Ryker is hurt....

..... and we don't know what it is. I took him in for x-rays and was told he had some mild hip dysplasia. I was also told that he had some mild scoliosis in his lower back. I had two other vets look at the x-rays and was told they were of mediocre quality and there was no evidence of hip dysplasia.

I also had him examined by another vet in Salt Lake City. Ryker was not lame at the time and the vet said his gait was beautiful. He also confirmed that he does not have hip dysplasia. He did some leg stretches with Ryker and confirmed that he was uncomfortable stretching his left leg.

He recommended to give him some crate rest and to keep him on the leash to avoid running and jumping. The following week I met with Anita our acupressure massage therapist and she also recommended to keep him in on crate rest for 4 weeks. I have seen very little improvement. Sometimes Ryker comes out of the x-pen normal and other times he keeps his left rear leg up and hobbles around for a few minutes. It is very disconcerting not knowing what is wrong with him. I am not planning on doing anything with him until he is fully healed. I would rather keep him as a healthy pet than to enter him in any more Agility trials. My plan is to let him rest until the end of February, than sign him up for some underwater treadmill sessions. Maybe he will be ready for the USDAA trial in April, but I am in no hurry and will be ready to wait for as long as it takes.

Ryddick and Chocolate

This is Ryddick with his BFF Chocolate. He is a 7 lbs Yorkie/Shi-Tzu mix. Smartes little dog I have ever known.

Gotta Love Me!!

Ryddick and Dexter

Ryddick loves puppies. This is Dexter, who at the time the pictures were taken was 9 weeks old.

Ryddick and Dexter (Corgy)

About the choking incident on August 30th, 2007

Someone on Facebook posted about how to do the Heimlich and CPR on your dog. It brought back a very scary memory about an incident that happened two years ago. Here is the email I wrote to my friends.

This morning, Ryddick, my 15 month old BC, was choking on some of his food and stopped breathing. He was close to loosing consciousness and his live was in our hands. My husband did the Heimlich and I tried to give him breaths into his nose. I could not get any air in. It was closed! His tongue had turned blue and his gums white. He wasn't moving and had this horrified stare into nothingness. My puppy was dying and all we could do was to push on his belly and hope for the best. It took forever, but IT WORKED!!! He recovered within minutes and there seems do be no sing of brain damage. We were so, so, so, sooooo lucky. I guess the Infant and Adult CPR class finally paid off! I am going to invest in a grinder this weekend.
We were very scared. We knew that if we did not succeed he was going to die. That is why it is so important never to leave dogs unattended when they feed. I would have found him dead. I don't ever want to have to do it again, however I know that I can.

My poor Raygen

Today I went to the vet with Raygen and by "accident" he found a growth under Raygen's tongue. It was not there on August 8th, when Raygen had a tooth fixed. Growing that fast is a bit scary. The Dr. took a biopsy and send it in. Results are not going to be available until next week.

Even if it is benign it still has to be taken care of. It is very close to the salivary Gland and

Under Raygen's tongue. Note that the growth looks like two, however it is one with an ulcer in the middle.

This is after the biopsy.

Great Pratice

I had a great Agility practice tonight. Ryker and I where connected. He read my deceleration and acceleration cues perfectly. At one point I decelerated to soon and he was not sure if he should go or not. What a good boy. I did not have enough time to run any of the other dogs. I did get to practice some jump chutes with Ryddick and Ryker this morning. It was nice and cool and they did really great. A bit later Raygen and Rylie both joined in the one jump practice I was doing with Ryddick and Ryker. Raygen was actually working very nice for me. He usually does not want to do much practice. I will try some more in the morning after Sammy and Baxter are done with their private lesson.

No U-FLI Nationals

UTB Flyball Team BOD has decided not to go to U-FLI Nationals this year. A few team members where very angry at the decision. Other than the BOD nobody knows why this decision was made. Frankly, I am to sick and tired to care, maybe I will have some feelings about it later. I canceled my hotel reservation and made peace as much as I can with whatever is happening or going to happen. Can't let this get me down. Great news is that Ryker really doesn't care. He is as happy as a clam. Ready to go play and fetch a toy or swim in the pond or jump over jumps or just sleep. Sure helps when the world keep turning and nothing really matters. My happiness is my dog happiness. Maybe I am trying to hard?

