December
Firstly I would like to wish everyone who has visited our site a very merry christmas and a happy and peaceful new year.
We shall be remembering Indi on Christmas Day this year as it will be 1 year to the day that we lost her, we shall try not to be sad as she left us with such happy memories despite her short life here with us.
Cooper has settled in well after his somewhat traumatic journey to us, he was covered in flea's and mites which were easy enough to treat and he is much more comfortable now he has had a bath and is pest free. Sadly he came down with kennel cough just 5 days after coming home so has been treated with an antibiotic injection and some T.L.C and is recovering well. He is adjusting well to life in a busy family and is a delightful character, a happy and bouncy little chap. He has become great friends with Nasa, who finds his puppy exhuberance matches his own, and they play for hours happily amuzing each other. Josh is keen to start obedience club with his new pup and he is signed up to start in January for training. Coopers innoculations are now fully up-to-date and now he has recovered from his KC we can begin his social programe and get him involved in all our family activities outside the home. He had been coming with us on our trips up to the school with the children to get him used to traffic whilst safely tucked inside my jacket to keep him warm (with his head poking out the top so he could see about), but once he was diagnosed with KC that had to stop.
As the rest of the dog have also come down with KC they are grounded until they all get it over and done with. As a result Nasa could not attend LKA in Birmingham as we had planned and Rudi has been unable to attend agility too, so I have no show news to report on them at the moment.
Just before Nasa got poorly he passed his silver award at puppy obedience club, completing the final item on the list to gain his silver certificate, we shall collect this once he is well enough to attend club again in January.
Rudi will be taking a break from Agility until after christmas now as with him also suffering from KC he cannot risk passing it on to the other dogs at club.
Ti and Willow are so far unnefected by the KC so i'm hoping that they will remain well.
Well that is all our news for now, hopefully in the new year we will have more news to report but until then have a lovely christmas, from all at Leonius.
November
November has been a very busy month, Nasa has nearly passed his silver award at puppy class and has started basic agility foundation training with me, next month we start at the barn with some of our friends and their puppies, its just basics of training with no risky equipment and lots of lovely socialising with other puppies so its good experience for him.
Titan visited our friend Emmas' Dog Grooming Salon and he is all shiney clean and knott free, its the first time Ti has ever been to a salon to be groomed and he behaved himself impecably, he is too big and heavy for me to get him into the bath anymore and he wasn't keen to be bathed outside so I decided that a professional was needed. He now looks lovely.
Willow continues to expreience a period of relatively good health and is enjoying lying in front of the log fire in the lounge she is slowing down a lot these days but at 9.5 years old she has reached an age we never thought she would, so every day is a gift.
Rudi has been busy at agility club training and continues to do very well working with Matthew they are a great team and work so well together.
The biggest and most surprising news for this month was the new addition we welcomed to our home today (26.11.11). Little Cooper is an 11 week old cross breed puppy from the Many Tears Rescue Centre in Wales. He is a Pug/Cavellier cross and is very sweet natured, he is very brave and cheeky and has completely stolen our hearts. He came up for adoption just last week and as we have been considering taking on a puppy from Many Tears for Josh for a long time, and Josh has been very patient waiting for the right puppy for him, when Cooper came up on the website we jumped at the chance of applying for him. It's come a few weeks earlier than we had planned but with the house and family already set up for dogs he has slotted in so nicely you would never believe he had been anywhere else or that we have ever been without him. Once he has settled in and finished his course of innoculations he will of course join in the activities at puppy class with Nasa and Josh will come along to train him. He will also join the puppy agility foundation group too for social play and fun training and he will join the family on the daily walks to school and back and out to the park at the weekends. We all love him to bits already and look forward to seeing how he grows up.
Well until next time, bye for now.
October/November
Not much news to report at the moment, Nasa has been attending puppy socialisation and obedience training once a week, he recently completed the 10 items on his worksheet to pass his bronze award and I was very proud of him, he has also started basic agility foundation training and is doing very well. He's grown a lot, now just slightly bigger than Rudi at the shoulder and has perhaps another month of growing before he should stop. He's lost all his baby teeth and his adult coat is starting to appear. He's entered into a dog show in November and then hopefully again in December at LKA, I've not been in the show ring for a long time so I'm quite nervous about doing them, we shall have to see how he takes to it while we wait until he is old enough to compete at agility.
Rudi has an agility show in a weeks time, hopefully we shall have some places to report if not it will just be fun to be back in the ring competing.
I have uploaded a few more pictures of Nasa on to his page so feel free to take a peak. Until next month take care.
