after a long dreadful week ...

... GOOD news re Sizzle's heart murmur!

photo by DE Photo

We had an appointment with European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Cardiology Joao Loureiro at North Down Specialist Referrals this afternoon. Joao is a very nice guy, he is very gentle with Sizzle and Sizzle has been a fantastic dog, Joan praised him for being such a calm, stressless and easy dog to do the Ultrasound and ECG tests.

It was very difficult for me to leave Sizzle there after our 30min consultant. I was dying to know the result and being restless and stressed worried about my little boy. Joao said he was expecting him being an agility dog, should be restless and excitable but Sizzle was such an angel, he let them do whatever they want to perform on him. I am so proud of my little man. 

Result wise, VERY GOOD NEWS! Joao said Sizzle's heart is normal, the murmur he has is call FLOW murmur, he cannot find any abnormality in it and I do not have to worry at all, not a tiny bit worry! Everything is looking very good. The size of his heart is normal, his heartbeat is perfect. He also have a quick check up on Sizzle and said he is very fit and healthy, every bit of him is in top condition!

I was over joy with the result and you cannot believe how relief I am and I cried nearly all the way home, the tears of happiness! I know I am going to sleep well tonight and recuperate what I have lost over the last week! Nothing could make me happy other than my dogs are healthy!

rant ...

I haven't have much luck recently ... the worst news is Sizzle has heart murmur! I took him to the vet for his annual vaccination on Tuesday, Kevin detected he has a heart murmur, his left side of the heart felt abnormal. We went back for another "listen" to his heart on Wednesday and it is now confirmed that he does has heart murmur. From scale 1 to 6, he is 2. Kevin referred him to North Down Specialist Referrals, we have an appointment made for next Wednesday.

I have been crying my eyes and heart out for him for the last two days. He is one special little boy for me, he has a special little place in my heart. I don't care if we can do agility or not, he is one of my precious family members. He brings joy to me and he is my ray of sunshine as I always call him. It is so unfair that this tiny little boy has heart murmur! I feel so angry about it!

Other news, Sipzie has started her agility lesson at the Club on Monday. She is doing very well, I am very proud of her. We haven't done much of training at home. I remembered Sizzle was well advanced at the same age. I am still bonding with her so I am taking everything slow and steady. There is no rush to compete with her at 18 months old.

Saturn has been on and off acting like a satan in the agility ring. He messed up two of the DFS Crufts Mini/Mixi pairs qualifiers with Bracken, although he tried to make it up by winning two Jumping pairs classes with Bracken, I am still not happy with him. I think we have a lot to work on this winter to turn this Satan back to the lovely Saturn!

I ran Sing in the Agility last weekend at Stour Valley and Treat Park, he was a good boy. He got a 2nd and a 3rd, I am very pleased with his running contacts. Hopefully he stays that way for Crufts next year!

Sizzle put up a gear or two last weekend, I think he missed me while I was away in Malaysia, so I wasn't expected it and we weren't co-ordinated at all. He ran beautifully, it was me that got left behind doing stupid silly thing. I think we have a lot to work on this winter too, if the Vet said we can carry on doing agility.

Oh, and the internet is annoying me for the last few days. I keep getting disconnected from the afternoon hours until midnight!I couldn't upload any videos and photos ...

 

alive!

I am so glad to be home SAFE!

My flight from Singapore to London was eventful, probably a bit too much! It was 5 hours after we took off from Singapore, we were somewhere above India, the plane faced two extremely strong turbulence. We weren't warn of that. The pilot/captain did say in the beginning (before we left Singapore) that they were expecting some bad weather in Thailand but we well passed Thailand! The whole plane was shaking violently the first time and dropped to certain level, before I could put my seat belt on, the second one came too soon and this was a very bad one, the plane must have dropped a few thousands feet and I got thrown off my seat and when landed (back on my seat), I can hear my back go creak! Nearly all the female passengers on the plane were screaming (that including me too)! At that time, I thought to myself, I am dying, the plane is going to crash!

