Sidney just turned 6...

I can't believe it has been SIX years since I brought home the cutest puppy ever! I remember like yesterday how nervous I was to leave my deposit with Nancy and how beyond proud and excited I was the day I got to bring her home and show her to my family and co-workers--she really was SO cute!

I had no idea at the time that she would go above and beyond filling the space in my heart that was broken when I handed over my 1st guide dog puppy to her forever person. Sidney is that once in a lifetime dog that has taught me so much and although spoiled ROTTEN, she will never get as much from me as she has given me.

She has given me a few heart-stopping moments along our journey (christmas spent in the ER, visits to the neuro vet etc...), but she has also made me super proud by being a super fast learner who absolutely loves nothing more in her life than to "train" and be learning new tricks or obedience commands, well, that and getting CHEESE from anyone who will oblige!

She has her CDX obedience title and RA Rally title currently and will be working toward her Pre-Utility title next month at the Rose City Dog shows and eventually we will get the last leg of her Rally Excellent title..She is capable of trying out Utility, but since her vets advised no jumping due to her disc issue in her back, we will settle for Pre-Utility because the jumps are 12"! That's nothing for the jumping bean named Sidney!

Over the past year Sid has become REALLgrey in the muzzle-she looks like her "momma Jewel" more and more every year. It makes me really sad, but she is still perfect and full of energy!

One post a year..

Ive failed as a blogger! I'm trying to get back into it though!

In the past year Sidney has been training very hard to get ready to show in Utility...In the meantime she got her Rally Novice Title and has 2 Rally Advanced Legs. I think she looks at us like "why are we going so slow" in Rally, but I really wanted to keep her in the ring and busy while we perfected the "go out" and those pesky scent articles.

We had decided to work extra hard and enter her in the June Canby show and we're really excited she finally "had" her directed jumping pretty consistently and we were practicing extra days each week to put it all together. Around 10 days ago we noticed she was favoring a back leg while heeling--slightly toe touching and holding the leg back farther than normal. I decided to rest her for a few days and then this week we went to her vet...

Our vet examined her and believes she has a tear in her knee, he advised we not let her do any jumping since she already has signs of scar tissue and arthritis in one knee. We're very very sad to have to retire her from obedience when she's SO close to entering utility and lives for her training, but we don't want her in pain.

 

So, we're off to see an orthopedic specialist on Saturday and see what needs to be done long term: in the mean time we're on day 3 of no training and attempting to keep her "quiet". Sidney is not a slow moving dog--eveything she does includes some sort of hop, jump, bounce or run..We're practicing slooow walks and hope we can manage her injury and not have to subject her to a really painful, expensive surgery.

My super-smart, awesome competition dog will no longer get to do what she loves every week, but I hope we can heal her and still do some showing in Rally and maybe some nosework-anything to keep her mind busy. I do think she might love her water therapy a little too much, so we will see how that goes...