NOT IN THE CARDS

KK and I have been on an agility hiatus since we came back from Shreveport in April. I was honestly a little tired of agility and I had been pushing KK so hard, that I decided to let her just be a puppy for awhile. Plus it gave me time to regroup and decide on some training goals for her.

I started her on the treadmill at a brisk pace everyday for 10 minutes. Marley does a leisurely walk for about 10 minutes. I'm trying to keep Marley active and thin for her hips. KK is carrying a little bit of weight and I'm trying to trim her down some.

We ventured out to the agility field last night and I actually got out the weaves and the chute. We did some short sequences and she was happy to be working again...the tuna brownies helped too! I let Marley do some short sequences too minus the weave poles. She was so happy.

Tonight I worked on layering with KK and trying to speed up her contacts. Once again she was a little worker. I need to write out a daily training plan for her and implement it. I know I need to be consistent with her training and her criteria. I did enter her in an AKC trial at the end of June, so we will see how that goes.

Marley wanted to play again tonight. She was so happy and wanting to work. I let her do the chute and lowered AFrame and DW. Some low jumps. No weaves. She will never weave again. I couldn't help but wonder what if. What if she didn't have hip dysplasia? What if I could have kept her healthy? What if I could have done something different when she was a puppy. What if?? But it just wasn't in the cards for us.

Marley is back on daily Rimadyl. She's having some hip popping and taking short steps. She's also slow to get up. I don't want to have to make medical decisions about her. I'm not ready to make those decisions. I don't want her to have to take daily pain meds. I don't want her to be in pain. I want her to be healthy. But is just wasn't meant to be.