Surprise, Surprise!!!

Today I was pleasantly surprised when I got my mail and found a title certificate from the AKC. I keep track of every leg that we earn and this one must have slipped by me. According to the AKC, Raygen has earned his AXP.
I will double check online to see where he got his first two legs. I will also contact the AKC on Monday to make sure that this is not an error. I sure don't want this to nip us in the butt later.

Ryker earned his AAD and more

This weekend we were entered in the Wasatch USDAA Agility trial in Farmington. We took Friday off since it was the day we got back from C-Spot Win Camp. I am glad I did. I got home at 11pm Thursday evening and the dogs wanted to run around the yard for a while before going to bad.
So, Friday was a slow day, doing laundry, watching the yard getting watered and visiting frinds at the trial.
I decided not to run in all the classes. I split up Ryker and Raygen. Ryker ran in STD Advanced on Saturday and earned his Std title and AAD. Now we can move up in all future trials to Masters classes. Way to go Ryker!!!
Raygen ran in Snookers and Jumpers. I took an off course in Snookers, it was such a nice course. Jumpers was really cool. He Q'ed in that.
On Sunday I had Ryker in Masters Gamblers and Advanced Std. Gamblers was really confusing me for some reason. I ended up taking advice from G and Ryker earned 3rd place. All three dogs that placed were withing 0.50 seconds of each other. Way cool!
Ryker's Std run wasn't as pretty as I failed to see the "serpentine" challenge that included a teeter. The approach to the second jump and teeter was totally wrong and he took an off-course jump. I realized that only after I watched another competitor handled it like a serpentine.
I was so focused on getting Ryker through the Gamblers course that I totally forgot that Raygen was in the same class. I had no plan for him when I entered the ring. For his running style the course was a good one to just run as fast as I could and let him take whatever was in his path without much handling and get the minimum points. Even though Jim Basic was drilling us with some "panic" drills, I messed up and did not take my time getting Raygen set up to get a nice Gamble over the first tow obstacles. He is such a Velcro dog. BUT he got the points.
Also, great news, my battery charger cable has been found, thanks G, and I can finally charge my camera again to take movies and pictures again.

C-Spot Win Camp

C-Spot Win Camp has again been a great success. My electives were with Karen Holik and Stacy Peardot-Goudy. Two days we had 2.5 hours with our elective and then 4 hours with one instructor each..... Stepanie Spyr, Ann Braue, Stacy Peardot-Goudy and Karen Holik.
The courses were challenging and we were pushed to the limit. I would have loved working with all of them more.

Ryker was sore on day two and one of my team mates, Kathy Owens, let me run her awsome dog Johnnie. It was sooo much fun.
Thanks Kathy.

I am looking forward in implementing what I have learned to my Agility classes.
Lots of work to do!

WW Flash Moy of Spunk

Ryker's GGGGrandad Flash Moy of Spunk aka Flash

1994 ONYX

1996 NAFA Hall of Fame

DOCNA at Willow Park

The dogs and I went to Willow Park in Lehi to attend at DOCNA trial. I entered Raygen, Ryker and Ryddick. Rylie is still recovering from her TPLO surgery, however I am hoping to run her the end of the year. Ryddick was entered in one jumpers run each day. He did fabulous on Saturday, however Sunday he knocked a bar and had a major melt down. Ryker handled quite nice through the courses. I was able to do many front crosses, however they are still a bit "loose" due to my timing and him still learning my body cues. It really helps to shut up and not give any verbal cues unless absolutely necessary.
Raygen had major stress issues doing the weaves. We had a heart to heart on Saturday evening and he was great on Sunday at the trial. I used raw beef heart and did some weave pole games with him at home and he went nuts. He is such a food motivated dog.
I really enjoyed Willow Park. My favorite part, there is a pond where I was able to take the dogs swimming to cool off. They loved it.
At the end of the trial Christa picked the winners for the raffles and Ryker was one of the lucky ones to receive a $25 certificate for the next SASS trial. YEAH!!!
New titles

Happy Birthday Ryddick !!!!!

