We had a great outing with the Oodles of Poodles play group Sunday.  Hard to count, as participants came and went throughout the few hours we spent at the Berkeley Marina, but it looked like 20 or so dogs.
Some really beautiful dogs in this group, I was especially taken with a dapper gent named Orlando (you'll see him prance through the little video) and a petite young lady named Vanni.

Jack is getting better at this kind of thing.  He doesn't quite recognise himself as "one of those poodle things", but is starting to get it.  "Hey... they look like me.. am I one of those?"
When we all started off, the other dogs would run ahead on the trail, playing with each other in typical poodle fashion: chasing, and occasionally boxing with the front paws.  Jack thought this was pretty exciting, but didn't realize he was also invited.  He'd look back at me as if to say: " is that what I'm supposed to do?  It looks like fun, but ...I don't know..."  I kept encouraging him to go ahead and play with the other dogs.  I guess he gets mixed messages from our walks: "stay close, stay with me"  versus 'go ahead and play.. but be nice..."  I can see where it could be confusing.

We've got agility coming up on Saturday, and the Poodles at Play group at Castle Rock (Walnut Creek?) on Sunday!

Jack's DOCP injection was today, and I'm getting better at it.  He's very good about it.
But I refilled his prednisone prescription yesterday at the vets.  Holy smokes!  They charged me $43.14 for 60 5mg prednisone tablets.  That's $.71 each.  They're all over the web at $.09-.10, often with a 10% discount at PetMeds.  That's how I'm able to get his Percortin for $165-170/vial.

Last week, Jack gave us a little scare.  Sue Ann brought him back from a run, and said she thought she saw his hind legs tremble.  To me, that's a sign that we might have screwed up on the Percortin.
So, we took him in for an electrolyte panel.  It was about 4 days early for his injection, which we're solid on every 28 days.  It came back great: Na=149, K=4.2.  Got a nice chat with Dr. Doe about it, and he's pretty impressed with how well Jack is doing.
Today I gave him his injection, on schedule.  No idea why his legs were shaky, as SA doesn't run him very hard, it's just a trot around town.

Last weekend, Jack and I went out again with the Poodles At Play group.  About 20-21 people and a few more dogs than that came out to a gorgeous 3 mile hike at Del Valle in Livermore.  We ended up having lunch at The Carvery, a Harry's Hoffbrau thing with a big patio where the dogs could all chill.
Jack had SUCH a good time.  He wasn't nervous around the other dogs, he was just glad to be there.  Conservative, to be sure, and he always wanted to know exactly where I was.  Very convenient for me, I didn't have to look for him, he was looking for me.  He didn't really play, but he did attract a fan.  Little Ricky, a 7mo old black standard really thought Jack was keen.  It was great.

Heeeerress..Jack!

Sue Ann took Jack for a run this morning.  When they got back, she reported seeing Jacks hind leg shaking a little.  Uh-oh... I forgot his DOCP injection, which should have been yesterday.
Well, I guess we know the timing limit on this now, don't we.
He got his injection this morning, and I ordered more Percortin.

Jan 19, day at the beach!

Sue Ann and I finally got a Saturday off together (well, most of a Saturday, anyway), so we packed up the poodles and hit the beach in Half Moon Bay.  It was the day before the Mavericks big wave surf competition, so the ocean was big.  We also thought we'd run into crowds and traffic, but it never happened.
None of this would be remarkable, except that Jack has never been into playing ball.  Really, he's never really gotten the idea of "playing".

Well, he got it today!

Happy New Year!

We measured Jack's electrolytes on the morning of day 28, which happened to be New Years Eve, just before I gave him his injection, and he's dead on: Na=147, K=4.5, right in the middle of the range.

2012 was a pretty cool year for fun with the dogs, as you can see in this blog.  Cleo has her 14th birthday next week, and we've been going through some issues with her: night time 'leakage', some 'vagueness' or cognitive disorder we're treating with Colodin.  We're still wrestling with her appetite.  She'll tell us she's hungry, but then takes one sniff  (of whatever yummy beef, or chicken we've cooked specially for her), and walks away.  She'll then stand there as if to say: " not that, dummy.. something ELSE".

Jack's coat has improved with lessening the prednisone dosage, as has his water throughput.  He's still shy around new humans and dogs, I just don't think that will ever really go away at this point.  He's inclined to get heavy, as he doesn't really have a run-till-you-drop sport, like chasing balls and such.  We can only keep putting one foot in front of the other, and limiting his snacks.

We're looking forward to another great year, and hopefully, improved business.

We had Jack's electrolytes tested again, but weren't very 'on the ball' about setting the appointment.  As a result, while his 'lytes were dead on in the center of the range, we're not sure how he's doing at day 28.
At about 23 days, his N=146 (midpoint 146.5), and his K=4.3 (midpoint 4.55), which really seems good enough as he shows no clinical symptoms at day 28.  Unless we really want to try to reduce the dosage, this seems like a pretty good routine to me.

We went up the ridge this morning, day 28 in his DOCP cycle, and while he was a little subdued, that could have been from a lot of things, including having a fairly big day yesterday.  I gave him his injection after we got back and he had a chance to chill a bit.  He was so sweet about it.  It itched a little afterward, but a cookie made everything OK.
I'll make a point to check his 'lytes again perhaps in January at day 28.

We got a chance to go for a hike last weekend with "Poodles at Play" a group of standard poodle owners from all over the region.  Some came from as far away as Merced and Sacramento to do a hike from Bort Meadow to the Stone Bridge and back in the Chabot park.
While Jack didn't take the opportunity to actually "play", he did get along well with everyone, and stuck with me like velcro.  I think there were about 20 dogs, and it was just a hoot.  I hope to do more with them.

The silver girl here is Emmy.  She's new, and I was kinda smitten with  her....

First Jackpacking trip!

Just back from a 3 day trip to Hoover Wilderness, just NE of Yosemite, near Bridgeport CA.  Jack did his first backpacking trip with a musical friend of mine, Chris and me.  The aspen were incredible!

Jack carried about 4lbs, he had the water filter, kibble and some cookies in his pack.  We climbed from the trailhead at about 7500' to just about 9000' at Green Lake, up the Green Creek Valley

He seemed to really enjoy the trail, as he usually does.  There were a few things to get used to, like being out after dark (!!), sleeping in a tent, eating bits of the human's leftovers (yum!).
As you might expect, he's got a great sense of where a vague trail goes.  If he's ahead on point, and he misses the trail, he stops and looks at me (yes!).  Once when Chris and I were talking, we almost took the wrong fork in the trail, but Jack just seemed to know the right way to go.

Great alpenglow just after sunset on the first night.

Second day we climbed up to West Lake, another steep climb of about 1500'.  There was a fair amount of rocky stuff we had to cross on this leg, and I think Jacks feet got a little sore from it.

We saw trout spawning in the shallows of this lake, and Jack thought he'd try to bring us back some trout for dinner.  He got soaked, but no trout were harmed.

We're all back after a very long and dusty car ride, and Jack got his 2cc DOCP injection today.  Bath later, and probably a solid nap, with great memories.