We Found a Puppy (or Two)!

Wow! It's been a whirlwind couple days! Hardy and I enjoyed Working Dog Weekend Saturday, especially the Reading to Rover. I am however, getting a little tired of hearing people explain to non-Lab people that their Labs aren't fat, they English! Then the non-Lab people come to me and ask if Hardy is American or a mix? This weekend, I heard that enough that I lost any tact I might have had and started answering, "no, he's English - notice his big blocky head, he's just not fat!" I'm guessing I didn't make friends or influence the other Lab owners with that answer! Oh, well! 

Sunday, we finished our errands, got the house ready for company and completed our puppy preparations. Nancy's flight from Chicago arrived a little late but I successfully collected her at the airport and we headed home. We talked about my wants and needs for my next service dog candidate, what works with Laurel and Hardy and what isn't perfect. I would say that I want Laurel's drive with some measure of natural self-control (of which Laurel has none; all of hers is learned which means it can be unlearned pretty quickly and needs to keep being taught and reminded) or that I'd like Hardy's level of natural self-control with some level of drive. Although he shows persistence in some situations, he really has no drive. Obviously, finding the right puppy is much more complicated than this but this is a good place to start. Nancy seemed to understand what I was saying and asking for. Then we released the hounds so that she could meet Laurel and Hardy. I liked Nancy very much based on her understanding of Laurel - she seemed to think she was a great dog despite her tendency towards obnoxiousness and failure to respect anyone's personal space! She also seemed to recognize that although Hardy is a really great, special dog, he isn't necessarily the perfect dog for me and why I find him difficult. Although Hardy is biddable and wants me to be happy with him, he is so laid back that he requires a lot of cheerleading and I find that exhausting. Although some people claim that their boy dogs will "walk through fire for them" while their girl dogs won't, I absolutely believe that Laurel would walk through fire for me while Hardy might if he happened to be going in the same direction anyway (although if there was smoke involved, he would head in the other direction)! He would be the child whose big ambition was to hang out with his friends at the Mall on the weekend - I wouldn't have known what to do if one of my children had been like that either; luckily, they had dreams and ambitions that kept them motivated and driven! Without a doubt, Hardy was a perfect service dog candidate, just maybe not the right one for me. In all fairness, of course, we don't know for sure how much Hardy's heart condition has affected his energy level his entire life. Anyway, I felt very relieved that Nancy understood that and that she was willing to consider all my other activities in finding the next puppy for me. 

The 9 year old from Kentucky and his mother arrived shortly after Nancy and I finished my evaluation; he is a totally delightful young man and his mom is terrific as well. They did their interview with Nancy while we got dinner ready. When we finished dinner, we let Hardy out to visit; he and the little boy fell in love! He told us that "he would take Hardy home if we would let him". Nancy assured him that she was looking for a puppy just like Hardy for him! After a great visit, we went to bed anxious for the next morning!

Unfortunately, when we woke up at about 6:00, we found out that the little boy had had a very rough night and that he and his mom were headed to Hillcrest Hospital's ER. About 8:00, we headed off to Donna's. My friend, Mary Berr, owner of Canine Affair met us there to help with the testing. The weather was wet and miserable so we had to stay inside the house. It was very interesting to see the tests and to realize that although there were differences among all the puppies, there weren't any real extremes. I think Nancy was very impressed with the entire litter. In the end, Nancy found a different girl and boy prospect for the 9 year old and me. I was amazed and delighted to realize that my female prospect was the little girl that was so connected to me when I visited and the male was the big boy I had fallen in love with! Donna and I were pretty impressed that Nancy had chosen the same two puppies we had thought might be right for me! 

We took all four puppies to Tractor Supply with about five people to keep track of them! We had put little collars on them for the first time ever and then added a leash when we got to the store. All of them walked through the parking lot without any problem. We noticed that my girl prospect was following the other female puppy instead of moving around on her own. The boy puppy handled everything calmly and confidently. That was the deciding factor for Nancy (and me as well). Nancy also thought the other male prospect was the better fit for the little boy and Donna promised to hold him until we heard how the boy was doing and arrangements could be made to pick him up!

