Layla Lu and Jademan Too: August 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Wow, What a Weekend and Memories of Miss Aubrie

Finally, I am taking the time to sit down and write a new post. This is long overdue. I have had a busy couple of weeks and just got finished with an agility trial in Denver this weekend. I planned to post earlier this week, but I could not sit down and write. I was at a loss for words with the first anniversary of the loss of my first beloved Golden, Aubrie.

We lost Aubrie last summer to the dreadful cardiac hemangiosarcoma. Aubrie showed no symptoms until 48 hours before we made the painful decision to let her go. My parents were on a vacation in Vegas for the weekend. On Saturday, August 20, 2011, Aubrie stopped eating. Refusing to eat her breakfast did not greatly concern me as Aubrie had always been a finicky eater, but Aubrie was turning her nose up at everything, even the yummiest treats I had to offer her. Sunday, she was getting worse before my eyes. I started to panic because my veterinary clinic is not open on Sundays. Aubrie would lay down and pant heavily. She was still refusing to eat and only wanted large amounts of water, which she proceeded to regurgitate. Layla would not leave Aubrie alone. I watched Aubrie from our living room couch. Layla would approach me whining. She was persistent. It was very obvious to me that Layla knew something was very wrong with Aubrie. Since I worked at my veterinary clinic last summer (and the summer before last), I took Aubrie to work with me the next day, a Monday. I did not expect the diagnosis that the vets gave. We drew blood on Aubrie. It was very dark because she was so dehydrated. We took radiographs of her chest. I helped every step of the way. The tech took one look at the radiographs before a vet did and said, "Oh Em, this doesn't look good." I took a look for myself. It wasn't good news at all. Aubrie's heart was extremely enlarged. It was taking up almost her entire chest cavity. Dr. Caruso ran an EKG on Aubrie and found an irregular heart rate. An ultrasound showed a mass in her heart. Her pericardium was filling with fluid making it difficult to breathe and pump blood the her body. We administered injectable lasix to make Aubrie more comfortable by drawing fluid off of her chest. Dr. Smith told me that hemangio was a terrible cancer that is very common in the Golden Retriever breed. He said he could refer me to a cardiologist who could draw the fluid off of her heart, but this would not fix the problem. Dr. Smith said it would only buy time, but he could not tell if it would be days or weeks. I did not want Aubrie to go into heart failure, and we did not want to bring her home if she would suffer and remain sick, so I made the decision to let her go.

To this day, that remains the most difficult decision I have made. I tried to remain strong in front of everyone at the clinic, including my mother, but I was in so much pain- I still am. I still feel guilty at times for that decision, but I have to remind myself that I did the very best thing I could for my girl. I did not want her to suffer and I knew Aubrie would not be happy if she came home but could not chase squirrels, play with her sister, or have an appetite. Aubrie's loss was very difficult on everyone in my family, including Layla. Layla had lived with Aubrie every day of her life from the time that I brought her home at 7.5 weeks old. Layla and Aubrie were pals. Layla looked up to her big sister and was her constant shadow. Without Aubrie, Layla was lost. She lost all desire to play. She would just lay around unless someone made a huge effort to get her up. Layla did not find nearly as much joy in training either. All of this changed when I purchased a little brother for my girl. Now, Layla runs and plays again. Jade and Layla love each other so much. It makes my heart sing to see my kids so happy to have each other.

This year, August 22 was bittersweet. It not only marked the one year anniversary of losing Aubrie, but on this day, Jade turned 5 months old. I cannot imagine life without my little man already. He is so sweet, such a cuddler, and so very wise. I look deep into his eyes and see a Golden much older than he is. I know Jade came at just the right time for Layla and me. I am so lucky every day I have with this awesome boy. I cannot wait to fill the years to come with many more memories of Layla and Jade.

Layla just keeps running better and better for me in agility. We had a nice weekend at the Rocky Mountain All-Terrier show here in Denver. I am getting spoiled with agility trials in Denver. There are so many options for trials every month less than an hour from my house. On Friday, Layla NQ'd standard. She bailed the aframe and the dogwalk (a problem we have been having for years). She q'd in JWW with 5 points. Saturday, Layla finished her MXJ with 6 points for her JWW run. She bailed the aframe again in standard, but hit the contact on the dogwalk. Today, Sunday, we got our very first QQ!!! Layla also got her second MX leg. We got 14 points in standard and 7 points in jumpers. Jumpers was an especially tricky course. Very few dogs ran clean. It was one of those course where the careful dogs beat out the lightning quick Border Collies. I saw so many handler pushing their dogs into an off course after a front or rear cross on a line of jumps before looping around that I decided that I needed a different plan. For the first time in a trial, Layla and I did a blind cross, and it worked!! I got great distance on a front cross two jumps after my blind, and Layla gave me great weaves! I just love this girl! She got a raw marrow bone and duck necks to celebrate our accomplishments this weekend!

