.. and the boys are really throwing their coats. Sammi is not entered as I could see at the time of entries closing that she would be out of condition, but now my boys are doing it to me too. Loki has tufts coming out here and there and Ross has lost more coat than I thought he had! Though maybe with him having less coat anyway he may not end up looking as bad. Kaiah is still in full bloom and will hopefully hang on to her coat for quite a few more weeks.
I think it's demeaning to a quality dog to show them in poor coat condition. I know not everyone agrees with me, but why show an animal who's not looking at their best? Generally I can get away with it with the boys as they tend not to loose as much as the bitches do .. and of course spayed bitches who usually have a more profuse coat don't get naked either. I regretted showing Sammi out of coat at a champ show 2 years ago and said then I would never do it again. She means too much to me for me to put her in when she hasn't got a fair chance of being placed. I probably would consider showing an out of coat dog at an open show, but often well coated bitches loose condition with coat. Sammi was hardly beaten till that Champ show, I put her in naked, she was last and I was gutted. But I could see why, though of course the shape and performance was there at a champ show these bitches need it all and people always remember the day you showed your dog looking less than perfect!
I have a show entered tomorrow under a judge that I would consider worth the entry, but now I doubt I'll go. Though I told her I had a show Mum has organised a family meal in the evening to celebrate my birthday. I did try and tell her that I could not do both but it fell on deaf ears. It's hard for me to adapt to doing less and if people close to me can't understand that I now have limitations what chance have I got with the rest of the world?
Ross was lame again this morning. Understanding what's going on with him is so difficult. Knowing it's either Pano, which is nothing .. or worse case scenario of elbow dysplasia is really quite confusing. I honestly thought the Xray would give me an answer, but now I know that elbow dysplasia can only be diagnosed with a CT scan hasn't helped my peace of mind. I think I need to find someone to talk too, someone who can explain to me how a dog can be elbow scored with Xrays but elbow dysplasia can not be diagnosed without a CT scan. It sure doesn't make sense to me, but someone, who would have to be more qualified than a vet must surely be able to explain the system to me. (I'm not trying to be demeaning to my vet .. everything you read says that ED is extremely hard to diagnose and that specialist examination/CT scans are necessary)
One thing I have decided on though is that I will let Ross live his life to the full. I'm not going to wrap him up in cotton wool for another 3 - 4 months, he needs to be allowed to live his life. I've kept him away from walks with styles and steep slopes, now I want him to go where we go and experience it all. Believe you me there's nothing harder to live with than a bored Ross. He's not the type of dog who can live without mental and physical stimulation.
Dear Ross my 50th birthday pressie to myself. He arrived a bit early, and yeah he has been challenging, but my god I love my baby boy!
