Sunday, March 29, 2015
A Happy Spring Weekend
It was a happy and fun spring weekend. Holly's healing up well. I'll post something real soon, but we are approaching 4 weeks post-radiation and she's got healthy pink new skin again. She had a good time this weekend just being a regular happy dog again :)
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Home, and Healing
Holly completed her last radiation treatment for cancer last Friday. It was a seriously emotional day for me. We got through the hard part...daily treatment away from home for nearly 4 weeks straight. But, did it work? Did it kill all those myxosarcoma cancer cells we knew had been left behind after surgery? Last Friday, I chose to believe that it did :)
Since then, my reality radar has kicked in, and I will have to have to come to terms with the emotional roller coaster ride the rest of this journey will be. Because this 'battle with cancer' journey is far from over.
It's impossible to know if radiation was effective in killing all the myxosarcoma cells. That is until it returns or metastasizes, then we'll know it wasn't. While the prognosis I got from the oncology veterinarian at WSU prior to beginning radiation was really good. However, there is very little actual hard data to rely on specific to this cancer type. They see so few myxosarcoma cases, and each one is so different from the other that you cannot statistically compare them against each other.
So, in comes the metronomic chemotherapy discussion, and I keep wavering back and forth on whether to put her on it. On one hand, what if radiation was truly successful? Won't I be treating her needlessly and risking side effects do to long-term low-dose chemo use? If radiation wasn't successful, I won't know it until it comes back. Once that happens, doing anything more might be too late.
I'm feeling like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't on this. Thankfully, I have to wait until her radiation burn heals before doing anything more. So it will be at least another 2-3 weeks before I need to decide whether to start with metronomic chemotherapy, or not.
As for the radiation side effects...well...she was doing so awesome right up until the last 2 treatments. Thankfully, major pain didn't hit her until 2 days after we returned home. That was a week ago, and she's been profoundly lame and uncomfortable ever since. It's been hell on us both...trying to find the right combination to maximize her comfort and also keeping her from licking/scratching it.
I started out with her wearing a regular t-shirt, but she quickly learned how to just push up the sleeve to lick. So I switched to a long-sleeved shirt. But her skin is so raw that having the shirt touch it at all was getting too painful. Unfortunately, she has complete mental and physical paralysis while wearing a traditional cone, so I got her a inflatable neck collar instead.
It works...as long as I am around to monitor her. She's a secret licker. She will never attempt to lick in my presence. She tries to hide in places around the house or in the yard where I can't see her to try and get her nose around that donut. So at times, she has to wear a shirt or the cone if I need to leave her alone for more than a few minutes at a time. The up side is that if I put the cone on her, I can pretty much guarantee that she won't leave the spot I put her in while wearing it...she'll be in the exact same place and exact same position when I get home. The downside is that I obviously can't leave her alone for very long while wearing the cone.
A radiation burn is no regular skin burn. And I'm shocked at how painful this is for her. She's on maximum doses of pain meds and anti-inflammatories, and it's still driving her bonkers. I've never seen her so uncomfortable, pretty much all the time, before. It causing her to limit her leg motion, and curl her body inwards toward the leg. The result is that she's causing muscle aches and pain all over the place, particularly in her neck and back. And the shoulder muscle that was radiated also hurts. We added a muscle relaxant and that has helped with relaxing the rest of her body aches. Next week we might add a second pain medication as well.
I'm also applying lots of skin ointment to keep the burn moist. As it heals it gets crusty and the itch drives her completely batty. Last night I got up to apply it 3 times because she woke me up whining...desperately wanting to lick it. It is healing though. It's just going to take several weeks to heal completely. I just need to be patient. Patience is something neither Holly nor me is particularly good at.
 | ||
| Taken at WSU after receiving her last radiation treatment |
Since then, my reality radar has kicked in, and I will have to have to come to terms with the emotional roller coaster ride the rest of this journey will be. Because this 'battle with cancer' journey is far from over.
It's impossible to know if radiation was effective in killing all the myxosarcoma cells. That is until it returns or metastasizes, then we'll know it wasn't. While the prognosis I got from the oncology veterinarian at WSU prior to beginning radiation was really good. However, there is very little actual hard data to rely on specific to this cancer type. They see so few myxosarcoma cases, and each one is so different from the other that you cannot statistically compare them against each other.
So, in comes the metronomic chemotherapy discussion, and I keep wavering back and forth on whether to put her on it. On one hand, what if radiation was truly successful? Won't I be treating her needlessly and risking side effects do to long-term low-dose chemo use? If radiation wasn't successful, I won't know it until it comes back. Once that happens, doing anything more might be too late.
