WAZZUP?

July 15, 2010
At the beginning of this summer Redi limped his left front leg after an agility training session. I didn't notice anything special during or at the end of the session but after he had rested for a while he limped clearly. It seemed to get better bit by bit in movement and after a week's calmer period, the limp seemed to be gone. I also took Redi to a massage therapist, and his back was very tense and his hind quarters totally jammed up. A couple weeks ago Redi limped again after an agility training session so I made an appointment with an orthopedist.
On Monday last week we went to see the vet and first of all she examined Redi's whole body manually and didn't find any sore spots. The vet also looked at Redi on the move, and it was clear that he was a little careful with his left front leg. So we decided to take x-rays from all over his body. The vet warned me that it would be pretty amazing if we didn't find any changes in the x-rays of a dog of this age. So Redi was sedated which of course meant a pause for all competitions because of the doping rules. Redi was x-rayed from his fore and backend, from his spine and his paws. Once he recovered from the sedation, we went to hear what the vet had to say to us.
Surprisingly, Redi got lots of compliments on his bone: there was no signs of bridges between his vertebrae, his hips were still tightfitting, and so were his shoulder joints. She couldn't find anything wrong with his paws either. The only spot where the vet said Redi might form some cartilage in the future is the left shoulder joint, but the current condition didn't explain Redi's limp. So the vet concluded that Redi had sprained the area of his biceps' tendon sheath. Redi got a prescription of painkillers for two weeks and the vet told him to rest (no jumpig excercises) and have some massages or physio theraphy. He's recovering for about six weeks after which we can even compete in agility and of course see how he reacts. The vet said Redi was "very lively and in very good condition for his age". My pumpkin. Now he's been taking some pills, resting and going for walks as usual but he hasn't done any agility. In this heat we've been having I'm not complaining! The doping period of Redi's painkillers will have ended in mid-August so we'll have to see some competitions then. We'll see how it goes.

June 6, 2010
We have been really active this week. First on Tuesday a couple of friends and I drove to Tampere to an agility competition. Redi and I had probably a little too much speed (again). You can see the links to our videos on our results page. It was, however, great to see Redi's daughter Rooa get her third leg in the first class (I guess novice class internationally) and off she goes to the next class! Congratulations Mari and Rooa!
Today Redi and I drove to Jämsä to a dog show with a new Toller judge. I liked it! ;-) Satu Ylä-Mononen gave a rather flattering critique and finally placed Redi the 4th best dog. For the best veteran we were up against the best bitch ManU (Fireheart Isn't It Inez) who apparently was in the same phase of changing coat as Redi. ManU won and we got to drive home. After a pit stop in my kitchen ;-) we went out with our Furminator and left a whole lot of soft stuff for birds and other creatures' nests. The next dog show for us is possibly at the end of summer, so it was about time to get rid of that old coat.
All that's left for us is to wait for next weekend and the Toller Camp. We'll probably see a lot of friends there.

May 7, 2010
Time flies by and nothing special happens, so I haven't been updating our homepages either. We lead a normal every day life. Earlier this spring we had a small pause in our agility training, but now they've continued. I've also entered us to a couple of competitions and the mere thought of it makes the knot in my stomach a little tighter. I plan to compete a few competitios this year because you never know when the fences in Redi's size class get too tiring for a dog of Redi's size. It's hard to fathem that he's not that young anymore.
Redi and I went to a dog show a month ago. Last year I forgot to enter him to any, so this year I'll have to make up for the lost time. ;) Raija Tammelin gave Redi a very good in Korpilahti. The next show will be in Jämsä next month and then we'll probably take a break till Toller Show. When Redi turns ten I'll probably check which dog shows he can attend for free.
Redi's daughter Rooa can make a long nose at her father, since she has already got her fist leg in the first class of agilty. Way to go, girl! Foxo-boy was in the Finnish Mental Test last fall and got better points than Redi, so he, too, has shown to be an upgraded version of his dad. Well done!

Wazzup in 2009