With all your troubles in your early life you turned out to be a very nice dog.

Thank you for being who you are and helping me learn more about the animals (crazy) mind.

Your affection towards people brings out huge smiles into this world.

You are loved; very much!

Ryddick 6-24-06

USDAA Lynnleigh Farms June 2009

This has been a very busy weekend. Ryker performed a crazy A-Frame jump-off. Never has he done this before. Last Standard and Pairs run I insisted that he stop with a 2o2o. He did nicely.
Our team event on Friday was a bust as far a placement went. We ended up winning a rubber chicken for taking the honor of last place. Ryker broke his SLT in Snookers, even after giving him a second chance, that is when I decided to stop him right there. Team or not, if he breaks his stay at the start and I go on, I might as well not have a dog all weekend. It paid off and he did not break another SLS all weekend.
I ran him more like I train and it felt really, really good. My brain is thinking more like: "I can get there vs. I can't get there". Stopping motion, any motion, including blinking eyes is the key. >g<> not blabbering to much. It only confuses him.
The highlight of this 3 day trial was to watch some amazing participants handlers run their dogs.
Stephanie Spyr, Elicia Calhoun, Stacy Peardot-Goudy, Kate Moreaux to name a few. Amazing runs by Emily Snider, Linda Wallace Kipp, Kyle Schumacher and few others that I don't know the names of, was like attending a lecture for free.
The low of this trial was a local handler being quite rough with her dog and got everyone talking. The judge looked on as she jerked her young dog around, "punishing" her. Shame on anyone that stood around watching this, including the Judge, who was thinking about stopping this madness, but opted out of being a judge at that moment. Shame on the handler, too. The handling was terrible and the dog had to make decisions on her own. I hope you can become the person your dogs needs you to be, soon.

Jim Basic

Day 3 Jim Basic Seminar Picture

Jim Basic was invited to give a seminar in Draper. It was all about the Gamblers. I signed up for two days. First day to audit foundation and third day for working Ryker in "Gambler".

Day one was all about the foundation. We do some of the drills in Flyball, which helps Ryker with going on and on and on ahead of me.

Then we did some drills on how to teach the dog our body cue to go out.

Jim set up some simple excercises to challenge the novice dogs a bit more. It was pretty amazing how quikc they caught on.

I was not planning on going to day two. A previous commitment ended up not being planned out and I decided to got to day two and audit some Advanced Distance excercises. I am glad I went as this day was a continuation of day one.

Day three was a working day for Ryker and I. We did some drills over the a-frame, teeter and weaves. We talked about timing the obstacles to determine how many obstacles our dog can take in 30 seconds. Jim helped us to learn to stay calm with some "panic" drills.

Other drills consisted of how tunnels can be taken without adding extra seconds and how sequencing obstacles will help get more valuable time to get more points.

Ryker did good. I did some icky A-frame contacts and I am hoping it won;t affect him at our next trial. I am hoping of going again next year when he comes back.

WW Kyla Moy

Ryker's GGGGrandma

U-FLI Nationals

Perfect Pass.... Ryker is going from left to right, Zoe is coming from rigth to left

This is at full speed, both dogs.

We had a great weekend in St. George. The weather was very nice. Not to hot and a bit of rain. We were safely in an air conditioned building. All the dogs including Chocolate was with me. Seems like a lot, but they were very well behaved and I had enough downtime to take them out and play with them.
The great news is that Ryker and his teammates Qualified for the U-FLI National in Nebraska on September 25th-27th.
What a great adventure that will be!

Happy Birthday Ryker !!!!

You are the most amazing dog.

I want you to live forever!
6-11-05

WW Phantom

Ryker's Brother Phantom

WW Hughes

Ryker's Brother Hughes

WW Otter

Ryker's Brother Otter at the Beach in San Diego

Ryker in the news

Border collie Ryker weaves through the agility course during the Front Range Agility Club Dog Agility trial at the Ranch-Way Feed Indoor Arena at The Ranch on Saturday. The two-day event features different courses and events for different skill levels for dogs and their handlers.