I'm feeling like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't on this. Thankfully, I have to wait until her radiation burn heals before doing anything more. So it will be at least another 2-3 weeks before I need to decide whether to start with metronomic chemotherapy, or not.
As for the radiation side effects...well...she was doing so awesome right up until the last 2 treatments. Thankfully, major pain didn't hit her until 2 days after we returned home. That was a week ago, and she's been profoundly lame and uncomfortable ever since. It's been hell on us both...trying to find the right combination to maximize her comfort and also keeping her from licking/scratching it.
I started out with her wearing a regular t-shirt, but she quickly learned how to just push up the sleeve to lick. So I switched to a long-sleeved shirt. But her skin is so raw that having the shirt touch it at all was getting too painful. Unfortunately, she has complete mental and physical paralysis while wearing a traditional cone, so I got her a inflatable neck collar instead.
It works...as long as I am around to monitor her. She's a secret licker. She will never attempt to lick in my presence. She tries to hide in places around the house or in the yard where I can't see her to try and get her nose around that donut. So at times, she has to wear a shirt or the cone if I need to leave her alone for more than a few minutes at a time. The up side is that if I put the cone on her, I can pretty much guarantee that she won't leave the spot I put her in while wearing it...she'll be in the exact same place and exact same position when I get home. The downside is that I obviously can't leave her alone for very long while wearing the cone.
A radiation burn is no regular skin burn. And I'm shocked at how painful this is for her. She's on maximum doses of pain meds and anti-inflammatories, and it's still driving her bonkers. I've never seen her so uncomfortable, pretty much all the time, before. It causing her to limit her leg motion, and curl her body inwards toward the leg. The result is that she's causing muscle aches and pain all over the place, particularly in her neck and back. And the shoulder muscle that was radiated also hurts. We added a muscle relaxant and that has helped with relaxing the rest of her body aches. Next week we might add a second pain medication as well.
I'm also applying lots of skin ointment to keep the burn moist. As it heals it gets crusty and the itch drives her completely batty. Last night I got up to apply it 3 times because she woke me up whining...desperately wanting to lick it. It is healing though. It's just going to take several weeks to heal completely. I just need to be patient. Patience is something neither Holly nor me is particularly good at.
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| How it looked 6 days after the last radiation treatment |
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Gettin' Healthy
Holly is officially retired from agility, while Danee is still in the beginning stages of her agility journey. These two girls have two very different body types, two totally different minds, and two very different needs for being healthy.
Holly is both poorly put together and very hard on her body.
Her physical conformation and her way of doing everything has lead to all kinds of injuries...eye, shoulder, iliospoas, knee, lower back, etc. But she loves to exercise both her body and her mind, so we do regular conditioning and balance exercises designed to keep her shoulders, back and hind end strong. We usually do these 2-3 times per week for 15-20 minutes per session. I take her every 3-4 months for chiro and acupuncture. We do a lot of hiking. It's the best form of exercise she could possibly get.
We have always played different kinds of games at home that work both her mind and her body. Agility was just one of those games.
All of these activities help to keep her body healthy enough to keep up with her mind.But staying healthy means something a little different to me today than it did a month ago. Holly was diagnosed with cancer in January. She had a tumor on her front leg removed that turned out to be a Myxosarcoma. Never heard of it? Few have,it's not a common form of soft tissue cancer.
She is currently finishing month-long daily radiation treatments in the hope of killing the rest of the cancerous cells that couldn't be removed via surgery. Only time will tell if this works.
Danee, on the other hand, is pretty much the total opposite of Holly. She's fairly well put together and is generally thoughtful with her body.
She doesn't bore easily and is perfectly happy to do the same thing over
and over again. She's learning some new games, but loves the balance
and conditioning stuff the most.
While both girls immediately loved the physical aspects of agility, Holly was born with confidence and a healthy mind, but Danee was not. It has been a two year journey get Danee's mind as healthy as her body. As a result, her agility journey has been an intentionally slow one. I work hard at keeping Holly physically healthy, and I have to work just as hard at keeping Danee mentally healthy.
I have two very different dogs with two very different health needs. What are your dogs physical and mental needs? Contribute to the conversation and read what other bloggers are doing at this months Dog Agility Bloggers Action Day.
