The Saddest News

Ryan isn't going to be around very much longer.

This week, Abby was diagnosed with kidney disease. I had brought her to the vet after she peed in her bed, and was devastated by the news that her kidneys are failing.

I had been planning on bringing Ryan in for a 'senior' exam after his 9th birthday in March. When Abby's blood results came back, I decided to bring Ryan right away 'just in case'. He has been slowing down a bit, and last week I noticed that his stomach felt a bit hard/bloated even when empty. He had been sleeping in the hall occasionally, and panting and drinking more frequently. When the vet walked in the room to take a look at him, I was suddenly filled with dread. I looked at Ryan and suddenly knew there was something sinister going on. I don't know why it took until that moment for me to know. After xrays and then an ultrasound, we received the horrible news that he has multiple masses on his spleen and his liver. It's most likely hemangiosarcoma. How can history repeat itself like this? Sam died of hemangiosarcoma 11 years ago. I never thought I'd be repeating it with my Ryan.

He is ok today. We went to the beach and the river yesterday, and for a walk on the docks today. At least I can provide him with his biggest love - food - easily. I've been feeding him non stop and his appetite is still great. Cheeseburgers, cheesy buns, salmon, steak...he's getting it all.

It's incredibly difficult getting such bad news about both of my amazing dogs. My nutty mutts.... I feel ok about Abby. She is acting pretty peppy and I'm really hoping that she can live awhile with her diet managed. I'm making her all kinds of 'kidney friendly' meals that she is loving. Maybe she got sick to try and tell me to take her little brother to the vet.

My Ryan... I keep seeing him stumble out of his crate at the airport the moment I met him, and go rolling around in the grass. He was the happiest from day 1. I couldn't have ever asked for a better boy.

Introducing....

Zoey!

I'll keep writing about her growing up at http://intoleftfield.blogspot.com. It's too hard to keep two blogs!

Still In Shock.

I went to Regionals this year with no expectations except for, hopefully, at least one run that felt nice with Ryan. 

No expecations became a 1st place in Jumpers, then a 1st place in Gamblers, followed by a 1st place in Standard on Saturday. On Sunday, even with my substantially increased nerves, we managed to have a beautiful opening gamble but missed the main, then a 1st place in Standard and one knocked bar in Jumpers. 

This is Ryan, who normally knocks a bar in every run and goes off course multiple times due to my poor handling. I get nervous and get lost, or doubt where I'm going enough to send him off course, every year at Regionals. 

We ended up in 3rd place in 22" Specials. 

We are obviously the ones up there who don't know how to pose on a podium, since we've never been up there and I never ever *ever* expected to be up there.

He ended up with 514 points - just 13 points behind 1st. 

Ryan is amazing.

The Nutty Mutts go Country

I started this blog for our farming adventures:

http://intoleftfield.blogspot.ca/

April Fools! But not.

This is the face of insanity.

This is also the face that got lost in the woods for about 45 minutes this weekend. We were on a new trail and Abby must have taken a wrong turn and lost the group (me, a friend, her dog, Ryan and Lucy). I ran back down the mountain yelling her name - it took us an hour or so to climb up and it took me about 30 mins to stumble down. Smart Abby was waiting by the car. She was so happy to see us - kisses for everyone and then she wanted to keep hiking. I wasn't *too* worried, but I was definitely getting more and more panicky as I went down the trail with no sign of her. Considering I've never lost sight of Abby in the last 8 years of hiking with her, this was scary. I'm so glad she went back to the car! 

Oh, and you know what else is the face of insanity?

This:

That cute little chick? 

In 3 days (that's right, 3) the nutty mutts and I are moving to a farm. I've started a new blog to document the adventure and I'll post the link soon. 

No April Fools - it's really happening! I'm not sure I even understand it's real yet...