And Just Like That...

It is over. Seven is retired. I have tried to deny, delay, compromise, and negotiate, but through lots of tears I have finally accepted it. Seven is retired.

There will be no MACH5. The Invitational invite will be declined.  We won't qualify for Nationals. There is definitely no more "just one more year". There is not going to be one more final run. Seven is retired.

We have battled Seven's soundness issues since 2012. I am grateful that we gained almost 4 years despite the first vet looking at her carpal joint x-ray and saying that she would probably have to retire soon. She did not at that time, but now....... Seven is retired.

I assumed that eventually the wrist would become too sore and arthritic, but it came down to toes. Seven has two middle toes that now rub together on her already troubled left front (I will explain more in another post).  I just wanted to get it off my chest that Seven is retired.

MACH4 Seven

I am pleased to announce that Seven easily finished her 4th Master Agility Championship on April 22nd, 2016.  She is the first and only MACH4 greyhound!  She really has been so amazing.  My fastest AND most consistent.  She is my only greyhound to ever get 14 QQs in a row.  She is my only hound to exceed 6 yards per second on course numerous times. She is at times challenging to live with, but she is a dream come true in the ring.  Here is our last Double Qualifier.

ORKC Trial - Seven

This trial was the first one after I sprained my ankle and Seven dealt with shoulder problems and started on Deramaxx.  As you can see, she does not appear labored at all.  She ran great and was clean all four runs.

There was a photographer at this trial and I thought he was especially good. Super high resolution and he got some very lucky shots.

 I see you, Seven.

 Seven landing on the table.

 Flying over the A-Frame.

Takes A Village

At the AGRC Trial in South Carolina in February, I sprained my ankle running a friend's dog first thing on Saturday morning.  I was simply running in a straight line and BAAM!  I even fell down and then barely hobbled out of the ring.  It was ridiculous, awful, and very painful.  However, I decided the show must go on..... since I was already there, the money was paid, and it would be fun to see how the girls would do with other people..... so I asked other people to run my dogs.

Jerry got to run the Best... Seven.  However, she looked for me more than I thought she would. The dog would sell her soul for a crumb so I figured with a lot of treats during the warm up that she would be all his.  So it did make me feel good that she loves treats and ME.

Jerry and Seven's runs resulted in the only clean run.... Jumpers.

Brandee ran Riley.  Riley is so wonderful and was more than happy to follow Brandee's directions.

Maggie ran Maddie.  That was a given! Maggie has taken tons of pictures of Maddie as she grew up and especially when she was playing with Maggie's Dutch Shepherd who is the same age. When Maddie was a puppy, there were times when I felt she loved Maggie more than me.  It was ridiculous when the two would see each other at trials.  Well, I am happy to report that Maddie loves me now and did look for me.

I am really proud of how the girls did with other people.  Despite the crappy circumstances, it was fun to see them run. Later that day, I got an x-ray and confirmed there was no fracture. It has been nearly a month now and my ankle is doing really well.

NDTC Trial - Seven

As always, Seven did not disappoint. She qualified 5 out of 6 attempts. Truly amazing and I am so lucky to have her.

Seven is just 3 Double Quailifiers from being the first greyhound to earn four agility championships.

Here are the runs:

CDCA Trial - Seven

Seven was her usual perfect self in the ring, but she came up a little lame in her Saturday Jumpers run so I ended up pulling her off the course before we were done. Otherwise she Double Qualified on Friday and Sunday.  She needs 5 more Double Qualifiers to be the first greyhound to earn four Master Agility Championships.

Here are her runs that were videoed. I left the one where I pulled her off:

I have decided that Seven does point out every little ache and pain. The only thing I can liken it to is I will often twist or pop my ankle and it hurts for a minute, but I just keep running and it goes away.  I think the same sort of thing happens with Seven's left wrist, but unlike me she will immediately yelp and limp.... and then a minute later it is as if nothing happened.  You rarely see a problem in the next run.

However, I was starting to see some issues on her right front which was new (usually it is the left). I took her to the ortho vet and he diagnosed a lattisimus dorsi strain near the insertion point.  So she is taking the month of December off and will be rechecked in early January. In some ways it is probably good that she points out all of her issues early so we can address them before they become huge issues.

QQ Streak Ends

Seven's streak of Double Qualifiers finally came to an end at #14... and totally my fault! If I had just kept my mouth shut.  We, of course, ran clean in Jumpers and QQed again the next day! So amazing! Here is QQ #12 and 13.

And then here is the streak ender..... if only I had not said her name and called her off that jump.... or if she had just ignored me this one time.

On A Roll

Seven is on a roll with 7 double qualifiers in a row!  Here are the three perfect days from the last trial.

The only thing though is that her right wrist appears to be causing some problems now. Several times now, she has pulled up acutely lame and then appears fine a few minutes later. Just like her left wrist. It is disheartening, but we have been dealing with the left wrist for 3 years now... nothing appears to have changed in that time. It does what it does. Hopefully she will keep trucking along.

First MACH3 Greyhound

Seven easily knocked out the 60th double qualifier at our first agility trial in 2 months earning her 3rd Master Agility Championship!  That makes her the first greyhound ever to earn a MACH3!

Seven actually had a perfect weekend earning 3 Double Qs.:

On to MACH4 I suppose. We have had some trouble with her bad wrist here and there, but so far we just get through the rough patches and continue on. I do hope it will hold up a few more years. Agility is definitely Seven's favorite activity.... well catching and eating the baby rabbit might edge out agility, but hopefully we will have no more opportunities for that!