Holly is both poorly put together and very hard on her body.
 |
| My hiking buddy |
Her physical conformation and her way of doing everything has lead to all kinds of injuries...eye, shoulder, iliospoas, knee, lower back, etc. But she loves to exercise both her body and her mind, so we do regular conditioning and balance exercises designed to keep her shoulders, back and hind end strong. We usually do these 2-3 times per week for 15-20 minutes per session. I take her every 3-4 months for chiro and acupuncture. We do a lot of hiking. It's the best form of exercise she could possibly get.
We have always played different kinds of games at home that work both her mind and her body. Agility was just one of those games.
All of these activities help to keep her body healthy enough to keep up with her mind.But staying healthy means something a little different to me today than it did a month ago. Holly was diagnosed with cancer in January. She had a tumor on her front leg removed that turned out to be a Myxosarcoma. Never heard of it? Few have,it's not a common form of soft tissue cancer.
 |
| Holly waiting for her radiation treatment last week |
She is currently finishing month-long daily radiation treatments in the hope of killing the rest of the cancerous cells that couldn't be removed via surgery. Only time will tell if this works.
Danee, on the other hand, is pretty much the total opposite of Holly. She's fairly well put together and is generally thoughtful with her body.
 |
| My other hiking buddy |
While both girls immediately loved the physical aspects of agility, Holly was born with confidence and a healthy mind, but Danee was not. It has been a two year journey get Danee's mind as healthy as her body. As a result, her agility journey has been an intentionally slow one. I work hard at keeping Holly physically healthy, and I have to work just as hard at keeping Danee mentally healthy.
I have two very different dogs with two very different health needs. What are your dogs physical and mental needs? Contribute to the conversation and read what other bloggers are doing at this months Dog Agility Bloggers Action Day.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Beyond Halfway
Tuesday we reached the halfway point of Holly’s
treatments. We still have treatments every day the rest of this week and next. Until yesterday, her energy level remained fairly normal, aside from a little travel fatigue. But yesterday she crashed and pretty much slept all day. I suspect this will be more the norm for her until radiation treatments are over. So I'm really glad that we got out as often to hike and walk in some beautiful places. I wanted to make some happy memories. I don't want to look back and only remember the daily radiation visits to the veterinary hospital.
So while she had the energy, we went exploring...
On the weekends we are at home and we do much of the same...
Fortunately, I don't think the actually tore her left CCL on our hike 2 weekends ago. Since then, I've been preventing her from jumping anywhere and have lifted her where needed instead (hence why she's wearing her lifting harness a lot in the photos). That seems to have helped because she hasn't favored it much since. Fingers crossed that it will continue to heal itself.
But now that we are 6 treatments away from being done with radiation, she is doing mostly this...
She still feels good, but she tires more easily. I can't wait for this chapter to be done in our life. Next week I learn more about the next chapter...monitoring and possibly metronomic chemotherapy.
So while she had the energy, we went exploring...
 | ||
| The top of Kamiak Butte |
 |
| Ridge line running at Kamiak Butte |
 |
| Who knew agricultural fields could be so pretty |
 | |
| She will pose anywhere for the promise of a cookie |
 |
| Ski trails at Kamiak Butte |
 |
| Phillips Farm Park |
On the weekends we are at home and we do much of the same...
Fortunately, I don't think the actually tore her left CCL on our hike 2 weekends ago. Since then, I've been preventing her from jumping anywhere and have lifted her where needed instead (hence why she's wearing her lifting harness a lot in the photos). That seems to have helped because she hasn't favored it much since. Fingers crossed that it will continue to heal itself.
But now that we are 6 treatments away from being done with radiation, she is doing mostly this...
She still feels good, but she tires more easily. I can't wait for this chapter to be done in our life. Next week I learn more about the next chapter...monitoring and possibly metronomic chemotherapy.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Are you freaking kidding me?!
Just when you think things couldn't get any worse with your dog...you know, the one you are trying to save from cancer...she goes and injures her knee too. She probably tore her CCL.
That was her last good leg...so much for that.
Sigh. Oh well. At this point in her life, with more life threatening things going on, I've decided not to do anything about it. I know she should rest, but walking, hiking and running through the forest is what keeps her sane...especially now when she's going through several rough weeks of radiation treatments and living in a boring motel room.
That was her last good leg...so much for that.
Sigh. Oh well. At this point in her life, with more life threatening things going on, I've decided not to do anything about it. I know she should rest, but walking, hiking and running through the forest is what keeps her sane...especially now when she's going through several rough weeks of radiation treatments and living in a boring motel room.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
3 Down, 15 To Go
Last week, Holly started daily radiation treatment for her cancer. Treatments are every weekday for 3.5 weeks. Last week was the 0.5 portion...just Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. This week is the first long one...every week day.
