Unfinished Business and Saying Good-bye to Competing

I guess you could say it's been awhile since our last post. My how time flies.  Well the rogue red dog and his family are on the move.....in a few short weeks we are packing up Bloomington and heading to Center Grove.  We've been commuting to a job in that area since October and have sold our  home and purchased a new one. Not only will we be closer to work, we will be closer to training facilities and also to competition venues.  The dogs will have a large fenced backyard to play in and hopefully will adapt quickly to being city dogs.

I've faced reality that it's time to wind down Tully's competition career.  He'll be 10 yrs old next month and at some point his cancer will return.  He is mostly back to  his normal self post-op, but has really had a hard time with stamina and getting back in shape.  He just cannot seem to catch his breath some days.  With that said, I'm torn between keeping him active, something I believe does lead him to be healthier and happier, and retiring him.  At this point I'm watching him and figuring out what he can do.  We've all seen those people who are running dogs who are in pain and miserable and I've swore I will not be one of those people. I'm counting on my friends to hold me to that.

Since my last post, we had our first competition post-op.  We went to Queen City Dog Training Club's Rally and Obedience Trial on December 2-4.  I'm proud to say Tully doubled Q'd all three days, even bringing home a second place finish in a 30 dog excellent level class. This added 3 RAE legs to bring his total up to 8.  Two more to go!

Our goals for 2012 are pretty simple:  2 more RAE legs to finish the title and 1 more AJP leg to finish that title. A PT in herding would be the icing on the cake and would give Tully his Versatility Championship through the ACDCA, but I'm trying not to focus on that too much until I see what Tully can and cannot do now.  I've labeled 2012 as the year of "Unfinished business and saying goodbye".  We will clean up those last lingering title legs we need and say good-bye to competing.  If he is still competing in the fall, the ACDCA national specialty will be his last competition.

Lymphoma....you can't keep a good dog down.

I realized I have not updated this blog since right after Tully's surgery, so I thought I'd take a minute to do so.  The lab results on Tully's splenic mass came back as lymphoma, obviously devastating. The good news is that the type of lymphoma that he has is "indolent", meaning it is slow growing and slow to spread. This is different than many other types of lymphoma.  After talking with several veterinary oncologists, we are waiting on chemo until we find evidence of spread elsewhere in his body.  With this type of lymphoma, chemo is not proven to increase the life span if given before spread is found versus treating after spread is found, so we are monitoring him for now.  He will get monthly abdominal ultrasounds to check his lymph nodes and liver and I palpate all other lymph nodes once weekly to check for growth..

As far as the Tullster's competition career, we are going to return to competing as long as he feels like it. He's happy and healthy and bored right now, so it's back to work!  Gotta keep livin'. He's a cattle dog, he's tough, and no one has told him he has cancer.  He would  be bored to death sitting around at home and he still has unfinished business....RAE, UD, AJP, and PT.  Next weekend we're heading to Cincinnati to compete in a 3 day Rally trial.  He has a shaved belly, a big scar, and he's gained a few pounds, but he's ready  to return to rock star form. We planning to return to agility in January.

As always, a huge thank you to VCA Veterinary Specialty Center in Indianapolis and Dr. Aaron Wehrenberg for Tully's surgery and care.  Those of you who know me know that I'm slightly picky about who works on  my dogs <vbg>. I've referred patients there through the years, always with great outcomes. This time it was time for my own dog and I didn't hesitate as to where I was taking Tully.  Two thumbs up....they're the best.



Tully's first night home from surgery.  Yes, I lifted him on the bed.  I did not let him jump!

 

Everything Changes

My last post was right after the ACDCA national specialty and we were on cloud nine.  We came home and a week later headed to Indianapolis for the Indiana Collie Club's fall agility trial.  Tully was still on fire and brought home his 3rd AXP leg and the title and first place!  He also picked up his second AJP leg and first place.  Could it get any better than this?  We had entered 3 more trials (two weekends of rally and one weekend of agility) to try and finish his RAE and AJP before the end of the year.  Unfortunately, things change.

Tully was diagnosed with a splenic tumor and was abruptly taken to surgery on October 27, 2011 for a splenectomy at VCA Veterinary Specialty Center in Indianapolis.  Tully's spleen was removed and he recovered well and came home the next day. We are waiting on the lab results for what type of mass was removed.  All November agility and rally trials have been cancelled for us.  At this point in time I am unsure if this will be a brief hiatus or if this is retirment for Tully.  Four weeks ago we were tearing up courses at nationals.  Now my boy is recovering from major surgery and we are waiting to see if he has cancer of if the mass was benign.  Everything changes, and not always for the better.

He came, he saw, he conquered.

A week ago we loaded up our stuff, got one last good night's sleep in our own bed, and woke up the next morning heading for the ACDCA national specialty in Fletcher, NC.  This is the big trip we've been working towards, but things had gone a bit awry before leaving. Tully became ill and was lethargic and didn't eat for 2 days. I quit my job, accepted a new job, and started house hunting.  Needless to say, our training in the month before nationals went down the drain.  Things did not look good, but we left anyway and I figured I'd have to pull  him from at least Monday's events.