Chaplin & Pitch during part of the CARAT evaluation

Mary Berr holding Chaplin while he visits with Pitch

So, Nancy and I loaded up the biggest boy puppy in my puppy crate and headed home. Admittedly when I started thinking about getting another puppy service dog candidate, I was certain that I wanted a little girl. So certain, in fact, that we had two girl names we really liked but no boy names. Luckily, when I started spending time with the largest boy puppy, Brent and I decided we'd better consider boy names and came up with one we liked. As luck would have it, my new puppy has some pink on his nose right above his lips - it looks like a little kiss or mustache! Apparently, it comes from his great great grandsire, Ch Ridge View Bugs Bunny (aka Doc) and shows up now and then in puppies descended from him. Ours is one of those puppies which makes his new name seem even more appropriate! Introducing Ridge View's Charlie Chaplin (aka Chaplin and maybe Chap or Chappie)! 

Chaplin and I took Nancy to the airport yesterday afternoon - we were having thunderstorms and Nancy needed to get home since she is leaving for Japan today. Chaplin rode quietly in his crate all the way there and back - of course, it was an exhausting day! We introduced him to Laurel and Hardy in the back yard at first and then everyone came indoors together. Neither of the adult Labs seemed really thrilled to have a new puppy. Although they love puppies, they didn't seem delighted to have a new one moving in with them. I'll be using food to train Chaplin and I'll give some to Laurel and Hardy at the same time which should make the idea of having a puppy around much more positive! You have to love food motivated Labs - it's much easier to bribe them that way!

We spent the rest of the day letting Chaplin settle in a little. We Skyped with our daughter so she could see him and we could see our "GrandPointer", Soapy! When we went to bed, I had Chaplin's crate up on a table right next to my bed so that he could see us and I could put some fingers inside the wire if I needed to. He went quickly and quietly to sleep, woke at about 4:00 to go potty and then right back to sleep. We all woke up for the day at about 6:30 in the morning. Good little Labrador!

Chaplin

Chaplin playing with fleece toy first day home

Chaplin sleeping on the sofa first day home

This morning, I discovered just how food motivated my little yellow boy is (he's absolutely crazy for it!) I went to put his food bowl down and he jumped up knocking the food all over. I decided that wasn't going to happen again so I started the work of teaching him to sit for his food. He is a very smart and need I repeat, food motivated Labrador puppy! 

A couple times today, I took some of Chaplin's food and worked on some very basic behaviors with him (sit, touch, down, stand). I let Laurel and Hardy participate as well and paid them liberally with treats. Chaplin is already becoming much more popular! 

I made the X-pen smaller by half since Chaplin was going to the back of the space and urinating there. Now that it is 2 X 2 instead of 4 X 4, he's letting us know when he needs to go out. He also screams when he wants out of his pen which makes knowing which is which more difficult. If he's yelling because he wants out, we don't want to respond but if it's because he needs to go, we want to take him out. Knowing which is which will be the key!

This evening, we have Chaplin's first puppy class at Cleveland All Breed Training Club. Our friend, Ann, did it recently with her young dog, Hartley and recommended it. There is some time for socialization and then working on basic skills leading to the AKC Puppy STAR designation. This is the second week of the session so we'll have a little catching up to do! Obviously, since so many things have happened to Chaplin since yesterday morning and developmentally, there's a fear period about now, we will be very careful not to overwhelm him tonight! 

Final Preparations for a New Puppy?!

Well, we're back home from Canada and trying to balance being ready in case a puppy comes home next week with not getting our hopes up that the CARAT test will reveal that the right puppy is in this litter! However, if I'm honest I have to admit that after visiting the puppies since they were 5 weeks old, I will be very disappointed if we don't find my puppy Monday! However, Donna has another very promising litter due to be born around June 15th so we'd have another chance at a puppy in the middle of August. I'm trying to remind myself of that so that I maintain some level of objectivity this coming week with the testing. 

We've been getting UPS deliveries every day this week - another puppy-sized crate for the van, an X-pen for our bedroom, some food toys, stuffy toys for snuggling with and puppy toys for teething! Then, of course, since I feel guilty about buying things for some unknown puppy, I've also gotten some new toys for Laurel and Hardy! I also have a shopping list of some items to get this weekend: string cheese, a molded plastic wading pool, drop cloths for under the X-Pens etc. The only things we won't try to purchase in advance is food, a name tag, collar and her/his first "puppy in training" vest. Because we got Hardy about 10 days earlier than we expected to (since we had gone to temperament test two - 6 1/2 week old litters but ended up finding an 8 week old puppy instead), we weren't prepared for him and I remember that as not being much fun! 

