Thoughts and Pictures

Several people asked me if I thought Gimme's seizure could have been caused by the stress of showing on Friday. It's possible, but I think unlikely. First, most negative affects of stress come from chronic stress, not acute (intense, but short-term) stress. And second, Gimme has certainly had other intense and stressful episodes over the last three years without triggering a seizure. So, while I'm not saying it's impossible, I am saying I think it's unlikely.

However, today I had a thought related to what Dr. Powell said about the Atlas vertebra getting misaligned as a result of dogs pulling on leash. Most of Gimme's activities are done with a leash attached to a harness: walking, tracking, nosework, barn hunt (in the blind and to the ring), weight pull, etc. At the show Gimme wasn't in harness and she did do a fair amount of pulling due to the distraction. She didn't pull against her collar in the ring because I was avoiding tight-leash faults and gave her the whole leash whenever she was forging, etc. She could have been in harness when she was walking around, even up to just before going in the ring. There wasn't any reason for me to not put her in harness, I just didn't.

So, I want to make a special effort to put her in her harness when she's out and about. As much as possible I want to reduce the likelihood of her pulling against a collar. The little twit even pulls me in to see Dr. Powell and then again to the car. If I really can't do the harness, at the very least I can use treats to keep her from pulling. Otherwise, she's so good about getting into her harness; there just isn't any reason not to take the extra 10 seconds to put it on her. Especially since I now realize the importance a harness might have in preventing seizures.

I saw these pictures which were taken in Gimme's first search at the L3I trial and couldn't resist sharing.

She's really such a beautiful girl. Just ask me.