 |
K- BLOG
Updated 4|19|10
04|12|10 - It
is with the heaviest heart and tremendous sadness that I write an update
to my web site instead of something fun about agility or competing.
Last night at approximately 10pm, my Pomeranian Rushka went into cardiac
arrest and never regained consciousness. Lollie P. (Pop) Rushka
was her official name, but she was known as Rushka to my family and
friends.
My
dad always called her Rushie and she was always affectionately known as
Peanut because she was only six pounds. This later became "The Nut" for
short. My sister, Kim, called her Rushka Baloo. She was born July
31, 1996 so she would have been coming up on her 14th birthday. To
think she is gone just seems unreal to me. It was only 8 hours
before her death that I noticed symptoms of sickness. She was full
of life before in the morning and acted as normal as her happy little
self. She always loved to run and roll on her back and gets leaves
in her pretty fur and investigate for treats around the agility
equipment. She was the top female in my pack after losing my
American Eskimo Tia in 2004. She ruled so confidently even for her
diminutive size and all my other dogs and foster dogs respected her
completely never giving her any trouble.
She was as sweet as they come, so loving, so willing to play, so happy
and full of life. Just this past Friday, 4/9/2010 I was playing
with her and Melba with this big fluffy toy. They were tugging it
back and forth and Rushka loved it. She was crazy running after it
and it was so fun to play with her. She never acted her age and
people often thought she was a puppy. To think she would be gone only 48
hours later is heartbreaking to me.
She loved her family; my Dad,
my X-boyfriend Scott and most recently my husband. They were all
three very special men in her life and she gave them so much affection.
As for my Mom and my sister, besides me, they were the special women in
her life and she trusted all of us. Kim and I spent our early
years traveling with Rushka and Belle, her Pomeranian, to agility trials
and not only were Belle and Rushka the best of friends, Rushka, just
loved Kim and was always so crazy to see her. It was a wonderful
bonding experience, two girls with their little Pomeranians having fun
even though we never did very well. It wasn't about that at all,
it was about enjoying the experience together.
Rushka was shy to people she didn't know and it took her a bit of time
to feel comfortable, but when she did, she never forgot who you were.
As with all my dogs, they have made me the person I
am today. I wouldn't be an agility trainer if it wasn't for
Rushka. I wouldn't understand how to train shy dogs that need
patient training if it wasn't for Rushka. I wouldn't understand
that competition was more about having fun with your dog, not about
qualifying or winning. I knew she would never be an agility
champion because she would get a bit nervous in the ring and run crazy,
but that was ok because that was Rushka. It was how she calmed her
nerves and it made her feel good to run around. She led me down
this path so many years ago and she never stopped loving to do agility.
I will never forget her very first agility class and how excited we both
were to do it together.
Just this past Wednesday, April 7, 2010 she was the
demo dog for my beginner class and she was so happy to show my beginner
students how to do the dog walk. I always want my students and
friends to know it doesn't matter age or ability, you can still have the
best time with your dog doing the simplest of things and I loved that
she could show young dogs what a fun thing it was to run up and down
some wood planks. Now, it might have taken her 3 years to do the seesaw,
but we never gave up and eventually she trusted me that nothing was
going to happen to her if she did it. She just needed the patience
to learn the skill on her own terms and I wasn't going to make her
feel uncomfortable about it. Later in her life she would just do
the seesaw for fun because she knew that I would give her tons of special treats
for her efforts. I retired her two years ago because she developed
a heart murmur and I didn't want the stress of competing to hurt her in
anyway even though she loved to compete. We still did agility in
the back yard and I believe she grew to love it even more because she
would cry when I worked another dog. This is what she did this
past Wednesday when I took Melba out. She cried to come back of
her crate because she wanted to do more.
Her sudden death is still a mystery even after her
necropsy. She had two liver enzymes elevated; her ALT was 1000 and
her GGT was 34. All other blood values were perfectly normal.
All organs were normal accept for a small bulge inside the liver.
This section was sent to the lab for a cytopath. For the life of
me, I can't think of anything she got into or ate that would cause her
death. When we reached my vet hospital she had a 103 degree fever
and she could not hold herself up. I didn't think I was going to
lose her an hour and a half later. I was taken aback when the
doctor asked me if it was ok to perform CPR if she went into cardiac
arrest and at first I said no because I thought if she needed CPR she
wouldn't make it at her age and then I said yes because I knew I needed
to give her any chance possible. It's so hard to make intelligent
decisions when faced with such a grave situation. I wasn't
prepared to make this kind of decision and it didn't even register that
she was dying because she was perfectly fine in the morning. I
didn't say good-bye, I didn't have time to process the event like you do
when you choose euthanasia. Before I knew it, she was gone.
