her because Beckett is very stoic about pain so if she was vocalizing about it, then she was hurting pretty bad. The next day she was more uncomfortable so I upped the dosing to twice a day since she was allowed three times a day as needed (PRN). The twice daily dosing seemed to do the trick.

Or so I thought.

On Thanksgiving morning, Beckett headed down the stairs in front of me and got about a third of the way down when she suddenly stopped, yelped, and tried to turn to come back up the stairs. My stairway is an old, narrow, steep farmhouse stairway and even at the best of times it is best to just keep going the direction you started. Well, Beckett figured that out and took another couple of steps down and again cried out and tried to turn around. Thanks goodness for her obedience training as it once again came in handy. I told her to stop and wait which she did until I got down to her and grabbed her ruff. She kept trying to go down the stairs but I held her steady as I stepped over her and then lifted her down the remaining stairs. She was shaking when we got down to the kitchen so I know she was hurting bad.

So now she is on the full dosing of Tramadol and I am carrying her down the stairs each morning. She is still being restricted from playing and running but honestly, she’s not shown any signs that she wants to do those things anyway which is another worry since usually she is all bouncy and wants to engage in any type of play with me. I know the Tramadol makes her sleepy but I also know that it’s pain that is also keeping her quiet.

My heart is hurting to see her in pain. I’m calling the vet this morning just to “check in” and let them know what is going on with her. My vet is on vacation until Monday morning but will call me when he gets the message and we will reassess what is going on with Beckett. I am thinking I’m going to have to drive down to Arthur for a visit with the chiropractor/acupuncture vet. With the sort of impact that Beckett’s body took, I’m sure something is out of alignment and that an adjustment (or two) is needed to help her out.  But for now I’ll have to rely on the drugs to help her relax and allow her body to heal.

So Beckett’s and Trey’s “racing game” finally resulted in an accident as I knew it eventually would. Little 37# Beckett ran full-tilt into a cedar fence post and sheared it off at ground level, damaging the 2×6 boards that were attached.

A 2x6 board that was damaged in the accident

Sheared off at ground level

Not rotten - solid to the center

Fortunately the fence and post sustained most of the damage. Beckett was in severe pain just after the accident and for the following 12 hours or so, but suffered no major injuries – amazingly. This morning, 48 hours later, she is showing no signs at all of the trauma she suffered. I don’t know how she managed to not be seriously injured (or dead) but am thanking God that she is okay.

The post was solid to the center and when it snapped off it was like a rifle shot. But Beckett’s painful screams were even worse. I was sure I would find broken bones or blood and when I didn’t, I feared severe internal injuries. But somehow she dodged that bullet. I expect a full recovery for my old girl (she is 9 1/2), but what a SCARY experience!

Herding in competition is not something I like to do. I do like watching dogs do what they’ve been bred to do. I like the bond that develops from spending time with my dog as we train in any venue. I even enjoy (most times) training my dog on her herding skills (and I use that term loosely). But I do not like trialling in herding. So it takes longer for me to recover mentally from a L-O-N-G weekend doing something I don’t particularly like. And then you add into that the club politics and different personalities of key players and it adds more stress for me.

On the physical side I was at Lisa’s early Friday morning and we worked all day doing the finish work on the courses and pens – stuff that couldn’t be done much earlier. Of course it took longer than we anticipated so no playtime for the puppies, no helping Lisa put panels up on the duck pen, no nothing but work. The judge and her husband arrived later in the afternoon and pitched in to help so that was great! Just that much less we’d have to do after dark.

Saturday went relatively smoothly. All the volunteers were right on time so I didn’t have to run them down. The sheep set out, both in the pens and at the pan, went flawlessly. I have never seen the sheep that relaxed and calm – and that lasted thru all three classes. It was lovely. The ducks did me proud, too. All the sets that I’d had here worked beautifully. And when the judge complimented us on the ducks and said she was eager for the next day so she could work such lovely stock – ah, that’s a compliment!

I was hoping Sunday would run as smoothly as Saturday and it did in some ways and not so much in others. Volunteers started out right on the mark but as the day wore on, people started leaving and left holes in the schedule. Luckily others were willing to just step in so there wasn’t any hold up. We were up against the loss of daylight due to the ending of daylight savings time so moving the trial right along was of utmost importance. The sheep were a bit more worried than the day before but set out went nicely. The ducks, too, didn’t work quite as nicely as the previous day, but this was normal since the stock learn what is going on and try harder to avoid it. Plus it was pretty windy which flusters the ducks some.