Becki
July/August/Sept
Rudi and I have had a great couple of shows recently, at Caerphilly Show at the end of July Rudi and I took the 1st place in grade one agility, WE FINALLY DID IT, we qualifed into grade two, along with his lovely rosette he also won a wonderful, and apparently much sought after, Dragon Trophy, which we are very proud of. I've added a photo to Rudi's page for you to see. We then had 4 weeks off from competitions while we went on our family holiday. Our first show back in August was at Doredale, Rudi ran a fantastic Agility class at our new grade two level, and guess what, he won a clear round first place and we qualfied out of grade two !!!!! I was absolutely delighted and I'm very proud of him and how well he did. He also gained a clear round 3rd place in another agility class, and completed in the YKC Junior Team event with my son Josh handling and came 4th, so we had quite a day at Dordale show.
Rudi and I won't be able to run at grade three until the qualifying period is over so out next show will be in October at Chippenham, so I'm looking forward to that. Rudi also turned 5 years old on the 31st August he had a lovely walk and a special dinner to celebrate and of course loads of cuddles on the sofa.
Nasa has settled in very well, he's firm friends with Rudi who plays with him endlessly and the Leo's who have been great with him being careful not to trample him as they roar around the house and gardens. Willow has mothered him and he is a real baby around her. Nasa also started at puppy training and socialising classes once a week with other pups, he has enjoyed them very much, this training will give him the same good grounding that Rudi had so hopefully we shall have a well behaved, well adjusted and socialised dog for the future. He has also been on a puppy play date with my friend Jillian's puppy Maddie and a Sheltie walk with his new friend Daisy.
Nasas' agility training won't start until his is 9 months old which means training will begin in February 2012. We have started basic commands and equipment introduction in the garden and he has had lots of fun running around and playing with us. He's had lots of small trips out along the village roads to get used to traffic and has met lots of people and other dogs on the way.
In very recent news, all the dogs have come down with Kennel Cough, probably picked up at a recent show we attended, so they are being kept away from all their usual activities until they have recovered. Hopefully we will be back to the normal routine very soon.
Well, thats all our news for now, we'll be back again at the end of September.
Take care until then.
Becki and 'The Pack'.
July
Mini update - July has been a quiet month for us so far. I attended my first Wet Leos of the year on the 9th and Ti was thrilled to be back in the water. It was great to see everyone again and I hope to get back into the swing of things at the end of August and to make the best of the rest of the season.
Willow continues to be stable off her medication and I am more and more confident that her condition is now in remission. She will never be fully cured from it but at least she can enjoy a better quality of life for the time being. She's an old girl now and every day with her for us is a gift.
Rudi only has one KC agility show to attend in July that being Caerphilly in Wales. I'll let you know how we get on!
The big news is the arrival home of Nasa, I finally picked him up on the 20th July and he has slotted into our family like a missing jigsaw puzzle piece. He is a complete delight, very, very bright and extremely friendly and far too beautiful to be a boy! He is getting used to all the dogs and the doggy rules with the others showing him the ropes. Its certainly entertaining to have a puppy in the house again and whilst we can never replace our beloved Indi it is nice to be back to four dogs again.
Nasa has already had his first set of innoculations and will be joining a local puppy social group once he has completed his full vaccinations and can go on the ground outside. He loves the garden and has been out investigating all the trees and rabbits, he has met the guinea pigs but I'm not sure he knows what to make of them and he is starting to get used to his colar and lead. He already knows how to ask to go outside and is keen to play with the other dogs, although I make sure that I am with him when the others are around as Nasa is so small an the others are so big! Rudi finds it a bit odd to be a 'bigger' dog at the moment but it won't be long before Nasa will catch him up and probably overtake him in size. I have put some photo's in his gallery of him meeting all the family and investigating his new home.
I want to say huge thanks to Sandra from Sanscott Shelties for letting us bring home this wonderful little man, we already love him to bits. Sandra has two beautiful Sable Sheltie girls waiting for a loving home so if you are looking go take a peek at her site at Sanscott
Well thats all our news for now, until next time.
Becki and the Leonius Lovelies.
May/June
Well we had a busy May and June, the kids and I attended some more agility shows and had some good results, at Quads UKA Agility Show in Mapledurham Josh gained a 1st in Junior Agility, a 2nd in the Junior Jumping and also a Clear Round in a Novice Steeplechase class. I gained two qualifying 1st places in Midi Novice Agility, two qualifying 2nd places in Novice Jumping also a qualifying 3rd place in Novice Steeplechase.
