Im still here!!!

Its been a rough few weeks here.  It all started with 2 weeks ago I got a colonoscopy.  All I could think about was getting something to eat when I was all done. But when I woke up, I had the worse sore throat Ive ever had in my life.   I told them my throat was killing me. And they just kept saying , "we didn't do anything that should cause your throat to hurt".  Nothing helped. I drank 3 cups of water before I left. Sucked on candy on the way home. I had my son stop for a soda on the way home, no help at all. We went straight home instead of getting a pizza like I had planned. By the time I got home I was crying. Ive had mono and strep throat a couple of times and none of it hurt like this. WTH????   We had some left over pain medication at home and I took it. By the evening, I finally felt better. The next morning the sore throat was gone but now I was hoarse.  That lasted a week. Weird huh?   Before the end of the week we went to the Annual Faerie sheltie picnic.  Java's breeder has a picnic every year at her house and everyone who had a puppy from her is invited to come hang out.  My husband went with me and I dropped him in Cincinniti, OH to visit with his family.  It was a terrible drive. Pouring down rain and terrible traffic. 13 hours in the car and I finally made it to the hotel.
 We all just hung out and talked. I don't think my dogs really like going to this. They don't see the point. They wont run around and play with all the dogs, like everyone's  elses dogs do.

This isn't a very good picture but here are Java's siblings. One is missing.

Miley's spent most of her time looking a the sheep.

This was a Shetland ram that was a "show" ram. So he wasn't scared of dogs. 

This was the only lamb. Very cute!!

We had a good time. Then on Sunday, I woke up with a bad headache.  I tried all day to get it to go away and finally broke down and took Imitrex.   I thought I didn't drink enough water, so I drank lots of water Sunday and wore sun glasses all day too.  Monday, woke up  with the same headache. Weird.  I drove home Monday. Tuesday I woke up again, with the same headache.  I took the dogs for a walk. Came home and I was freezing and had the shakes.   I took my temperature but didn't have one. I laid down and went to sleep. When I woke up, I felt horrible. My whole body ached so bad. I took my temperature  and had 102 fever. (I had take 800mg of motrin for a headache at 11am and then went to sleep).  I went to the kitchen and tried to take some Tylenol but thought I was going to vomit. Then I felt like I might pass out, so I laid on the floor.  Ive never felt this bad before.  I told my son he needed to take me to urgent care. He drove me and dropped me off at the door. I walked it and you have to sign it. I wrote , "fever, falling down and nausea".  I could barely write. I went and laid down on the chairs. They call me back and ask me about falling down. I told them I didn't fall down. Then I told her I meant to write "feeling bad" not "falling down'. Of course the "falling down " thing followed me. Then next person asked  me about it. I told them I didn't mean to write that and I meant I was feeling bad. The my son says, "why didn't you tell me you fell down?". Ack!!!   Finally that got straightened out.  So my fever was 103, my WBC was elevated with highs Segs, which showed some type of bacterial infection. Urine was negative, strep was negative and no Flu.   So they gave me antibiotics and pain killers and told me to come back if I get worse. The next day things got worse. Diarrhea added to the misery.  So lets just says things were pretty bad for the next 6 days.   Today was the first day I actually could leave the house and not feel like death.  Still cant be to far from a bathroom but otherwise Im much better.  I truly think I had salmonella poisoning.  I called my doctor Friday trying to get an appt, but they were short staffed and didn't think they needed to see me. I told them I thought I had salmonella poisoning but they didn't seem to care.  So I don't know if that was it or not but it sure seems to fit the bill.   Anyway, Im finally feeling better. Im sure if I was 80 years old and had that, Id be dead.  Im not kidding, it was that bad.  When you are taking narcotics every 4 hours for pain and its dooesnt slow your intestines down at all, things are bad.  My poor dogs just sat in the house for 6 days.