The judges, Susane Hoffman and Dana Hasemeier, were fast and efficient without rushing the competitors. They were awesome to work with and I’d show under them again anytime. Due to the new permanent pens and arenas we built over the summer, tear down was not an hours long affair. I took down the snow fence around the sheep pens while everyone was at lunch and a friend helped by taking down and folding the tarps (thanks Julie!). After the duck runs were done, all the obstacles were loaded on top of the duck crates in the trailer and hauled back all at once to the building. A couple of club members stayed to help which was greatly appreciated. It went smoothly and I was on the road home by 4:30 – the earliest I’d ever been on the way home after this trial. It was wonderful to get home so early.

But I’m not eager to do it again anytime soon – maybe ever. This is the weekend I dread more than any other weekend of the year. I guess I’m just getting too old to work that hard. Time to slow down and back off. Maybe take time to just play with my dog.

Being as she only needs two more singles, I’m not yet tearing my hair out in despair. They will come eventually – hopefully sooner rather than later, but I’ll take them whenever they come. I’m just extremely glad that I am not “major-hunting” like I did with Beckett. Having both majors within my personal time-line is the only reason I am finishing Trey. If she was still looking for a second major, we’d be done now. I don’t have the money or the time to major-hunt, especially since most judges are looking for lots of coat and lots of bone, neither of which my girl has. Heck, right now she looks like a smooth-coat! Not going to get a look, except from a few noted judges.

Callen got lots of show noise/hustle & bustle exposure both days we were there. I bought her a show collar and lead and took her around on that so she’d get used to it and also to keep her close. I sure didn’t want her to get jumped by another dog. That’s a scary prospect for a puppy who is going thru a fear-period anyway. But Callen did great! She greeted two male border collies, one who was still mostly a puppy (14 months) and an older one who just wanted to hump her. She took it all in stride. She was a little cautious and nervous as we circled the rings on Saturday, but was relaxed by the time we stopped by an acquaintance’s set up.

This gal is a long-time breeder and I asked her to go over Callen and tell me what she thought of her structurally – no holds barred. It’s hard for me to ‘see’ what I have when I am also the one stacking her. So she very kindly went over my puppy - who stacked like a champ on the grooming table – and told me her good points and her faults. I wasn’t surprised by the faults as they are pretty obvious – lack of prosternum and long hocks. But I was surprised by her comment of ‘nice shoulder layback’. I thought she was too straight in the shoulder. Apparently not, at least in this breeder’s opinion. So that was good news. She also gave me some handling tips to off-set some of Callen’s (and Trey’s as it turns out) faults. Very nice of her.

On Sunday, Callen was a bit more relaxed right from the start and played and tussled with a female border collie. That really relaxed her. She then had to greet some strangers which she wasn’t too keen on but this was a junior handler and his mom and they did great, spending almost 15 minutes sitting on the floor letting Callen sniff them and take food from them as they slowly worked their way up to petting her. What an awesome experience for a puppy in a fear period! Callen also got to play with a Lab puppy. She was very calm and relaxed by the time we left for the day.

After we got home all three girls got to do some herding – or in Callen’s case play at herding. I have all of Lisa’s call ducks here because some varmint decided that sitting duck was a pretty good meal and was killing several ducks each night and once during broad daylight. So after a week of being here it was time for me to try to patch together sets of 5 so we could salvage our club’s upcoming herding trial. Between Lisa’s and my ducks before the intruder, we had 10 sets, exactly what we needed. But the varmint took one or two ducks from each set and left us with only two solid sets from her and two from me.

So I boxed up the ducks and sorted them into their remaining sets and then took the ‘odds & ends’ ducks (those that were onesies and two-sies left from sets) and tried to work them into the sets that were only missing one duck. Lisa and I had done that with two sets the day she had dropped them off and I needed to work them to be sure they still ‘hung out’ together while being worked by a dog. And since Trey works terribly close to her ducks she is the perfect dog to use to see if any would peel off after she strings them out.

The first set I worked was great so that one got a check mark as usable for the trial. But the second set was a bit of a different story. They all ran together really nicely on the course, but when it came time to pen them . . . well that’s when trouble started. Nothing Trey or I did could convince this set of ducks to go into the pen. They would be right at the mouth of it and would squirt out, sometimes slipping right by when Trey as if she wasn’t there. After working about 10 minutes trying to get them in the pen, my patience was thin and I was taking it out on poor Trey. So I had her hold them (which she was able to do with no problem – go figure) and went to get Beckett. Beckett tends to garner respect where Trey can’t.

