March was off to a rocky start not only with Cian's breakthrough seizures, but with lambing as well. The weather was absolutely frigid, the majority of ewes were first timers, we lost a couple lambs, and one mother earned herself a spot on the fall trailer ride. All-in-all, that's life on the farm. Things seem to have leveled off, however, and we're down to just one ewe left to lamb. Seems there always has to
I have been holding off posting an update on Cian because I didn't want to tempt Fate. I figured if I didn't say he was doing awesome, Fate would turn a blind eye and leave us be. Apparently, just the thought was enough. After 4 months seizure free, Cian clustered. Six seizures in an hour and a half by the time I could get him to the ER. He spent the night there, and the fragile normalcy we had built
It's Jig's birthday today. In honor of that, some random thoughts and a slideshow at the end, celebrating the many sides of this one-of-a-kind girl. The first time I met Jig in person she was about 4 months old and not the pup I was supposed to be considering. Gail thought I might be more inclined toward one of her sisters. There was just something about the girl with minimal white and muddy copper on her
So far this year, winter is being kind. I'm sure that won't last but I'm all for taking advantage of it while it does. That means I've been getting out there on the weekends and working dogs, which also means you get a rare, mid-winter training update. Lucky dogs all the way around. I've even managed to get some short video, though I will warn you, the quality leaves something to be desired. I'm terrible
Sometimes, shit happens. No rhyme or reason. Nothing you could have done to prevent it. Shit just happens. Like a storm, it can pass quickly with minimal damage, or rage on leaving you feeling beaten and dragged. All you can do is ride it out, collect the pieces afterwards, and move forward. Our storm hit on an otherwise normal Friday afternoon at the beginning of November when Cian began to seizure. Not just one, but four
If you've spent any time reading this blog, you will know Dillon has been a challenge. There have been times when I questioned if we would ever overcome our many issues. Many times frustration overcame good sense and I took it out on him by being blatantly unfair. All I can say is it's a good thing Dillon loves me as much as he does. He's willing to forgive and forget just about all my
At the end of last year I was so frustrated and upset with how the trialing season went, I decided to take a year off. Not so I could sit in a corner and lick my wounds, but because I was determined to fix as many of mine and Jig's issues as I could. I'd had enough of our melt-downs and non-qualifying runs. She's a better dog than that. I like to think we're a
I have a tendency to mention the problems I'm facing during training, but the video clips accompanying those posts are usually ones in which things are going fairly well. Today I'm going to step out of my comfort zone and really put me and my dog out there with a few clips that illustrate our problem areas. Apologies in advance for the quality of the video. I had my cell phone strapped to the fence