In other news. I took Java a couple of weeks ago to have her left shoulder ultra sounded. She has a small tear in the muscle and in the tendon.  So 4 weeks of rest and then she will get another ultrasound. Hopefully it will be healed.   
Took Miley back today for her eye recheck.  No new divots on her cornea but some pigmentation. So we will try to add another medication and see if it controls the pigmentations.  She said they are around the edges of her cornea , not right across it. So it shouldn't be effecting her vision. She will see her again in 2 months.  Miley also saw the Kidney doctor right before we left for our trip.  She is taking amitriptyline for cyctisis.  It has helped. She isn't waking up anymore at night.  On the discharge paper is said, "Unexpected results from Amitriptline"  I guess it usually only works in women and cats for cyctitis.  But who cares , its working for Miley. Its kind of making her not as playful. Her and Java haven't played together in a while. I tried backing off the medication, which increased her energy but then she started waking up at night to go the bathroom again. ugh.

Last week was my last full week off of school. And I was sick!!  This week  and next week I have to go in and help with registrations and vision and hearing screenings.  So much for vacation.  Life goes on.

Eyes, Kidneys and trials

 

Went to a trail last weekend.  I guess I will no longer get pictures with Miley's eyes open.  this was taken in the shade. Hmmmm.

 

Anyway, went to an indoor trial.  This is the first time Ive been to this venue and people rode their bikes inside the building. Ugh.  I wondered, as I was working the 20 inch class, if Java would continue to stay in the ring if someone was riding their bike pass the ring. It didn't seem to bother anyone else's dogs. I guess its just mine.

 

First up was T2b.

 

She popped out of the 10th poles , so then I was behind because I was really trying to drive down the line of poles so she wouldnt pop out. ugh. Because I was to far behind after the a-frame, she missed jump 6. But she stopped on the teeter. WhooHoo!!! 

The teeter has been  a huge issue for us. She just kept flying off. I thought she was just to excited and didn't want to stop. So I had been pulling her off course, for flying off. But she would do it again the next time or get it once and then fly off the time after that. So at this point I figured she didn't understand the criteria.  If pulling your dog doesn't work after a few times, your dog doesn't understand what you want , at least in my opinion.  So someone gave me an idea on retraining the teeter. I changed the idea a little.  I worked on getting Java to scratch a target on the ground. Then I put the target at the end of the teeter and had her scratch when the teeter hit the ground. Im still working on fading the target by cutting the circle target smaller and smaller. But the idea seems to be working. She stopped on the teeter in T2B and in standard.

Next up was standard. This course was eating dogs up. I worked the 20 inch dogs and so many of them dropped bars going down the first line.

They seemed to drop the bar either 3 , 4 or 5. The next problem, coming out of the chute, they wouldn't turn and took the off course jump.  The last problem, running the line at the end. 4 jumps out, you are getting behind as your dog runs ahead. Then they spin because they are unsure where to go.

Java did great except I messed up my rear cross at 5. Ugh!!



Then last was JWW.  She popped the weaves again!! ack!! Some how we recovered and didn't have any other mistakes but it wasn't pretty.

Then we went for a walk before going back to the hotel.

I love this picture. I have no idea who this lady is but her horse sure like rolling in the fresh grass.

The Java and Miley were running around. I have no idea what happened. I don't know if Miley slipped and fell on her face or if some small gravel got kicked up and hit her in the eye but she couldn't open her eye for the next 12 hours.

I didn't know what to do. But lucky I'm facebook friends with an Veterinary ophthalmologist. She sent me a message and told me what to do.  The next morning Miley couldn't open her eye at the hotel room but when we got to the trial, she could.  Ive been treating her with antibiotic ointment and she has been ok. She goes to the eye specialist Monday for a recheck.