When I decided to try this treatment, I was worried it was the wrong decision for her...that she would find the treatment miserable...that going to the veterinary teaching hospital every damn day for three and a half weeks, would be too hard for her...that living out of a motel room during the week and traveling home on weekends would be frustrating for her.
When I finally stopped all my worrying and fretting, I realized that all of this will be much harder on me, than it will be on her. And last week she reminded me of how well adjusted and well rounded she is :)
The daily treatments are extremely low stress, and so far they seem easier for her than getting her blood drawn. I won't say she enjoys it or even going to the hospital each day, but she is handling it very, very well so far.
Motels...she's totally cool with them. She's always been very relaxed when we travel away from home, for whatever reason. She loves going to new places and getting to pee on new things...she's a marker and revels in peeing her way around a park or neighborhood.
My stress level has been a little different. But after doing the first 3 days and seeing how relatively easy it was for her, I've been feeling better. It helped that I found a really nice city park we can walk to right from the motel in the mornings...
...and two large county parks we can hike at in the evenings. I'll get some pictures of those this week. Hiking...we both need our regular fix to stay sane.
I'm still working during all this, so last week Holly and I had a "business lunch" together after her treatment. The burger was hers...she had to share the fries ;)
We'll see how this week goes. I can only think as far as Friday...we just need to get through the week together and stay sane!
Saturday, February 14, 2015
The Dreaded C Word
During the first week of January, I noticed a hard lump on Holly's front right leg. It was new. So new that it wasn't there a week prior when I gave her a bath and groom. I watched it for a day or two, but didn't like how it looked...it wasn't painful, but it was odd shaped and hard. I called my vet...my vet didn't like the looks of it either. So, in addition to the acu and chiro she got that day, she got a full exam, full blood workup and had a needle aspirate of the mass. She looked and felt great, bloodwork was beautiful, but the cells from the mass were indicative of a sarcoma.
We scheduled a surgical removal of the mass with the plan to take 3cm margins and to send in the mass to find out what kind of tissue it was. When my vet called with the results of the surgery, my heart sunk. The mass she removed was unusual looking and it had dozens of tendrils reaching down into her her bicep muscle. They couldn't be removed. Holly recovered from the surgery just fine...she was all ready to go for a 10-mile hike the next day...but I was a wreck waiting for the results of the tissue biopsy. Four days can be a really, really long time to wait.
The results were bad. Really bad. The tissue was called a Myxosarcoma. It's a rare soft tissue sarcoma that can be very aggressive and grow very, very quickly, especially after being excised via surgery.
Aggressive. Rare. Cancer. Shit.
My vet consulted with the vet that runs the oncology unit at Washington State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital and 2 weeks after surgery I drove there for a full consultation for Holly. The news they gave me wasn't what I wanted to hear, and I was pretty unprepared to hear it. They don't see many cases of Myxosarcoma. They called it rare. So rare that they couldn't give me any meaningful statistics on prognosis. The good news was that the CT Scan didn't show any obvious signs that the cancer had spread elsewhere. We caught it early enough that was still localized to her leg. The initial mass was removed, but given that those tendrils could not be removed, we know that there are still cancerous cells that were left behind.
They gave me 2 options for treatment. First, treating her with localized radiation at the site of the initial mass...18 treatments in 24 days. I'll talk about this one in a second. The second option was the "do nothing" approach...metronomic chemotherapy, which is daily pills given at home, and then we cross our fingers that it will slow the cell growth down enough to prevent it from creating it's own blood supply again. The problem with this approach is that considering how fast the initial mass grew on her, it may not work for very long...it will still grow and spread, most likely to her lungs first. The liklihood she would make it past 3-6 months was probably slim.
The good news is that she is a great candidate for the first approach to work...localized radiation. She's healthy, very fit, has excellent bloodwork, the mass was localized and only a Grade 1. Radiation treatment could work to put her into remission for at least a year, possibly longer. The drawback is a logistic biggie...she would need to get daily radiation for 3.5 weeks, except on weekends, at WSU, 4.5 hours away from home. How the hell could I possibly pull that off? And I haven't even mentioned the cost.
But they were offering me a huge amount of hope for her. And not just pointless the-glass-is-half-full optimism or false hope...real, genuine, this-can-work hope. How could I be offered a really solid chance at remission and not take it? (I will not say "cure" because until there is one, that's a full-of-crap word). I knew that if I didn't try, I would lose her in a very short time and then beat myself up over it for years afterwards.
