Another Update

On Friday I will admit that I ran Miley in my yard and did some agility. Nothing tough. When I was done my ankle hurt like heck. Ugh!  I started freaking out. How am I going to do these seminars?   Yesterday I did walk at the park but used a crutch to keep some of the weight off my foot.  It still hurt to do that. But when I got home I didnt have any increase in pain so that was good.  While around the house I dont use crutches at all.  Today I wanted to try the park without crutches.  I did the sports wrap like they showed me at the doctors office and put on the brace.  I cant fit into any of my tennis shoes comfortably with the brace on.  Even my bigger tennis shoes.  So I tried my summer shoes I use when I want to walk but also go in the river. These work great!  They are my old ones so getting stretched out isnt a problem.

 I did well walking at the park.  Im not fast but Im able to put full weight on it for a distance. And when I got home no increase in swelling or pain. My ankle/leg/foot is almost back to normal swelling wise.

And just so you dont think I only take pictures of my ugly legs and feet.  Here is a beautiful picture of Stephanie from last night. She was in a DECA competition and won 5th place for her category.

Ankle Update

Sorry I havent posted much this week. But really I all do is go to work, come home and ice and elevate my ankle.  Miley is beside herself that nothing is happening. She just can't believe we dont walk at all. LOL  Today I went to see an Ortho doctor just to get some more information on my ankle and what I should be doing to fix it.  They took more x-rays.  I have soft tissue swelling and small joint effusion.  He told me most people go there whole life and dont sprain their ankle as bad as Ive sprained mine. Then he said if I were in the NFL they would just tape me up and send me back out there. LOL  He told me I was lucky. I have a bad grade 2 sprain.If it were just a little worse and I couldnt do any agility.  But he said I could walk on it without crutches and that I wasnt hurting it.  I asked if the splint was holding the swelling in the ankle and lower leg. He laughed and said no. The splint was a good splint but not useful to run agility in.  He gave me another splint to run agility in.  That splint cost 430.00. Holy cow , I hope my insurance pays for it.  Then he had someone show me how to tape my ankle under the splint to run agility in.  I have strenght exercises to do with an exercise band. Also Im to do contrast baths: Soak your foot in a bucket cold water for 2 minutes and then soak in a bucket of hot water for 2 minutes alternating back and forth  for a total of 30 minutes twice a day. Normally he wouldnt recommend running on my ankle but understood about the agility camps and the money I spent. So I should be ok with the tape and new splint. But he said if I twist it at all, I have to stop and Im done. No more agility until its healed. It will take 2 months to completely heal.

Gimpy

 Hey , you , lady!   Get off the couch and do something, take us for a walk!  What, you're not an invalid.

He, he he he, she cant do anything about what I say because  she really can't catch me.  You thought she was slow before, you should see her now.

Im just kidding. Sort of.  She did take me in the backyard and did some jump grids, a-frames and teeters.   Now if she would just walk me in the morning like she is suppose to I would be much happier.  She did manage to walk without crutches tonight.

Getting better

My ankle is getting better.  I can now touch my foot on the floor without pain. Well that could be because of the pain medication but I dont think so.  I think it looks better too. I can wiggle my toes without difficulty now too.

That big lump is now gone so wearing the air cast/splint thing no longer hurts.  Im not sure why they call it an air cast because I doesnt have any air in it. Maybe is had to do with the company that makes it.

