Just as expected...

Sorry I've been blog lazy since I've returned from Canada.  I've been busy catching up with life and ran a trial the day after I got home.

As expected, the girls I took up there were more then a little loose after running 10 days without a collar and getting no training...just testing.

I include a picture of Libby running last week-end as proof.

Test Dog

I stole this pic from the NRCC website.

It's of Meg and I running test dog in the first series of the Canadian National Amateur.

Her and I have had a blast and the tests have been fun.

We head home to Colorado tomorrow to run a trial this week-end.

All I can say is that after a number of days running as "set-up" dog...with no collar...Libby and Darbi are more then a little loose.  My expectations are fairly low for the trial this week-end for those two.

Canada again!

I'm back in Canada again.

If it seems like I was just here...I was.

I'm helping out at the Canadian National Amateur Retriever Championships in Red Deer, Alberta.

I volunteered a couple of years ago and I'm a woman of my word.

I'm running "set-up" with Darbi and Libby and using Meg as test dog for the first few series.

Since I can't run the Amateur anymore, it is a good fit and the perfect way to give back to all my wonderful friends in Canadian Field Trials.

While I obviously can't say a word about the tests, I think it will be a fun week for contestants!

If you want to follow the National Am, which starts Monday, you can do so at www.nrcc-canada.com

Good luck to everyone competing!!

I don't think you'll hear much more from me until I get home next week.

Picture Day

I grabbed my camera and took some pics for Kenny's website today.  We've had a good run as of late and it's fun to immortalize it.

Darbi's son Turq (Backwater Smokin Turq).

On the right: Darbi's daughter Meg (Elmingo's Prime Suspect), along with "Danny", who we train.

And the three two year olds we qualified for the Canadian National.  It's pretty impressive.  Two of these pups are Miikka kids and I'm very proud of them all.

Left to right:  Zink (Elmingo's Little Man), Libby (Elmingo's Flip Your Lid) and Riot, whose a riot (LKY's Controlled Chaos).

If you remember, it was just over a year ago that I took a pic of the same three "amigos" for finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in a Derby in Missouri...they have come a long ways.

So...the elephant in the room...Darbi is the only dog we took up there that didn't qualify for the Canadian National.  She's been running "up and down".  She went 8 series one week-end in Canada, and then went out in the first series both days another week-end.  Kenny tells me that is entirely normal for an "old" dog.  They are unreliable and generally only do what they feel like at this age.  Darbs will be 10 in a couple months.  But she's finished 3 of the 6 US Opens she's run so far this year, so it's not all bad.  We'll keep going forward with her, and I may make another swing up to Canada in a month or so if I feel like she wants another shot to qualify.

But Darbs has been put on a long term arthritis medication for now.  After a long examination and talk with my wonderful vet, we decided that it was best for Darbi.  She doesn't have any obvious lameness that people can see with their older trial dogs, but she does have some aches and pains and general body stiffness.

Darbi owes me nothing.  When she says she's done, she's done and that's that.  But she hasn't told me that yet...she bounces at the door to get on the dog truck and go training every day and she come off the truck at training a little (too) exuberant sometimes.

The vet said he saw no obvious issues with her eyes and it appears she sees mostly fine.  I guess she only looks at what she wants to look at.  I have no problem with it.  Every day I get to spend with her, trialing or not, is a bonus with a senior dog.

Whatever she wants to do is fine by me.

Harper's Colors

Harper is here showing off all her pretty ribbons from the Logan Lake trial in BC a couple weeks ago.

She is Elmingo's Violence On Request (Prime x Darbi 2008) and lives in Alaska.

Way to go Harper!!

I know my website is down.  I've been working on it.  It's my fault and I forgot to change the web hosting before MobileMe shut down.

I'm not very good at updating my website though, and I do most of it through my blog.  I need to add a Libby and an Ahti page, amongst other things, but it seems there's not enough hours in the day.

Good kids!