But how? After lots of crying and talking to some great friends, I was starting to realize that I might be able to actually pull it off. It took A LOT of planning and asking for help. I'm not too stubborn or proud to ask for help when I need it...and thankfully I have some really, really amazing friends that offered it. And not just offered, they stepped up and helped me grab this shit with both hands.
I don't trust anyone to determine if the treatment would make Holly miserable, so I could not just drop her off at the huge veterinary teaching hospital for 3.5 weeks. That meant I had to be over there during the week, so I got permission to work remotely during the week days. A friend is taking care of Danee (Little Dog just loves her Auntie Kim!), other awesome friends are caring for my house and kitties, and I found a super cheap extended stay motel.
And there you have it...hope for Holly. She has a hell of a team in her corner, and I'm grateful to say, so do I.
I thought I couldn't be anymore lucky to have been given this chance for Holly from my friends..from my extended family. And then they took it up a notch.
A long time agility friend has an awesome dog collar business on Esty called Freya's Studio. She makes beautiful collars and gorgeous collar bling. Holly and Danee rock their beauty daily...
Bree is amazing. When she heard about Holly's cancer, she offered to donate a whole weeks work of collar sales to the cost of treatment. Wow. Just, wow.
Then...my friend Tonya created a You Caring site to allow a way for anyone who wants to donate to Holly's treatment expenses. http://www.youcaring.com/pet-expenses/help-kim-with-holly-s-cancer-treatment-expenses/304947
There are no words to express how grateful I feel towards these ladies, and those all those that have chosen to donate to Holly and me. Seriously, I'm crying writing this.
I don't know what the future holds for Holly. But Team Holly is working towards making sure it's a good one. I will try to post weekly or more on how her treatments go, and of our adventures in Pullman, WA. Wish us luck.
We scheduled a surgical removal of the mass with the plan to take 3cm margins and to send in the mass to find out what kind of tissue it was. When my vet called with the results of the surgery, my heart sunk. The mass she removed was unusual looking and it had dozens of tendrils reaching down into her her bicep muscle. They couldn't be removed. Holly recovered from the surgery just fine...she was all ready to go for a 10-mile hike the next day...but I was a wreck waiting for the results of the tissue biopsy. Four days can be a really, really long time to wait.
The results were bad. Really bad. The tissue was called a Myxosarcoma. It's a rare soft tissue sarcoma that can be very aggressive and grow very, very quickly, especially after being excised via surgery.
Aggressive. Rare. Cancer. Shit.
My vet consulted with the vet that runs the oncology unit at Washington State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital and 2 weeks after surgery I drove there for a full consultation for Holly. The news they gave me wasn't what I wanted to hear, and I was pretty unprepared to hear it. They don't see many cases of Myxosarcoma. They called it rare. So rare that they couldn't give me any meaningful statistics on prognosis. The good news was that the CT Scan didn't show any obvious signs that the cancer had spread elsewhere. We caught it early enough that was still localized to her leg. The initial mass was removed, but given that those tendrils could not be removed, we know that there are still cancerous cells that were left behind.
They gave me 2 options for treatment. First, treating her with localized radiation at the site of the initial mass...18 treatments in 24 days. I'll talk about this one in a second. The second option was the "do nothing" approach...metronomic chemotherapy, which is daily pills given at home, and then we cross our fingers that it will slow the cell growth down enough to prevent it from creating it's own blood supply again. The problem with this approach is that considering how fast the initial mass grew on her, it may not work for very long...it will still grow and spread, most likely to her lungs first. The liklihood she would make it past 3-6 months was probably slim.
The good news is that she is a great candidate for the first approach to work...localized radiation. She's healthy, very fit, has excellent bloodwork, the mass was localized and only a Grade 1. Radiation treatment could work to put her into remission for at least a year, possibly longer. The drawback is a logistic biggie...she would need to get daily radiation for 3.5 weeks, except on weekends, at WSU, 4.5 hours away from home. How the hell could I possibly pull that off? And I haven't even mentioned the cost.
But they were offering me a huge amount of hope for her. And not just pointless the-glass-is-half-full optimism or false hope...real, genuine, this-can-work hope. How could I be offered a really solid chance at remission and not take it? (I will not say "cure" because until there is one, that's a full-of-crap word). I knew that if I didn't try, I would lose her in a very short time and then beat myself up over it for years afterwards.
But how? After lots of crying and talking to some great friends, I was starting to realize that I might be able to actually pull it off. It took A LOT of planning and asking for help. I'm not too stubborn or proud to ask for help when I need it...and thankfully I have some really, really amazing friends that offered it. And not just offered, they stepped up and helped me grab this shit with both hands.