My ankle

Funny how things work out.  I first was going to go to a trial in Savannah because my parents live there and a club was having a B-match on  Friday. I figured I could work on Miley's table.   But I decided not to do that. Then I was going to go the the park I always go to but my husband went running there and took the pass. So I thought I would go downtown to the park with the big man- made waterfall and take pictures.  Then changed my mind again and went to the river front park. I should have done any of the other things but this last one.  Shortly after getting to the park I hurt myself. I was walking down the asphalt path which has a 2 inch drop off the side. I rolled my ankle and fell like a sack of rocks to the ground.  First I was embarrassed for falling in front of a bunch of people and then my ankle hurt so bad it took everything I had to not cry.   A very nice man came over and offered to help me up.  I told him I needed a minute to get myself together because it was hurting so bad.  He was nice and waited.  After the pain let up he helped me to a bench. Guiness wasnt happy about this. I was worried he would go after the guy . Guiness is very unstrusting of me. But he did ok.  I figured I would just rest on the bench for a while and see if things got better.  I could feel it swelling while I rested.   I really wanted to try to make it back to my car without looking like I needed assistance.    I did manage to make it the 1/2 mile back to my car with really not much discomfort at all.  Then I got to the car and took my shoe and sock off.

Oh boy that didnt look good. ( this picture was when I got home but it looked the same) I called my husband from the car and he said he would help me bring the dogs in when I got home.  I laughed and told him I didnt need help. If I could walk 1/2 a mile to the car why would I need help bringing the dogs in. ( Do you see a pattern here with me not needing anyones help. LOL) Well... by the time I got home I couldnt put any weight on my foot.  My husband had to help me into the house and then go get the dogs.  LOL   About an hour later I told him we probably should go to urgent care and get it looked at. I didnt think it was broken but I would probably need some pain medication.  A friend of mine  gave me some crutches so I could walk.   It took forever at the urgent care. I got a shot of Toradol in the butt. I told my husband if I knew it was given in the butt I wouldnt have agreed to it. Man did that shot burn. Made me forget about my ankle for a while. Then they x-rayed it and said it wasnt broken. Gave me a brace and pain medication.    So Im home again doing the rest , elevation and ice thing.   She said in a couple of days I should be able to put  weight on it again. I hope so.  I have a Mary Ellen Barry seminar on next Monday and then 3 days later I have an agility camp in Florida to go to.  Ive been looking forward to that for months!!  Im going even if I cant run.
Here are some pictures from this morning.

 I have more pictures but none of my pictures turned out to well.  I post more maybe tomorrow. And the reason there are always more of miley is she can be trusted off leash more than Guiness

An Evening

 I took the dogs up to the dam hoping to get some good sunset shots.  Well actually I had wanted to go to the field and practice with Miley. But when I got home someone, I think Miley, has diarrhea in the house. So new plan, clean the carpet.  After I finished that , there wasnt much time left so I thought I would try to get some shots of the dogs.  The first shots didnt turn out to well. Guiness wouldnt cooperate , he was to busy smelling something.

 I just couldnt get the lighting right. If the sunset looked good, you couldnt see Miley. And if Miley looked good , you lost all the sunset color. LOL

I just moved on to take other pictures. We went out on the dock and Guiness didnt like that at all. The dock was moving a little and it freaked him out. Last time we were on it he was fine but not this time.

 Then right  after I took this next picture my camera stopped working.

I really like the above picture and I dont know how I got it.  LOL  Anyway the camera stopped working. It was just a black screen and wouldnt do anything.  I started walking around the site. I saw this thing swimming in the water and I coudnt tell what it was.  I asked this guy who was fishing and he said it was either an otter or muskrat.  Man and my camera wasnt working. I was so disappointed.  It swam up to shore and then into  some rocks.  I finally got the camera working but it was to late. ( I took the SD card out and put it back in).  Man that would have been a great picture of the otter. O'well maybe next time.  Also I had left my phone at home which my kids let me know about when I got back. "What were you  thinking not taking your phone. What if something happened to you".  LOL, at least I know my kids are listening to me when I say things to them.

Wordless Wednesday

On Course

I was to sick to go to my trial  yesterday but managed to make it today.   I have been fighting a virus since last Friday. So eight days of being miserable. Friday I broke down and went to the doctor.  Yep, just a virus.  She also x-rayed my back and that looked good. I guess it just a muscle injury that is now really aggravated.

