Preventive Care

• Veterinary Ophthalmology
  Zack had a terrific old age until about 14 1/2. He lost one eye, and then the other, to glaucoma. The eye specialist assured me that Zack would eventually adjust to his blindness, but he never did. For the next year, I carried him out every time he had to potty. He did learn to navigate quite well around the yard, and I could set him down and he would go off on his own to do his thing. But he never could go out the door again on his own, and I think it really bothered him to be so dependent. The only thing that made him happy was to be with ME, and I indulged him all I could. He still spent his days under the computer desk while I worked, and in the evenings he would lay beside me on the couch. He would be sound asleep next to me when all of a sudden he would awake and reach out to sniff me to be sure that I was still there. Then, contented, he would sigh and go back to sleep.
• Behavioral Counseling
  Zack earned his TD title in April of 1989, and his obedience training then began in earnest. I was amazed and constantly delighted at his attitude and his heads up, prancing heeling style. I still have some old videos of some very early training sessions that I had with Zack, and the potential that I saw in that twelve-week-old puppy was certainly still evident. I had my first lesson with him as a nine-month-old pup with my obedience mentor, Kay Guetzloff, and she said “This is the greatest dog you will ever touch, now don’t screw it up!” No pressure, haha. The rest of that year, I polished Zack for novice and started his open and utility training while I finished the OTCH on Zipper.

Infection Treatment

• Leptospirosis Treatment
  I picked Rayna because she was the smallest, quietest, and least driven puppy. I quickly realized that she is none of those things! Rayna is VERY high drive and very opininated, and she is quite sure she is always right. Pretty much every day she does something that makes me laugh, just like her dad did. I absolutely adore her. Sadly, Rayna had three ACL surgeries in 2017, and she spent eight months of that year being leash walked and rehabbed. However, we have moved on with a vengence from that dark time, and Rayna continues to work hard in herding, obedience, rally, tracking, and nosework. She earned several titles in 2018 in herding, nosework, and rally, but in 2019, Rayna really came in to her own. She finished an amazing 28 titles in obedience, herding, nosework, and rally! Rayna also surpassed my wildest expectation by placing tenth out of 110 dogs at the 2019 AKC Rally Nationals! In her obedience debut in Beginner Novice, she earned scores of 198 1/2, 198 1/2, 198 1/2, and 196 1/2. In 2020, during a pandemic, Rayna earned an incredible 20 titles. But more importantly, she survived a serious leptospirosis illness during the summer of 2020 to come back as strong as ever, earning her PCD and CD with all first places and three High in Trials, along with her Advanced A Duck title. In 2021 Rayna earned 22 titles in obedience, nosework, and herding, along with 9 Herding Championship points! In 2022 Rayna continued her winning ways by earning 20 titles, including her HC, UD, UDX, OM1 and 59 OTCH points with all her firsts! She also earned her NACSW NW1, winning overall First Place and Pronounced over an entry of 37 dogs, along with her overall AKC Master Scent Work title. Rayna has earned many High in Trials in rally, nosework, obedience, and herding, and the future is very bright. She is also teaching me many things I never wanted to learn:-)

Chronic Condition Treatment

• Hip Dysplasia Treatment
  When jumping enters the picture, the handler should have the dog vet checked to make sure there are no physical problems that could cause injury and pain. The most common small dog problem is in the patellas, but hip dysplasia can also occur. The most important physical area that the handler can control to help the dog is to keep the dog's weight down. A fitness program is also important to build necessary muscles.

General Pet Care

• Dog Training
  Gerianne's classes ended early in the month, and she has done lots of shopping and relaxing, no dog training! She did show the three paps and Riva at a CPE agility trial where everybody got a title, even fourteen-year-old Zack! His fourteenth year in a row to get a title! George is remodeling the living room and dining room this month, it will be done by Christmas. Gerianne has been shopping for furniture and rugs, love that zero percent financing! All of the dogs are doing great. Zack is still the most amazing creature in the world, you would never know he is 14, and we hope we have many more great times together. Rudy is ten and a half, still as sweet as ever, and he still occasionally shows in agility. However, he is most content on his recliner. Rumor is eight, and still a pistol. He is doing lots of tracking, and he still loves to cause trouble! Riva is two and a half now and very busy with herding, agility and obedience. Ray is eleven months old, and he may be the sweetest dog we've ever had. Our cat, Tyrone, will be fourteen in the spring and is also still spry. We look forward to many more years of enjoyment with our pets.