I don't trust anyone to determine if the treatment would make Holly miserable, so I could not just drop her off at the huge veterinary teaching hospital for 3.5 weeks. That meant I had to be over there during the week, so I got permission to work remotely during the week days. A friend is taking care of Danee (Little Dog just loves her Auntie Kim!), other awesome friends are caring for my house and kitties, and I found a super cheap extended stay motel.
And there you have it...hope for Holly. She has a hell of a team in her corner, and I'm grateful to say, so do I.
I thought I couldn't be anymore lucky to have been given this chance for Holly from my friends..from my extended family. And then they took it up a notch.
A long time agility friend has an awesome dog collar business on Esty called Freya's Studio. She makes beautiful collars and gorgeous collar bling. Holly and Danee rock their beauty daily...
Bree is amazing. When she heard about Holly's cancer, she offered to donate a whole weeks work of collar sales to the cost of treatment. Wow. Just, wow.
Then...my friend Tonya created a You Caring site to allow a way for anyone who wants to donate to Holly's treatment expenses. http://www.youcaring.com/pet-expenses/help-kim-with-holly-s-cancer-treatment-expenses/304947
There are no words to express how grateful I feel towards these ladies, and those all those that have chosen to donate to Holly and me. Seriously, I'm crying writing this.
I don't know what the future holds for Holly. But Team Holly is working towards making sure it's a good one. I will try to post weekly or more on how her treatments go, and of our adventures in Pullman, WA. Wish us luck.
October Agility and a Super Speedy Quick Update
It's been awhile...again. But before I talk about the most recent news, I thought I would do a brief update since September.
In October, the girls and I played at our local agility trial. This was Little Dog's first time in Novice, but I kept her in Intro for Regular since she wasn't ready to test her weaving skills at a trial yet. What a fun weekend it was. I had only planned on spending one day there, but I had so much fun at the clubs new trial location that I went back for more the next day. It was a great new arena in a beautiful location. I truly hope that all future Glacier Chasers trial will be held in this gorgeous spot.
Holly and I had some great runs, and some happy train wrecks. I am truly thankful for each and every run we had together that weekend.
Danee continued to surprise me with her confidence and enthusiasm with this game. All weekend she was the happy little forest sprite she is when we play at home.
We spent the rest of the fall hiking nearly every day...
We got a massive cold snap in November that had all the animals searching for the best warm spot in the house...
My sister and her dogs visited for Christmas and we had a great time together. The dogs even got US a gift...they made us Paw Print Paintings.
The last few months of 2014 were great. We spent tons of time outside, got in lots of hikes and generally life was good :)
In October, the girls and I played at our local agility trial. This was Little Dog's first time in Novice, but I kept her in Intro for Regular since she wasn't ready to test her weaving skills at a trial yet. What a fun weekend it was. I had only planned on spending one day there, but I had so much fun at the clubs new trial location that I went back for more the next day. It was a great new arena in a beautiful location. I truly hope that all future Glacier Chasers trial will be held in this gorgeous spot.
Holly and I had some great runs, and some happy train wrecks. I am truly thankful for each and every run we had together that weekend.
Danee continued to surprise me with her confidence and enthusiasm with this game. All weekend she was the happy little forest sprite she is when we play at home.
 |
| Photo by Joe Fisher, thanks Joe! |
We spent the rest of the fall hiking nearly every day...
We got a massive cold snap in November that had all the animals searching for the best warm spot in the house...
My sister and her dogs visited for Christmas and we had a great time together. The dogs even got US a gift...they made us Paw Print Paintings.
 |
| Holly's |
 |
| Danee's |
The last few months of 2014 were great. We spent tons of time outside, got in lots of hikes and generally life was good :)
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Happy 5th Gotcha Day
Five years ago today, a lovely family picked me to give Holly a new home. It was both a happy and heartbreaking day. I will never forget the 10 year old boy who had to say goodbye to his buddy that day. Thank you Kartel family for trusting in me...Holly is one in a million :)
To celebrate today, we hiked...
...she got a bath (because the stinker ignored me and went into the mud hole I told her to stay out of during our hike)...
...and she had a frozen kong for dinner outside.
I love ya girlie :)
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
There is a Life "Inside" the Ring?
Today is a Dog Agility Bloggers Event and our topic of conversation is called "Outside the Ring".
I lamented quite a bit about what to write on this, because for the better part of the last 3 years I haven't even had a life inside the agility ring; for multiple reasons, we've only attended 4 agility trials in the last 2 years (feel free to read some older posts of mine to find out why).