I'm flooded with guilt. There must have been something I could
have done. Maybe if I didn't let her rest in my bedroom and sleep
and got her to the vet when I first saw her vomit at 3pm, just maybe
there would have been a different outcome. But I just wasn't
thinking in terms of life and death. I might never find the cause
of losing her so suddenly, however, I feel like I have let her down in
some way even though in my rational mind I know I gave her a wonderful
life. This is the grief I suffer now as I know all of my fellow
dog lovers have suffered and will suffer in the future. My dog's
are my life, I live for them. They bring me more happiness than I
could ever imagine. I guess it's the price we pay for the joy
they bring into our lives. I thank all of you that have expressed
the kindest of words and share my grief as I know you truly understand a
loss of this kind. The finality of a life lost that you loved and
cared for saddens one's soul beyond words and takes a piece of your past
life away which you will never regain. Hold onto the ones with you
now and love them each day as if it were their last.
4|19|10
- The biopsy of Rushka's liver came back last Thursday and I now know
the cause of Rushka's sudden death. She died from
Clostridium Botulinum Type C Toxin.
Like E. Coli and Salmonella, Botulism is
everywhere and the conditions have to be right in order for dogs to get
it. Generally dogs are resistant to this toxin, but not always and
due to the large size of the bacteria found in the necrotic tissue
biopsied from Rushka's liver, all the symptoms point to this diagnosis.
My team of veterinarians have gone over all of the results and Rushka's
rapid demise and her access to farm animals point to this toxin.
Even though Botulism is very hard to diagnose the toxicoinfectious form
of botulism fits all of the events that preceded Rushka's death and
ultimately causing her to expire so quickly.
Accepting her loss has been extremely difficult for
me. To think that I lost my my little girl to this horrible
bacteria when she was so healthy and full of life. She was gone in
eight hours and I never thought something like this could ever happen or
have I ever heard of it happening in the dog community. I've heard
of E. Coli deaths in humans that kill quickly, but not dogs. It's
one of the reasons I wanted to share this information because if
Rushka's death can somehow make any of my friends be a bit more vigilant
with their own dogs then I will feel that her death wasn't in vain.
I know we all don't take vomiting and diarrhea that seriously with our
dogs because it can be so common. Ninety - nine percent of
the time they are just fine, but maybe now we will all pay a little more
attention to them and pick up on things that we might not have otherwise
noticed or thought twice about. My veterinarians don't think
Rushka could have been saved even if I brought her in as soon as I saw
signs of illness, but I will always wonder how she got this toxin and if
she would have survived if treated earlier. Due to her age and
having anaplasmosis, this was something she didn't have the strength to
fight as her immune system hadn't even become to respond.
I can't thank everyone enough who expressed such kind
words to me during this time. Thank you all for helping me through
this because as I recover from this grief, I will read your letters to
help me through the difficult days I face ahead. Hug your dogs for
me as they are truly the most special spirits life has to offer and they
love and trust you unconditionally. I hope that someday I can
repay all of you the kindness you have shown me. We all share this
precious bond and love for our dogs and sadly we know one day they will
not be with us. Until that day, appreciate every moment.
My sincerest gratitude, Kris
THE DAY MISS LOLLIE P. RUSHKA CAME INTO OUR
LIVES: to be continued
WAR'S TEAM
EARNS A SPOT IN THE FINALS - 8th Place Finish out of over 200 Teams
TEAM NAME: BOY I TELL YA WHAT!
11|15|09 -
Sunday, I can't believe this is the last day of the Games.
It's
one of the most emotional and physical experiences one can have and it
pushes you beyond all limits. It makes you a better person for so
many reasons. It inspires me to write, train and continue to
strive to be the best trainer, handler, dog Mom I can be. So many
life lessons are learned and you experience the highest of highs and the
lowest of lows.
European Jumpers is in the morning. It
was a very challenging course and I wasn't thinking I would be able to
get three fast BC's through it clean, but I was going to do my best.
War is up first and he's again masterful. He drops one bar and
runs the fastest time in 26". Again, it seems to be his M.O.
Always fast, but rarely clean. I know he will eventually put it
all together, I just don't know when. Then it's Loch's turn.
He goes out and he runs perfectly clean. I'm able to do a 40
foot lateral pull on his weave poles and he places in the top ten.
Then it's Flame's turn and she runs beautifully too. She drops one
bar and runs a time a few hundredths of a second slower than War.
What a debut for this young girl at the 2009 World Games.
The last Final I have is War's Team Final
event. His team is ranked 8th going into the finals. I know
that some of the top teams have to have a major fault for us to move up,
but if we run close to clean, we should be able to hold a top ten
finish. War is the anchor leg and I know this is going to be a
test of all tests for him to manage staying under control after watching
his team mates run. Alicia goes first with Pickle and muscles out
a great run. Then it's Kate with Driven and I can't watch her run
because I am trying to keep War set in his position for the baton
exchange. He kept turning to watch Driven and I knew I was going
to have trouble off the bat. Kate hands me the baton and War takes
off. So much for perfect start lines. I have a quick front
cross or he will be off course in seconds. Because he took off, my
cross is late and he incurs a run out plan fault. Many dogs did,
but it was only a small deduction. Then he drops a bar on a hard
right run out of a tunnel. I'm just glad he didn't knock me on the
ground and break my legs. The rest of his run was perfect.
We wind up finishing in 8th place overall and I couldn't be happier.
My Bad Boy pulls out a great run besides having some top ten placements
in his team events. This has been the best Games for War ever.
