Long (really long!) awaited update

Knightley: 1 year 10 months 1 week 6 days old
Apollo: 9 months 4 days old

Apollo and Knightley together recently.

Well, it has been many months since my last update. That is because on December 26th last year I started feeling dizzy, tired, finding it hard to speak and would also pass out occasionally. I was in hospital for over three weeks, but even after then was unable to walk or do much for another couple of months. I couldn't concentrate, or even get out of bed without feeling like I would vomit or pass out.

I am somewhat better now, months later. I still feel dizzy but not as much, and I still pass out. It is quite likely I have developed narcolepsy (uncontrollable sleeping episodes), but there is still some question. I am waiting for testing up at one of the big hospitals in Sydney. I still spend quite a lot of time in bed as I can fall down suddenly, anywhere, unconscious. I am not able to sew or see to my business (although thinking about opening shop again soonish maybe??), and for a long time just stayed in bed. I've been doing physio since I got back from the hospital and can now walk reasonably well - but I still pass out and bruise myself... sometimes daily, twice a day, or only several times in a week. I wear a helmet for protection after I concussed myself when my head hit the floor. So things have been pretty terrible in that sense. In all the testing it was found out I have 'mixed' sleep apnoea, and now use a CPAP machine which has helped my terrible fatigue and has somewhat lessened my sleep episodes. However, all this passing out business is on top of my immune issues and migraines. SIGH!

Apollo learning to do an assistance retrieve for me. He's holding
a comb in this photo. He's taken to retrieving well.

So, due to all this, Apollo had to go through nearly a month with me away in hospital, and didn't deal with it well - he became pretty destructive and bored. Two months or so ago I got a mobility scooter which finally gave me the ability to get out of the house safely and take the boys for walks again. Since then I have been able to up Apollo's socialisation dramatically and he is doing well. We spend a little time inside our local shopping plaza, but spend most of the time outside it - still learning the basics of ignoring people, ignoring dogs, loud noises and strange objects. We do some basic obedience too, but mostly I'm concentrating on the basic socialisation at the moment as he missed out on a lot of it for months. I did swap him to a new vest today from a small one I've been using since he was quite young. He looks quite official in his new gear - which I had made many months ago before I got this passing out problem.

Apollo at the shops in his new gear. He is still smaller than
Knightley by quite a bit, but I hope he will be a large dog
too.

My happy Knightley with Apollo in the background. I spend
quite a bit of time with them on my bed looking after me.

Knightley is unfortunately going downhill quite quickly due to his hips. The vet hoped we'd have a couple of years of good function left, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I recently got some 'Neo Paws' boots for him to help his hips, and they do seem to help quite a bit. We love Knightley so much, and he and Apollo are the very best of friends. I think Apollo helps keep Knightley feeling young. I take Knightley out to 'work' occasionally just on a trip to the shops because he LOVES it and just gently wags at everyone. It breaks my heart that his hip dysplasia was so bad that he can't do what I trained him for. Even just a trip to the shops leaves him close to limping.

Apollo has turned out to be a natural alerter - he lets me know when I'm about to pass out. I have from between 20 seconds and two minutes warning. Enough time to find somewhere safe to sit or lie, or pull the scooter over to somewhere safe where I can pass out in peace! It is a massive blessing that he can do this, although we definitely need to work on his response to me being passed out. I want him to try to lick my face to help wake me up, and he'll do that if I'm on the floor.... but if we're in public or I'm in my wheelchair at home, he doesn't get that he has to stand on his hind legs and lick my face. But nevermind, he's only 9 months old so there is plenty more training to go.

So, things are going better than they were. Poor hubby is my carer these days, as well as the boys, and it stresses him out. But the boys are pretty great most of the time. They make me laugh (especially my clown, Apollo) and snuggle up to me when I need it. I want to get Apollo to professional standard as fast as I can since he's proven to be quite a reliable alerter. Having him with me is massive reassurance, as well as when you drop things from wheelchairs and mobility scooters it's handy to have someone/something else to pick up those things for you. We've done a bit of door closing training, and I really want to train Apollo to push those big metal buttons for me so I can cross the road. So there is a lot of work to be done. Thankfully he is super food motivated!

Truly though, all three of my boys are absolutely wonderful to me, and whilst so far this year hasn't been anything to boast about, they help me through everything day by day and never fail to make me smile. :)

Will try to write an entry now and again, but I find text hard to read (and type) due to dizziness and double vision. I hope everyone in the blogosphere has been well and is looking after themselves. *hugs to all*

Don't faint, it's a new post!!! Temperament testing the litter this weekend!