I play agility, or some other game with my dogs, at least 4-5 times a week...it's only at home or maybe at a friends house. My whole life revolves around life far, far outside the agility ring...and far away from the Dog World. I have a full time job with irregular hours, my work is busiest in the spring, summer and fall, and I live in a small town where doing something with your dog means you toss it in the back of your pickup, find the nearest dirt road on public land, let it out and drive while it chases your truck for exercise. Um, yeah. Needless to say canine sports are the furthest thing from peoples minds around here, so I'm on my own for training, equipment and pretty much everything else dog-wise.
While agility is the only canine sport I choose to compete in, it is not the only sport we play. I am a dabbler...treibball, tricks, agility, retrieving, musical freestyle, nosework, etc. The result is that Holly is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. This is important to me. The bond we create with each other through playing these games together is more important than anything we can accomplish inside the ring. But I won't lie, I like ribbons and I like that feeling of accomplishing something tangible with our bond, training and experience...it's validating. So I chose to compete, when I can, in agility. I also like being able to immerse myself in the Dog World once in a while and enjoy the fun social atmosphere I find at agility trials.
Holly and I have a bond that has taken time to grow and build, just like any relationship. I love that she likes to learn new things as fast as I can figure out how to teach them to her.
I love that she's a fabulous hiking partner.
It's important to me that with all that we do together, she gets to just be a dog as often as possible...and all our training allows her to just be a dog, off leash, in lot of places. To be able to run free in a field or forest, off leash, sniff millions of things, pee on millions of things is important in a dogs life...it's priceless.
Our relationship was built outside the agility ring, and that relationship helps us succeed whenever we enter the ring. I hope that no matter how competitive you are, no matter how much or how little your life revolves around the Dog World, that you give quality time to building your relationship with your dog outside the ring too. 99.9% of our lives are spent outside the agility ring...make it count.
To read other dog bloggers views on what Outside the Ring means to them, please visit the great list of dog blogs here.
I lamented quite a bit about what to write on this, because for the better part of the last 3 years I haven't even had a life inside the agility ring; for multiple reasons, we've only attended 4 agility trials in the last 2 years (feel free to read some older posts of mine to find out why).
I play agility, or some other game with my dogs, at least 4-5 times a week...it's only at home or maybe at a friends house. My whole life revolves around life far, far outside the agility ring...and far away from the Dog World. I have a full time job with irregular hours, my work is busiest in the spring, summer and fall, and I live in a small town where doing something with your dog means you toss it in the back of your pickup, find the nearest dirt road on public land, let it out and drive while it chases your truck for exercise. Um, yeah. Needless to say canine sports are the furthest thing from peoples minds around here, so I'm on my own for training, equipment and pretty much everything else dog-wise.
While agility is the only canine sport I choose to compete in, it is not the only sport we play. I am a dabbler...treibball, tricks, agility, retrieving, musical freestyle, nosework, etc. The result is that Holly is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. This is important to me. The bond we create with each other through playing these games together is more important than anything we can accomplish inside the ring. But I won't lie, I like ribbons and I like that feeling of accomplishing something tangible with our bond, training and experience...it's validating. So I chose to compete, when I can, in agility. I also like being able to immerse myself in the Dog World once in a while and enjoy the fun social atmosphere I find at agility trials.
Holly and I have a bond that has taken time to grow and build, just like any relationship. I love that she likes to learn new things as fast as I can figure out how to teach them to her.
I love that she's a fabulous hiking partner.
It's important to me that with all that we do together, she gets to just be a dog as often as possible...and all our training allows her to just be a dog, off leash, in lot of places. To be able to run free in a field or forest, off leash, sniff millions of things, pee on millions of things is important in a dogs life...it's priceless.
Our relationship was built outside the agility ring, and that relationship helps us succeed whenever we enter the ring. I hope that no matter how competitive you are, no matter how much or how little your life revolves around the Dog World, that you give quality time to building your relationship with your dog outside the ring too. 99.9% of our lives are spent outside the agility ring...make it count.
To read other dog bloggers views on what Outside the Ring means to them, please visit the great list of dog blogs here.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Lookout!
Our National Forest system has some real gems hidden inside our forests. Within the National Forest that surrounds my life are historic fire lookout towers. These towers were created so that wildfires could more easily be spotted from high mountain peaks and ridges. They were originally built back in the 1920's and 30's in response to the catastrophic 1910 wildfires. Most were decommissioned in the 1970's and 80's, and today anyone can rent them. Staying a night, or even climbing up many of them, is not for the faint for heart. Most of the towers are 45 feet above the ground, on top of a bare mountain peak or ridge. As a result, the views from all the lookouts are absolutely amazing.