Anyway, I manage to get up early and drive the 2 1/2 hours to the trial.  It was freezing this morning. My car said it was 28 degrees.  But once the sun came out it warmed up quickly. By the time I drove back home it was 65 degrees and I had to turn on the air conditioner.  The trial was very small.  The bad part was I didnt get any runs on video.   People were either working or running a dog. Plus I really didnt know anyone.  But no one sitting around at this trial.  There was only one toilet for women and there was never a line.  Now that's a small trial.   There were a couple of negatives.  No toys for wins.  Hmmm. Im not sure why.  No food for workers.  Again, I dont know why.  No worker coupons but you got raffle tickets. But I never win so why bother with that. 
First up was Adv. Gamblers.

I ran it exactly as I walked it.  No bobbles at all. She was awesome.  She even ran the teeter correctly and didn't leave early like she has been.  We "Q"d with 39  points. 
Right after that was Grand Prix.

 This run was awesome.  Tight turns, she read everything beautifully.  To bad we got called on the teeter. What a heart break. Beautiful contacts and weaves. I would have like to have that run on video.

I had high hopes for snooker. I really thought we could do it.  But we got whistled off after taking 2 red jumps in a row. Ugh!
Last up was Adv Jumpers.   Great run.  We stayed on course. WhooHoo.  I caused her to drop a bar when I adjusted my line while she was right over the jump. Ugh!

I made her drop #13.  Still we made it thur without going off course.  No circling in the ring anytime today. But she did circle when I had her had the practice jump. Weird.   She didnt break any startlines but pushed it on our last run.  Overall a very successful day. I know we still aren't perfect but still lots of positives and the runs just felt great.

Wordless Wednesday

1/2 Marathon

No not me. My husband ran a 1/2 marathon today.  We got up at 4am and drove down to Folly Beach.  We were going to leave last night  but I was to tired.  Yesterday Stephanie and I drove up to USC Upstate to look at the college.  I was very impressed.  To bad it was freezing cold, 34 degrees, pouring down rain and windy. It was just miserable weather.  So walking thur the campus was not pleasant but we survived.  If I had been dressed more appropriately like rain pants and my bog shoes than it would have been fine but I didnt want to embarrass Stephanie.
So we get down to Folly driving thur the rain the whole time. But when we get there it stops raining. I took the dogs for a 45 minute walk on the beach while Lou got ready to run.  When it was almost time to run, I put the dogs back in the car. Here's before the race.

As soon as the took off running it started pouring down rain. It continued to pour the whole time.  Im mean pour!  All I kept thinking was blisters on everyones feet from running with soaked shoes on.

Here is Lou coming over toward the finish line. See that huge puddle. They were all along the route.

I was so happy he made it and made his goal of finishing under 2 hours. As soon as he finished it stopped raining.

I took some pictures while he was running.

Then we decided to go home instead of spending the night at the beach.  It was just so miserable at the beach. So I took the dogs for another walk before we left.

Gound Hog Day

Guess what.  I really think the ground hog was right.  I went to the park today and listen to this.


Then look at this.

 Hows that for spring is coming!!

 Spring is coming? whoohoo!!!!

Ive been a bad park goer.  Ive been letting Miley off leash.  The park has been really deserted this winter so I thought she would get more exercise  off leash. She can go chase squirrels which requires her to jump over logs and  run.  Anyway, I usually look down the paths alot to make sure no one is coming. But today I was messing with the camera and all of  a sudden a guy on a bike is right behind me. I didnt hear him and he didnt say anything. Guiness starts going berserk . I'm holding two leashes and all of a sudden realize I dont have Miley on leash. Oh crap.  She runs up to the bicycle. The guy looked worried and I told him that she wouldnt do anything to him, so he kept on riding.  I called Miley and she turned around and came to me.  How great is that.  I was shocked. To call her off a moving bicycle made my day. I know it doesnt seem like much but it seem huge to me. Yea Miley!