Group IV Terrier Club, May 22nd - 25th

This weekend we attended a four day AKC Agility trial in Sandy at Lynnleigh Farms. Even though I do not enter the FAST class, it was a very long 4 day weekend. All classes are run by category starting with Excellent, then Open, then Novice. It makes for a very long day for dogs and humans if the judge is not efficient. This was the case on Friday and Saturday. Course changes took a bit longer then we were used to. Judging for us on Sunday and Monday was Lisa Potts. The pros were her speedy course changes, fun and fast courses. The cons .... she had a very negative opinion about Poodles in Agility and made it known to everyone. It was very unprofessional and untrue.
Raygen earned two more legs in each class. On Sunday we had a perfect run in JWW, until third to last jump, he spotted a dog he seemed the urge to greet and jumped the fence instead. I called him back and finished the last three jumps. I chose to scratch his runs on Monday.
Ryker's best run was on Friday morning. I felt we were connected. He got into his weave poles both times on Saturday since they were set-up to get a front cross before them.
On Monday he was running for another handler in JWW. It was a very fast course and I was amazed as how much speed he is capable of.
Rylie, Ryddick and Chocolate were hanging out under the tent and got to go on walks around the Farm. We also practiced some socializing with a kid and got to meet lots of people.
In conclusion... I will not enter any of my dogs in a four day trial. I need to train weave poles with Ryker and lots of fun, fun, happy Raygen time. It is OK to say hi to a dog, but he needs to wait for me to send him to say hello first. Maybe some Ruff Love?

WW Maja

Ryker's Sister Maja

Trial-Camp-Trial May 8th - May 18th

WOW! I was gone for 10 days and I wish I would have gone longer.
Our first stop was in Brighton, Colorado at the FRAC trial. The site was a very beautiful grassy park. Lots of room to let the dogs run and not get in anyones face. There was a nearby lake, however I kept that a secret from Ryker.
Raygen and Bren had a nice pairs run and he earned his Performance III Pairs title.
Ryker kicked butt in his jumpers run and placed first in the Advanced group. Another Red&White Utah BC, Killy, took first in the Performance II class. I felt like I was connected to Ryker.
Raygen missed his Gamble by an inch (or yard). I stumbled and almost fell over the gamble line, causing him to hesitate, then come to investigate my stumbling feet.
One of our judges was Anne Platt from Escondido, CA. She was my one of my first Agility trainers 5 years ago.
After Brighton we headed to Ft. Collins for a three day Agility Camp. First day we had Dana Pike. We did a lot of course running and some course analysis.
Day two we worked with Jan Pinder. It was a bit more challenging and I really liked that Ryker was responding to my cues. She would be one I would like to visit again.
On day three Stacy was our instructor. I just can't get enough of her. Ryker had some very nice sequences. I tried new things and he gets it! Front crosses are getting more and more fun to do.
I can get there! Soon it was time to head out to the Pueblo trial.
I was able to visit my friend and Ryker's and Ryddick's breeder. Mike, her husband, made us Longhorn Burgers and fantastic Margaritas.
All the dogs were there including three of the 8month litter. My mind was fighting hard not to take Jane, a beautiful dark, dark Red&White half sister of Ryker and Ryddick. Not a time to get a new pup right now, not here in Utah.
The trial site was one of the University's soccer fields. Ryker had an extra day off after camp. I only ran Raygen in Snookers and Gamblers. Me bad for messing up our Snookers course. Him very, very bad for messing up our Standard course.
I pulled him from his Sunday Gambler because of his misbehavior and refusal to stop fixating on Tango the Lab.
Ryker did great in Standard and was a dream to handle, but knocked a bar. His contact are great. He will stop when I ask him to and run through when I ask him to keep going. I was told that this will be a problem in the future as he will stop listening to me when I ask for a stop? Maybe?
Hi did earn a Jumpers leg in Advanced. I loved that run. He was able to get a few difficult sequences.
Time came to fast for us to drive home. I would have loved to keep on going.

WW Bo-Tyne Copper

Ryker's Grand-Dad

Copper

WW Will Work For Food

Ryddick is such a Ham. He recently joined in with helping out a bit more doing household chores. I left the DW open and he happily climbed in and started to pre-wash the dishes.