Yesterday, Hardy and I went to Chardon High School to see the teachers on their last day before summer vacation. Then we went to Donna's to see the puppies one last time before the CARAT test on Monday! It was apparently puppy nap time because all of them were asleep - the only one who was awake and active was the biggest boy. Getting to spend more time with him makes me realize that we have to have a boy's name ready! I did get to hold each puppy and look forward to finding out which, if any of them, turns out to be mine!

Nap time for growing puppies - only the biggest boy is awake!

The biggest boy having a drink

Saturday, Hardy and I are going to Working Dog Weekend at Lake Farm Park to represent Canine Affair Center at their table for awhile and to participate in Reading to Rover. Unfortunately, we haven't found any regular opportunities to participate in reading programs because that seems to be Hardy's favorite therapy dog activity! Working Dog Weekend is a fun event that includes all types of dog activities - dock diving, herding, agility, water rescue, carting, fly ball, freestyle. Lake Farm Park is part of the MetroPark system - it's a working farm and there will be food and some shopping opportunities available as well as lots of dogs and dog organizations to visit. 

On Sunday, we'll be picking up Nancy Reyes, the certified CARAT evaluator at the airport and then doing the interview portion of the test. A 9 year old boy and his mother will be heading our way from Kentucky and Nancy is also evaluating a puppy for them. We'll all have dinner and the evening to get to know each other and Monday morning, we'll head to Donna's for the testing. Nancy suggested that we add a field trip for any of the puppies that seem like they might work out for either of us to our itinerary so I think we might be going to Tractor Supply in Chardon! 

Until then, I'll just be anxiously waiting to see whether I start the important work of puppy raising on Monday or have to endure at least one more wait for a litter of puppies to be born!

Are We Participating in the Last Dogs in the Park Service Dog Seminar this weekend?

We're up in Guelph, Ontario, Canada for the 6th Dogs in the Park Service Dog Seminar this weekend. We've been fortunate enough to participate every year since the beginning although last year, I had to do my presentations from home because I wasn't allowed to travel. It's great to be back in person: to see old friends and meet some new ones, to share information with other people with disabilities who have or hope to have service dog partners, and to learn and to teach. The only thing that makes me a bit sad about the event this year is that apparently, there won't be one next year! Sue and John Alexander, owners of Dogs in the Park, have decided to host the seminar every two years because of the effort and cost involved. I'm still concerned that this might be the final one and think that would be a real shame! 

Laurel was less than 2 years old in February 2008 when we attended the first DITP SD Seminar at a Guelph Holiday Inn. We hadn't had any experience being around other service dog teams and the only service dog handlers I knew were on Yahoo lists. It was a wonderful experience to see other teams in person, to make friends with other handlers and we learned so much! The sessions were terrific and included learning theory, clicker training, preparation for getting a service dog, traveling with one, training automatic leave it and long stays etc. We ate lunch together and went out to dinner; they had a raffle and we made friends that last through today. 

At the end of the seminar, I asked Sue Alexander if she would be our service dog trainer and we worked together primarily through email and video chats, getting together a couple times a year. She met with our obedience instructor so we were all on the same page and she helped me figure out how to handle Laurel's natural alerts while training them so that they would become trained tasks. 

The next year, Sue asked me to do a presentation on the planning and preparing for getting a service dog through the puppy training period. I enjoyed putting together the materials and update it every year as I continue to do that core presentation. I've also spoken on Budgeting and Finances, Successor Service Dogs, Dog Sports (with Sharon Palmer) and this year, Alerts (with Sue). For the past 5 years, Brent has participated in doing a presentation or hosting a round table about Family. Having family members' and close friends' support is critical to the success of a service dog team and this session has become very popular!  

As important as the learning and sharing is making friends with other service dog handlers, trainers and people interested in service dogs who continue to be close friends to this day. They have provided support and encouragement through the highs and lows of my service dog journey, as we started Lake Erie Assistance Dogs and about life in general. 

So, I'm feeling sad that Sue and John are not planning to host a seminar next year. The seminars don't tend to be money makers and Sue and John don't feel like they can keep losing money every year so they are planning to go to hosting one every other year. However, I'm worried that it will never happen again. 

For now, though, the seminar is going great! Most of the attendees this year are Canadian with a range of disabilities. I've met people considering a service dog, some with a service dog in training and others already working with a trained service dog. It's been nice to be able to "pay it forward" - to be able to help others who are in the place I was 6 years ago. 