Tomorrow morning, Blake and I are driving back to Tulsa. Blake needs a few days at home before he flies out to Germany at the end of the week for his study abroad. Blake returns to the States in December. I am trying not to think (or write) too much about him leaving because it makes me very upset. Blake is the best boyfriend I could ever ask for. My Goldens love him like crazy. I often find Layla asleep with her head on Blake's shoulder or chest. I know it will break Layla and Jade's heart nearly as much as mine when they find out we are returning to Denver without him. On Thursday, the kids and I leave from Tulsa to Gray Summit for the Golden National. We get to play 5 days of agility, do health testing, go to seminars, watch all kinds of other events, shop, and hang out with other Golden friends!! It's going to be a blast. I return to Denver from the National just 2 days before classes start. The Sunday before my classes start, I have plans to meet Gayle Watkins, Jade's breeder. Gayle and I have talked many times over the phone or over Skype, but have never met. I cannot wait for her to see how much my handsome many has grown! I have some exciting days ahead of me!!

Mr. Watermelon Face

My baby girl and me

My favorite boys

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Camping, Climbing, and More!

Jademan is sitting in my lap as I write this. Actually, it took me a couple of attempts to start this post. Jade loves to snuggle up really close even if that means sprawling across the keyboard and making the computer do some funky stuff before I can scoot my boy to my side. I love my little man so much. He reminds me to take a step back from whatever I am doing and just enjoy the moment with those who I love.

Since the last post, Blake and I took the kids to go camping up by Chinns lake. We had a blast and the area was beautiful. It was probably the prettiest spot I have ever been camping. We hiked up the mountain and saw waterfalls. We camped in an area surrounded by forest. And the Goldens had a blast leaping across the waterfall, sprinting across the shore, and splashing through the lake. Let me tell you that I am not nearly as graceful and aware of my environment as Layla and Jade. They made racing across the muddy and rocky shore look like fun. After ignoring every ounce of intelligence, I decided to follow. My lovely attempt at a run along the shore did not look as picture perfect. I slipped on some muddy rocks and busted my knee. I was having so much fun chasing after my Goldens that I didn't even notice the injury. When we got back to camp, one of the guys said, "Wow, that looks like a lot of blood!" Really? I was so blissfully happy I forgot to really check myself when I got up.

Yesterday, Blake, his friend Josh (from our high school), me, and the doggies drove up to Grand Lake to stay at our friend Daniel's house. Daniel's mom has a house in Grand Lake, such a cute little mountain town. Daniel is working in Winter Park for the summer, so he switches between living at his house in Denver and at his mom's house in Grand Lake. His property in Grand Lake is gorgeous. The town is so quite and quaint. We left early in the morning for a nearly 8 mile walk in the mountains around the lake. The kids had a blast. I am so fortunate that we live in Colorado where camping and hiking is a regular part of my week. Jade discovered wild raspberries and was thrilled to munch on them during the hike- the bushes were everywhere! The Goldens were beat by the time we started the car to head home. However, as soon as we pulled into the garage, the kids were ready to wake up and play more. They amaze me!

I only had a couple of hours before Layla's agility class, so I didn't have much of a chance to rest. I was rubbing my eyes as Nicole entered the ring when class began. I told Nicole that Layla would run, and I would try my hardest to keep up. Layla did a phenomenal job tonight! She was super fast and very honest. She let me know my mistakes every time I made one. Layla has gotten much more confident on the dogwalk. She raced across it the fastest she has done since we started training at the club here. Her contacts are so much improved. Nicole worked with me on blind crosses tonight- something I had never tried with Layla. After about 2 tries, we had it down really well. I was throwing in blinds where ever I could on the course just for fun! Layla is so much fun to run. I am feeling the best I have ever felt since we started agility. I cannot wait to see what we do next weekend at our agility trial.

Beautiful camping last weekend

My silly girl's smile on our hike today

Little Man is all legs!

My boy

A moment of peace on our drive back to Denver

Thursday, August 9, 2012

When I Wish I had my Camera

I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post. As you can clearly see by the title, I took no pictures today and I did not get any agility runs on film as well.

This evening, my agility instructor Nicole was unable to teach her class because she is trying to qualify for USDAA Nationals at a trial. Instead of class, I took Layla to do run-throughs. Jademan came along for the ride. Layla was just AWESOME!!! She ran so well for me. We were getting jump sequences and crosses that ladies who were running very nice and fast Border Collies could not get. I am really figuring out how to drive Layla. This means that I have to put in more front crosses than the average handler. Layla needs all the help she can get if we really want to race around the course. I was so proud of her tonight. She had no off courses, refusals, or bars (although Lay never drops bars). Layla only missed her dogwalk contact once, but that was because I really wasn't cuing her and she was extremely excited. Nothing makes me happier to see her bouncing to the start line, barking the whole way until I release her. Running her felt so good tonight. We were really feeding off of each other's excitement and that drove us to run and push harder. I was especially proud of the last jump sequence on the last course that we ran. It was jump, wrap to another jump, front cross into a serp, tunnel, jump into another serp, front cross into chute. She nailed it both times and many handlers were having issues with back jumping or refusals. I am very excited about our trial in Denver in a couple of weeks.