At Lansdown we had two days of KC competitions with only one result to report, I gained a 2nd place with Rudi in grade 1-3 Agility. The competition was really tough and the kids did really well considering the classes were all over 60 in entries.
Rudi is doing really well and has adjusted to running for 4 different handlers, I don't know many dogs that could or would do that and do it so well. I've updated Rudi's results page so you can see how he is doing.
Ti is enjoying the garden and warmer weather, both dogs have had their coats stipped out and thinned to keep them cooler in the hot spells, they are both much more comfortable now they have both had a bath and brush up too. Ti will be off to water training in July for the first time this year I'm sure he will love it.
We have some excellent news regarding Willow, I have managed to get her off her steroid tablets for her IMM, on our third and final attempt, I tried just once more to see if she could cope without her medication and so far, touch wood, we have had 3 weeks with no flare up. I will keep my fingers crossed and hope above all hope that her IMM will stay in remission.
We also have some very exciting news, I have found my new agility puppy, he is a Shetland Sheep Dog (or Sheltie), Blue Merle variety and we collect him in just over 10 days time. I've attached some photo's for you to see from a recent visit to see him. He is a very handsome chap and I'm very excited about all the fun we are going to have together. His pet name will be 'Nasa' and I have been lucky enough to choose his Kennel name too, so have chosen 'Sanscott Nasa Solar Storm', many thanks to his breeder Sandra Moore who has been so generous. I have already booked him a place at our local puppy socialisation classes and general fun obedience group, one which I have used for my last two dogs and am looking forward to showing him off to my friends there. I will also start foundation stage training with him in the garden at home so that he can start to learn the basics of my hand signals for agility although it will be a while before he can learn any of the equipment. I shall also give showing a go with him in December at LKA when he will be old enough to enter the show ring, its been a while since I've been in a show ring so it should be a good giggle.
Well thats all our news for now.
Until next time. Take care. Becki
March & April
Its been a fairly quiet few month, which has made a nice change. We are getting used to life without Indi and still think and talk about her often, the children have put a brave face on their sadness and talk about her often.
The other dogs no longer run and bark at the fence like the used to and things have settled down quite a bit over the last month. Titan no longer waits for Indi by the front door and Willow has perked up a bit too. Rudi has taken to playing more with Ti in the last few months as a replacement playmate, but Ti doesn't have the patience for his exuberance like Indi had.
As a family we all attended Crufts back in March and it was lots of fun spending nearly the whole day in the discover dogs section with the children stroking nearly every dog they could find and learning about the different breeds available. We were also there to watch our children's friend and fellow agility club member run her dog in the agility class for juniors. It was a great event and we had a lovely day.
As Matthew already has his own dog, Rudi, for agility Jamie and I have both agreed that Joshua and Emily can have a dog each of their own for agility too, so our search will begin ready for next years birthdays when they will each have a small breed puppy of their own. We hope to take on rescue puppies rather than pedigrees but it depends what is about at the time.
I will also be taking on a smaller breed (possibly rescue puppy) for agility. With Willow retired due to her health and Indi gone, I have no dog to compete with, so my search will begin, and by October this year I hope to introduce our newest edition to the family, not sure which direction we will go in yet but once he or she is found I shall post some photo's and news.
On the topic of Agility, Leo Agility finished at the end of March and I will begin to search for dates for the next season which will start again in October / November, but for now we look forward to the start of the Wet Leo's Season, I won't be joining the start of the season due to diary clashes, but at the end of June I hope to be back in the water with the rest of the group having started in May.
Willow continues to be medicated on her steroids for her Immune Mediated Myositis. We had another unsuccessful attempt to lower the dose down and saw a marked degeneration in her condition, so, she must now remain on a low maintenance dose for the rest of her life. This medication stops the symptoms of the disease and most importantly the pain, but quality of life can become an issue, but while she is comfortable we shall continue this course of action.
We have lots of agility competitions to attend this year and we have already had early success at our first KC show in Wye Valley, Monmouth. Joshua ran Rudi in the medium Jumping class grade 1-7 and gained a clear round, sadly he was unplaced but when you consider he was up against 110 other competitors up to grade 7 (when he is only grade 1), I think he did really well. Matthew and Josh both ran in the Corton Junior Team against 39 other adult competing teams so they did really well too, and gained a judges special for their efforts. I ran Rudi at the same show and gained two 3rd places in both medium jumping grade 1-3 and medium Agility grade 1-3 against 60 other competitors so I was very pleased with how he ran for me.
