FRACTURED

I have been diagnosed with a stress fracture of my femoral neck...aka cracked hip. No weight bearing and crutches for at least 4 weeks. I was sent to my endocrinologist for a work up to see if I'm osteopenic from the loss of my thyroid and parathyroids from my cancer in 2007. They are concerned that I've had 2 strange fractures in a year.

Marley has been pulled from the Berryville AKC agility trial and will probably be pulled from the Tulsa trial also. KK's agility starts back on Monday night and I will have to sit back and watch someone else work her. Lucky for her, her Manners Minder came in and I will start working her on that.

Marley is trying to be alpha in the house. She's been snarky to Molly twice lately and I fear we will have more scuffles as Molly and Missy age. I have to be on my toes with Marley.

It's hard just sitting around, not doing anything. You don't realize how much walking you do until you can't do it anymore. I don't know how my mom stood being wheelchair bound for years. I'm just on crutches and I'm already nuts.

OK GOD, MY PLATE IS FULL!

I have been dealing with what was originally diagnosed as a right hip flexor muscle strain for over 6 weeks. I have been doing the prescribed NSAIDS, heat, and stretches as ordered. Unfortunately the pain has worsened and I am still limping.


I made the decision to run Marley at the GSKC Agility Trial in Memphis over the weekend. I had orginally entered Marley in 8 events. I pulled her from 5 and ran her in 3. She did a great Send in Open FAST but just missed the bottom A frame contact. But she was happy and running well for me.


She earned her first 2 legs in Excellent A Standard in her first 2 times in the Excellent ring. So proud of my blue eyes. She hasn't been to a class since before Monroe in March and I have been unable to practice with her due to my hip.


I am now scheduled for a contrast MRI of my right hip on Monday. I have been given a tenative diagnosis and so hope that diagnosis isn't the cause of the pain. If it is, our agility season is probably over for the year. I've already pulled Marley from a trial in early May. Will probably pull her from the others I had planned for her also.


I am so worried about Kalea-Kate's training. This is the time where she is a fearless little sponge and I don't want her to fall behind. Thankfully a good friend has agreed to be "my legs" in agility class until I am pain free.

I am waiting for the day when things fall into place for me. I have been through so much this past year and I deserve a break. Until then, I will just keep holding on and relying on my friends during the bad times. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. By George, I should be Super Woman soon!!

GOD GIVES YOU WHAT YOU CAN TAKE

This year just isn't turning out the way I hoped. Both Molly and Marley have been snake bitten within the past week. Marley doesn't want to go to agility class but rocks in privates. Go figure??


My leg continues to really hurt. I've been to the Ortho MD twice and they just keep prescribing NSAIDS and hip exercises. I do have a right hip flexor strain that I was told would be better by the Memphis agility trial. Well, it isn't (Iam still limping after a month) and I am now hoping a friend can run her for me. I'm now seeing a chiropractor and it has seemed to help.


Little Kalea-Kate is a little rock star in her beginner agility class. She loves it and can't wait to run. It's been so fun training her.I feel like she's getting the right start that I wish Marley had gotten. Poor Marley had so many strikes against her...health, etc. I would love to start Marley over training where I'm training now. Maybe she wouldn't have had so many issues early on. I've said it before, I would still pick Marley from the shelter knowing what we would have to go thru. She's just a precious girl.

I made it thru the 6 month anniversary of my Mom's death. It was a very hard day but my good friends encircled me and helped me through it.

I really think I've been tested these past 6 months. There are days that I really can't take 1 more thing going wrong but then I get an encouraging word or two from someone. I just hope things settle down soon and the tide turns for me.

ANOTHER HURDLE

As my recent life has been, both Marley and I have yet another hurdle to overcome. Marley had a stiff left hip last week after the agility trial. A couple of days of rest and Rimadyl and she's good. Back to her nightly treadmill sessions. Back to some short agility sequences in the yard.

I started having severe pain in my right hip after the agility trial. I trudged along until I couldn't do it anymore. Finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with a hip flexor muscle strain. Steroids, NSAIDS, heat and rest and I should be fine.