So happy to see Darbi and Miikka's babies growing up and doing well!!

At the Logan Lake trial in BC:
Elmingo's Violence on Request (Prime x Darbi 2008) WINS the Qualifying one day and had a 3rd and a 4th on other days.

Elmingo's Pacific Eider (Shaq x Miikka 2007) placed 3rd in one of the Qualifyings at the same trial after winning the Qual in Lethbridge.

In Saskatoon:
Elmingo's Little Man (Shaq x Miikka 2009) placed SECOND in the Open one day and qualified for the Canadian National at 2 1/2.

Elmingo's Prime Suspect (Prime x Darbi 2008), after her WIN in Lethbridge, went to the last series in 4 of the 6 Opens she ran up north.

Backwater Smokin Turq (Prime x Darbi 2008) placed in a couple of trials in Canada after, as as you know, recently qualifying for the US National.

And Miss Libby (Elmingo's Flip Your Lid - Shaq x Miikka 2009) also qualified for the Canadian National with 10 staples in her side!  She's such a trooper.  The staples are out and she is fully healed from her latest attempt to harm herself.

While Darbi and Miikka are both spayed, I have my eye out to the future of Elmingo Retrievers.

Libby is also spayed, which makes me a little sad as I think she would be a great addition to the gene pool.

Ahti is intact, but she won't be bred for a year or two at the earliest.

BUT Meg is going to become a mother later this year and I'm getting one!  Meg is Elmingo's Prime Suspect and she is being bred to last year's US Top Open dog FC Fresh Squeezed Juice.  Should be a fabulous breeding and I'm on the list!  I'm getting a little boy to raise and develop, but I'll get a little girl from Meg to keep for myself down the road and add to my breeding program.

If you're interested in this breeding, let me know as the waiting list has already started!!!

I may not have any litters myself coming up, but I'm so pleased to see my lines grow and develop and carry forward.

Internet Withdrawal

We're up in Canada and I'm going through a little bit of internet withdrawal.  I don't turn on the data on my phone, or access it though my wireless card, as roaming charges are insanely expensive.

A quick note to say we're having a great time and the dogs are running well.

Miss Libby qualified for the Canadian National by placing third in the Open the second day in Saskatoon!  She ran a great trial and we're very proud of her.  It was her 2 year and 6 month birthday when she qualified.

And Darbi ran 8 series this week-end, getting to the last series in both Opens.  She finished with a RCM the first day and I picked up her the second day.  I, again, don't think she saw the long bird on the second day in the last series, but we're watching her close.  She still wants to train and trial, so we're giving it some time to figure it out.

We'll get her eyes checked when we get home to see where we're at too.

The weather is miserable today, so no training until it lets up a bit...but it looks like sunny skies from here on out!

I won't update again until we get home.

Momma D keeps rolling...

Darbi has had a great year so far...as a mother.

"Meg" (Elmingo's Prime Suspect - Prime x Darbi 2008) and I WON one of the Opens at the trial in Lethbridge, Canada this week-end.

That is 3 Open wins by 3 different dogs, and two different sires, for Momma D.  And those are the only three Darbi get competing in AA competition right now.  Pretty good.

It was a thrill to not only win the Open, but to do it with a dog I bred.

And Miikka was not to be outdone...her son Eider (Elmingo's Pacific Eider - Shaq x Miikka 2007) WON the Qualifying at the same trial.  Way to go Eider!!

Darbi did not have a good week-end.  She was sick with diarrhea all week-end and went out in the first series both days.  We also had a hard time getting her to pick out the long mark in each test (I ran her one day and Kenny ran her the other, both were VERY long marks).  I know her eyesight was going a little, but now it's worrisome.  The CERF vet told me a year or so ago that it was normal "aging" changes we were seeing.  I think her eyes and her body will give out long before her heart does.  It's too soon to tell quite yet, but she's starting to tell me that it's time to think about her retirement.  We'll keep watching for the signs and she'll tell us when she's ready.