That morning I went to McDonalds and ordered a Egg McMuffin. The weird thing was , it didn't have any Canadian bacon on it. WTH???   Then I get to the trial, right before Im suppose to run, while warming Java up. I think I see a slight head bob.  What???  (that usually means some type of compensation for a front end injury. ) I watch her, sometimes I see it, sometimes I don't. Ack!!  Then we walk inside on the rubber mat by the door. And she limps across.  I check her feet and find nothing.  We walk some more and on gravel she is limping. I check her feet several more times and I cant find anything. I decided to scratch her runs for the day and go home.  Bummer. Then while driving home, Im tired and stop at a rest area.  I decided to get some candy, which I never do.  I go to buy some M&Ms with my last few quarters.  Its one of those machines with the spiral thing in it and it turns until the candy drops down.  Right before its suppose to drop, the spiral spring stops turning.  Crap!!  No candy for me.  Today wasn't my day.   We finally get home. I check Java's feet again and find a small piece of gravel stuck in the fur between her toes.  That was the problem.  No more limping after that. So at least it wasn't any horrible.  
Ok, Ill have to talk about Miley's kidney probably later, I have to go.

Catching up

Im sorry I haven't been posting. Im not sure to many people are even reading anymore.   Ive been feeling depressed. Not like "cant get out of bed" depressed. Just not doing much of anything. I haven't been walking my dogs much, sad.  My fibromyalgia pain has gotten really bad.  I hate my job and I don't even know why.  They people I work with are really nice. Its just hard to sit in an office, all day by yourself, and see a bunch of kids that don't want to be at school.   And then have to deal with parents who are mad at you for stupid things. I could see if I made a mistake and you were mad but the stuff they are mad about is just dumb.   You are mad at me because I called you and said you cant send your kid to school with a blood sugar over 500 and spilling moderate ketones. You should at  least call me and give me a heads up so I cant help your child. Not let me find out on my own. And now you are snippy with me on the phone when I call??  I just don't get it. I didnt do anything wrong.  Its stuff like that all day long.   So then I find Im depressed by the time I leave there.  I eat lunch alone. Then my husband works out of town , so Im alone at home too. Its just all getting to me.  I went to the doctor this morning and told her we need to change something because Im miserable.  So she added a medication and will see if my pain gets better. I keep thinking how am I going to hike in Oregon next month if I cant even walk 4 miles at the parks without going into severe pain. I want to have a life and do the things I enjoy, not just exist.

I took theses pictures yesterday at the park. This cracked me up. I think this house was for birds. But I guess the squirrels felt it would make a good home.

Then this bird pecking holes in the bird house.

Took Miley back to the ophthalmologist.  They couldn't find anything wrong, or why she is squinting so much. So back to the old medication , Optimune and recheck in two months.  She is better but I feel like she isn't opening her eye completely, but not really squinting.

Last weekend we went to  the trial just on Sunday.  It was a nice day.  Sunny and warm.  Miley Qed in T2B but I messed up Java's run.   But she had nice teeters, you had to do it twice. 

Miley almost double Qed.  One dropped bar. Ugh.  Oh well, I would rather have one dropped bar then not be able to run her at all. 





Java had nice runs.  We got the wrong entrance to the tunnel, I should have layered that jump instead of going it. It pushed her right into the wrong tunnel entrance.  But she got the opening which was getting more dogs.  And she finally got her first excellent jumpers Q.

Sandy Beach

It was really sunny and warm this weekend. Yay, finally!!  Its been raining since Wednesday and poured all day Friday. I was suppose to go to an outside trial on Saturday but I knew the field would be a mess pass on past experience , so I knew I wouldn't be going on Saturday.  Instead I went to the beach that was on Lake Murray.  I lake level is really high so there wasn't as much beach as there usually is but the dogs didn't care.

Poor Miley is having trouble with her left eye . Saturday she started squinting again and then a lot on Sunday. So Im going to call this morning and get an appointment.