The worst thing was, the pilot/captain never explain what had happened! I was worried with sick all the way, can you imagine for the next 8.5 hours, I was sitting there thinking when is the plane going to crash!I have been flying so many times in my life, long, short, far, close but this is the worst flight in my life and that put me off totally from flying again!

After I landed at Heathrow, have both my feet on the ground, I just broke down and cried! I wanted to get home the fastest I can, so I change my mind from taking a tube to get a taxi. The taxi driver was rude too, he refused to take me as he considered Mitcham is too far but the airport admin made him to send me home. He drove badly, like a lunatic, whizzing around the traffic and stop sudden. That one hour journey really made me sick!

Once, the house door open, I broke down once again! I was so happy to see the shelties and Colin. All the dogs were crazy to see me, Sing was howling with happiness and Sizzle and Saturn never stop licking me! Sipzie and Seagull were jumping all over me, Sing and Samber running round and round in a circle ... I am shower with shelties love! Colin didn't get a chance to get close to me, the dogs push him off!

To sum up my visit, mum is getting livelier but still immobile. I bought a new camera, YEAH! So, I took the dogs out to the Common yesterday and tried my new camera ...

 

Sing diving

these photos also taken with my new camera when I was in Malaysia

this is the beautiful Eva

this is Seagull, my nephew's new pup, she was named after our Seagull

this is Titan, litter brother to Seagull, also named after our Titan.

Seagull and Titan. Reason my nephew named these two dogs after mine is because he is in love with them

this is my mum's dog, Johnson

just a quick post ...

... I am off to Malaysia to visit my mum tonight, she has been poorly and I think she needs me to cheer her up! It is so hard to leave the boys and girls at home, I know who will miss me the most!! It is heart breaking that each time I left even just for a day or two, I was told that Sing will sit by the front door howling :( Hopefully he feels safe with daddy this time.

 

Agility wise, I took the dogs and the caravan to Letchworth last Thursday, I always like Letchworth show, I like it when you can take your dogs for a good walk after a day of agility. Many shows only have a small exercise area but Letchworth venue is at the lovely Huntingdon Racecourse. 

I've got a big surprised on Thursday night, I was told that someone has dropped out on the KC Olympia Semi-Final and Sizzle is the next one in. Well, I was shaking in excitement and at the same time feel nervous about it. We need to be at the Semi-Final on Friday afternoon. Oh My God! I haven't even prepare! And that gave me a sleepless night!

I was very excited on Friday, luckily all Sizzle's classes were on first thing in the morning, so I get to practice before I go. Sizzle was a very good boy, he got placed in all his three classes, that gave me confidence to go to the Semi.

The Semi-Final was held at the Kennel Club at Stoneleigh Park. That is a big place! We have a warm up run and the real Semi-Final. Many of the dogs didn't do the warm up but I did, I was so nervous and I need to calm myself down by running. It was a challenging course with a tricky weave entry, unfortunately Sizzle missed the cloth tunnel and struggled with the weave entry, we got faults on that! 

Then, the Semi-Final course was another challenging one, my nerve is kicking me all the time and I messed up with Sizzle in the Semi to get him eliminated! So, NO Final for us. We have to try harder next year! I was very pleased with Sizzle, he was a fantastic boy, he always tried so hard for me and he was fast too! Shamed about the handler!

 

this is Sizzle's Olympia run:

At Letchworth, my agility result went downhill after my Semi. I am easily distracted by my emotional. I couldn't gather my thought after my terrible run at the Semi and that affected my performance and of course my boys felt my nerve and we weren't any good.

Luckily, I managed to "settle" on Sunday and we got better!

this is Bracken and Saturn's Jumping Pairs, we won that by 2 seconds!!

a big time catching up ... part 4 - home sweet home

We didn't do the Monday of Summer Open Show, so we got home late on Sunday night, we just wanted a relaxing day before the week start again. Colin had a sore toe after DiNAS, that toe causing him in a lot of pain, as usual, the GP only prescribed him with anti-biotic. He has finished his anti-biotic but still not any better, so off he went to see the doctor again yesterday, you are right! More anti-biotic! The doctor can't be sure what cause the sore toe! He is still limping very much, so he wasn't much of a help at Summer Open Show. I need to take the dogs for walks and running and setting up the caravan, unpacking the caravan, fetching water ... oh dear!