Marley and I were entered in an agility trial in 2 weeks but I pulled her from it. I need to be on my game to run her in USDAA.

Molly is back to her nightly patrols. Some nights she's gone for 4-6 hours. I would love to put a GPS on her and track where she goes.

Missy is ready for me to take her in for a summer cut. She's already miserable in March.

Kalea-Kate is a little rock star in her beginner agility class. She loves it! She's already doing several obstacles totally off leash. Her momma needs to work with her on her stays and comes! She starts beginner obedience classes tomorrow night. She's a hoot to work!

RUNNING FOR GRANDMA

I'm sure most of my friends know how hard my mom's death has been on me. It has affected every aspect of my life. I still have days that I don't want to get up but my girls keep me going. I have had some great friends that have stood by me.


It was important to me after my mom died that all 3 of my girls got to go to the funeral home and see and smell her one last time. I thought that would help them with losing her.


Marley and I just haven't clicked on the agility course in months. I was talking to a friend at an agility trial in Holly Springs last month. I asked her to watch us run and tell me what she thought. Marley has been real sluggish and distracted on the course. She watched us and then told me she thinks Marley is missing my mom and I should talk to Marley about my mom. My mom used to feed Marley snacks at nite and let her in and out of the house all nite long when we were at their house.They had a special bond.


So I did right before our last run. Just told Marley how much her Grandma loved her. On the way home from that trial, Marley rode in the floor board of the passenger side of the van just like she always did..she loved to ride under my mom's feet. She hadn't done that since my mom died.


So this weekend at the agility trial, I spoke to Marley before each of her runs about how proud her Grandma was of her and how much she loved her. About how she loved seeing Marley run agility. Then she got a kiss and a hug from Grandma. Marley was wonderful this weekend. She was so happy on the agility course. She qualified half of her runs and earned her Open Standard Agility Title.

Hoping for more great trials with Marley and hope my mom is proud of us!

EATING MY WORDS!

I have always said I would never travel far for an AKC agility trial. Well I am eating my words. Marley and I are venturing to Monroe, LA this weekend for 2 days of AKC agility. Just want to play and see what she does.

I have decided that Marley will no longer do agility in a class setting. It's detrimental to her psychologically. She's a very sensitive dog and she deserves a mom that will stand up for her! So I am. We will do privates and will work with KK at the same time. Marley was so happy on the field today. A totally different dog than last Tuesday!

KK is trying to bark when Marley is running agility at private lessons. You can bet that will be short lived. I will not tolerate barking. She can be alert and watching but she better be quiet.

RETIREMENT

I have been contemplating retiring Marley from agility for the past several months. She's a gamer. Doesn't do well in practice but usually does pretty good in trials. We may have our bobbles but Marley always has fun.

I hate that I am even considering retiring her at age 4. She's running in Masters in USDAA and Excellent in AKC. She has her CD and RA and RN in AKC. Plus her CGC.

The reason I'm even at this point is that we have encountered the most aggressive, out of control dogs I have ever seen in the past few months. At one trial, a dog was lunging and snapping at every dog it passed. The handler drug the dog still snapping onto the course and preceeded to run the dog.. IN PAIRS, no less. I could not believe the judge didn't excuse it. The handler acted like nothing was out of the ordinary.

Marley is a super sensitive dog. She completely shuts down when she's around barking and lunging dogs. I deliberately crate her off in a corner at trials where it's quieter. I take her out frequently and let her explore without other dogs around. If someone crates their barking dog near me and doesn't cover the crate, I will do it for them. How in the world people can sit and let their dog bark constantly is beyond me! I may let my dogs have lots of freedom in the house but I DO NOT ALLOW BARKING. My dog should bark to alert me if something is amiss, not just bark for the hell of it.

My dog shouldn't have to suffer because other people have out of control dogs. People have made some very derogatory remarks about Marley over the past years. I have decided I will return the favor. So if you have an out of control dog, I will point it out to you.

All that being said, I haven't decided to retire Marley officially, but I am seriously considering it.