A special thank you to my team mates: Susan Garrett, Emily Snider,
Alicia Nicholas, Kate Moureaux, Diana Wilson and Maureen Strenfel.
So another year is done and we arrive safely
back in New York, exhausted, exhilarated and looking forward to when the
Games come to the EAST COAST in 2010!!!!!!!! Thank you all for all
the good wishes and support. It means the world to me to have such
great friends, family and students and I wouldn't be where I am today
without all of you.
Kris
Video's will be posted by weeks end on my You Tube Site.
11|14|09 - It's
a cold day in AZ, so unlike last year which was unbearable heat, when
the sun is out, it's not so bad. It's amazing how quickly the
desert grows cold at night. Today is Team Gamblers, War's Grand
Prix Semi-Finals and then Lochlan competes at around 8pm tonight in the
Steeplechase finals. So my plan is to have a good warm up in
Gamblers for him and then he is back to the hotel to rest. They
all
run Gamblers around 10:30am and then War has Grand Prix Semi - Finals at
2:30pm. War's team is in good contention to make the Team Finals on
Sunday. All his team has to do is place good consistent scores in
Gamblers and we have a great shot to making the finals. Out of
over 200 Championship teams, they only take 30 to the finals so the cut
off is tight. War has done really well in his team events as have
his team mates.
I go out with War and he runs a beautiful
course, he hits each piece of contact equipment and is able to do
the distance weave gamble with ease. Then it's Lochlan's turn and
since he struggled with the weaves in Grand Prix, I had a weave pole
plan and he did it wonderfully. I wasn't sure if him shutting down
the day before would carry over since he is so soft, but it didn't.
We hit 3 sets of poles including the distance weave gamble. Then
is was on to Flame. I used the same Contact plan for her as I did
with War and she masterfully hit all her contacts with precision and
grace and then the weave gamble like a pro.
So I went back to the hotel since Flame was
done for the day and I wanted Lochlan to rest and be comfortable for the
Finals tonight. I dropped them off and it was back to the Games to
compete in Grand Prix Semi's with War. Grand Prix semi-finals was
held in the main area and the course looked fine. I knew again
that I needed to be fast and clean to get him to the finals. Last
year he ran the second fastest time out of all 26" in dogs in the semi's
and was called on his A-frame and he lost the chance to compete at the
finals. I didn't want a repeat of this, but know anything is
possible. War's start lines have been great and I knew that if he
was clean we would be good. I start the course and he is running
fast. He does a beautiful running A-frame and running dog walk.
We had a tight turn to the seesaw and that was flawless. He then
had a fast line from a tunnel to a 90 degree turn to the weave poles.
The course is almost over and he's flying. I decelerate and turn
to cue the poles and he hits the poles so hard the second poles turns
his whole head and neck backwards. He then backs up to correct
pole two and then I turn into him to see if he is ok and he pops.
It's all over in that second. If I had kept going, he would have
made the finals. Another year and no Grand Prix final. War's poles
are something I can always count on and he made the correction to stay
in, but I thought he was hurt and I stopped. My first instinct is
to always see if my dogs are ok and that is what happened. I
resent him and he finished beautifully. He would have clocked in a
time of 28 seconds and would have easily made the finals. He was
awesome and I was the reason he popped his poles. So devastating
for me since he really deserved to have a chance competing in the Grand
Prix final.
I still had the Steeplechase Finals with
Lochlan at night, but made the mistake of staying at the site all day.
Lochlan was at the hotel resting and I should have been too, but we had
to wait to get our finals shirts and then we had to do our walk throughs
and the timing just didn't seem to allow me to go back to the hotel and
rest since it was a 20 minute drive one way. So I had been out in
the cold since 7am and I would need to be at my best around 8pm at
night. Even though I think I am in relatively good shape and I can
muscle out a run when I need too, I know when I am cold I don't perform
at my best. I am much better in the heat than I am in the cold.
It's time for Lochlan to take the line.
I think I am the only handler representing New York in the finals which
was cool and the announcer always gets my name and Lochlan's name right
which is surprising, but since Loch has been in the finals for the last
5 years, they get to know the dogs. The East Coast crowd was going
crazy. The course had two sets of weave poles which was my main
concern. I didn't want to push him too much and add to much
pressure and my plan was that if he skipped, I would just keep going.
He hits the first set beautifully, but since I had to stay with him, I
wasn't able to front cross fast enough from the tunnel and cue him to
the next tunnel. My position needed to be in a serpentine
positional cue and it wasn't and he hit the wrong side of the tunnel.
He didn't take it, but he touched it. He was eliminated right
there. It wasn't his fault, it was mine. But then he did a
beautiful job until the end. I was so happy with him. Even
though we were eliminated, he was a star. He did his job. I
feel like I let him down because I wasn't where I needed to be, but he
didn't care. He was thrilled and loved to perform for the crowd
under the big lights. I am never nervous for the finals.
It's always just an honor to be there and represent your area of where
you live and showcase your talent. Out of all the 26" jumping
dogs, only 4 ran clean. It was much harder course for the big dogs
because it was a fast course. and jumping 26" really makes a difference.
