Awesome Autumn
October 1st marked the one year anniversary of Dash joining our family. It also marked his 
return from his working vacation. We monitored his gait over the next week, and I did see what Joan saw – an extreme limp some mornings with total refusal to use the foot. Now what… well we held our collective breaths. Dash was already entered for the Wilmington shows in the middle of the month. I did a refresher of “Use It” to remind him that he did actually need to walk on the foot. We sent Dash off to Wilmington.
On Sunday afternoon, I received a very solemn voice mail – “Kirsten your dog just won a 3 point major. Call me.” (Judge Margaret P. Mickelson) What totally incredible news!!!! Especially as he was 4th of 4 on Saturday. The following weekend he earned another Reserve at the Lumberton shows. Gus and I drove over on Sunday afternoon – forgetting just how far away Lumberton is for us, on a cold, rainy day. But as always, the people are great.
And of course, the October vet visit was inevitable. The limp was definitely back. Fortunately it was just the pin. Over the course of 7 months, it had moved just enough to interfere with the movement of the toe, and on cold days it hurt. So we scheduled his surgery for early November.
A few days before I left for Berkeley for meetings, I received a call. Sarah was in heat and the stud dog they had chosen was not able to provide an acceptable shipment. The vet and stud owner went to great effort to make it work, even coming in on a weekend to attempt a collection. But this time it was not meant to be. So at the tender age of 16+ months, Dash learned about the “Birds and the Bees” firsthand. Apparently, he is a natural - and now marches in at Carterhall - wondering who he gets to breed this weekens... He spent a week at Camp Carterhall and had his preliminary x-rays done on his hips (which we later learned OFA’d as Good! Yippee! so far no collateral damage from the broken toe). Dash then traveled to Williamsburg, VA for the weekend where he won Reserve both days.
The pin was removed on November 6th. The surgery was uneventful, as was the recovery. Even without a bandage, Dash left the stitches alone. Unfortunately, his foot was shaved a bit more than we thought it would be, so we were going to need some time to grow fur back. We pulled Dash from the Furniture City Kennel Club shows the following weekend, but went along to watch. On Sunday, Charlie Bear (Carterhall Captain Crunch) won his first major under Judge Donovan Thompson. Yippee! If it couldn't be us, we are so happy for Judy and Charlie Bear. Late fall and early winter in NC is a great time for dog shows as there are quite a few within an easy drive. Beth joined me in Concord, NC acting as unofficial photographer while I hid from my dog (not that it mattered as we were resoundingly dumped...). Dash continues to have fun in the ring.
return from his working vacation. We monitored his gait over the next week, and I did see what Joan saw – an extreme limp some mornings with total refusal to use the foot. Now what… well we held our collective breaths. Dash was already entered for the Wilmington shows in the middle of the month. I did a refresher of “Use It” to remind him that he did actually need to walk on the foot. We sent Dash off to Wilmington.On Sunday afternoon, I received a very solemn voice mail – “Kirsten your dog just won a 3 point major. Call me.” (Judge Margaret P. Mickelson) What totally incredible news!!!! Especially as he was 4th of 4 on Saturday. The following weekend he earned another Reserve at the Lumberton shows. Gus and I drove over on Sunday afternoon – forgetting just how far away Lumberton is for us, on a cold, rainy day. But as always, the people are great.
And of course, the October vet visit was inevitable. The limp was definitely back. Fortunately it was just the pin. Over the course of 7 months, it had moved just enough to interfere with the movement of the toe, and on cold days it hurt. So we scheduled his surgery for early November.
A few days before I left for Berkeley for meetings, I received a call. Sarah was in heat and the stud dog they had chosen was not able to provide an acceptable shipment. The vet and stud owner went to great effort to make it work, even coming in on a weekend to attempt a collection. But this time it was not meant to be. So at the tender age of 16+ months, Dash learned about the “Birds and the Bees” firsthand. Apparently, he is a natural - and now marches in at Carterhall - wondering who he gets to breed this weekens... He spent a week at Camp Carterhall and had his preliminary x-rays done on his hips (which we later learned OFA’d as Good! Yippee! so far no collateral damage from the broken toe). Dash then traveled to Williamsburg, VA for the weekend where he won Reserve both days.
The pin was removed on November 6th. The surgery was uneventful, as was the recovery. Even without a bandage, Dash left the stitches alone. Unfortunately, his foot was shaved a bit more than we thought it would be, so we were going to need some time to grow fur back. We pulled Dash from the Furniture City Kennel Club shows the following weekend, but went along to watch. On Sunday, Charlie Bear (Carterhall Captain Crunch) won his first major under Judge Donovan Thompson. Yippee! If it couldn't be us, we are so happy for Judy and Charlie Bear. Late fall and early winter in NC is a great time for dog shows as there are quite a few within an easy drive. Beth joined me in Concord, NC acting as unofficial photographer while I hid from my dog (not that it mattered as we were resoundingly dumped...). Dash continues to have fun in the ring.posted by Kirsten at
4:48 PM
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