Wow, what a week. I didn't get much sleep Thursday last week cos I was worried about Elton's dental, though he came back on Friday with all teeth still in tact and nice and clean :-) which was a big relief! Poor boy was knocked for six with the anaesthetic though - he spent all Friday night fidgeting and crying, which was not popular from my point of view! Made no difference if he was in bed with me or in his crate, so no sleep was really got that night by either of us!

He also had reflux - presumably caused by the tube irritating his esophagus, though at least he was still eating soft food - and was just not quite right, but by Sunday he seemed fairly ok in himself so I took him to a show I’d entered as it was close to home and I was going with Ria anyway. He was fine in the ring and won Best of Breed, it was a long day and although he was bouncing around and as normal in the breed and fine in the group to start with, by the end he’d had enough and made me feel suitably guilty! Also discovered on Sunday he had diarrhoea, his first poo since the anaesthetic so I'm sure that was down to that (and a temporarily different diet). When I went to bed that night he wasn’t quite right - wasn't sure whether to put that down to the anaesthetic or not, because then he jumped up on the bed and I noticed he was lame on a rear leg.

On Monday he was still on 3 legs and very miserable! On the plus side it seemed to take his mind of the anaesthetic effects? :-P He was sound again by Tuesday, and seemed much more himself so I took him to our ringcraft club's match just to watch (showing Ria) as I didn't really want to leave him at home on his own. He bounced around a bit saying hello to everyone, as is Elton :-P

Wednesday he was obviously really uncomfortable, in a way I would say comes from his back - stretching and bowing and often couldn't seem to get comfortable for any length of time when lying down. By Friday he was much better - that'd be cos I emailed the chiropractor for an appointment for him :-P - so hopefully he's fine now - though I will still get him an appointment.

In other news - as I say, went to a show last Sunday and Elton got BOB. Ria's class was the most farcical thing I've ever seen! They did AV before AVNSC, then told the winner of AV she could withdraw from AVNSC to remain unbeaten (you can't). Another person and I were standing in the ring for about 10 minutes whilst they debated this, then the judge said he wanted the dog back in the ring so she appeared - and we started the class. I completed Ria's triangle to find the judge deep in conversation with the show manager - nice to see he'd obviously been paying attention!! He hadn't watched at all. I'd had enough of the whole thing by then and Ria had 2nd out of 2! Arrrrgh.

More successful was the ringcraft match on Tuesday was a Supermatch Qualifier and Ria had Reserve Best Puppy in Match, so is the reserve if the winner can't make it for some reason!

Wednesday's agility was fun - though I need to do more work on my right. I've really tried with Ria and thought we were ok, but put into different contexts it was obvious that it's not! That was the last week of the initial foundation (6 weeks gone quickly!) so next week is the next block, in which apparently they will introduce more equipment which'll be interesting given Ria can't do most of it yet! I'm sure they'll make it age appropriate for her (I think she may actually be the only dog still under 12 months now)

Then back to Solei's on Thursday! Must say, I adore the stuff I'm doing with Ria - it's exactly what I wanted, and I wouldn't change a thing - but after having the whole of October off it was nice to be back on equipment running sequences! Considering Solei hadn't done anything in over a month he did very well, he kept flying off the dog walk to start with (we were coming round off a jump in a U, and I think he kept not turning enough and taking the dog walk at an angle so he sort of went over the contact on a diagonal rather than up it - if that makes sense!) but after two attempts when I realised what he was doing I brought him round in a slightly wider arc and that was fine. He also struggled going in one end of the tunnel, but that was me more than him - I suck at co-ordination :-( But overall - nice :-) and he was even playing with me in places! I've worked soo hard on that.

In a bid to get somewhere with the collapsible tunnel/chute I brought it home with me on Thursday for a week, but more about that next time.

Yesterday I went to a disasterous show :-P I almost didn't bother cos I had a feeling it'd not be a good day, but ever the optimist! Some people came who NEVER go to shows down there (they've been once in all the time they've been showing - and they won then too!) and Elton had a 4th out of 4 which he really didn't deserve. I know this is the perils of Phalenes at open shows but I hate him being knocked all the time, and people seeing him being knocked. Can't give them up though - I want his Show Certificate of Merit, he's halfway there and you can only get the points from open shows!

Ria was having a slightly off day - she moved quite well til the last side of her triangle which wasn't good - partly cos I did a sudden stop/change of direction as I almost ran her over a drain grid! - and then lost concentration, and most of the time I could NOT get her standing right. She had a 5th in a class of 7, all bar one were adults so could've been worse - but was beaten by another puppy. Another day, another show...