And for Lochlan who will be nine years old in 2 months to be in the
Steeplechase Finals competing against dogs much younger than him is
simply amazing. It's a true testament to the dog he is and his
willingness to work so hard for me. What could possibly be better
than that.
I did learn a good lesson. Your dog is
only one part of the team. It's your responsibility to make sure
they have everything they need in order to do their best work. I
took extra special care of Lochlan due to his age and what I was asking
him to do. But I am also his partner and I didn't take care of
myself which I needed to. Without me being at my best, I can't
expect Lochlan to be able to be at his. Now I know for the future
that attention needs to be placed on the both of us for the best
performance possible.
LOCHLAN WINS A SPOT TO COMPETE IN THE $10,000
STEEPLECHASE FINALS SATURDAY NIGHT
AND A LIFE
TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
11|13|09 - Friday - Today's events are Team
Standard, Steeplechase Semi-Finals and Grand Prix Quarter Finals.
Lochlan has a bye into the Steeplechase Semi-Finals and he and Flame
have to run Grand Prix Quarter finals. They all need to run team
standard. Team standard was a tricky course, but walked better
than it looked on paper. War is first to run and lays down a
beautiful run. He has one spin at the end which wastes some time
but isn't called a refusal due to it not being close to the next jump
and he places ninth overall. War's team was in 12th place going
into standard so his clean run was great for the team. Lochlan was
next and his run was great too accept for a refusal before a jump.
The dreaded rear cross for the both of us still remains our nemesis.
So, going into Flame's run I decide to change my handling which enables
me to avoid the rear cross. She is flying through the run until
the end when I get into her jump space and cause her to serpentine a
jump instead of slice it. She gets an elimination, but it wasn't
her fault. It definitely was a run of all runs for this baby girl.
Then it's onto
Steeplechase Semi-Finals. I know Lochlan has to run clean, but I
really don't think he has the chance to make the finals because it was a
rear cross course and I just didn't think at 9 years old he would be
able to make it. I go out and he runs a gorgeous run and our rear
crosses are fast and fluid. That almost never happens, but it just
did. He posts a great time, but it was early in the day so I
didn't think it would hold up so I forgot about it.
The lasts run of the
day was Grand Prix quarter finals. Loch skipped his poles again
due to the spacing and when I went to resend him he totally shut down.
He's so soft that when he knows he has to repeat something it breaks his
confidence . He ran the rest of the run slow due to the having to
redo the poles and I should have just kept going. The unfortunate
thing was a top trainer said outside the ring that he must have been
corrected in the poles to shut down like that. This really saddens
me because they don't know me as a trainer and they sure as heck don't
know Lochlan as a dog. If they did, they would realize he's never
been corrected because if I were a hard trainer, he would never be
running as fast at 9 years old as he is today let alone running at all.
So the person judged him being upset as me being a corrective trainer
and anyone who knows me and how I train Lochlan knows that this isn't
anywhere near the truth. Most people don't even realize he is so
soft until something like this happens. It's easy to correct a
hard dog because they keep working and that's why people like hard dogs,
but mine are soft. But enough about that, people are going to
think and make judgments about things without the facts and that's just
life.
The best news of all
was that at the end of the day not only did Lochlan make the
Steeplechase Finals, which is the main event at the World Games, he is
the oldest dog running in the 26" division. I am still in shock
that he made it and I'm so proud of him for all the wonderful moments he
has given my life and others. In addition to this, he was
also awarded a Life Time Achievement Award for all his accomplishments
in USDAA and another year at one of the World's top ten Agility Dogs.
So whenever you think something isn't possible, think again because
anything is possible.
Watch me and Lochlan
representing New York Saturday night, LIVE on the USDAA web site.
www.usdaa.com
This is Lochlan's 5th
year in the row making the Finals at the World Games. Making the
finals is such an honor and I always say, we will do the best we can and
that will be enough for me.
11|12|09 - Thursday - The day starts off
rough and gets worse is my quote for the day. One of the hardest
things about International Competition is that one mistake and it's all
over. You have to be on, you have to be in sync with your dog and
your dog has to execute their job expertly. If all these things
don't fall into place, the results are crushing. Today's classes
were Team Jumpers, Team Snooker and Steeplechase Quarter Finals.
Team Jumpers is first
and it's an ok course. Nothing that I haven't seen before, but
it's the first team run and it's heavily weighted in the team event.
If you off course it posts a big zero for your team. Lochlan's
team is with Susan Garrett who is probably the most famous agility
trainer in the World and Emily Snider another top competitor in the
country. War is with two other top competitors so their teams are
with very experienced handlers and dogs. War is up first and
cruises through Jumpers with one bar down and a nice time. Of course the
bar adds 5 seconds to his time, but he gets the team off to a good
start. Then Loch is up and he hits the poles and they are spaced
small and he really feels it.
He
pops somewhere in the middle, but I only realize this after he comes out
of the poles wrong and he is over the next jump and gets an "E" for his
score. It's very hard to have tight spaced poles when he is used
to 21" poles and since his front is so slanted, it's hard for him.