Libby had a good week-end for a little baby dog.  She didn't make it to the long retired on the first day, but worked real hard and pulled off the marks to run the blind and ran a really pretty blind!  That's big stuff for a little dog.  In the second Open, she made it to the water blind and unfortunately was the first of our dogs to run it.  We made drastic changes to how we ran the water blind after we (Kenny ran her) picked her up.  Very proud of my little Wibbs...she just keeps growing up more every day.

And Miikka was the highlight of my week-end.  She ran as "bye" dog in one of the Opens and she thought she'd died and gone to heaven.  I won't make it a habit with her (and I only let her get the "go" bird so as not to strain her legs too much), but it was so fun to stand on line beside my little peanut.

Flames Fan

I had an old t-shirt on Libby for the first days days after her injury.  It kept her from chewing out her stitches, which she seemed determined to do.

Then I remembered this...

I had this doggy Calgary Flames jersey in storage.  I bought it for Darbi to wear at some point...as a joke.

It fits Libby perfectly and covers up her wound.  Better yet, it's made for dogs vs a human t-shirt.

Libby looks like a rock star and I can no longer worry about the t-shirt coming off!

Win-Win.

Atta boy Turq!

Darbi's son Turq (Backwater Smokin Turq - Prime x Darbi 2008) WON the Open yesterday at the Cheyenne trial.

This qualified him for the US National as he already had a second place from a couple weeks ago.

Turq is only 3 years old, and was a Canadian National Finalist last year at 2 years old.

Way to go Turq!!

And Boomer got a third place behind Turq, and needs only one more point to qualify for the National himself.  He'll get it...no sweat.

A great day.

Darbi didn't get off the point on the big water blind in the Open...I'm not so mad at her anymore.  She has two kids with US Open wins this year by two different sires.  Good going Momma D.

If it wasn't for bad luck...

then Libby would have no luck at all.

Let's see...how does it go again with her?

-broken jaw at 8 weeks old

-broken leg at 9 weeks old

-almost had her tongue amputated at 12 weeks old

-found and ate rat poison at 5 months old

-failed her eye CERF at 14 months old

-mastitis after her FIRST heat cycle and emergency spay at 16 months old

and now this...

Poor thing caught her side on the side of a door.

I swear I like this dog...alot...and I'm not trying to have her killed.

Little boys growing up

We had a fun week-end at the Centennial Retriever Club trial.  It was a busy time as Kenny and I, along with some other wonderful people, put it on.  We're a little exhausted tonight to be sure.

Darbi finished the Open with a Reserve JAM.  She ran great, but got out of the water early and hunted a bit around the pond to the last bird.  I think she knew where the last bird was, but she was just too old and wise to make the giant swim to it.  9 1/2 year old dogs know their options and she certainly knew hers.

Only two dogs made the swim all the way to the bird and Miss LIBBY was one of them...as test dog.  She got dropped after the water blind after needing too many casts to get out on the point.  But she was amazing in the fourth and I was so proud of her.  It was spine tingling for me to watch.  Libby needs 1000 more marks and 1000 more blinds to be a consistent Open dog, but geez...she's not even 2 1/2 and she's made it to the water blind in 2 of her first 3.

Libby also got a 4th place in the Qualifying at this same trial.  Not sure what it will take to get her Qualified All-Age, but we're plugging away.  Quals are the most difficult stake to win for a variety of reasons...and I have to keep reminding myself that she's still little baby...or at least Kenny reminds me often when I get too ahead of myself.

I just received some updated pics of Goose and Stewie, two of the Arson x Miikka pups.  They are really growing up!!  Gordie has started Basics and is doing well here with us and I can only imagine that his two brothers are as bright and intense as he is.

Goose has his mother's face.

And his father's intensity.

And Stewie looks like his dad.

Stewie with his big "sister" Emma.

Emma is from the Tiger x Darbi litter of 2006

She looks like she has her mom's aversion to having her picture taken.