Having Monday at home is what we all needed. We had a good lie in, bliss! Then, I took the dogs for a good walk in the Common, the sun was shinning, so I had to ring Colin at home to bring the camera to me so I can take some photos of the dogs.

I know I am bias but he is so handsome

I love these action shots:

my beautiful Sipzie

Saturn is ashamed of his behaviour on the weekend

such a happy boy, don't mind is a bit too windy, always looks gorgeous

Seagull and his niece Sunny

 a happy family

Saturn said: I will look after you, little one.

you can't be crossed with this little face!

who needs a hot water bottle? Well, we may need a bigger bed!!

a big time catching up ... part 3 - Summer Open Show

I am nearly there ... Summer Open show was a disaster show for me. I wanted to do well as this is the DFS Crufts qualifier but again, nothing goes my way! First, the boys, Saturn and Sizzle in particular were bad, they became very "bitching". We had a very nice girl came to stay to mate to Sing and I think her stay with us had upset Sizzle and Saturn. I don't know why but this is not the first time I have girls in season in the house, we have Gem (Zap's mama), Samber and Skye in season, we sailed through peacefully but definitely not this time.

We had a nice camping spot, thanks to Ian and Eleanor. Being on my own on Friday to run the boys, having camp close to the rings is a big advantage. Friday proved to be a real disaster. Saturn lost his mind in the Small/Mixi pairs. He ran off the ring and I could not get his attention back at all. How much I wish the ground would open up and swallow me in! That's us losing our points for the qualifier. I cannot say sorry enough to Matt and Brax who put in a fantastic round!

Eventhough Sizzle's level of concentration was very low but at least he stayed in the ring and ran the full course for me, just not his usual speed.

Sing also did one stupid round, he did a beautiful round and just at the 3rd from last jump, he lost his attention and that's it! Arrrggghhh ...

So much of having boys!! BUT, I do love them! They need more training!!

Luckily we have another Small/Mixi pairs on Sunday to make it up, if Saturn listen ... and he did, he ran beautifully on the fast course and we were placed 9th in the pairs:

 

 

Sizzle and Smo pairs got a 8th on Friday but I managed a stupid mistake after Sizzle ran clear on Sunday, I didn't catch him quick enough and he took the big jump with Smo that cost us an elimination:

 

 

 

a big time catching up ... part 2 - DiNAS

So, we move on to Dogs In Need from KC Festival ...

This is the first time I have done DiNAS, gosh! It is such a relaxing show that I missed most of my classes! I was very good in keeping up on the first day, Tuesday. I've ran Sizzle in his two individual classes and the Jumping pair with Ziga; then ran Saturn's Jumping, it was about 10:30am, guess what? I fell asleep and didn't get to run his agility! Duh!

It is such a relaxing show and where we camp wasn't far from the rings. I was very tired from KC Festival, all the stressed and the rain, so I didn't really "wake up" at DiNAS. I took it as holiday so I ran whenever I can. Sizzle and Saturn were running well. Saturn was good enough to concentrate, I did worked hard to get him focus on me though.

Unfortunately I didn't do well in the Champ with Sizzle, I was worried. Sizzle fell off the DW on Wednesday and we had a day off on Thursday, so I wasn't sure how he would react to the DW in the same ring and almost the same position. We got eliminated before the DW so I moved all my attention to get him up the DW, he was a good boy, the DW didn't worry him at all and he was on his full speed on the DW, Phew!

The highlight of the week was Sing x Samber pups reunion. We have all the pups and their parents turned up at 10am on Thursday. We had a good time catching up. All the pups are lovely, I finally got to see Sadie, I haven't seen her since she left me at 8 weeks old. She is a little darling, very sweet little girl. I am so proud of them all.

sweet Sadie

the Family

our walk

and yes, we got to see Ronin again! He is Sipzie's litter brother that lives in the Netherlands. His owner Marc and Linda were at DiNAS competing with their shelties Yade and Reveh. Both handlers and shelties did extremely well, they won a lot of rosettes and trophies! Next year, it would be Ronin and Sipzie time! WooHoo! Can't wait!!

