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Showing results for tags 'Stella'.
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From the album: Brad L.
I think that Stella's lack of incisors may be why her tongue falls out when she's ultra-relaxed.. -
Holiday weekends are not great for tests requiring third-party interpretation. Stella's wobbling around recovering from the anesthesia from a mass removal. We took Stella in on Wednesday to have a couple of warts looked at, none of which concerned the vet. However a lump on her butt which we hadn't even considered an issue did concern him. We'd been told by a different vet (at the same practice) when we originally asked about the lump that it was almost certainly a lipoma common with old dogs and not to worry unless it got so big it bothered her. However when I mentioned it in passing at the end of our wart visit our usual vet didn't like the feel of it and aspirating showed it was a blood-filled tumor of some sort. So we left the warts as beauty marks and went back today to have the mass removed and sent for reading. Given the long weekend we won't have histopathology results until mid or late next week most likely. It'll be a long dang weekend.
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From the album: Brad L.
Summer's here. Stella won't need this undercoat. -
From the album: Brad L.
Stella and Dundee assume ready position in case Peggy drops something while preparing snacks for lunch. -
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Today Stella and I finally managed to keep it together enough to score a third qualifying leg in Open A and earn her CDX. What a long strange trip this has been! I'll probably write a blog post about it later but for now I could just bust my buttons with love for this little dynamo. She may have driven me crazy (and I, her) but one thing that can be safely said is that from start to finish on this journey her tail never stopped wagging and I never stopped hearing laughter (and the occasional gasp) from ringside. Gotta love a Cairn in the OB ring. Here's a happy-snap from the awards. I suddenly realized that Stella and I both have approximately the same demented grin
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From the album: Brad L.
Stella enjoys a wriggle on the grass during a moment of sunshine on her 11th birthday.© btl
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From the album: Brad L.
Stella waits patiently for cheese to appear. -
Competition-style obedience with Stella has been an interesting — and marathon — experience. Stella is a third-generation Master Earthdog (May 2006, at age two) but it took until summer of 2008 to get a Rally Novice and October of 2009 to get her CD. Peggy did all the obedience work through CD, while I worked with Echo. After Stella's CD we switched dogs and Stella and I started down the long road to being able to even plausibly enter Open A. We hit a roadblock with the dumbbell though, and it took nearly five years to overcome. It took until July of 2014 to enter Open with any hope of qualifying and Stella got her first Q at our club's specialty in July. A friend told me about a nice facility in Kent Washington being used by the Washington State Obedience Training Club for a trial. I couldn't go for the Saturday trial as it was the same day as Cairntastic Day put on by our own club, so I drove the three hours on Sunday morning to try our luck in the second trial. It was a festival of markdowns, but we managed to hang on to enough points to qualify. We may not be the most precise team (to understate it wildly) but I am pretty sure that I have one of the happiest dogs by my side and i would not trade her for the world. This trial was fortunate to have a pro photographer on-site and all of these attached photos are © NinasPhotography.com. Stella's heeling is happy if rather loose. In fact she is usually out of control until about half-through the heel-free and settles in by the time we head for the figure-8. I've usually burned my extra command and many, many points by the end of heeling. Strangely, on a good day she will track me with laser-like precision, but apparently never during a qualifying performance in the ring. The first moment of truth in Open comes early, with the Drop on Recall. Here is a sight that triggers the return of breathing and fuels the fire of hope... No time to relax, because the next opportunities to fail come immediately to hand in the form of dumbbell retrieves. First the flat, then over the high jump. My throw on the retrieve over high jump was off to the right and I was thrilled when Stella aimed for the jump rather than going around it, as she has many times before. The last individual exercise is the broad jump. Stella cut it close on the landing, but cleared the boards and did her signature anti-clockwise "twirl" on the landing. Points off but qualifying. That girl gets some air, I tell you what. After the individual exercises come the group exercises: sits and downs out of sight. I'm always dizzy from holding my breath and heart palpitations while waiting out the three minute sit and five minute down. On Sunday she held despite some misbehavior next to her, and all was good. A green ribbon, big hugs (and cheese!) for Stella, and a long, satisfied commute home. Still another leg to go, and I never take anything for granted.
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I promised some photos from Stella's Q number 2 at the obedience trial the day after Cairntastic Day. Here's a teaser and there are a couple more in this blog entry.
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From the album: Brad L.
It may be Canada Day, but Stella's ready for the USA 4th of July with her star spangled tutu.