Friday morning, the first day of the seminar, I did my Introductory session. My husband, Brent, had the van so that he could go somewhere with free wi-fi in order to do some work. Laurel started alerting and I realized that all my medications were either in the van or the house where we were staying. Poor Laurel was her normal persistent self and kept escalating her alert - I felt terrible about putting her in that position. Unintentional as it was however, it was a good live demonstration of an alert prior to Sue's and my session on Alerting! 

That evening, we went out to dinner with two friends from past seminars and then headed back to our other friends' house where we were staying. They have an older Standard Poodle and a Yorkie about Laurel's age. Everyone gets along beautifully and it's wonderful spending time with Bob and Ann! 

Saturday morning, I decided to get to the seminar in time for the second session - when the only class (nosework) I really wanted to take was scheduled. Of course, they had switched the schedule so that I missed it! Pretty disappointing but I talked to my friend, Sharon, who taught it and she brought me up to speed pretty quickly. I got to visit with some of the other attendees to talk about various concerns and I was able to offer some resources. Then Laurel got to attend her very favorite session - the one with the paramedic who brings her ambulance with her! Laurel loves jumping into and hanging out in the back! When she saw the ambulance, she couldn't wait to get in! She took a flying leap and looked very happy and at-home! Hardy on the other hand, carefully walked up the steps into it. And that pretty well describes the difference between my two Labs!

Laurel in the back of the ambulance

Hardy in the ambulance too!

When we got back to Bob and Ann's house, they had their daughter's Great Dane, Moose, visiting! Again, everyone got along beautifully and we got to spend some time with another lovely, if huge dog! Saturday evening, a group of about 15 people with 5 service dogs went out to dinner together. Hardy often goes to restaurants but not with more than one other service dog! The restaurant and their staff were wonderful about the dogs and all the people and we had a great time! 

 Today, Brent and the other family members had their presentation first thing in the morning. I stayed at the house until a little before lunch time and then headed to the training hall. I did my presentation on budgeting and finances and then we had a question & answer session for all the instructors. A couple people asked me to continue to help them with some things and I'm happy to be in a position to do that! It's always fun to watch new teams coming together and learning to be partners!

After the seminar finished, we took Bob and Ann out to dinner with another friend to a little Indian restaurant. Again, we had a wonderful time and now we're packing up and getting ready to head home tomorrow morning. I thought this year's seminar was another huge success! There weren't 50 people there to make it profitable but for the 15 or so that were, I think their lives have been changed in very positive ways! I talked to Sue and John about possibly doing a seminar in Cleveland next year - they were concerned that we would be cutting into their market for attendees but I believe that we would get more Americans (now with the Passport requirement to cross the border, some aren't willing to come to Canada for a seminar), and I would plan to have some different speakers and sessions. I also talked to another speaker from the Ottawa area who is thinking about hosting a seminar next year. She and her husband agree with me in believing that Service Dog Seminars are so unique and important that we need to continue to provide one every year. 

And for now, my thoughts and efforts will turn to PUPPIES! I'll go see them again this week and next Monday, Nancy Reyes will come and do the official CARAT test to determine whether there is a puppy in Triffy and Magic's litter for me!

Some Puppy Photos!

Today hasn't gone like I had hoped it would! I had an infusion this morning and apparently, on the way there, I drove through some shards of metal. I came out after my procedure to discover that one of my (very expensive) "run flat" tires was quite flat. I called our Honda dealership in Akron (about an hour on the highway south of us), cancelled a hair appointment as well as the classes I teach at Canine Affair Center and arranged through my auto club (specifically for wheelchair modified vans) to have a flat bed truck come and take my van down to Akron. Luckily, Mike Pruitt Honda had the run flat tires in stock and our wonderful service manager, Craig, was committed to getting us up and running again by the end of the day (6:00). 

Brent worked around his schedule so that we could stop by and see the puppies on our way down to Akron to pick up the van with it's two new tires. One of the girls was VERY interested in me. I held her multiple times because she was always awake and watching me; when I put her down to pick up another puppy, she lay across my feet and when we put her back in the puppy pen, she sat near me complaining. The breeder, Donna Reece and I both noticed her connection to me and thought it pretty interesting! The other puppy that really stood out was the biggest boy - he was also very interested in and made quite a connection with me. He may be the reason that not having a boy's name is a really bad idea! The puppy that won "most adorable" today was the littlest girl - she is not quite as outgoing and probably not a candidate to be my next puppy but she is SO cute!
Enjoy these photos of some lovely Labrador puppies:

"My" little girl

Same little girl laying on my foot

"Most Adorable" Award - the littlest girl, probably not a prospect for me but sooo cute!