But this time not even Beckett’s power was enough to get these ducks to pen. So I got their crate and set it in front of them. Most ducks when offered their crate will run right in if there is a dog behind them. There were two dogs behind this set and yet they didn’t want to crate up. I was going crazy. Here were these ducks that wouldn’t go in a 4 x 4 pen, wouldn’t crate, and I couldn’t catch them. I grabbed my short ex-pen that I’d been using for a pen and tried to ‘scoop’ them into it. Nope, the darn ducks just bounced off me and the pen and headed the other way. I set the ex-pen up in a semi-circle and tried to have the dogs drive them into it and then I would pull it closed behind them. Nope, they just squirted around it. I spend almost 30 minutes running around like a crazy woman trying to catch those darn ducks. It probably looked hilarious to Mike in the house or to anyone passing on the road, but I was mad! Finally fate looked kindly upon me and somehow Trey and I got together and managed to get the ducks encircled by the ex-pen.  I boxed them up and took a break. I was too angry and frustrated to work until I had a cooling off period and Trey and Beckett were both exhausted.

After a bit, Trey and I went back out. We still had two sets of ducks to work to be sure they would be good for the trial. Luckily, the remaining two sets were pretty good and both penned nicely so we had an easier time. But I wanted to work on that set that wouldn’t pen. I needed a way to work on penning, to convince them that the pen was the safest place for them to be when there was a dog around and yet I also needed a way to contain them if we couldn’t get them to pen up. So I took three ex-pens and encircled the 4 x 4 pen. That way they could choose to avoid the pen and yet not get away and I wouldn’t have a repeat of the earlier fiasco.

I went and got Callen and put her in with the ducks at first, leaving Trey on the outside. I let Callen bounce around and basically harass the ducks. The plan was to make it hell for them outside the pen and the instant they went in the pen, all harassment stopped. Callen did her part with relish and it was nice to see that even tho she split the group they would run back and flock together. This was a set that we had patched together. But even with Callen’s harassment they didn’t want to go in the pen. So I picked up Callen and had Trey come in. It took about 5 minutes for Trey and I to get the ducks in the pen. I immediately shut the gate and took the dogs away so the ducks could relax and chill in the pen without hassle.

After a bit we went back and did it again. The ducks still wouldn’t pen up for Callen but Trey and I had a tiny bit easier time getting them in. The dogs and I went away and let the ducks rest. We did this a total of about 5 or 6 times. The last time the ducks went easily in to the pen with only Trey working them, no help from me. I let them rest as the dogs and I went to run and play away from them. After I put Callen in the house I put the crate in front of the ducks and they ran right in. Geesh! Why couldn’t they have done that in the beginning.

So now the plan is to work this set on penning every other day while they are still here. There is nothing more frustrating than to have a good, qualifying run going at a trial and then not to be able to pen the ducks thru no fault of yours or your dog’s. Trey and I had a weekend like that back in 2009 in our first attempts at Started B. The ducks worked fine until the pen and it was as if there was an invisible barrier there and they just wouldn’t go in for anyone’s dog. The club doesn’t want that to happen at our trial. No one will want to come back if we have poor-working stock.

I wish the weather was going to be a bit more accommodating, but I’ll just have to suck it up and do it. Trey needs the work and I need to repair our relationship that I may have damaged due to my extreme frustration caused by these ducks!

So we’re off to work ducks now!

We arrived at the motel at about 7 pm, fed the dogs and ourselves and were sawing logs by 10pm. I had a bit of a rough night as Callen was a bit disconcerted by her first night in a motel room. She fussed and fidgeted several times in the night and by 5:30 I was done ignoring her. So I got up and took the girls for a walk and then got my coffee.

My early start to the day had us at the show grounds by 7:45. Our ring time was 9:30. So we wandered around and my friend napped in the car for a bit. Finally it was time to go in. My stomach was in knots. I’ve not been this nervous for breed in years. But an almost 1000 mile round-trip had better bring results (my husband said as much before he left for work on Friday).

Two points were up for grabs on Saturday under judge Carolyn Herbel. She is the only judge I will travel that far to show under since I know for a fact that she will definitely consider my working-bred border collie. It was as close to a ‘guarantee’ as I could get but it wasn’t a solid guarantee. Breed judging is such a day-to-day call on the part of the judge and it also depends on what other bitches are in the ring with you.

There were two puppies and one Open bitch. I showed Trey in Amateur-Owner-Handler class and she was the only bitch in that class so she won the class and got to go back in for Winners bitch.  Mrs. Herbel gave consideration to the Open bitch and Trey, checking shoulders and dentition (or at least she did on Trey since I didn’t pay attention to anything but my dog). She had us gait around and stack again before she awarded Trey Winners Bitch and the 2 points. YAY!

We went back in for Best of Winners but that went to the Winners Dog. Trey got Best of Opposite Sex by default since she was the only bitch in contention.

But it was well worth the long trip to garner those two points! That cuts by 50% the points Trey needs to finish her breed championship. Two more single points and she can put a CH in front of her name!

Go Trey!