Proud of the gang

We had a great week-end.

Our truck of dogs is so young and we know we need a couple years to re-build an All-Age truck, but it's sure been fun watching them grow and develop.

I think out of our 22 dogs that we have in training (including my girls), 18 of them are 4 or under.

Well, the kids rocked it this week-end.

We got 1st AND 2nd in the Open!!  My boy Boomer WON and Darbi's young son Turq (Prime x Darbi 2008) got second.  Boomer is not actually mine, but I like to pretend he is.

Riot, who's a riot, got SECOND in the Amateur and he's only 2 1/2 years old!  And Pacer was fourth in the Amateur as well.  We just got Pacer back, and he spent a number of years with Kenny earlier in his career.  He's a cool dog.  (He's FC AFC Fat City Pacer for those who follow trials).

Miss Libby, as you know, got 4th in the Qualifying and we also got third and RJAM in the Derby with Roy and one of my little boys Stanley.  I now like to think of myself as Stanley's "other" mother.

Hard to believe we had FIFTEEN yard dogs in January.  It was a lot of work, let me tell you, getting all these guys up and running and we have a few more in the pipeline itching to make their debuts.

Ahti is coming along, as is her brother Razor, and we're holding them back a bit as they are a bit...um...shall we say...wild?  Not at all what I expected from a Darbi pup, but it is what it is and we're rolling with it.  We're hoping they'll be ready to break out in the Derby in July.  Plus poor Ahti had to sit out 6 weeks with her wrist injury at a critical time in her training.

Our dogs are fun to train and we're sure having a lot of fun training them.

It's hard work and it's a grind, but it's perfect.

Tired girl

Miss Libby ran 7 series yesterday.  She must be a tired gal.

She finished the Qualifying with a fourth place!  She ran great and I was very pleased with her.

AND she made it to the water blind in the Open.  While she got the bird, she was loose at the end and got dropped, deservedly so.  I was so proud of her efforts in some tough tests in the Open.

And Darbi is back!  She didn't do the first series of the Open, but not for lack of effort.  She was bouncing on line and totally into her job.  So nice to have her back after her surgery.

But it was kind of bittersweet for me to see a subtle changing of the tides.  My 9 1/2 year old didn't do the first series of the Open, and my not yet 2 1/2 year old did it real nice.  I have a bright future in Libby, but I hate that Darbi is getting old.

My Boys

My two little boys are all grown up.  

I bought Stanley and Otto as 8 week old puppies and raised them.  I sold them to clients at about 6 months old.

Stanley and Otto were only born a week apart, so let me tell you it was a full time job raising two puppies at once.  I couldn't let them be together all the time, or even some of the time, so that they bonded to people and not each other.  They were on two different schedules and even had two different x-pens at training every day.

It was hard work, but well worth it.

Stanley (Horsetooth's Center Ice: FC AFC Shaq x FC AFC Ruby) WON the derby this past week-end at West Nebraska and has finished both derbies he has run.  Otto (Horsetooth's Otto Know: FC AFC Cosmo x Lucy QAA) has also finished both derbies he has run and got FOURTH this past week-end as well.

I'm proud of my little guys and I think they're going to have a fun summer with their owners.

A pic of Stanley today.  Such a big boy now.

Another third

Way to go Wibbs!

She got a third place at the West Nebraska field trial this week-end.  She was great from start to finish.

Darbi had to sit this one out due to her recent surgery, but she should be good to go for next week-end.

And Libby ran her FIRST Open there this week-end as well.  She didn't make it through the first series, but it's all great experience for her and she's ready.

She has a bright future we think.

GREAT DAY!!!

BENIGN!!!

ALL FOUR LUMPS!!!

NO Cancer.  Not a trace.

She's in the clear and life goes on.

I cried when they called me with the news.

Now...to keep her mostly still until the stitches are out next week.  She's driving me a little crazy.  I can't believe how fast she has recovered.  She wants to get back to work, but Dr's order are no work until next week and then life will go on as before.