It turns out, I should not have worried.  Tully woke up on Monday morning, ate breakfast, and was ready to run.  When the dust settled on 9/26/11, the results were:

1st place Novice FAST Preferred (3rd leg and title!)
2nd place Excellent Standard (2nd leg)
1st place Veterans Obedience
2nd place Rally Advanced
Qualifying Score in Rally Excellent
1 new RAE leg

I left that day on cloud nine, knowing my boy would never have another day like that in his life and savoring the moment.  I was wrong.  The next day on 9/27/11, Tully came back just as strong and brought home:

1st place Novice FAST Preferred (bonus leg)
High Scoring ACD in Novice FAST Preferred
1st place Veterans Obedience
4th place Rally Advanced
2nd place Rally Excellent
1 new RAE leg (total of 5 now)

Suffice it to say, it was the show of a lifetime.....and it happened at nationals.  He is nearing retirement and I knew this would be his last competitive year at nationals.  He gave me all he had and more. In case I've never said it, I love this dog!  Not only did he qualify and have high scores, he competed with complete glee.  He was happy and excited and I truly believe he was having the time of his life.
 
Tonight it's off to the awards banquet.  Tully should pick up his VQW (Versatile Qualified Worker) title/award - a versatility award given by the ACDCA.  I am proud of my sweet boy. 



Firefly Rockin Red Rogue CDX GO VER RE OJP OAP NFP CGC HIC VQW  "Tully"



North Carolina or Bust!

T minus 24 hours until we hit the road for the ACD national specialty.  Today will be spent packing and preparing and wondering if I have forgotten anything.  I have not had nearly enough time to practice with Tully, but it's too late now.  Although nationals is a big competition, it's just as much about seeing good friends, good dogs, and eating good food.  North Carolina, here we come!  Travel safe all my ACD friends and we will see you tomorrow!

Greater Lafayette Kennel Club Rally Trial

One week from now I'll be sitting in a hotel room in Fetcher, North Carolina, preparing to compete with Tully the next morning in Rally, Agility, and Obedience, at the ACDCA National Specialty.  However, this weekend we packed up and headed north for a two day Rally trial.  The objective was to get some experience in Rally since Tully had not competed in Rally since 2008.  I'm quite proud to say he came home with two RAE legs!  Saturday he took 2nd in Rally Excellent B and 4th in Rally Advanced B.  Today he flip flopped those results taking 4th in Rally Excellent B and 2nd in Rally Advanced B.  These two legs towards his RAE bring his total up to 3 RAE legs. 

Things are busy here.  This is my last week of employment at Canine Companions where I have worked for 8 years.  My house is on the market and we've  had several showings.  I'm preparing to move and preparing for nationals and preparing for a new job, all while trying to keep things "normal", whatever that is!  All I know is I'm ready for a vacation and can't wait to catch up with all my friends in North Carolina and have a little fun running my old dog!  This will most likely be Tully's last national as his 10th birthday is coming up and I'm certain it will be Terra's last road trip as her kidney disease and other health issues are progressing.  One last road trip with the red dogs....bittersweet.

Tully picking up two more RAE legs with placings.

The official plan for nationals

As I agonized over what classes to enter Tully in at nationals, the final decisions were made.  He is entered in:

Obedience - 2 days of Veterans.  Obedience is outdoors on dirt and he does not do well on scent articles in this environment, so I pulled him from Utility.   Veterans will just be a fun run for him and it's always a little emotional to realize my boy IS a veteran.

Rally - 2 days of Advanced B and Excellent B - We haven't participated in Rally since 2008 due to Tully just being bored with it, but he does have 1 RAE leg, so maybe it's time to work on that.

Agility - 2 Days of Excellent Standard A, Excellent JWW A, and Novice FAST.  He has two legs in Novice FAST and I'd love to finish that at nationals.  He has one leg in both AXP and AJP and I have no big expectations in these classes.  Looking back at our last national 2 years ago, he was entered in novice jww and novice standard.  He had no legs and it was his second agility trial ever.  I was a little overwhelmed when I realized we've come from that 2 years ago to being a dog competing in excellent 2 years (and limited competing) later.  You CAN teach old dogs new tricks.  A huge thanks to Deb Abbott for helping an old dog and green handler get this far!

Herding - I had hoped to enter him in 2 days of PT at nationals.  We've gone to some clinics and picked up lessons here and there, but with the closest lessons being close to 2 hours away, plus all the work drama (quitting my job, getting a new job, trying to find a new house), this just may not work out.  Most likely we will pull our entries.

Our reservations are made for the host hotel,  the BBQ, and the awards banquet.  We will go to the annual meeting and of course, dingo bingo!  Most of all, nationals is about the dogs and the people.  I look forward to seeing friends I rarely get to see and spending the week honoring the dogs we love so much.

See you in North Carolina!