The biggest boy and the reason we are now scrambling to come up with a boy's name!

Puppy Preparations, Again!

I have a confession to make: when I think about getting a puppy and/or having three Labradors (at the same time), I alternate between excitement and absolute terror! It probably doesn't help that I've had a lingering infection (sinus and ears) for weeks so I've felt pretty crappy and been exhausted. When I thought about having a puppy to take care of, it felt fairly overwhelming. Since I have an immune deficiency (common variable immune deficiency CVID), I get frequent sinus/ear/throat infections. Before I started IVIG treatments (gamma globulin infusions every 3 weeks), I frequently had pneumonia, so this is much better (less dangerous, for sure). Also, apparently your immune system controls allergic reactions (something I never knew before) so I'm now allergic to most antibiotics, unless they're in the penicillin family. Hence, I am reluctant to overuse antibiotics and tend to wait to start them until I'm feeling pretty awful. This time, I reluctantly started them and realized that they weren't doing the trick. So, Friday, I went in and my doctor doubled the dose. And while I wish I could say that I'm feeling much better, I'm not (plus my stomach and intestines are not very happy)! Anyway, I just have to feel a whole bunch better real soon! 

Fortunately, I have my husband who can help me out and friends who would love to have some puppy time but certainly my current health situation is making me concerned about my ability to raise another puppy. And, frankly, I think that's something that everyone with a disability who wants to raise and train his/her own service dog needs to really consider. Let's face it, having a disability can make it more difficult to do things that we otherwise would take for granted. And taking on a bigger challenge than we can handle doesn't do anyone any good and can lead to difficult, heartbreaking choices. 

After some real serious consideration, I've decided to go forward with my plans to have a litter temperament tested June 10th because I have great doctors who will make sure that I'm getting better, I have an IVIG infusion this morning which should boost my immune system and I have fewer infections and tend to feel better when the weather and temperature stablize. We've had some crazy temperature swings recently and since my body doesn't control it's temperature very well, that tends to hit me pretty hard. Also, I'm able to and prepared to make puppy raising my priority for as long as I need. 

Thursday we head up to Canada for the service dog seminar. It's an easy trip and Brent, Laurel and Hardy are going with me. I'm doing a couple presentations but I'll be able to rest during the day and we're staying with some friends. We'll get to spent time with people we really enjoy and I think participating in this unique event is important! It makes me very sad that it won't be happening next year! 

Next week, I'll get serious about final preparations in case a puppy comes home June 10th. We'll be puppy-proofing the house again, making sure we have appropriate toys, crates, mats, food etc. I'm also working on my information for Nancy, the certified CARAT evaluator who will be coming here Sunday, the 9th. I've been working on a new training plan for this puppy - I'm trying to take what I've learned with Laurel and Hardy to make this plan better and more complete. I've also read tons of puppy books since thinking about getting Laurel 8 years ago and I read about 8 more since Christmas (Laurel & Hardy got me a bunch of books about puppies for Christmas - how thoughtful, right?!) I finally found one that I'd like to use as the basis for my "puppy plan" - The Focused Puppy: A Training System for Raising a Great Companion & Performance Dog by Deborah Jones, PhD & Judy Keller. When I got the book, I didn't realize that it was written by Deb and Judy, who are friends of mine. Anyway, what I really like about the book is that it is very well thought out; presented in a clear, concise way; and goes from the first day to the first week, the first month all the way through adolescence. I like plans and I really appreciate the thought that went into this book and how it is organized. I think it will work for us and I'm sure I'll be reporting on our experiences with the exercises in this blog. 

Tomorrow, I'm going to visit the puppies again so I'll have some more photos! I'm excited to see how much the puppies have grown and to have some more interaction with them! I know Donna has another very promising litter due the middle of June but I have to admit that I'll be very disappointed if I don't find the right puppy for me in this litter (something I wasn't going to allow myself to feel!) 