The rest of his run was great, but it didn't matter after that.
Susan Garrett's dog does the same thing so we have now 2 "E's" for our
team which puts us out of the running right off the bat. You can't
go to the finals with two eliminations on a jumpers course. Then
it's Flame turn and she does great, knocks one bar and then strangely
goes past the last jump. I get her back and send her over, but she gets
a refusal and a bar fault. She was targeting her leash which I
have never trained and for some reason she has started to do this.
So now I know I have to be so careful that this does not become a
pattern. But she posts a score and that's good for her team too.
Then it's team
snooker. I didn't have a plan before I went in to walk the course
and that is never a good sign. Then I made a plan afterwards which
proved to be awful because the spacing was so tight and the map wasn't
like the actual course. Can you see where I am going with this?
War goes out and I realize that my plan is bad and he's all over the
place. I actually get him through the entire thing which was
5,6,6,7 and the close but since he dropped a 6 and 7 combination he lost
14 points. It was a lot of work, it wasn't pretty and he lost too
many points. I have Lochlan up in 4 dogs and I know I have to
stick with the same plan because it's too late to change it now. I
start, he's great, then I do the 5 combination which only had two parts,
but I did three and I heard the dreaded whistle. So he got a total
of 7 points which is terrible. I thought the jump I was sending
him over was a 1, but it was the second part of 5, but since they were
so close I made a mistake. It was painful for me, but not for
Lochlan.
Can it get any worse,
sure, why not? I have Flame, who is green, and now I have to get
her through this course. So I start again, I get her through the 5
combination, then I send her to the first 6 combination and she drops
one of the jumps so there is no points, then I get her through the
second 6 combination. Now I'm off to the seven combination which
has to be taken in sequence and has two spreads one right after the
other. I start rotating her around and I forget I didn't do a 1.
I stop and look for the 1 I missed, I find it and then I send her to the
seven. The last jump in the 7 combination was a triple which I
rear cross and she takes it so wide she runs out of the ring and under
the score table. Now she's off course and I haven't even started
the close. I get her back and start the close and she runs out of
time in the 7. And again she goes past the last jump. Talk
about exhaustion. I have a love/hate relationship with Snooker and
today it was clearly the latter.
Then later in the day
is Steeplechase Quarter Finals. I have War and Flame in this
because they didn't get a bye in the Regionals like Lochlan did.
The course is fair, but Fast. My goal is to make the Steeplechase
Finals with War because he has the talent to win it. Since Flame
just started doing Tournaments, I can only hope she does her best.
War is first and he starts off beautiful. He is coming fast around
a rotation and all of a sudden he takes the broad jump and cuts through
it and he's over the next jump and it's over. War will not go to
the finals in steeplechase and I'm heart broken. War has never cut
through the broad jump and at 26" the broad jump is 5 feet long, but he
still has never done this. I'm so upset and now I have to run
Flame in 4 dogs.
Flame starts and
again she does a beautiful job. At this point she hasn't missed
one contact and her jumping looks wonderful. Then she drops a bar
and then another and then she lands right in the middle of the broad
jump and I stop because I think she might be hurt. Thankfully she
isn't, but I end the day feeling terrible and thinking what is wrong
with me and what has happened. When so much rides on these
tournament events and I can't even make it out of the quarter finals
it's a crushing blow.
But I took Flame and
War dock diving and they had so much fun they couldn't stand it.
They scream to get in the pool and they jump off the high dock with
ease. War can actually hold his start line on the platform which
again is a huge thing since he lacks in impulse control. They
loved it and I had so much fun with them.
11|11|09 - First day
of competition, but it still was filled with vacation fun.
Check
in was from 10am to noon, but I know after doing this for so many years,
it's better to check in late so you don't have to wait in line. So
my plan was to arrive around 11:30. Since my first and only walk
for European Standard was at 1:15pm I could sent up in the kenneling
space after check in. So, I left the dogs at the hotel so they
didn't have to sit in their crates all day and after my walk I went back
to the hotel for more swimming and relaxed a bit. The kids were
all sleeping and staying cool in the hotel since their run wouldn't be
until around 5pm
I had plenty of time before I had to be
back at West World.
European Standard was a course with so many off
course potentials. It had very tight spacing and I know this is
hard for my big striding BC's especially if they don't want to slow down
on turns. In addition to this, the first run out of the gate is
usually rough so I was just hoping to keep them on course. They
are always so excited and beyond high drive so I never know what to
expect. War was first up and broke his start, which is hardly any
news, but was perfect until I got behind him on a straight tunnel and he
took an off course. Then the rest of the run was clean and
flawless. He did a beautiful job, but since I was behind him on
the straight tunnel he curled in and took the wrong jump and he was over
it before I could get do anything about it. His time with the off
course jump was 33.80 seconds
which was still faster than the winning time. War is a handful and
if I'm slightly out of position, he's going to make the decision for me.