Knightley: 1 year 2 months 3 weeks old
Possible puppy: 6 weeks 1 day old

I know, I'm a very bad girl. It has been so very long since my last post. Hah, that sounds quasi-religious.

The reason, once again, is Oz Working Dogs. When I started it I was rather tentative about its prospects of suceeding, but now it is very obvious that it is taking off in a big way. Especially this last week I have been working very hard - probably too hard - and I'm exhausted. I am stocking all sorts of things now, toys, first aid, dog cologne, and making quite a few vests, capes etc. I am happy that I am making others happy with the equipment.

I've also had several bouts of sickness since my last post, including one big whopper of a migraine coupled at the same time with some sort of flare in my primary illness - fever, bad rash, joint pain - which had me as close as going to a hospital as I've been since I spent my 29th birthday in ICU. After that horrific experience I swore I wouldn't go back unless I was half dead. Last week made me reconsider, but I did get through it.

The good news is that Knightley and I have been getting back into training some more. We're working hard on his recall, and it's improving - even at the dog park, gasp!! He's very good at coming at home, even when he is doing something fascinating outside. We continue to work on Level 3 of the Sue Ailsby Step to Success Levels, but without the urgency of before. If I get a new puppy, I plan to take him back to the beginning with the pup. Sometimes I realise how much Knightley does know, especially the indoor manners that are so useful in turning a dog into a nice companion.

Ready world??? Here we come!!

So the big news is the litter of puppies I talked about in my last post are old enough now for temperament testing to see if they are up to assistance dog quality. While temperament testing gives you just a guide of how good the puppy could ideally be when it grows up, it is a valuable tool to rule out puppies who are definitely not going to make it. I am very excited to meet them. The breeder has continued to send photos of the puppies daily - to the point I feel like I already know them somewhat. I'll also be temperament testing some of the girl pups. One of the families getting a pup has a high functioning autistic child, and they're getting a girl. The breeder wants my input to make sure they get the right pup. I've had a chat to someone who is very involved in autism assistance dogs, and with my own knowledge of temperament testing I think I'll be fine to find the right girl for the family. Or maybe two, and then I'll get the breeder to judge which one the child bonds better with.

A small part of their awesome puppy yard, completely with pipes
to crawl through, little seesaws, all sorts of things that blow in the
wind, balls, toys, objects hanging from ropes... just so many thing
that contribute to making a scare proof well balanced pup.

We leave for the trip up to the breeders later today, and it is a long drive - about 7 hours including breaks.... so we are splitting it up there and back over three days. First day will be about 4 hours driving or a bit more, second maybe 5.5 and third 5. Not a bad split. We'll be testing the litter on the second day. I am pretty positive about finding a good prospect in this litter - even perhaps two. These pups have been brought up extremely well, with an amazing expansive puppy yard filled with all sorts of interesting objects. Compared to how the first litter I tested (very very timid litter) was brought up it is just completely and totally different. These puppies have every chance of being amazingly well adjusted dogs. The breeder doesn't let them go until they are 9 weeks old as she vaccinates late, which is fine by me as an extra week with their litter and mother is good continued puppy education and socialisation for the pup. They are a touch over six weeks old now, and will be just about 6.5 weeks old when I test them. 7 weeks is meant to be ideal, but next weekend just wasn't going to work out. They'll only be four days off the ideal, so I think that will be fine.

If there is a puppy in the litter for us, we will have a few purchases to make as I have held off getting things like a crate, bed and mat, although I will be able to make all the leads, collars and harnesses that I desire. The main thing I want, with the whole of my being, is for this puppy to be healthy. If we had another pup with hip dysplasia I would find that extremely hard to accept. We will get PennHip done on this puppy, early, so we know what we are working with.

The puppies exploring the spray from a hose leak. It's so wet!

Knightley will be staying with my dad while we are away, as my mum is also away down on the coast. So I think that will be a bit challenging for him!! He's hoping to engage my brother as a helper to tire Knightley out and babysit him a bit. It's a good idea. My brother lived with us when we first got Knightley, and even though he has grown up a LOT from the lanky adolescent he was when my brother moved out, my brother is still more familiar with him than my parents.

So this weekend is make or break time. Cross your fingers and toes for me as I desperately want to get back on the assistance dog train!!

Will give you the news soon internetland, as to whether Knightley has a new best friend.