OAP and OJP

Fruits of our Labor

That is how many times Raygen Q'ed at the AKC IKC trial this weekend. This was the first trial I have moved him to the lower 16" jump height and I am so happy I did. He is much happier jumping lower. He earned both his Open STD and JWW tiles one 2nd place and 5 1st places and He earned his first leg towards his AXP in 1st place.
Looking forward to our next trial over Memorial Day weekend at Lynnleigh Farms in Sandy.

I am stumped

At this time I am stumped as how to help Ryker with his Weave Pole stress at trials.
He has the best weave poles at home. As soon as we go to the training yard he will not take them for at least the first time. It all started out by him not getting the entry at which point some well meaning trainers suggested to pull him out as soon as he gets in the wrong way. Oh, boy was that a big mistake. It was getting so bad that he completly ran past them like they were not even there? He would always get them the second try. On Thursday he ran passed them, both in STD and JWW. On Friday he actually got in, in STD and JWW, even though it was at the second pole. Saturday was a bit of a mess. I was way to close to the triple and my hand was over the jump to point it to the weave poles. He lightly bumped into my hand, before taking the weave poles the correct way.
Well, in JWW it was extremly difficult to get him in. He first ran passed the weaves, then refused them two more times. Even though it did not seem as such a big deal that he bumped my hand, it had a very negative effect on him. My plan at this time is to let him take the weaves all the way through, even if he takes them the wrong way and continue with the course.
I have got to get his confidence back. Moral of the story, when getting advise think it through as how it would effect your dog. Pulling Ryker out as soon as he hit the wrong entry has taugth him that he should avoid the weaves.

WW One Slick Buck

Ryddick's Dad

One Slick Buck aka Slick

TPLO Recovery

It has been Nine weeks since the surgery.

10 sessions on the Water Treadmill, Hot Tub with electro stimulation and laser therapy, and crate rest and leash walks have been part her recovery. She is doing amazing. Today was our final consult with Dr. Pam and she was impressed with how little muscle tone she has lost. She said that by summer we can trial in Agility again. Not sure if she would be mentally ready. We would have to train a bit before we get back running over obstacles.

The hardest part is keeping her weight at under 40lbs. She is 3 lbs over at this time. Her daily calorie intake should only be 400. I am off to the store to get more green beans as this will be part of her her diet plan until she looses those extra pounds.

Happy Birthday Raygen!

I wish you many more Happy Birthdays!

WW Flash Kruger

Toy Crazy Blond Bombshell

Ryker's Dad

Pueblo, Colorado 2008

WW Tuff's Jewel

This is the only picture I have of the boys' Mom, all wet from swimming in the pool.

Ryker and Ryddick's Mom

USDAA Loveland, CO

We had a great time in Loveland Colorado at the FRAC USDAA Agility trial.
The weather was a mess, though. we got there OK and settled into the Hotel and by the time Saturday came around it was bad. High winds and drifting snow. At one point I though I was going to get blown away while I was out with Ryker. He surely did not enjoy it either.
Needles to say he did not get the exercise he needed to be able to give me some nice runs.
I am happy to say that he did not knock a bar all weekend. He earned first place in Snookers in his class. I walked a hodge-podge course and while watching other dogs I decided to change our strategy and it sure paid off.
I have Raygen entered in only three runs, one of the was Performance National Qualifier and out of 60 dogs only 19 Q'ed and he was one of them. He did very well.
Coming home was a mess. We ended up staying in Laramie for the night and headed home the next day, arriving in Layton at a bit after 5pm.
It is good to be home. I actually missed Utah weather? ICK!

WW Time Flies

1 day

4 months

2 years

WW Time Flies

Ryker 2 weeks old

5 weeks

2 years

Idaho Trial

We went to Idaho to an Agility trial. It was fun. Raygen continues to show improvement. His speed is satisfactory. He is very confident while running. I am a bit disappointed that the DQ's aren't coming as easy as I wish they would. The highlight of the weekend was him having the perfect run and making it in time to earn a second place, but NQing for running out to say hello to some of his dog friends. I was told by a few that they thought I handled it quite calmly.
What can I do? The damage was done. He was put on the leash and right into his kennel. I have decided to enter him in preferred for the next few trials. At least I can earn titles in either JWW and STD.
Ryker had some amazing runs. He however has not been able getting into the weave poles. Training at home has been non-existing. Snow on the ground has made it hard to practice weave entries. I am hoping this issue will be resolved by mid-summer.
Ryddick was entered his first Open JWW leg. No faults! It was nice. He will be taking a break for at least until September. More herding is planned soon.
Coming up... CO, FRAC.