However, I was so proud of him since usually his first run is a
disaster. If he was clean, he most likely would have clocked in 2
seconds faster. (At right: War
enjoying the view instead of posing for the camera)
Lochlan was super pumped and broke his start too, but it wasn't as bad
as War's. But he did miss his up dog walk which is very typical on
a straight line approach, then he dropped the first bar in the 180
degree turn, missed the down A-frame and the seesaw. He was nuts
and running super fast, but not holding much criteria with 20 faults
posted. However, he posted a 34.68 seconds
which I believe was still faster than the winning time in the 26"
division. So even though he is almost 9, my boy can run.
Besides, isn't criteria over rated :) In my eyes, Lochlan has
proved to be the best time and time again.
Then it was time for the Rookie. Last to run and I didn't know
what to expect. Flame was so excited by the environment she even
tried to get into the main ring with the big lights as if she thought
she was already in the finals. She new this event was different
yet familiar. If she could talk she would have said, "Wow, there
is a lot of stuff going on" . She runs right after Susan Garrett's
Encore who is also loud on course, but she doesn't pay much attention.
I put her on the line. She has a rock solid start line and doesn't
move until she is released. She drops the first bar in the 180
degree turn. Even though I was cueing a collection turn, she
realized it too late. She needed to slow down in order to make the
tight turn, but after that she was perfect.
FLAME RUNS THE FASTEST TIME OUT OF ALL 26"
AND 22" DOGS AT 32.78 SECONDS. I can't
believe this young dog with no experience in her World Debut runs the
fastest time with only one mistake and this is with stopping contacts.
All the top competitors have running contacts and for Flame to be this
fast amazed me. So, she didn't win because she was charged with 5
faults due to the bar down, but to have the fastest time only tells me
how special her future is going to be. In the end, I'm so happy we
got through this tough, tight course.
Until tomorrow, Team Snooker, Jumpers and Steeplechase Quarter Finals
for Flame and War. Loch has a bye to the Semi's.
Here is the
European Standard course we ran.
11|09|09 -
Not
much new today accept more swimming and hiking and another beautiful day
in The Valley of the Sun. After the summer we had in the North
East with so much rain, how can one ever tire of one beautiful day after
the other. The picture to the right is my boy, Lochlan, on the top
of North Mountain Park. It was a great hike but much easier than
Camel Back Mountain which was good for me. This is Lochlan's 5th
year at the World Games, but by far this is the most fun we have had
together. I can hardly believe he is nine years old and still
gives his heart and sole in everything he does. Competition hasn't
even started and I've had a blast already.
I did take the dogs for some running in one of the local parks and we
worked on just pure running races. I put them all on start line
stays and lead out about 200 feet away and then let them rip. This
allows them to run in full stride as fast as they can and get some
energy out. No one beats Lochlan on pure ground speed, he reminds
me of a greyhound when he runs and he just flies. What a site to
see such beauty in his movement and the pure enjoyment in his favorite
thing to do. Besides, he has the straight line running mastered
which War and Flame still need work on. They love the race
game and thankfully none of them cheat to get ahead of each other.
Doesn't it just figure they have perfect start line stays. If only
the boys could give them to me in competition. I guess you can't
ask for everything.
11|08|09 -
Another beautiful day in AZ which was spent swimming, shopping, hiking
and more swimming. The sun feels so good and it was so nice to
actually relax and forget about everything even if it was for just a
moment. The kids had a wonderful day of long walks and site seeing
and running through sprinklers which cooled
them off on our walks. They are in pure Border Collie bliss.
They travel so well and are so easy to hang out with I'm almost bored
that I am not breaking up a fight or having someone act up or never
settle down. They are truly just great companions and I'm enjoying
my special time with them. Vacation with your dogs ROCKS!
11|07|09 - After a
good
nights rest it and recovering from yesterday's events, everyone had a
good breakfast and it was off for adventures. Since I never have
time to see much of AZ, we decided to go hiking at Camel Back Mountain.
Lochlan, Flame and War absolutely loved it and scaled this huge mountain
with ease. It was so beautiful seeing all the rock formations and
it was quite a hike making it to the summit. It is over 1 mile up
and the trail was rated difficult and for the experienced hiker.
Clearly I am not the experienced hiker, but we all had a blast
and it's a definitely must do when you are in AZ.
Loch, Flame and War stopping for their close up.
11|07|09 -
Landing was without incidence 9:40pm NY time and it was time to start
the process of getting the dogs. After getting the baggage, we
take the shuttle to the car rental area which is off the airport
grounds. It took an hour just to get the rental car because so
many people were in line trying to get their cars. I was getting
worried about the dogs so I called Cargo and they said, "Where are you?"
They are tapping their paws anxiously waiting to be picked up. It
was great news to me to hear they were all fine, but by the time I would
get to them would be a total of nine hours in the crate which is long.
By now the dogs had been sitting at the Cargo area for sometime.
When I finally walked in I see Flame, fast asleep in her crate. I
call her name and she opens her eyes. She then recognizes it's me
and goes crazy. Now the boys hear me and they start going crazy.
It was wonderful to see them and see how happy they were. Flame's
first flight went well and she was her happy normal self. It was
now almost 10pm PHX time and it was off to the hotel for some much
needed rest.