I dont know if more tress and bushes are dying or if the park cleared some more areas. This area I havent been able to go thru before.  I saw it the other day and noticed  the colors in the rocks.  I hope you can see it.  I guess the water level must be down.

In the same spot there was a tree  over hung the water.

I thought it would be cool to get Miley's picture on it with those rocks in the back ground.  Well that was a lot harder that it looks.
I had to put treats on the tree and get her to go out on it.  Then try to make her stay as I ran back to get the shot.  LOL  it took many takes.

 But by the time I would get her to go out on the tree and then get back to take the shot, she would turn around to get off.

I finally, after many tries, I got one shot. Not the greatest but I was almost out of treats.

Stress and the cookie

On Sunday I decided to see how Miley's rear cross to the tunnel was doing. Was it a fluke that she got it in the end of the initial practice?  So instead of back chaining or starting really easy, I thought I would just send her through the long tunnel that was laying next to the a-frame ( not underneath it yet). Why did I choose to do that? I dont know. I just want to do  a few minutes practice.  So I sent her through, rear crossed and she went the wrong way when she came out. So no little cookie as a reward. Her "cookie" is a tiny piece of Natural Balance roll.  I mean a tiny piece.  So I put her through again, rear crossed and again she went the wrong way. Again, no little cookie reward.   Ok, problem.  So let me make it easier right.  I put her in the tunnel and STRESS!  Ugh! She wouldnt even go into the tunnel. What the heck?  I tried again, and again  she starts spinning and refusing to go in. Holly Crap!  Ive wrecked my dog. Now not only do I have a table problem , I have a tunnel problem.  I cant avoid tunnels.   This time she goes in but pops right back out and doesnt go thur the tunnel.  At this point I think Im going to cry.  I didnt mean to cause her stress, I was just trying to teach her something.  Could that little negativity of not getting the cookie after the tunnel have that great of an effect?  I guess so.   She did get a cookie at the beginning of the tunnel when I put her in a sit-stay.  Ok, I need to make it really really easy.   Very short tunnel straight ahead.  She went through and got a huge jack-pot of natural balance.  We did it again and another party. Then the long tunnel. The I did a curved tunnel and she was lightening fast , banking off the side when coming out. Again, huge party.  The we worked on jumping box work with an occasional tunnel thrown it.  No problems.  OMG, I hope her tunnels are ok.  I still felt bad about what happened and how easily she was stressed by that tiny mistake.   No wonder her table is screwed up.   It probably happened like that and I didnt even recognize it happening.  So I probably wont RC any tunnel under the a-frame for quite a while.

I saw this lady running her dogs when I was in Raleigh.   She was running Masters Gamblers.  She ran once border collie and he didnt get the gamble and she was mad.  You could tell her dog knew.  Head down, walking that slinky type walk.  She put him in a down and went and got the leash. Put the leash on and walked out of the ring. No happiness there.  Then I see her run the same class again with her next border collie.  This dog runs the gamble the same way and didnt get the gamble. Again , she was mad.  The dog and her are walking out of the ring , his head is down and he is slinking along knowing he did something wrong.  This time she takes this dog out of the ring, puts him in a down, then walks back in the ring to get the leash.   Comes back , put the leash on and walks away. Again, no happiness there.  Watching this made me soooo mad.  What the heck was wrong with her.  Both her dogs ran the gamble the same way.  Two different dogs, same handler.  So guess where the problem must be. But she blamed the dogs.  I asked this girl sitting near me if she knew that lady.  She said she didnt know her but knew who she was.  She then told me the lady's name.  She is known and puts on seminars.  Well you better believe I would never go to her seminar.   Can you imagine if I did that to Miley. She would never enter the ring again.     But that is beside the point. You shouldnt do that to any dog that is trying their best.  Jeez people, its dog agility.

Lots of sick kids at school.  Lots of fevers and sore throat.  Guess what?  Now I have a sore throat. Just great.