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my blog, From Puppy to Public Access, Once Again! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Linda Alberda, I live in northeast Ohio with my husband, Brent, and two working service dogs, Laurel and Hardy. We have two grown children who live in NYC: our daughter, a musical theater actress is currently working for a company that manages wellness-related websites and our son dances with the New York City Ballet. Laurel is an (almost) 7 year old female yellow Lab; Hardy, a 3 year old male chocolate Lab. They work together to perform 3 medical alerts (severe muscle spasms, rheumatoid in the chest wall - feels like a heart attack and low/high blood sugar) and since I use a power wheelchair, also do some typical mobility-type tasks. 

I got both Laurel and Hardy when they were 8 weeks old and trained them myself with help from several obedience instructors and a service dog trainer in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. For more background information, you can visit my other 2 blogs: www.frompuppytopublicaccess.blogspot.com (tracking my experiences with Hardy, from finding him, through puppyhood and adolescence until he was 18 months old and passed his first Public Access Test) and www.frompublicaccess.blogspot.com (my experiences with my two working service dogs, Laurel & Hardy).

Having Laurel and Hardy work together to do the medical alerts and take turns going out in public has been very successful for me! They've sorted out who does what when - if one of them alerts, the other one doesn't; at home, Laurel tends to take daytime and Hardy wakes me at night; and when we are out at different locations together, you can tell which one is "on duty"! Although Laurel does not have an ideal temperament for service dog work (she is very enthusiastic and overly friendly, with very little natural self-control), she has worked it out and becomes much more serious when she's wearing her vest. She is a natural alerter - alerting to things I didn't even know dogs could and then she taught Hardy to alert to the same things using the same behaviors. That has been a wonderful gift and has changed my life in profound ways! Laurel and I also compete in agility, rally and obedience together. We do multiple venues and have been more successful than I ever expected! We love playing dog sports together - especially agility!

Laurel when we first started doing agility

Laurel loves to jump!

 Hardy's temperament makes public access quite easy for him. Both he and Laurel are very bomb proof but he is very good about waiting until and unless I ask whether he "... wants to say hello" to someone, even if that person is trying to get his attention. If I don't ask, he has no problem ignoring everyone and everything. He is also a registered therapy dog and crisis response K9. We have now spent 15 months at a high school about 30 miles away from us following a tragic student shooting there. The school year is ending next week with graduation on Saturday. This is the year the boys who died should have graduated so it will be a difficult time. Unfortunately, due to room constraints, the dogs won't be at graduation but we'll do what we can in the days around it. Since a new superintendent is taking over in July, we don't know if we'll be going back next year but if they need and want us, we made a commitment to be there until they don't. In January, we went to Newtown, CT and April 19, we responded to Boston following the bombing there. 

Visiting with a student in Newtown, CT

Visiting at the Memorial after the bombing in Boston

I am spoiled having two very different dogs to alternate for public access - Laurel comes with me when we're going to do something active (like running errands) and Hardy, because he is so laid back and patient comes with when he's going to have to wait around (church, performances etc). 

It has been very nice to know that each Lab doesn't always have to be watching over me. Besides the time off they give each other; several times a year, we try to send them out to Hardy's breeder, Donna for short vacations. They stay in the house with her and Donna's very good about letting Laurel be somewhat "clingy" the first day until she relaxes and starts to enjoy the other Labradors that live there. She also understands and lets Laurel be her normal prissy Princess self. She doesn't like to go potty where all the other dogs have, especially if it's muddy so Donna lets her go out front to her own private, dry area. On the other hand, as soon as Hardy gets there, you can see him say, "Cool, Vacation!" He loves to go out and play with all the other dogs (Labs and Mastiffs), especially if it's muddy!

Things seemed pretty much perfect until one day last summer when we found out that Hardy had a fluke heart problem. Apparently, a part of his heart sends out extra electrical impulses so he has arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats). We were stunned because no veterinarian has ever heard a problem with his heart - no heart murmur, nothing. However, this particular problem is usually not diagnosed and is the leading cause of young healthy dogs dropping dead. We only found it because Hardy had an eye procedure when he was a year that required he be under anesthesia. While under, he had some arrhythmias which the ophthalmologist attributed to a reaction to the anesthesia. As such, no one thought anything about it until last summer when we were going to have him neutered and his hips and elbows x-rayed. Thankfully, our veterinarian, Neal Sivula, DVM, asked that we take him to a cardiologist for a clearance prior to going under anesthesia again. 