Just so happy.

Darbi Update

So far, so good I think.

She had:
-a spay
-one lumpectomy from her leg
-two lumpectomies from her mammary glands
-one complete mammary gland removal

What my wonderful vet thinks:
-two lumps from her mammary glands are no big deal.  That's his initial thought.
-one lump from her mammary gland probably cancer, but we most likely caught it early and that's over with.
-her leg is probably the biggest deal.  While the preliminary pathology reports showed inconclusive, he thinks there's a 50% chance that it is a Soft Tissue Sarcoma.  That's bad.

Now I just have to wait until next week to find out which of the lumps are cancer and if we got it all out.  If her leg lump IS a sarcoma and we didn't get it all out, then that's very bad news.

I'm hoping it's the OTHER 50% and it's not a sarcoma.

Fingers still crossed.

Momma D doing pretty well considering, however she does look a bit like Frankenstein right now with all the scars and sutures.

Willie's new friends

We had some pro friends stop overnight this week on their way home from their winter trip to Texas.

They brought some guests with them and put them in our front yard.

Willie was a little perplexed.

Darbi

Just found out.

Darbs most likely has cancer.

I think we caught it really early, so that's the good news.  The lumps are the size of peas.

The one lump came back as a tumour, and it was inconclusive whether it was benign or malignant.  Chances are it's malignant as it's very hard and irregularly shaped.  The other two breast lumps came back as inconclusive entirely, so we're taking them all out.

And it sounds like the leg lump is of no concern, which is good news.

I told the vet I wasn't planning on spaying her as she was old and only had one heat cycle per year.  He told me that the chances of her developing pyometra after 8 years old is 75%.  That's all I needed to hear to decide to spay her the same time the lumps are taken out.

Surgery booked for this Thursday.  She'll be out for awhile, obviously, recovering.  Spaying is VERY hard on an older bitch, and I saw that first hand with Miikka.

But trials, schmials...I need to look after sweet Darbs and I don't care if she runs another trial again.

So, moral of the story...do regular breast exams on bitches older then 6, especially if they have not been spayed until after their second cycle.  I think her daily tummy rubs may have caught this before it turned into something very bad.  Let's hope anyways.

I had a fun week-end at a Field Trial in Nebraska this week-end.

I took 4 Open dogs and had two in the last series...Boomer and Meg.

While both had to handle it the fourth, it was SO much fun to stand beside a daughter of Darbi's in the last series.  I'd never run her at a trial before and she was a joy to run.  She's only 3 years old.

Darbi got dropped after the water blind.  She was very sick all Friday night and got me up in the hotel every hour to go outside.  Bad diarrhea and some vomiting.  I treated her with some metronidazole and she seemed to feel better Saturday morning, but I only had a shell of her on the water blind.

I think she caught a bug, as she's fully recovered today.

Still no word on any test results for her yet, but it's been on my mind.

I found some interesting facts on dogs and mammary cancer though.

If you spay a dog before her first heat cycle, then the risk of this type of cancer is less then 1%.
If you spay them before their second heat cycle, it's 8%.
But if you spay a dog at any time in their life after their second heat cycle, the risk is 28%.  So me spaying Miikka last year did nothing to reduce her chance of breast cancer.

But my vet is more worried about Darbi's leg lump, which surprised me.

I hope to get some news soon.

Fingers crossed...

I've been a little blog lazy since we've been home.  Sorry.

I've been bragging on here about how GREAT Darbi is doing.  Feeling great, training great and trialing great.  She's had a fabulous winter.  Especially for a dog her age.

And now...

3 breast lumps and a leg lump.

My wonderful vet is very worried.

He did fine needle aspiration on all 4 lumps and sent them off to pathology.

I'm off to a field trial tomorrow with Momma D.  No point sitting around and worrying when she's feeling so fantastic.

Keep your fingers crossed for her and me.