I have been working with Jade a lot too. We are working hard for our Foundations class. His newest skills are "ready!" (sets up between my legs), place (heel position on left side), side (heel position on right side), speak, and weave through my legs. He is a great puppy and quite the snuggler. In another week, he has his first field lesson. I am really looking forward to it, especially since I have never done any field work before. Every day is so exciting with a 4 1/2-month-old boy. I can't wait to see what our future holds.

Tomorrow, we are leaving for camping. The Goldens will be joining us for the first time. I cannot wait to see how they like camping. They were crazy about our hike in the mountains last weekend, so I'm sure they will have a blast. I will try to get pictures!

I'm including a cute video of Layla's new trick. I knew she could help me with homework!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Oh Darling, Let's Be Adventurers

I have been neglectful in keeping up with this blog. The end of July came and went in the blink of an eye and I had so much crammed into those last couple of weeks. Since my last post, so much has happened. I finished working at my summer job at OSU's Veterinary Teaching Hospital. It was a rewarding experience that I will never forget. Working with great doctors and techs really has inspired me in my own career plan. It is hard to believe I have less than a year until I apply to vet school. Also since my last post, I made the big move from my parents' house in Tulsa to my house in Denver. 2 weekends ago, I helped my parents load up the rental van with more stuff than I can even imagine. Blake and I drove with the Goldens in my completely packed Mini Cooper. We could hardly see out, and I was pretty much sandwiched between bags at all times during the drive. On the way to Enid to pick up a few things at my grandparents' house, my dad actually rode with us. How we fit 3 people, 2 dogs, most of the dog stuff, and some of Blake's and my things into that Mini, I will never now, but we all found it pretty hilarious.

After a long 3 days, our house was finally home sweet home. I didn't even imagine how much work had to be done, but I am so thankful that my entire family helped Blake and I set up the house. Last Thursday, I took Layla to her first agility class in Denver. We had a blast and our instructor is phenomenal. I have never before really had an agility instructor who is qualified to teach agility at the level Layla and I are at, or even agility foundations for that matter. I really regret that Layla never had a proper introduction to agility and I never learned how to handle from the beginning, but it looks like things are going to change with this new instructor. Nicole asked if she could work Layla to demonstrate how she wanted me to drive Layla through the course. I said yes, but I told Nicole that Layla doesn't really enjoy running with other people besides me. Well, Layla surprised me! She blasted through the weave poles faster than I have ever seen her do. And it was all in the way that Nicole was moving her body. Nicole told me to really exaggerate my movement during the weaves so Layla tries to race me. Layla is not a dog that offers a lot of speed and distance by herself. She just isn't very confident working independently. I will work with the dog that I have. Nicole is teaching me to find the best lines to really drive Layla around a course. I can't wait to see Layla improve.

We didn't get much time to settle into the house because early Friday morning, we left for an agility trial in Dolores. We drove straight through the mountains- it was the most gorgeous drive I have ever been on. Dolores was tons of fun. The Colorado agility people are so friendly, the judge was so encouraging and had awesome courses, and I LOVED running on grass. Layla went 3 for 3 last weekend (we only ran in jumpers). She hasn't had a weekend that consistent for a very long time. Lay didn't run as fast as I would have liked, but it was her first time at altitude and first time running on grass. Our MXJ leg count is up to 8 right now. I hope we can finish the title in Denver in a few weeks.

Blake and I really turned our dog show trip to Dolores into an adventure. We took the dogs to a stream Saturday after the trial. Layla and Jade had a blast splashing around and the water was quite warm considering our location and altitude. Later, we took the kids for a 3 hour hike. We all had a blast. I let Jade off leash and wondered what he would do. He really surprised me. Jade stuck to the trail with all of its twists and turns. He galloped ahead of us, but every time I called, "Where's my puppy??", he turned around and sprinted towards me. I couldn't be more proud. Jade has the perfect combination of awareness of his environment and focus on me. I really attribute his excellent hiking manners to his breeder, Gayle, who took the puppies on daily woods walks when they were old enough. Blake took some beautiful pictures of the scenery, me, and the kids during the hike.

Now, I am back in Denver. Ellie, my freshman roommate and still best friend, stayed the night at our house last night with her friend Jenn. Ellie and Jenn are in the middle of a road trip from Chicago to California to visit a friend of Jenn. I had so much fun laughing and catching up with Ellie last night. I miss her so much because we live so far apart now. Freshman year, we were inseparable.

Jade has his first foundations agility class tonight with Nicole. I can't wait to see how he does. The little man amazes me every day. He is so stinkin' smart, and I just know he will be a blast to run someday!