Yesterday I received the e-mail I have been waiting for - AKC finally approved the MACH to PACH transfer of points and double Q's. This meant that if you had MACH points or QQ's that you didn't use for a title, you can bump them "down" to Preferred to combine with your preferred points and QQ's towards your PACH (preferred agility championship) title. YES! Noodle has 17 regular double QQs and a bunch of points, and now has 18 preferred QQs and a bunch of points. You better believe I was online doing that transfer just minutes after I got my e-mail. Today (just one day later) it is official - the PACH title is now showing up on Noodle's name! I am so happy! We will plan a big PACH celebration at the Zanesville trial in a few weeks where she is entered!

My training partner and I headed to Indianapolis for an agility trial. The last time we were were was in December a few years ago. Needless to say the weather was much more pleasant in early October! We managed to do a little hiking in our free time, which was nice because it's bee a while since we have been able to do that.

It was a fun weekend, but a little rough emotionally. I found out that a friend of mine had just passed away from pancreatic cancer this week. He had only been diagnosed in July...that was so fast! My heart breaks for his family, and it also breaks a little for me, because I see my future rearing it's ugly head and I am terrified again. Needless to say, my concentration was WAY off this weekend. Dolphin saved me, in so many ways. He somehow knew I wasn't all there and he took care of me, let me be completely late on my cues and called off the off course obstacles multiple times. I love this boy so much. We ended up with a PERFECT day on Saturday (Q in Standard, Jumpers, Premier Standard, and FAST), another double QQ on Friday, and almost a QQ on Sunday (though we did get our first Premier Jumpers Q!). I literally cannot remember a thing about the courses or how I ran. Thank you Dolphin!

It was finally cool enough to head to the field today. I brought Bacon out and I worked her with my friend's new puppy. It took a bit to get her back in the groove, as she hasn't been on birds in a while. She tried to jump in on her first bird but I was able to hold her back with the check cord. After that, she was steady on her point and didn't attempt to chase or move until the bird was well up in the air, and by the last bird she was standing solid. I need some more cool days to keep working with her. She was pretty exhausted by the end of our short session because it did start getting a bit warm in the sun. I wonder if she will be a lot better when we hit winter and really cold temperatures? I guess we shall see...

While I was out of town this past weekend, Mark called to tell me he accidentally left out a long string of dental floss he was using, and apparently Bacon got a hold of it. We have been watching her for a few days, and yesterday we found a small 1 inch piece in her poop. Last night she stopped eating, and wouldn't eat at all this morning. When she still refused to eat after we got home from the field, I decided to get her checked out at the ER. She is acting perfectly normal, but not eating is a huge red flag for her. They x-rayed her and found a small mass in her stomach. Since she hasn't really eaten, this looked like it could possibly be a blockage and not food. They kept her for 12 hours, pushing fluids and watching. At 2:00 am they x-rayed her again and the blockage had passed and she was eating again...YAY! I was able to bring her home at 2:30am. What a relief, as we are hitting the road tomorrow for Tennesse!

Well, when it rains, it pours. We hit the road for Tennessee Wednesday morning with Dolphin, Noodle, and Bacon. Since the major fizzled out, only Noodle and Dlphin were going to show. We did enter some Fetch tests for fun, so it was supposed to be an easy-going, relaxing trip. NOT.

While on the road, Bacon started having an allergic reaction to something. It started with some swelling on her face and one side of her nose. I called MedVet (where she had been the day before) but they said nothing they had given her should cause an allergic reaction. They recommended we give her some Benadryl. Of course, the Benasryl I had with me had expired 4 years ago, so we stopped at a store and I bought some. As the day went on, it seemed to get better, then as the Benadryl would wear off it would come back and have swelling on new areas. Bacon, of course, was acting completely normal - happy and active.

By Thursday morning, Bacon had all the swelling in her face hanging down on her lips, and it was very puffy around her eyes. She also started getting hives all over her body. We decided to play it safe and run her to an emergency vet here in Tennessee. They gave her an injection and told me to up her dosage of Benadryl. By that evening, she was improving a lot, and within another day she was back to normal. WHEW!

I had Noodle entered on Thursday and Saturday, as they had a special Veterans group both days. She showed wonderful, as always! She picked up two Select Bitch ribbons, and went on to hearn a Veteran Sporting Group 2 and 3. I just love showing her so much. She is really showing her age now, and that breaks my heart a bit, but man she is SUCH a showboat!

I had only entered Dolphin in the Sporting Dog Specialty on Friday. That was the only thing he was entered in and he made it count, winning a really nice Best of Breed!

On Friday, I had the opportunity to do some agility training with a couple of my Tennessee Wrimaraner pals. We had a blast! Dolphin did one run, and then Bacon did a bunch of stuff. I was especially proud of her, as this was the first time she had ever did any agility away from "home" - the local places we usually train. Her focus was wonderful! After we were all done, we let the three Trax relatives run in the field together. Bacon and Slay are littermates, and Logan is a cousin. Bacon really had a blast. I just love how social she is with everyone - dog or human.

Bacon and Noodle were also entered in Fetch tests, to give them something to do. Bacon already had her Fetch Novice title (from the show in Pennsylvania last spring), so we just did Intermediate, which she nailed. Noodle has never done a Fetch test before. It felt like cheating taking a Master Hunter into Fetch, but she had a blast, and she passed both her novice and intermediate tests.

Overall it was a pretty good weekend, but it was extremely stressful. I feel like the last two weeks have just been bathing me in stress.

Stop the madness! I noticed on the drive home yesterday that Noodle would yelp every now and then, and I don't know why. At one point when I had her out pottying, she yelped and held up her right front leg. I couldn't find anything wrong with it nor could I get her to show any signs of pain when I moved it or flexed it. Today she had several more occurances of yelping, when she would move randomly. After going over her thoroughly, I found that she cannot bend her head to the right, when she does, she yelps loudly. I am sick to my stomach, because this is NOT a good sign. I called MedVet and got an appointment with her neurologist on Wednesday. Please pray, she is my heart and soul.