Eye dx

Look, Miley's eyes are open.   I got the this small park just as the sun was coming over the trees.  So the light was coming over before the full sun was over the top of the trees.  So, she could keep her eyes open.
I took Miley to her appointment this week with the Vet Ophthalmologist.  It was big bucks, Ack!!!   Anyway, they tested her tear production because dogs can have dry eye and can cause scaring on corneas but Miley's was normal. She had normal eye pressures and then they stained her cornea's for ulcers or scratches. All normal.  Then the eye doctor came in and looked at her eyes.  She said Miley has Sheltie Dystrophy.  (Ive never heard of this).  Its a genetic disease that they think is autoimmune. They get inflammation in the corneas which then causes scaring on the corneas. She said both eyes have equal amount of scaring.  She said the scaring is like little dimples, like the dimples on a golf ball.  She didnt think it was effecting her vision yet.   So the plan is to control the inflammation so there is no  more scaring.  She was started on Cyclosporin eye medication twice a day. She will be seen in one month to see if the medication is working.  If not, there is another medication they can try.  Most likely she will need to stay on the medication the rest of her life but hopefully on a  decrease dose. Like once every 3 days or so.

I bought a new wide angle lens.  Its nice for a group shot of the dogs. It will really help with family pictures. I know Ive said this before but the pictures are beautiful on my computer and then loose that quality when loaded to FB or blogger.

Im still taking Daisy Peels on line handling class.  This week  we did terrible. I think Java must not understand call the heel over the jump with speed.  Miley had no problem coming in over the jump before the tunnel. Java just wasnt reading it.



I think by the end I was saying cuss words.  Not good. I had to  listen to my videos I sent Daisy to make sure I wasnt sending any with bad words on it.   I think to get Java over the jump, I finally said forcefully, "Home here right now".  LOL, that work.   But the idea is to use handling skills to do the course not verbals. LOL

Its been hard video taping sequences with my ipad since Apple did that upgrade to ipads.  It brought the camera in closer so now my wide angle lens was wide enough to take video of sequencing.   Ive been searching the Internet and finally found what I needed.  I had bought some 37mm lenses (thats the thread end) , which is what would work with my ipad holder. The problem was the plastic piece that holds the lens wouldnt accept all lens.  Sometime the lens would hit the corner of the main plastic holder, so the lens couldnt thread.  But then I found this.

The one on the left is the new one. It has a metal thread ring already it in.   So I could just pop out the old plastic slide and put the new one it. It was only 12 dollars, I think, and well worth it.  Makes it so much easier to change lenses. And they are in there very tight so they won fall out.

Then they were also selling an extra wide angle lens, only for video not taking pictures with you ipad. Works great.

 

In case you are interested I got it from HDhat.com   The also sell these plastic cases that are convertible so you can use it with your phone too.  But I already the the older model and I dont really use my phone to video much. But its a neat concept. 

Someone asked me a question, so Im going to post some more information.  Your ipad fits into that plastic case. See below.  You can slide the lens into position when you need it, and slide down when you dont need it. The whole unit sits on top of your tripod.

This ipad holder by Makayama,  it didnt get great reviews on amazon but I havent had any problems with it and really like it. There is one down fall, your on/off button is hard to get to. So when I want to turn it off, I have to slide the lens out of the way to reach it. Not that big of deal, but that was one thing people posted they didnt like.   The whole unit sits on my tripod. My tripod is old. Over 20 years. We bought it when we had one of those big video cameras you use to have to put on your shoulder.  So its sturdy. Its made by Albinar 9900 video.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Weekend trial

Now you know I had to buy this picture.  When you go three years with your dog not getting on the table, you really enjoy every minute of this.

I went to an indoor trial on Friday and Saturday. I drove up early Friday. I went early so I wouldnt hit morning traffic.  So I worked the first class and it was freezing in there. Its always cold and I had those cloths on pictured above but I was still freezing.   Shivering!   The next day I was ready and would a thermal shirt underneath a sweatshirt. It wasnt as cold and now I was sweating. LOL,  that figures.

Here was the standard course.  Miley did great and Qed. She took 3rd place. Whoohoo!! Sorry I dont have any video. The usual people who are at trials werent here.   Then it was Java's turn.  I knew this was harder for her because of the running a-frame into the weaves. The judge had pulled the weaves back closer to the aframe because people complained about the being to close to the ring gating.  So  Java missed her weave entry but the rest of the run was beautiful. Her running dogwalk couldnt have been nicer.   Even the judge said, "beautiful run" when I finished.  Yay me!!  Someone did get it on video but he told me it didnt know if he would be able to figure out how to get it off his camera.  So I dont know if I will get it but it doesnt matter.  It felt great!