11|06|09 - As I write this, I am on the plane
heading towards Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, AZ for the 2009 CynoSport
World Games. The Games are held at West World Equestrian Polo
Grounds and are simply beautiful with the huge rock mountains as the
back drop. By the time I get to send this, I hopefully will be on
the ground safe and sound with my babies. It's very hard being on
a five hour flight and knowing I have three dogs in the belly of the
plane. Lochlan is a seasoned plane traveler and has flown 11 times
now, War is pretty good too, but he comes out a little more excited to
see me so I know he's not as relaxed down below. But he's always
in good condition when he comes out and doesn't have any problem
adjusting when he is back on the ground. When I pick him up at the
cargo hold, as soon as he hears my voice he goes crazy so it's a nice
feeling knowing how well your dogs actually know you through your voice
even when they don't see you. As for Flame, this is her very first
time flying and I worry about her. I worry how she is doing and I
will only know when I see her once we land. She's more noise
sensitive than the boys so I'm hoping that since she's with them she
will take comfort in their presence. I did see them on the ramp
waiting to be loaded in the front cargo hold which always makes me feel
better since it's less noisy than being by the engines.
Usually "Cargo Check In" is a breeze at Newark, but we waited almost one
hour before we had anyone help us and there was only one person before
us sending two dogs to two different locations. He was confused
and didn't know what he was doing and it was a long wait. By the
time we were actually being helped, they made a very big deal about how
tall the dogs were and that they were two big for their crates.
Flame who is barely 19" at the withers and has so much room in the
kennel they said was too big. So, I started to get really annoyed
because Flame is smaller than the boys and now he I had an issue on my
hands. Mind you I have flown for the last five years in the same
crates and it's never been a problem. So they call for the manager
and she comes out and says the crates are small, but since it's a
domestic flight they will allow them to fly. If they were flying
internationally, the crates would be too small. By the time we got
through all of that mess and security, we had 15 minutes before boarding
time. My dogs are the only ones on the flight since I came out
early. Usually they are with about 5 other Border Collies.
Upon landing it's to baggage claim then off the airport to the car
rental and then back to the airport to pick up the dogs at the cargo
hold. It's the best feeling arriving at the cargo hold and then
seeing your babies all safe and sound. Flying for me is stressful
enough due to a very bad free fall coming back from Tortola several
years ago, but knowing my babies are below adds just that extra added
stress to the trip. It does making landing that much sweeter.
Night flights are definitely the best. I love coming in when
everything is dark and you can see the lights of the city.
Although you don't get to see the beautiful rock formations in the
desert, there is just something that reminds me about arriving in Miami
as a child at night to the hot and humid tropical nights.
On a funny note, when you put your GPS up against the window of the
plane, it finds a satellite and shows you where you are and how fast you
are going. My plane is cruising at a slow 475 miles per hour.
It also showed going over New Mexico and that would be right on course
to due to where the flight is. Until next time, praying for a safe
landing.
KKSA
 |
10|30|2009 - After my first blog entry
earlier this week, I was pleasantly surprised at how many people
actually read it and are interested in me continuing writing about my
dogs and experiences. I guess with the vast plethora of
information out there, I would not have expected such an interest.
So I'm happy to report that I'm back again to share some news about my
new favorite breed, the Hungarian Mudi.
I belong to 3 Mudi list servs. Mudi Club of America, Mudi
USA and Mudi Breeders Association. I just joined the latter 2
groups within the last week and, WOW, what a hot bed of dialogue from
the Mudi Enthusiasts. I surprisingly have found myself addicted to
this breed of dog. Addicted is a strong word, but I really think
it best explains how I feel about the Mudi.
I
have two Mudik. Matra and Ugri, they are both Black Merles, CIFRA
as it is called in Hungary, that I co-own with my parents. Matra
is my 2.5 year old boy and Ugri is his full sister and she is 15 months
old. They are from the Kiralytanyai Kennels in Sirok, Hungary.
This is a rare Hungarian Herding breed that is expected to provide many
duties on Hungarian Farms. They are a relatively small dog with
strong, bold personalities allowing them to move cattle and sheep in
addition to guarding and ratting duties.
Simply put, they are an all purpose farm dog that remind me very much
like the wild dogs for Africa. Everything about them is natural in
look and their ability to move at great speeds and their agility in
rough terrain is truly amazing. I have to say, compared to my
Border Collies, the Mudik have them beat in those departments.
Ugri loves to climb on rocks and go up rocky ledges and her nimbleness
scares me so, but she does this with such true confidence she reminds me
of a mountain goat in her abilities. I can see why this breed is a
natural for search and rescue work. Where the big dogs can't go,
the Mudi can easily travel. They are not the breed for everyone.
They are tough little dogs. They are workers and they need jobs.
They are high drive and extremely smart and beyond loyal.
Matra's attachment to me is unlike any dog I have ever owned. Just
recently, I was leaving him at my home in Wappingers and he jumped my 5
foot gate and leaped into my moving SUV through the drivers side window
onto my lap as I was backing out of my driveway. It was his way of
telling me not to leave him. I was in shock, not only because he
would have been killed, but he was not going to let me go. He is
so devoted to me and I think he truly believes it is his job to make
sure I am ok and to stay be my side. Our bond is unbreakable.
