feathers in the cap

OFA Hips: Fair: WCC-1438F28M-VPI
DM Clear : 2 copies of the normal allele
Coat Length: Clear - 2 copies of the short coat allele
CERF# - WCC-1192/2010—43

I found out from the vet today that he is also OFA Thyroid NORMAL! :)  Things are just stacking up for him, and I'm so pleased! :) 

a big relief

I received the last of my test results from DDC Veterinary today....

I am very proud to let the world know that I am living with 4 DM Clear dogs!

Piper is clear through parentage, but the other 3 tested Clear also. HOORAY!!!

Sedona and Piper are fluff carriers and Chance is fluff free. Kota wasn't tested, since I wasn't planning on using him in my breeding program.

It's great to know that my dogs shouldn't have any problems with DM :)

The Fluff

I have received results back on both Chance and Piper...

Chance is fluff free
Piper is a fluff carrier

We're waiting for DM results on Chance, and I will be doing Sedona's DM testing soon. Stay tuned :) I should just sign my next paycheck over to DDC Vet! ;-)

A quickie vet visit

This morning I woke up to see Kota's ear looking a little strange.... (see below)
For a while now Kota has had a few small lumps (Karen Harbert called them hematoma's) in his ears, but none were very big and they didn't bother him, so I didn't worry...

When I woke up this morning, this one was quite a bit bigger and had tweaked his ear, so I didn't want to wait...

I called the vet to see if they could get us in... And in they got us. When I asked if I could bring the whole crew to get weights they must have thought I was crazy, but in the end I was complimented left and right about how good my dogs were etc, etc, etc.

See the tweak in his ear? Poor kid.
Such a gooooood dog, my Kota dog :)
Always happy - even at the vets office! :)
And the cheering committee :) They're always happy too!
I like to take my dogs to the vet even when they're feeling ok so they don't get a bad feeling about the place... they don't seem worried to you, do they? ;-)

Current weights:
Dakota (5 years 9 months) 35 lbs (I was upping his food since he started agility and had gotten skinny, but now I might reduce it a little, tho he's not looking fat at all)
Sedona (2 years 9 months) 32 lbs
Chance (2 years almost 1 month) 40 lbs (I upped his food after SoCal and he's in good show weight now.... tho not easily "pick-up-able" :P)

I declined the drain of the hematoma in Kota's ear for now... I got some prednisone and will see if that will reduce the inflamation... if it gets any bigger I will take him in to have it drained... :( Poor kid. He's laying on that ear dreaming a doggy dream right now, so it doesn't seem to be bothering him :)

Oh, and I got the lecture about vaccinating my dog(s)... and then they quoted me $82.00 for titer testing for 2 vaccines (one of which was NOT rabies, which I know he's "technically" probably due for). When I have a spare $82.00 I'll have him titer tested... until then, I'm alright where I am... and so is he ;-)

first time in a year

I haven't been sick since last year at Christmas time.... I thought I was doing so well.... I'm fighting the good fight, but I think I'm slowly losing the battle.... Airborne couldn't catch it, and Theraflu is keeping it at bay right now.... but there is an underlying ICK.... you know that feeling.... that feeling of being borderline REALLY sick.... and wouldn't you know it, I have to work because I have no sick time... :( I'm tired and run down and groggy from Theraflu... but its the only thing that helps.... I can't believe I drove to work today.... don't remember it.... scary.

In the meantime Sis is a great love bug since her last cycle and the boys are romping like any good boys should. Kota is showing Chance in no uncertain terms that while Chance may be bigger, Kota is definitely ruling the house with an iron paw. He's firm yet fair. They are LOVING their new house and their new yard. They spend more time in the yard than they EVER did at the other house, and they romp and roll in the grass and have a grand time. Now I feel bad for having not had grass before.

The lemon-house-from-hell saga continues... tho I haven't shared this publically up to this point... When I moved in the light in the master bedroom didnt' work. Not a major deal, toss a lamp in there and get it fixed when it can get fixed. Then the guest bathroom toilet wouldn't flush. Got a plumber out and he found an old cell phone battery in there! The built in microwave shoots sparks and flames (yes, seriously). The hand held sprayer on the kitchen sink broke (had stress fractures) and finally got that fixed on Christmas Eve. Now the silverware drawer broke last night. It seems that it never ends with this house. Add to this I'm missing screens on the sliding glass door and the master bedroom window. I heard the previous tenants trashed the place, but GOODNESS! So now i'm left to pick up the peices I guess. I like the house tho... and once all this piddly crap is taken care of, it'll be all that much better :)

Enough ranting for one night.... and since this has taken just shy of forever to get done, I will quit while I'm ahead. I got nice stacked pictures of Chance the other day... I'll post them another time :)

some life updates

I know that 95% of my posts are about my dogs... but they *are* my life... so ;-)

But this one is going to be about me and all thats been going on in the last few months...