WW WHOA!

A penny for your thoughts

Ryker earns his RAE

Today Ryker earned the highest award given in AKC Rally Obedience ....... RAE (Rally Advanced Excellent)
Friday he earned 4th place in Excellent B and 1st place in Advanced B, points were 96 and 98.
Saturday was lots of fun. He tied in points and time for 3rd place with Laurie Hope's Sheltie, Dirk. We had a run-off and Dirk took 3rd and Ryker took 4th. Then in Advanced Ryker and a red Husky tied with 100 points for 1st place. The Husky's time was 2 seconds faster and Ryker got a very nice second place. I was very happy with his performance.
This was our 10th DQ. Ryker is going to be on sabbatical in Rally. Not sure when I will do Rally again. My plans are to finish Rylie in Rally Advanced and Excellent and Start Ryddick in Novice.

WW Unusual Friendship

Ryddick and his friend Grimm.

Can you find him? Look closely on the upper left corner of the A-Frame

It is a Magpie that I the priviledge to raise and Ryddick and him bonded.

Feeding RAW

Ryker eating his first turkey on Thanksgiving 2007

I have been feeding RAW for 2 years. I was happy with the food I was feeding my dogs, they liked it and I had no issues with allergies. Then on March 15th 2007 some of the foods of the same company were being voluntarily recalled.
Someone in the Ogden plant in Utah had cut corners and bought un-approved rice from China. No other plants were effected. At least that was the story that was told to the consumers. I have been thinking about feeding RAW for at least 4 years prior to this incident and this helped me make my decision to switch very easy. 70% of my dog training friends feed RAW and have been telling me to switch all along.
I did it cold turkey, no pun intended, and brought back the unused portion of the kibble back for a full refund. For the first 2 months I fed only chicken. Chicken feet, hearts, gizzards, liver included. I did not want their tummies to get upset and chicken the best way to help them switch. After about 6 weeks I added a bit of fish, then beef, then lamb, then turkey. It was challenging to give them enough skin and bone. Loose stools, more bone; harder stool, more skin. Here is a list of foods they get, salmon oil, coconut oil, olive oil, cottage cheese, pumpkin, green beans, spinach, carrots, bananas, apples, yogurt, eggs with the shell, anything I can get my hands on from beef, pork, turkeys, chicken lamb, fish. I have been offered lamb heads, but I am not brave enough to handle it. I am sure my pups would love it.
I stopped feeding raw chicken bone. Rylie and Raygen would swallow large pieces and on more then one occasion regurgitate them during the night. They still get bone, but it is crushed into pieces and blended into a paste. I used to feed raw meaty beef bones and lamb bones. I noticed Rylie had broken a tooth and that was the end of feeding larger bones, too.
This does not prevent me from still feeding them raw. I have never seen dogs go crazy at feeding time before.

Calming/Avoidance

I wanted to take a picture of the pups as they sat next to each other. I positioned them and asked them to stay. As I turned around Ryker had turned his head away from Ryddick and when I snapped the photo Ryddick was also avoiding him by looking and lying down. This is typical avoidance behavior. Yes, there are issues between Ryddick and Ryker and yes, I have to manage and train them to be able to live in the same home. No I will not re-home either and no using aversives does not work to fix this problem. It may suppress it, but not fix it.
I have been training using positive methods described in the books, Click To Calm by Emma Parsons, Feisty Fido by Patricia McConnell, Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. I have learned to better read Ryddick's body language to avoid a full blown tantrum. I am happy with how they respond to the training and proud to say that I did not use aversives to get where we are.

WW Posing for a Poster

Left to Right Ryker, Rocci, Ziggy, Raygen, Donner and Ty (or Ty and Donner?)

WW Time Flies

Less then 2 weeks old

3 1/3 weeks old

6 years old