Milestones (11-02-09)

Post date: Nov 2, 2009 9:56:08 PM

I had a birthday. Yup, 29 again.

Trevor now has 30 QQs, and he's less than 200 points away from finishing his MACH. His third birthday is in a few weeks, so I'm proud of how far he's come in just a year. But winter is upon us and the agility season is tapering off, so all we can do for now is continue chipping away as best we can.

Trevor's annual CERF exam is coming up in a few weeks. I'm trying to stay calm and philosophical, but thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach.

Rowan has gradually been tapering off the prednisone he's been taking for his masticatory myositis (most likely diagnosis, never proven 100%). Now that he's down to 30mg/day, he's starting to show some ominous jaw symptoms again. Are we imagining things, or is the problem coming back? If the latter, he will almost definitely have to switch off prednisone to a different immunosuppressive drug. It's been pretty wearing. On prednisone, he's not the same dog. It makes you realize what a fragile thing "personality" is. Turn up the volume on a Labrador Retriever and subtract charm, and you suddenly have a dog that can seem like an unbearable pest. I love Rowan, he is such a good boy, but it's been hard.