Many of you know about the wonderful guy I was dating, Joey. Yep. Was. As with the guy before him, one day we just stopped talking. We were supposed to go away for a weekend together and he never called again... I sent him a text message asking if he was ok, and I never heard anything back. Cest la vie.

Have had some health issues as of late which have really thrown me (and my doctors) for a loop. I'm hardly keeping any food down... even crackers are going right through. (oh, and this is over the course of 2 months!) Doc says based on that information i should be losing weight, but instead, I'm gaining. Nice huh?
I'm having numbness in my legs that the doc isn't sure where it's coming from, so we took an x-ray of my back.
I have a vision thing going on called Micropsia. Had never heard of it before until I saw it on ABC Primetime (I think I mentioned this earlier). That has the doctor stumped and she wants me to see an optometrist. I tried telling her it has nothing to do with my eyes, but she still wanted me to see him anyway.
When I was talking to the doc about my tummy issues, she said "do you have a gastro doc you'd like to see?" and I welled up with tears (no kidding) and said "yes, but he's in Portland!!!!" So I have an appt with a gastroenterologist (sp?) next month to see if HE can figure out what the heck my tummy is doing. I"m starting to think it was a medicine I was on... cuz I've been off it for a week and my tummy is actually doing a lot better. I'm doing my own experiments on myself now :) Great fun!

I'm settling into my job, but the schedule is still wacky. Not having every weekend off makes it hard to get to dog shows, but I'm working it out the best I can.

Getting excited (here with go with dog talk) for the shows in two weekends... Working the puppy on the table more and more. Sedona hops up there like she's an old seasoned pro.... I hope she does better now that she's older...

The neighborhood is starting to be adorned in Halloween garb... i LOVE my neighborhood during the holidays... SO many of my neighbors decorate... as of this weekend I have 5 houses down my street decorated... another on my way out to the main road... I'm sure they will start popping up more and more as we get closer to Halloween. I don't decorate for Halloween, but I will be home to give out candy. There were SO many trick-or-treaters last year that I ran out of candy in an hour or so. I so badly want to dress the dogs up as a "royal court" with a king, queen or princess and a court jester... Unfortunately I'm on an extremely tight budget that does not allow for the insanely overpriced Halloween costumes from the store... I'm trying to figure out how to do it... any ideas guys? I'm not looking for them to be super extravagant... just a couple of robes for the older kids, and a neck thing and maybe paw things (like scrunchies) for the baby kid. Ideas?

The temps are starting to drop here in the desert... the last few nights have been actually getting chilly when I sit outside with the dogs around midnight or so... it's a NICE change. Last week we were cooler during the day than this week... today was 96 in Tempe, but surprisingly enough it does NOT feel hot... i know, i know... but it feels SOOO much nicer than the zillion degrees we were having...

I found out that Ron Buxton will be judging a sweeps in March for the Canada Del Oro shows in Tucson (I think)... all my brain could think of was how long he had Carbon and knowing how much he loved him... and my Chancey resembles his papa enough (especially in the eyes) that I think Ron could fall for him too :) The combination of Chance's resemblance to his dad and the fact that he truly is an exceptional puppy with incredible movement, I think we might have a good chance under Ron :) Tho Chance won't be a puppy by that time (he'll be 1 in February), we'll still be in sweeps :) I can't wait! :)

I guess that's enough rambling for me for now... if you've made it this far, CONGRATS!!!! :)
Corgi nuzzles and licks from Kota, Sedona & Chance

I *am* a freak

I was being a bum, watching ABC Primetime... Medical Mysteries. They started talking about this thing called "Alice in Wonderland syndrome" and it caught my attention. I watched the whole piece and got myself to the computer to do some reading... I've had this since I was a little kid and had no idea why or what it was... and didn't know how to describe it so I never said anything. Mine don't always accompany migraines, and mine DO often include a shaking in my vision. I never knew there was anyone else who experienced something like that... I'm more like the girl with the music.... happens mostly to me in front of the computer or a book... I've learned a little more through Wikipedia. Guess when I go to the doctor that's something else to mention... ;-)