We also attended Country Paws UKA agility show and both Matthew and Josh gained qualifying 3rd places, which they were very pleased with. Emily, who is only 6 years old, also ran her very first class at this show with borrowed dog Kes, she gained a clear round rosette for her efforts, this was a huge achievement for her as it was her first ever class and first ever show and 'Kes' ran beautifully for her. Many thanks to our good friend and trainer Jillian Sawyer who lends her dog to Emily for training and compeitions. I've added some photo's of Emily and Kes to gallery for you to see and also of the boys running at Country Paws with Rudi.
I also attended the Leonberger Carting and Fun day just last weekend and had such a lovely time. The Friday night was spent getting ready for Saturdays Carting tests, to which I was steward for the level 1 tests, we saw 20 dogs go through with passes all of them going on to pass their level 2 as well. I was exhausted by the end of the day but I really enjoyed the experience. I also spent the Sunday helping out at the fun day answering questions all about Leo's saying hello to owners of new puppies and having a huge puppy fix at the same time. I was primarily there to help Niki Knott with the large breed 'have a go' agility activity and we saw some lovely dogs take on the challenge and do very well. I have to thank Louise and Richard for their kind hospitality over the weekend its been a long time since I had so much fun or worked so hard.
I was delighted earlier this month to receive some photos from two of our 'puppy' owners, Tia and Tucker, which I have added to their galleries. I still have good contact with all our puppy owners, even those who are no longer with us, and its always lovely to recieve news on how our boys and girls and their families are doing, so thank you guys for staying in touch.
Well thats all our news for now, we'll have more news hopefully at the end of May/June when we will have attended a few more agility competitions to come as we have quite a few planned this season. Until next time.
Bye for now.
January & February 2011
I hope that everyone had a Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.
As some of you may know we lost our beloved Indi on Christmas Day, so it was not a very happy house here over the festive period. We knew that, like so many people before us, one day we would have to face the loss one of our lovely Leo's, we had just been so totally unprepared for it to have been our youngest and fittest of our three. It has been a terrible shock as Indi was just 5 years old.
I have put up a link for those of you who perhaps don't know about gastric and splenic torsion, of which Indi had suffered both, just follow the link to the health page for further details. It is a devastating disorder that can affect any dog but is most common in deep chested breeds. Having seen this in two of the boxers my parents had owned I was at least aware of what signs to look out for and the possibly treatments and likely outcome when it happened to Indi, which enabled us to prevent Indi from suffering any more discomfort than was absolutely necessary.
Ti, Willow and Rudi have been quite lost without Indi, they are all missing their playmate as she used to love to play more than all of them put together. I have to say a huge thank you to all my friends who have sent messages of support and kindness and from others, some total strangers, who have taken the time to share their heartbreaking stories with us, it has made us feel less alone in our grief and enabled us to help support others as well which has been a great source of comfort.
In other news I had to make a tough decision to reduce my current voluntary workload and so have had to stand down from the positions I held on the LCGB committees. This decision is due to a rather annoying problem with my heart that flared up last summer and prevented me doing several sessions of wet leos training and made life a bit uncomfortable for a while. Medical advice is that this is most likely due to the workload I currently do for various groups I am a member of. It is only likely to resolve if I rest more and take some time out, so tough decisions had to be made. I have really enjoyed being part of the clubs committee and remain great friends with everyone on it, I will miss the banter and chats and the camaraderie we all shared for the good of the Leo. I will continue to be involved in a smaller way, I will continue to administer the LCGB Website, do the temp assessment days and attend shows or fun days when I can, this is my way of being able to do something constructive for the club without putting myself through the massive workload I had been doing. I will also continue to run the wiltshire wet leos group along with my fellow water rescue enthusiasts and will continue to do agility with Rudi and the children, but sadly everything else has had to be shelved, at least for now anyway. I have had to step back from other roles outside of Leo's that I also did voluntarily but I am sure that others will step up and carry on the workload burden for a while.
In other happier news, my good friend Fiona Parry in Gloucestershire has seen her girl Gigi have a litter of lovely Leo Pups that I went to visit recently. They are totally georgeous and she still has some available to loving homes. If you are looking for a lovely pup and a breeder who will alwasy be there to help you, you couldn't do much better, if you are interested contact Fiona for more information.
Well, I'm signing off for now, until next month, take care and hug your Leo's, because you will never know how long they will be with you.
Becki
December 2010
We are really sad to pass on the news that our beloved Indi died suddenly on Christmas day after suffering a gastric torsion. We miss her terribly and are in complete shock at her sudden passing. Indi was a fantastic family dog, loving, devoted, gentle and fiercely protective of us all and at just 5 years and 3 months old was far too young to leave us. We cannot express how sad we feel.
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Rest in peace our beautiful girl. |
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