Getting Ready for Reliant

The Reliant series of dog shows is coming up at the end of July. This show is special to me because with out it I would have never gotten started in competitive obedience.
This July marks my 3rd year competing. I was hoping to have Violet ready for Utility but we simply have not had enough time to practice. I will however be showing 3 dogs.

Here's the line up
Plakes Sir Charles of Allston(Charlie) - Rally Advance
Violet - Either Open or Rally Advance/Excellent
Badger(Great Pyrenees) - Novice Obedience

There will be a few students there as well as my mother showing her Pug/pit mix in Rally Novice. I'm hoping that all of my students who participate or come to watch will be bitten by the obedience bug.

Here is Badger working on some very distracted heeling a while ago.

Also I got a chance to take a few pictures of Phlox the other day. He is now 6 months old.

Violet's Film Debut!

The Terrible, Really Bad, No Good Week. Part 1

On Monday night Phlox was uncharacteristically picky at dinner. He had been sluggish all day but nothing really concerning. Then the vomiting started and that's when the red flags started going up.
By Tuesday afternoon he couldn't keep anything down and his stool was continuing to get bloodier. He had accompanied me to the vet clinic I work at and by lunch time we decided he needed an emergency care hospital.
My ex husband met me at pup scouts so that we could drop of our son and he could drive the rest of the way. I really wasn't in any state to drive.

We arrived at the vet at 2pm and were greeted by a rather unpleasant receptionist. She asked a few questions and then ordered a Parvo test. We waited in the exam room for a very long time before some one came in with paperwork. She administered a short exam and then left to do the test.
After another long absence the vet appeared and informed us that is was indeed Parvo. My heart sank all the puppies I've ever known with parvo have died.
The vet was very reassuring and said that there was no reason that Phlox wouldn't pull through.

This whole week has been a roller coaster. One day he would be eating a little and not vomiting and the next he would be back to square one. In general I worry too much so when there really is something wrong I am a total wreak.

On Saturday morning I was allowed to bring Phlox home. He still wasn't eating much and I had fluids on stand by. He vomited a few times but other than that things went pretty well. Sunday was even better with no vomiting and semi formed stools.

This morning I was woken up at 6:30 by some one barking and scratching at the door. Annoyed I got up to shut who ever it was up. There Phlox was jumping up and barking at the door to the dog room. His tail was wagging and he so desperately wanted to visit his friends in the next room. When he saw me he ran over to sit in my lap. Then the unbelievable happened. He ate a whole steak! it is the first whole meal he has had since last Monday.    

I didn't want to post about it until I knew he was out of the woods. I'm not sure how long it will be until we can start training again but I am just happy to have my dog safe and healthy again.

This does mean that we can not show at Reliant in July. They had to shave his legs and he needs time to gain weight.

No Words Needed.

New CGC!

I am so exited to announce that Phlox has passed his CGC test! He is only 5 months old. I know he will need to be retested when he is more mature but this is still a wonderful accomplishment.

It was a great day and in fact all 4 dogs passed a week ahead of schedule. We will be using our last class time to party and film each dog.

 The dogs were so well behaved that we couldn't get them to look at the camera. Here are a few pictures of play time after class.

Violet had a fun filled day as well. She was needed for a short film that is being made for a local contest.
 Most of the people there had never met a "pit bull" before and were amazed by her. I'm sure there will be pictures at some point but I had forgotten to take my camera.

We took some time to work on her utility signals in a new place. The video is crappy and I can't find a way to turn it the right way but here it is for your enjoyment.

I will make sure to post the entire film when it is put on youtube :)