I'm a bit of a wreck at the THOUGHT of it.  That nasty bad word.  I can't even say it.

Good to be home

After almost 4 months on the road in Texas, it is sure nice to be home.

Darbi thinks so too.

Momma D got a RJAM in the Open at Cimarron this past week-end.  She was SO much fun to run!!  She stomped the last series water quad.  I just can't get over how, at 9 1/2 years old, she is having more fun running trials and training then she ever has.  We're going to have her best year ever...I can feel it.  She's already finished 2 of the 4 Opens she's run so far.  She had an almost 50% completion rate last year...pretty incredible in these tough Opens.

The Cimarron trial, which was in Oklahoma, was the first trial I'd ever been to where I knew the location of the closest Tornado shelter and had an emergency plan.  It was pretty hairy there for awhile.

(For reference: Willie attacking Miikka on the other side of the doggy door-giant toy snake beside Darbi).

Doggy Disneyland

The winter trip is winding down.  I'm ready.  All work and no play for us in Texas and we're both dragging our behinds a little bit.  All told we have 24 dogs here, and that includes the retired Miikka and puppy Willie.  Lots of work looking after this crew.  They are young and they are fun.  Willie is as much work as the rest of our dogs put together.  Kenny said I'm not allowed to raise another puppy for a little while after her.  We'll see...

This picture doesn't give it justice and you'd have to click on it to enlarge it for a better look, but this is the infamous technical water at Pin Oak Kennel in Ravenna, TX.  So many dipsy doodles that one loses count of the re-entries.  It can actually be a bit mind blowing, especially for young dogs trying to sort water work out.  Should I stay in?  Should I get out?

A smattering of Texas wild flowers near the piece of water we trained on today.  I thought it was time to put my four girls together for a photo.  From left to right: Darbi (I will NOT smile for the camera, ever), Ahti, Libby and Miikka.  Ahti still needs to grow into those ears.

Ahti had her cast removed last week and she's been given the green light to start light work...mostly water work.  She is happy to be back at it.  It was a 10 hour round trip to see the ortho specialist, who looked at her for 20 minutes and sent me out the door.  And on the way down I happened to be driving through Dallas WHILE 12 tornados were touching down around the city during a gale force rain storm.  You probably heard about it?  It was a hair raising experience.  The things I do for my furry friends.

And the "kids" had quite a play session today.  Gordie (Arson x Miikka 2011) found a turtle shell and played keep-away with Willie (Chopper x Hoodoo 2011).

No, I don't want your stinky treasure.  But thanks anyways Gordie.

Open WIN for Adey!!

A daughter of Darbi's from her first litter WON the Open in Washington this week-end!!

Her name is Elmingo's Chasing A Whim (Adey) and is from the Tiger x Darbi litter.

VERY FUN and CONGRATS to Adey and her owners and trainer!!

I ran my girls this week-end at the Metro trial in North Texas.

Darbi pinned the first two birds of the triple and then was only 10 yards upwind of the difficult long retired bird and she kept punching.  It was heartbreaking to watch as lots of dogs never made it all the way out there to begin with, but I was so pleased with her effort.  She never recovered after running way deep and I asked the judges to have the gun help her as the mark was WAY out there and I didn't think I could get a handle on her back to the bird.  She got a pat and a "good work Momma" on the way back to the truck.  She really showed her warrior heart.

Darbi's son Turq (Prime x Darbi) ran a great trial competing against his mom and then handled on a very difficult quad in the last series of the Open.  And his sister Meg was dropped after the water blind.  Pretty good showing for those two young "kids".

Littermates Zink and Libby (Shaq x Miikka) both JAM'd the Qualifying at this trial.  They had great work going into the 4th series and both went a little bonkers on a tight test.  An "up the shore mark" messed with their heads a little bit and it was all over.  They're both very exciting young dogs and have bright futures in front of them.

I'm a pretty proud breeder this week-end.  I'm so happy to see the kids do well.