I think Ronin is in love with Skye, these two are inseparable, the play and play and play ...

sorry one missing, Tig and mum went out for the day!

here are some of our runs, Sizzle @ G7 Jumping:

 

 

Sizzle @ G7 Agility:

 

 

Saturn & Smo Jumping pairs:

 

 

 

a big time catching up ... part 1 - KC Festival

We were back and off again and now back but will be soon off again! Agility Rule! Now, I am trying to catch up ...

Let's start with 

Kennel Club International Agility Festival, 13th - 15th August @ Kelmarsh Hall

I managed to persuade Colin to take 10 days off work, so we can go to KC Festival then off to DiNAS like most of the agility folks do. This is the first time ever I did agility more than 3 days! We left home on early Thursday morning to begin our agility adventure. The weather wasn't too kind to us but we got the awning up before it got very wet. I am so glad that I insist we bring the awning that gave us the extra living space in the wet muddy condition.

The weather at the KC Festival was bad, especially on Saturday, we had thunder and lightning, one of our agility friends' BC got spook by the thunder and ran 8 miles, thank God he was found safe and sound the next day!

Results wise, good and bad. I was hoping to do well with Sizzle, at least to get him qualified into the semi-final in the main arena but nothing goes as planned. Do I have to be surprised? Nope! He was working very well in the wet and muddy condition, the contacts were slippery and he was soaking wet all the time! I misjudged the jump to the A Frame in our British Open Agility Qualifier round, so we got a big fat e'd! I was very disappointed with myself! 

Also, in a couple of 6-7 agility courses, where there were tunnel underneath the DW, Sizzle was confused and he took the tunnel instead of the DW. I am not sure if my body language has sent him to take the wrong obstacle. He was pretty good at obstacle discrimination but at this occasion, we lost out! 

Sing and Saturn surprised me, I only entered Sing in the British Open on Friday and he ran clear in both qualifier rounds, so do Saturn. I was hoping at least one of them make it through to the main arena as I love running in the main arena. When the results were posted, I was happy that Saturn made it to the semi -final and also very disappointed to see Sing wasn't in the semi-final.

I went to question the Officers about the qualification and no one give me the answer I want. I was furious about their inconsistency and unable to satisfy me with their answer. In the British Open Cup schedule, one of the rule said:

A dog eliminated in either round of the British Open will not be eligible for the Semi-Final

Sing ran clear in both rounds and his accumulate points are higher than the dog who got eliminated in the Jumping round but the dog went through to the semi-final whilst Sing is not eligible to run in the semi-final! I am not really that bother if Sing didn't get to run in the semi-final but I felt cheated on what is on the schedule!!!

Saturn was a little naughty for the last few weekends, he seems to drifted away while competing in the ring. I don't really know why as this is the first time I have problem with him concentrating on me. At a couple of runs at the KC Festival, he started well and then shifted his attention, he almost ran out the ring in which one he was in the main arena. I tried to get his attention back but he wasn't really interested in the course and we went wrong and got eliminated in the semi-final.

 

I am very proud of my boys though, KC Festival is enormous. To be able to earn a place on the podium is a great achievement to me!

this is Sizzle and me together with Roger & Troy (sheltie) and Michèle & Pidou (poodle) from Netherlands to form the Rest of The World Small Team at the Nation Cup. We won the Agility round.

this is Sing and me together with Karen and her BC and Jenni & Juice (not in the picture but Juice is a cocker spaniel) to form the Rest of The World Medium Team 3 at the Nation Cup , we got 2nd in the Jumping round

Sizzle and sister Ellie at KC Festival

a very tired Sizzle at KC Festival, spent most of the time stuck indoor in the pouring rain!

Due to the very wet condition, we didn't get most of the runs on the video but this is Sizzle in the ROW: