Part A

Things have been alarmingly busy.  The vet was out last Saturday.  Whiskey was checked.  She is pregnant with an anticipated end of May, beginning of June baby.  She has nerve damage and accompanying atrophied muscle along her rib cage.  I asked the vet about natural solutions for Ryder.  He'll be getting a ThunderShirt, as well I'll use DAP- a scent diffuser, in addition to a supplement on his food containing casein.  We'll try this first to help his anxiety.  We'll stay away from herding and do more play based things for stimulation. I want to give it a month before taking him to the vet for an evaluation.

Part B will include pictures....

Home

12 hours.

Over 1000 kilometres.

Home Sweet Home.

Whiskey is home.

Selling her was hands down one of the stupidest things I've ever done.  It was a mistake.  What I now have sitting in my field is a horse who has major, major skin nasties.  A horse who has not had her feet done in at least 6 months.  A horse who may or may not be bred.  A horse who is not nearly as plump as a horse coming off summer pasture should be.  And a horse who has a bizarre indent along her rib cage.  That being said, I also have a calm good natured and friendly mare sitting in my field.  I've placed a call to the farrier and am waiting to hear back.  The vet is coming on Saturday to preg check her and give me some guidance with the other things going on.

I have a new appreciation for my honey who drove with me.  Who also looked at me and never questioned my need to have this horse back.  I could not bear it if she had ended up in a meat pen.  She will live out her life with me.  I love this horse so much.  I spent much of my free time standing beside her, scratching her and breathing in her sweet horsey scent.

And that my friends, is priceless.

Connecting The Dots

Today I had an ah-ha moment.  We were sitting at the lunch table while at work and I was talking about Ryder.  I happen to work with many animal loving coworkers.  I was telling them how he's been shedding like a freak show.  How I was trying Cod Liver oil to see if it helped.  Someone asked if he always was a heavy shedder.  I explained it was only since summer that I really noticed.  I can fill buckets with his hair when I brush him.  And I brush him weekly.  We discussed various options for heavy shredders.

When suddenly one of my coworkers piped up.  Stress.  It's stress.  Look at all the changes in his little world.  I began to connect the dots.  1) struggling with training while working stock, not wanting to work 2) becoming naughty: ignoring his name, leaving the yard, bratty leash manners 3) shedding like a fool 4) almost daily diarrhea 5) licking everything in sight including himself.  I did a quick Google search.  Viola! Dog stress results... Lined up.

It seems that my dog is stressed according to my unofficial diagnosis.  I want to try some herbal solutions first before seeking vet solutions.  Fingers crossed for my Ryder boy.

Lesson on Fun

If you know me in real life you would know that I'm driven.  I can be a wee bit intense.  While I have fun with my animals, I'm also slightly serious about my fun.  Which probably makes my fun less fun for the dogs.  Luke's owner kindly agreed to give me some guidance with Ryder's agility foundation.  We worked on "dig" and I learned how to better progress through the drill.  Ryder is extremely quick which is challenging for me.

I've actually started a paper journal to write down my "instructions" so I don't forget.  It'll be nice to have some new games to play with him.  My Honey thought that Ryder definitely showed more enthusiasm for the agility.  I've suspected this but will keep working on both herding and agility games.  Honey has gone with me to Ken's and worked dogs there, as well as Stacy's to do agility games.  I wanted him to see both worlds so he can understand some of the nuances.  Then, if he wants, he can dip his toes into one or both worlds.

Trust The Gut

I've had a weird feeling.  One that kept nagging at me.  Acting on it, I fired off a casual message.  I was less than impressed with what I got back.  That weird feeling I had was about Whiskey.  I just felt something wasn't right.  And my gut was spot on.

Even though I'd requested a buy back clause Whiskey was for sale.  I had not been contacted.  Listening to my gut paid off.  I'll be northern bound to get my horse back.  She won't leave my hands again.

I Have Not Forgotten

I'm still around.  I have not forgotten about Blogger.  I miss my "blog" friends.  I'm just busy.  Stupid ridiculous, sleep the sleep of the dead busy...   Here is a brief update.  Diva is a herding superstar but is beginning to act naughty now that I'm back to work and she's not getting as much stimulation.  Ryder is suffering from a delayed teenage stage and is also somewhat naughty.  He was melting down from training pressures so am supplementing him with agility games.  This seems to help.  He is a playing fool.  I've also been doing a lot of therapy on my back, trying to get it functional.  This is sucking great amounts of time from me.  I started Moksha Yoga and I love it.  Right up my alley.  There will be no running this winter as I work on functional muscle strength.  I'm in my final semester of university and looking forward to a break.  I also met someone who is great and awesome and all things amazing.  This has also been sucking up some serious time.  The bonus is he loves my dogs and we've been able to do lots together with them.

I'm hopeful things will slow down and I can catch up on some reading...

Ryder Bootcamp: Continuation

I've continued working with Ryder on his little skills.  It's interesting, for herding work he often has to be on one side or the other by my leg.  I've discovered he does not transfer this skill to being on the lawn.  I've started doing some circle work.  Asking him to stay by my leg as we walk a circle.  This is HARD!  He wants to cross behind me or circle around my legs.  I've also noticed he resists sitting by my leg.  He prefers to sit in front of me.  These are things we've been focusing on.

He also seems to have figured out the go around the tree thing, or dig exercise.  I'm afraid he may link it with his name because I'm always patting my leg trying to get him to line up nicely, when he perks up and bolts around the tree.  I've been rewarding him for going around the tree even though he didn't do exactly what I want.

I've also noticed that as we play these agility games his energy increases where as with the herding it decreases.  I'm not sure if either is a good or bad thing.  I suppose time will tell.