They did an echocardiogram, an ECG and then sent him home wearing a Holter Monitor for 24 hours. Those results were alarming - he had about 9000 irregular heartbeats over that time. We immediately stopped most of our activities, in part because it was very hot while we tried different human heart medications in various combinations. Hardy's cardiologist kept saying that he could do all our normal activities, including agility, but I felt that if something happened to him now that we knew, I'd never forgive myself. 

Hardy with his Holter Monitor 

In July, we did another Holter Monitor test which showed that the irregular heartbeats were down to 2500 over 24 hours. That was certainly good news since the number of arrhythmias had gone down. Hardy and I did some therapy dog stuff but otherwise, it was a pretty boring summer for him. At the end of August, we went back to Chardon and as the weather cooled down some, we started practicing obedience, rally and some agility. Another Holter Monitor test in October had disappointing news for us: the arrhythmias were back up to 5000. We talked about stopping the heart medication but because we were seeing such positive things in his behavior, we decided to keep up the strict regimen. 

A couple of weeks ago, Hardy went in for another echocardiogram. The results were not what we would have hoped - one test that measures heart muscle function suggests that his is not working as well as it should and although not yet enlarged, his heart is now slightly larger than it was 9 months ago. These are indications of dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart becomes weakened and enlarged, resulting in an inability to adequately pump blood throughout the body. The changes to Hardy's heart are still very slight and we are hoping that it will either not progress or will progress very slowly. The good news was that the Holter Monitor report came back showing that Hardy had had 5 irregular heartbeats over that 24 hours. His cardiologist agrees with my decision to retire Hardy permanently from agility but says that he can continue his service dog, therapy and crisis response work. And that is very fortunate, since that is what he loves to do.

We started thinking about how to respond to the news of Hardy's heart problem and his resultant uncertain future last summer. Do we look for a puppy earlier than planned (originally summer of 2014, at the earliest) or just hope that both Laurel and Hardy remain healthy and active? I mean, the reality is that no one's future is certain, we're just more aware of Hardy's uncertainty! We certainly weren't looking to have three dogs right now - Laurel and Hardy are so easy! The decision has also been complicated because although we know what is happening with his heart, Hardy's been doing great! He is happy, active and even gets into trouble every once in awhile! On the other hand, if we got a puppy this summer, by the time she/he would be 2 years old, Laurel would be 9. Also, Hardy will love having a little brother or sister and we'd like Laurel to be able to help with this third puppy. 

So, we spent a lot of time thinking about whether to get a puppy and what helped us decide in the affirmative was Hardy's cardiologist's indication that it was probably a good idea. So, starting in October, I reviewed the service dog questionnaires - had anything changed in our living conditions, my health & abilities, finances, what I want or need etc.? As a result, I decided that I wanted to get another Labrador and although I looked at a couple other breeders, I also knew that I wanted to get the puppy from Hardy's breeder, Donna Reece of Ridge View Labradors. So, I talked to her in early spring and let her know that I'd like to look at puppies that would be ready to go home starting in May. We didn't have as much to talk about as we would have if she didn't already know me and my dogs. Although we were pretty certain that between the two of us we could find a good dog for me, we also think the CARAT test works and decided that we should try and find someone to give the test. I talked to Suzanne Clothier and she was able to recommend a certified CARAT evaluator, Nancy Reyes in Chicago. Nancy agreed to test puppies for me so all we had to do was wait for an appropriate litter. 

That litter was born April 15th - 8 yellow puppies, 5 girls and 3 boys. Unfortunately, one of the girls died shortly after birth so we'll be looking at 7 puppies on June 10th. Although the puppies are just now getting old enough to really be able to see temperaments and personalities, Donna feels very good about these puppies. She thinks a great deal of both parents and says that the puppies are really lovely. I visited the puppies when they were 5 weeks, 2 days old and they are certainly cute and active. I'll get to see them 2 more times before Nancy comes here for the temperament testing. I believe all the puppies are spoken for and Donna has given me pick of the litter boy and girl so that we'll be able to test all the puppies and decide whether the right one is there for me. And although I know that I'm not supposed to get my hopes up, I admit that I'll be very disappointed if we don't go home with a puppy on the 10th!

Two little boys

A little girl

The gang's all here - all 7 puppies

Ridge View's Terrific (Triffy) - Mom