Since I found out about the tower rental program 5 years ago I have wanted to rent one. I finally did it. I was fortunate to rent one of the towers that allows dogs, and it was only one of three in the Forest that was built very close to the ground. Good thing...I hate heights.
So earlier this week, despite the 95+ temperatures, I packed up the dogs and myself and made the long drive up, up, up to the lookout.
The building sits atop a mountain peak at 5,400 feet. It is spare, with no electricity or water, and is an open 14x14 foot room with 2 twin beds, a cook table, a small sitting table, and a wood stove. The walls are windows and the porch wraps all the way around.
I was concerned with the dogs being overly excited while camping, so I brought a large baby gate to place at the stairway so that I could relax and not have to manage their behavior 100% of the time, not have to keep them tied up while not paying close attention.
The baby gate ended up being the single-most best item I brought with me...because the entire ridge was covered in ground squirrel holes, and Danee got wide-eyed and wild at each peep she heard. I've never been able to effectively turn off this terrier hunting instinct, so thankfully I didn't have to deal with it once the baby gate was in place.
Sadly for me, I ended up renting the lookout during one of our major heat waves...which is still going on.
By the time I got up there, the temperature was already in the mid 90's. And given that the walls are windows, and only 4 of those windows open, it was in the 90's inside the building too. I was bummed, and the dogs and I were hot. There is very little shade on top of a mountain peak. But after unpacking, and relaxing for an hour on the shady side of the porch, we went exploring in the woods, on the lower road and a few side trails, for a couple of hours before dark. I was delighted to discover the entire ridge line was covered in ripening huckleberries! I picked, the dogs picked, and we ate lots.
The heat required lots of rest, which we were happy to do...
We spent the night practically under the stars, with an amazing sunset and an equally gorgeous sunrise. In the morning I made each of us fresh huckleberry pancakes. Yes, the dogs got their own pancakes...hey, they were having fun camping too, so why not?
We hiked around a bit on the drive back down the mountain and hit the river to cool off before heading home.
And then like that, our trip was over. I could only stay one night, but it was enough. I will happily rent another fire lookout tower next year...however, maybe next time I will try to rent it earlier or later in the season so it won't be so hellishly hot.
Since I found out about the tower rental program 5 years ago I have wanted to rent one. I finally did it. I was fortunate to rent one of the towers that allows dogs, and it was only one of three in the Forest that was built very close to the ground. Good thing...I hate heights.
So earlier this week, despite the 95+ temperatures, I packed up the dogs and myself and made the long drive up, up, up to the lookout.
The building sits atop a mountain peak at 5,400 feet. It is spare, with no electricity or water, and is an open 14x14 foot room with 2 twin beds, a cook table, a small sitting table, and a wood stove. The walls are windows and the porch wraps all the way around.
I was concerned with the dogs being overly excited while camping, so I brought a large baby gate to place at the stairway so that I could relax and not have to manage their behavior 100% of the time, not have to keep them tied up while not paying close attention.
The baby gate ended up being the single-most best item I brought with me...because the entire ridge was covered in ground squirrel holes, and Danee got wide-eyed and wild at each peep she heard. I've never been able to effectively turn off this terrier hunting instinct, so thankfully I didn't have to deal with it once the baby gate was in place.
Sadly for me, I ended up renting the lookout during one of our major heat waves...which is still going on.
By the time I got up there, the temperature was already in the mid 90's. And given that the walls are windows, and only 4 of those windows open, it was in the 90's inside the building too. I was bummed, and the dogs and I were hot. There is very little shade on top of a mountain peak. But after unpacking, and relaxing for an hour on the shady side of the porch, we went exploring in the woods, on the lower road and a few side trails, for a couple of hours before dark. I was delighted to discover the entire ridge line was covered in ripening huckleberries! I picked, the dogs picked, and we ate lots.
The heat required lots of rest, which we were happy to do...
We spent the night practically under the stars, with an amazing sunset and an equally gorgeous sunrise. In the morning I made each of us fresh huckleberry pancakes. Yes, the dogs got their own pancakes...hey, they were having fun camping too, so why not?
We hiked around a bit on the drive back down the mountain and hit the river to cool off before heading home.
And then like that, our trip was over. I could only stay one night, but it was enough. I will happily rent another fire lookout tower next year...however, maybe next time I will try to rent it earlier or later in the season so it won't be so hellishly hot.
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