CDCA Trial - Seven

We returned to our favorite venue in South Carolina.  Seven would knock out two Double Qs and finish her MACH3, but we earned only one and on the last day.

It is funny how Seven can go from perfect trial weekends to not-so-perfect trial weekends. I think the older she gets (nearly 7) the faster and more excited she gets.

Here are the best runs from that trial and Double Q #59.

AOC Trial - Seven

After getting back from Texas, we competed at a local trial the following weekend. Seven did great! She would have QQed twice if she had not knocked a bar.... something she very very rarely does. But she did complete her 58th Double Qualifier.... just 2 more to go!

Texas Star

As you know, Seven was the agility star in Texas! She had a perfect weekend with three Double Qs! She now only needs 3 more Double Qs to be the first greyhound to earn three Master Agility Championships.

End of Seven's Streak

Here are some photos and video from a trial several weeks ago.  I believe Seven earned one Double Qualifier, but hasn't at any of the trials since then.  The year started out on such a roll, but I guess the streak had to come to an end eventually.

It has been raining quite a bit.... sometimes day after day. Generally, my agility field is always in good condition, but there were times when it was actually muddy and we just could not practice. So maybe the lack of practice has something to do with it.  I swear that the older Seven gets, the faster, more driven, and more excited she gets about this sport. Most of her errors are off courses or teeter fly offs. Silly hound!

Knock on Wood - Seven

Knock on wood, 2015 continues to be amazing for our agility trials!  Everyone has their lucky streaks, but to have two on such a roll and a young dog quickly climbing the levels is really something.  I'm feeling really spoiled!

Seven was 5 out of 6 again! She now has 13 double qualifiers towards her third championship. Seven more to go. Her only error was a teeter fly off.  Remember this?

I am sure it looked something like that and I was just as annoyed. :-)  About ever couple of months, Seven seems to have to throw one of these in for good measure. Here are the qualifying runs:

Lots of wraps and pull throughs. We have worked a lot on those things the last couple of years.

Banner Trial - Seven

Seven also had a banner trial! She ran clean 5 out of 6 times as well and Double Qualified twice. She is now more than half way to being the first greyhound to earn 3 agility championships!

Here are her qualifying runs:

The one non-qualifying run was pretty terrible.  Even a sports car can be driven into a ditch. She was pissed because in her mind this run was very late in the day and her dinner was late too. The one hour time change made everything an hour worse for her.  She got herself all worked up and then we were rushed into the ring. So she was in a real hurry to get this run done and was not paying as good attention as she usually does.

See! Our runs sometimes do suck! Ha!

ORKC Trial - Seven

Seven also had a banner weekend at the ORKC trial!  Like Riley, she ran clean 5 out of 6 times!  Amazing! Seven now has 9 Double Qs towards her third agility championship.  That is exciting because there are no greyhounds that have achieved that.  Here are her runs from the weekend.

AOC Trial - Seven

Seven caught having an ugly day.

Seven also ran in the last trial and earned another double qualifier. She is up to 7 QQs towards her third championship. She would be the only greyhound to earn 3 Master Agility Championships which would be very cool!

#1 Greyhound

Seven and I had a perfect weekend! At the end of September, we competed in a local two day trial and smoked it!  Here are the four runs.

Other exciting news, Seven is now the #1 Greyhound in American Kennel Club Agility! It only took 6 years for me to finally top my other greyhound, Travis. Travis got a late start as I adopted him at age 3 and had issues to work out before he could compete. So his first trial was not until he was 5 years old. But he was super sound and athletic. He was extremely consistent his last year and a half in competition. He competed until he died at age 10.

So it is exciting that Seven is only 6 years old and hopefully has several more years to go.  The bad wrist is always a factor though. We did have a recent set back.  I spoke with the ortho vet and we made some tweaks to our plan and Seven has been doing great ever since.... knock on wood.

Go Big or Go Home

Seven and I recently competed at an agility trial in Tennessee. We did pretty well.  We earned QQ #42 and 2 extra jumper legs. Here are those runs:

Seven did make one huge error of mistaking the teeter for the dogwalk.  She does this sometimes when she is excited and rushing around course.

However, this time a photographer was perfectly positioned to capture it. I love my thrilled expression.

MACH2 Seven

Well, Seven had an excellent 4-day agility trial last weekend and earned her second Master Agility Championship. She is only the third greyhound to do so. My Travis was the first and Helen Hamilton's Whisper was the second.

To earn MACH2, your dog has to accumulate 40 Double Qualifiers (running clean in the Standard and Jumpers classes in the same day) and 1,500 points for seconds under standard course time (Seven had 2,552 points).

On Thursday, Seven knocked out Double Q #39 easily making Double Q #40 over the next 3 days appear achievable.  Well, she did it the very next day. Here are those videos.

Here is Seven clearing the last jump.  Look at my friend, Beth, in the background.  Love her! :-)

The bar from the last jump basically becomes your trophy.  All of your friends and supporters sign it.

And how about the ribbon?  This club has the best MACH ribbons! Gorgeous!

Seven qualified in Standard the next day, but got sucked into a wrong course tunnel in Jumpers. But then on Sunday, she earned her first QQ towards MACH3.  Will she be the first MACH3 greyhound?

So 7 clean runs out of 8 attempts. MACH2. Definitely an amazing weekend for us!