German Shepherd DTC - June 6 & 7, 2009

It's taken me some time to feel like writing and updating the blog. Things have been a little messy the last two trials and they're getting me down. We've been missing QQ's by one mistake, usually mine, and she's not been as fast as she has been in the past.

Saturday started out nicely, she had a great run in JWW; not the fastest but she was at least working well for me. We picked up 26 speed points and were set up to run and Q in STD. Or as my friend Ashlee says, "We've teed up for the QQ." Not to happen though. Our judge miscalculated the ring dimensions and they had to squish the course together. So normal in some spots and VERY tight in others. Unfortunately Ruby took an off-course tunnel under the a-frame that I didn't anticipate. After my later findings last weekend it may not even have been my failing to cue her to take the frame that caused the off-course - more on that to follow. She handled all the tough spots and I was fairly happy with how we handled the course. The triple at the end...oh my...she took it, cleared it and I held up right as she landed so as not to run out of the ring - remember the course was squished. Well she tried way too hard to turn back to me and slid on her shoulder. It's kinda hard to see in the video but the damage was done.

Later that day she went out in the yard to run around with River. When they run, the run like the devil is chasing them. Ruby flattens out and sometimes she'll turn way too quickly to try to catch River and he's really fast. They came in, took naps and when Ruby got up she was limping, favoring her right shoulder. I gave her a massage, also working on the tight spots in her neck and it seemed to help. Sunday morning she was moving around just fine.

JWW run on Sunday: Tough course with two loops, passing by a tunnel opening twice. Wow! She read everything great except a tough weave entry. I just didn't give her enough room but considering that at that point I knew she was sore, I'm almost positive that if she wasn't, she would've have gotten the entrance and saved my butt as usual. During STD it started raining so I was just careful on the contacts. One VERY hard call off a jump and she nailed the rest of the course. We picked up another 28 speed points.

Sunday night - again the pups out in the yard running, Ruby suddenly stopped and jogged back up to the house. She took a short nap and got up stiff/limping again on that right shoulder. I'm really freaking out at this point but rubbed her down again and iced her shoulder. I also gave her a couple Traumeel to help with any swelling and pain. I'm thanking myself for making that appointment at Integrative for her on Thursday...I'm also thinking that off-course tunnel on Saturday my have been a choice due to pain. The tunnel is WAY easier than the a-frame.

Thursday - Ruby gets to hang out at work with me. She really loves coming to work with me and seeing everyone. On to our chiro appointment. We saw Dr. Collins this time instead of Dr. Mayer. The last time Ruby was in for an adjustment was right before Nationals so around the end of March. Dr. Mayer didn't have much to do; just a couple spots in her neck and she was good. This time however...right side of her pelvis out, three spots in her neck, a couple spots in her back and...BOTH of her shoulders. Yikes! She really didn't want Dr. Collins to touch them and do the adjustment either so I had to distract her with food, which is not normal for Ruby.

She's all back together again but this weekend's trial is up in the air which sucks because we have awesome judges. Dr. Collins wants me to wait until Sunday before Ruby returns to any activity. Most of the time she's gotten adjusted and is able to compete a day or two later. Ruby definitely feels good now, wanting to play and acting silly. The problem is trying to keep her quiet until I feel she's ready to go. She is NOT happy. So I figured I'd see how she is on Saturday and also see how the JWW course is and decide that morning at the trial. If the course isn't too twisty I may end up running her and then I'll see how she is before I decide if I run her in STD or not.