Happy Birthday Blaze – 14

summer

He had a really exciting year – we went to the rehab vet and she helped him feel better. Changing his meds resulted in his evening focal seizures completely – he had those tiny seizures a few times a week for several years. We were both happy to see such fast results!  I had intended to have a mass removed from his armpit as was recommended – but calling around to the surgeons it was much, much more expensive than anticipated and it’s hard to justify that cost on such an old dog who is doing fairly well. I still kind of wish I had done it – or wonder if we should now.

My favorite Blaze picture

When I traveled he spent a month with friends – that’s something new. He had done a few weekends with other people when he was much younger or he had a petsitter come to let him out. Apparently that mostly went well other than the day he decided to start ripping a whole from the center of his expensive dog bed or the day he burst out of the expen to eat someone’s expensive dog treats….  He’s an easy dog except when he’s not. When I got back from the trip he wouldn’t let me trim his nails – growling and biting if I tried. With training we still didn’t get far.  When I was trying to trim from a stand he had to stand on three legs – and he doesn’t have any “good” legs anymore. Lying on his back would take away that pain and discomfort and challenge of balancing. Easy solution that I only thought of last month!

May

His mobility has measurably decreased in the last year – but for his age and breed he’s still doing quite well. He could jump into the van on his own though we recently got a ramp. He would like to jump on the counters if he can smell even the smallest crumb of bread setting there. Duration is decreased, we have to go on much shorter walks for him, but he is happy and enthusiastic about the walks with his usual slow trot that perfectly matches my comfortable walking pace.

We did three days of WCRL rally – two had some Q’s and great moments – on the third trial he knocked the 4″ bars (I probably should have had an exercise modification form to remove them completely).  I don’t know how much of it is excitement vs. training to know if it’s a “fair” modification to request.  He got his (and my) first level 3  qualifying scores back in April. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to run him at our trial next month – as I say each year – it’s crazy to have been in the ring with him for so, so many years – we did our first event when he was just 6 months old.

I wish I could make impressive video compilation things like some people do. Here’s just some playing around on his birthday – no real training goals, just silly things and treats.