Next up was JWW.  I messed up both of these runs.  Miley, I did an off arm cue to keep her out of the first tunnel entrance. I think she thought I was giving her an opposite tunnel entrance cue and went to the tunnel entrance. She didnt go in and stopped but then came to the back side of the jump and I had to bring her around. So we got a refusal. But she didnt stress. This was huge!!  Especially after that UKI trial. 

 

Java, I dont know what the heck happened. She broker her start line so I had to run it with all rears. Which to my surprise worked   until after the weave poles.  I tried to FC between 13-14 and she didnt read it at all and went way off course. (pink maker Java).  Not a good way to end our day. 

I decided to drive the 2 hours home since I was done at 1pm.  My legs were killing me. I wasnt aggressive with my medication and I was in so much pain on the way home I almost pulled off the road. But really what was that going to do.   So I just pushed on, it finally  started to get better so I could think about other things than pain. The next day I did a much better job managing my medication so that didnt happen again. 

 

Day 2.

I had already decided when I found out they were running a CERF clinic at this trial to get Miley's eyes check. Not for breeding but just for my own state of mind. I just felt like something wasnt right.  I got the feeling my vet saw something in her eyes but wasnt sure and didnt want to tell me.  Her squinting has been better but I still felt like something was wrong. I had her eyes check at age 2 and they were ok.  (This was a big trial with agility, confirmation and obedience at the same time. So there were health clinic going on)  When I went to look at pictures that were taken there were multiple pictures of Miley taking off way to early. Im not really sure how she kept up all the bars she did.

 

 

Here is Miley taking the triple. She took off early and  she is trying hard not to hit the bars by keeping tucked.

 

 In contrast, here is Java taking the same jump.

 

 

First up today was standard. Java was first

 

Lots of off course possibilities on this course.   Probably the beginning was the toughest and the end of the dogwalk if you have a running DW.   Java I did a lateral send and then front crossed between 3-4. Well I supported number 2  for two long, instead of trusting my dog, so I was way late and cued that number 10 tunnel. Ugh!!  She missed the weave entry, my fault. Then, ugh, I started cuing the turn off the dogwalk way early.  And I thought I needed to layer the tunnel to get that 17 jump. LOL, nope, she turned and again took the number 10 tunnel. LOl Oh well.

I did a better job with Miley. I front crossed between 2-3. Nice run,   except for a dropped bar.




There was a little bit of a wait between Java and Miley's JWW run. Java was the 51 st dog to run. So I asked my husband to go take Miley and get the CERF check done.   I ran Java. Nice run but I got stuck in my front cross for just a second but I think Java thought I stopped and pulled out of the weaves.  (I should have said "go on" but I didnt think if it until it was to late).



Java was near the end of the 16 inch dogs and Miley was the 6 th dog in on the 12. I called my husband and told her to bring her back. He said there were still a bunch of dogs in front of her in line at the CERF clinic.  So he brings here back and tells me that her eyes are dilated for the eye check. Crap, I forgot they did that. He said they just did it and it will take a little while to work.  I took her to the practice jump and she seemed ok. I figured if she dropped the first few bars I would pull her.  But she did great. Except for one dropped bar. I heard her click it and waited. Then as she hits the weaves, I heard the bar drop. Crap.  But nice run.



After the run my husband took her back to the CERF clinic. I got there just at they were coming out of the room. The  opthamologist said Miley has scar tissue on but corneas, left more than right. That she has inflammation in her left eye. She needs to be seen by an opthamologist and she could have an auto immune diease.   She said they could give her eye drops and it would help. So hopefully I can get her into someone this week and see what is going on.   I hope its controllable and she wont go blind.   No great news at the end of the day but its not like I didnt suspect something was going on.

Cool picture of Java!