I encourage anyone interested in this breed to join the Mudi USA Yahoo
Group. You will learn so much information and be able to talk to
Mudi guardians. We have just started to create a Mudi Family Tree
at www.pawvillage.com
where you can add in your Mudi information and the site will connect
your dogs with their relatives. I just found out that my Mudik are
second cousins to my sisters Mudi Nyalka which I didn't realize there
was any relation. Since the gene pool of this breed is very small,
I guess I shouldn't be surprised who they are related too. I'm
doing my research now with the help of Mudi Breeders so one day I can be
a responsible Mudi Breeder in the United States. If I can
contribute to the health and wellbeing of this breed through a sound
breeding program, it will be a way for me to give back something to what
Matra and Ugri have given me.
As for exciting news, Matra and Ugri have just been picked to represent
the breed in the 2010 United States Mudi Calendar. If anyone is
interested in purchasing one, I can connect you with the person handling
this. I am so happy that after a second vote, my babies were
picked and I thank all those who voted for Matra and Ugri. Matra was in
the 2008 Mudi US Calendar, but this year he shares his month with his
little sister. The picture to the right is Urgi and Matra and this
is the photo that will appear in the calendar. I like to call this
"Mudik Cooling their Toes".
Mudi Club of America, www.mudi.us, also
puts out a quarterly newsletter called,
MUDI MATTERS ,
and I have an
article featured in this quarterly regarding Matra's coming to America.
If you are interested in reading Matra's story, download a copy and
enjoy reading about all the current Mudi News.
KKSA
 |
10|26|2009 -
Considering this is my very first Blog entry, my goal with blogging is
to help my students, inform dog owners and allow some insight into my
life with my animals and their training. I hope the information
that I provide is useful in some manner and will help others live better
lives with their own dogs or animals.
It's ten days before I leave for the 2009 World Cynosport Games in
Scottsdale, AZ. Like last year, I am flying 3 dogs to the desert.
Last year, Melba was able to fly in cabin with me, but since I have
decided not to take her due to her illness upon her return from last
year's games, I am taking my parents young Border Collie, Flame. I
didn't even plan on qualifying with Flame, but when I put her in some
tournament events in the summer, she magically pulled out some Grand
Prix and Steeplechase wins at the 26" division. So, she really
made the decision for herself that she wanted to go because personally,
I don't think she is ready, but she thinks she is. For those of
you who don't know Flame, she's a tiny, red and white Border Collie
weighing only 23 pounds, but she soars like an eagle. She has
mastery over her body and movement unlike any of my other dogs and she
does everything with ease. She's smart as a whip and has
unbelievable impulse control. Unlike her half brother, War,
who continues to fight me on his start lines and bully me on course.
So it's back to the desert for Lochlan's 5th appearance. Loch has
been in the final events every year since I have taken him. This
year he is teaming with Susan Garrett and Emily Snider. This will
be War's 3rd appearance and he is teaming with Alicia Nicholas and Kate
Moureaux. 2009 will be Flame's debut which will be exciting for me
because they all are so very different. Lochlan has the experience
and understanding of our true partnership in the sport. He mirrors
my movements expertly. War, my bad boy, is just that, a bad boy.
He's fast and furious and if he can do his job, he's unstoppable.
As for my little red girl, affectionately called, Pickles, who knows.
I want her experience to be good and for her to have fun. It will
be her first time in the cargo hold and that is always tough for me.
The boys are good flyers, but Flame is more sound sensitive so I'm
hoping she does well, but it's always nerve racking for me to know my
babies are in the belly of the plane.
For any competitor in the Sport, flying is part of it and we all
must fly our dogs sometimes if we want to compete in the big events.
I will tell you my dogs have always come out happy and glad to see me
and I always fly direct as opposed to the first year when I had a lay
over. Those that put service jackets on their dogs and ride first
class to avoid putting their dogs in cargo are many and I don't think
it's fair to the rest of us that play by the rules. Truly only
registered service dogs should be allowed this privilege and when I walk
on a plan and see fellow competitors with their dogs riding in first
class with service jackets it makes me feel bad that it's so easy for
people to pretend their dogs are something they are not. There are
many people that feel the way I do and more should speak out about it.
Plus the price for in cabin is a lot cheaper than cargo dogs, but they
do have to pay for a first class ticket. I always wonder what the
flight staff thinks when they see all these service border collies
flying out and then they know that there are 8 - 10 dogs in the cargo
hold.
Whatever the case, this year again, my babies will be flying below and I
hope they will do fine and the Games will be as enjoyable as they always
are. The competition is tremendous and it's exciting to see some
of the best dogs around the world. It's fun to see the different
handling styles of the Europeans and the Russians always have a great
showing. Japan continues to get more and more competitive each
year since I have been going. They are true students of the sport
and they take notes and watch the best of what our country has to offer.
This year will be a different experience for many reasons, but I hope to
firstly have fun with my dogs, do the best we can as a team together and
enjoy our time in the beautiful Arizona sun.
KKSA
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