Beth, Brynn, Bonnie & Idaho

"Why must you giggle so much when you look at me?"

Want I should tell you where to put that camera?

No Beth, that is okay...I will stop torturing you with the camera. 

Last night I took Beth to the vet.  Her least favorite place on earth.  Beth started limping during a walk last week after Bonnie slammed into her.

We gave Beth several days of crate rest and anti-imflammatory meds with some improvement.  She will bear weight on the leg, but limps more often than not.  Since I am taking the dogs to Idaho this next weekend for the Pat Shannahan clinic and had plans to drop Beth off for training with Dianne Deal - I wanted a clean bill of health and to find out difinitively that she could or could not go.

She can't go.

It appears Beth has a partial tear of her ACL.  It does not seem to be severe - but the vet said it is likely to completely tear at some point - who knows when.    For now we are taking the conservative approach - crate rest and more Rimadryl.  Re-check in  3 weeks and see how she presents at which point we will discuss surgical repair or not.  Till then she is house bound, off the ball and off sheep. 

Say a prayer or two for Beth and for my pocket book.  Surgery is not cheap.  Good Heavens...will it never end for Beth?  It seems like it has been a litany of injuries and what not. 

Friday I will leave for Caldwell, Idaho with just Bonnie and Brynn.  Both dogs are signed up for the clinic with Patrick.  Let's hope that Bonnie will do better than she did in May.  Last year Bonnie hid under everyone's chairs and wouldn't come out - Patrick had everyone pull their chairs away from the wall and make a bunch of noise to get her to come out - it took until the last session in the clinic before Bonnie would engage and begin to work.

I will be discussing with Dianne the possibility of leaving Brynn for training.  The plans were to leave Brynn in March or April when I picked up Beth.  Brynn will be a year old on Feb 2.  Depending on how she works in the clinic and what Patrick & Dianne feel about her maturity - I may or may not leave her yet.

Gosh I dont know if my heart can take it...look at this face

My heart may melt from missing her. I haven't been away from her for a single night since she was discharged from the vet after her fight with parvo as a puppy. 

 Brynn is growing up so nicely.  She is learning self control and  how to wait.  

She is the best out of all the dogs and will wait until she is released every single time.

Her social skills leave a lot to be desired though - which worries me.  She is quite fearful about new places, new people and new sounds - regardless of my efforts to socialize her and expose her to everything I can think of.   She is still very much a puppy - in so many ways.

On sheep...that is a different story.  (The following pictures were shot by Evan Harwell)

She thinks, she is calm, confident and thoughtful

With Brynn I can back up at a nice comfortable pace and not have the sheep knock me over - like Bonnie

 Even with these knee knockers at Fido's

She still has a few moments of puppy behavior - which I expect.  She is afterall...still a pup.

More sheep wrecks will be in her future too - it is the process of learning

I am so happy Dianne Deal will be training her.  Brynn has so much potential.

I am still going to miss her more than ...well....can't think of a good analogy right now.  Just suffice it to say I will miss her oodles.

Who wouldn't miss this face?

I won't be missing Bonnie though.  

It is hard to miss someone that is stuck to your butt like cheap toilet paper.

"Mom, are you saying bad things about me?"

 

"I follow you everywhere because it is my job"

"You need me Mom, like a blossom needs the sun...without my gaze upon your face you would wither and die". 

"Can I haz the treat now?"