April Wrap Up

Here it is the end of April already. Why did time go so slowly when we were little and wanted it to hurry and it goes so fast now when we'd like it to slow down a little? Anyway, some of my recent posts have caused a lot of questions from my readers. I try to answer your comments when I can, but so many of you have your comments set up as 'no reply' and it makes it much harder to get back to you. So I decided to answer some of the questions now.


First my throat problems. This has been a problem that I've been dealing with since I was a teenager. Many of you suggested that it may be my tonsils causing the problem, but I don't have my tonsils. After many, many bouts of strep throat and doctors treating the symptoms, only to have it return in about six weeks, I finally found an allergist who discovered that I'm a strep carrier. My allergies trigger the step and make it active.









For twelve years I took allergy shots and got the condition under control, but I stopped the shots when I got married and moved away from my doctor. It seems that my immunity from the shots has worn off and the throat problems have come back. I guess my next move is to find an allergist and start the shots again.


The next item you've asked about is Noah's tail. If you have forgotten, Noah had his tail grabbed by one of his sisters in a race and she apparently bit down a little too hard. The poor little guy couldn't lift his tail at all. Dr B said it wasn't fractured and put him on some antibiotics. It took about six weeks to heal, but Noah's tail is flying over his back once again. It leans slightly to the right, but only I would notice it.


Those squirrel pictures. No, I didn't have my camera with me when Morgan and I surprised the three squirrels on the deck. Those are stock pictures I found when I googled 'squirrel". I sometimes turn to stock images to illustrate a post, such as the aspirin bottle and syringe in this post.


Remember when Fudge and I competed in Rally Obedience last year? I have the option of going to the next level with Fudge, but there's a problem. The next level, advanced, is off lead. Fudge does very well off lead at home and in a controlled classroom, but not in a public arena such as the one where the trial is held. You see, Fudge likes the ladies. He likes them a little too much and off lead with so many lady dogs around, Fudge can't concentrate on what I'm telling him.

I'm sorry to say that for now, Fudge is retiring from competition. That doesn't mean that I'm retiring.


I don't know why I do this to myself, but I'm planning to continue in rally with another dog. After all I have plenty of volunteers.


Noah and I have started our training and later this summer I hope to get him into a formal class. The trial is in October, so we'll see how he's doing as the time approaches.


Just to drive myself totally crazy, I've decided to work with Norma Jean at the same time in rally and see if I can get both of them ready by October. Noah is a very quiet little fellow who tries to do whatever I tell him. Norma Jean is anything but quiet. She's the pup most like her daddy, Fudge. She likes to please me, but she likes to invent her own moves. Wish us luck.