Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Kibeth & JoJo Health Update


Well, I haven't updated here in a while.  There's not going to be much more to report on the training of the girls.  Their various health issues makes training near impossible.  We still review the basics everyday with the NILIF way of life, and have switched over to kibble/cans.  Kibeth started having trouble working at raw chicken for long enough, and JoJo needs to have as little phosphorus as possible = cans.

Kibeth was recently diagnosed with Lumbosacral Stenosis (LS).
This means there is a problem in her spine, 
where arthritis-like changes are causing a disk to push upward and press on her nerves.
This is very painful, and only manageable on anti-inflammatories and pain killers.
Asking her to work too much is a bad idea.

JoJo was diagnosed with mild kidney disease last year.
We manage this with diet.
That means no excess proteins and limited phosphorus.
That rules out any extra yummy treats, which kills her motivation to work.

In short... Getting old sucks.  Kibeth turns 10-years-old on October 26th; JoJo turns 9-years-old on September 19th.  All heads turn to...

The path before us is unclear.
Dolce is super smart, having already earned his Novice & Intermediate Trick Dog titles.
However, his past makes being around other dogs a total killjoy.
We enrolled in Sue Myles' Rescue Rehab class, and have seen tremendous progress.
It's only been 3/5 weeks, and we've come leaps and bounds!
However, we're still no where near competition ready, nor CGC passable.
We are allowed to enroll in Sue's advanced class, Companion Dog Basics.
Hopefully, this will be the final piece of the puzzle.
We want to train for agility, rally, obedience, flyball, and freestyle.
Here's hoping!  You can follow our training here: Pawsitive Training Tails
This blog will now keep a pictorial story of the girls' retirement, and Dolce's training.