A couple of weeks ago a post on Doodles for Rehoming tugged at my heartstrings and we found ourselves applying to adopt a gorgeous, scruffy little 4 year old who we welcomed into our family on 4th October.

Teddy had 2 previous homes and was living with a foster family who were recommending that his ideal forever home would be:

• with no children
• an older female dog
• someone who would do something like agility with him

It really felt like the requirements had been written with us in mind!

We applied, and after further discussions we found ourselves on a trip to Cumbria to meet him.  It was love at first sight and after spending the weekend together, we brought him home with us on Sunday 4th October.

Here is the original story that I read and some pictures of our weekend in Cumbria:

I can't believe I'm having to write this, but today we've had to say goodbye to our gorgeous girl!  She had deteriorated over the last few days and it was clear that the time had come for us to  say our final farewell.

We've been so lucky to have spent 10 eventful and fun years with her and she couldn't have been more perfect!

Goodnight gorgeous Ruby - we will love you forever! 

Ruby
4-7-10 to 4-8-20

We have been extremely lucky to be able to have a fantastic holiday in our favourite place - Aldeburgh!

We had booked this much earlier in the year and were delighted that campsites were allowed to open in time for our booking and that we've been able to make some memories with our gorgeous girl.

Ruby is not comfortable walking long distances so we got her some wheels before we went away.  She took to her buggy really well and it was a godsend in being able to do all the things we love while on holiday!

We're doing our best to enjoy every last minute with Ruby!  We've had a toy ban in our house for several years as Ruby became a toy guarder - she would gather up all of the toys that were out, put them in her bed and lie on them, and would growl at anyone that dared to go near her!  Since her diagnosis we have relaxed the toy ban and she's been enjoying having free access to her favourite squeaky balls.

Ruby has been to Anderson Moores following the referral from our vet and a CT scan has revealed the worst news!  She has a very aggressive cancer that is inoperable!

We are completely heartbroken and are struggling to process what this means!  Our only option is to manage her discomfort and enjoy what time we have left with her!

We really can't imagine what life is going to look like without her in it!
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​Ruby has been giving us plenty to worry about during lockdown!

We first noticed that she had conjunctivitis in April and the vet sent us some cream in the post to treat it. 

Shortly after we spotted some blood in her urine and thought she might have a UTI.  Around that time she seemed to be uncomfortable jumping up on the sofa and our bed so we got an appointment to have her checked by our vet.

Her eyes hadn't improved with the cream so they changed the treatment for this, gave us antibiotics for the UTI and said they had found a trigger point on her back that looked like soft tissue damage.

I arranged for her to have treatment with our physio who agreed that there were knots in her muscles and we had a course of treatment for this.

The weeks have gone by and none of these issues are improving.  We've been treating each of her issues individually but our vet is now wondering if there is something underlying linking them all and has now agreed to refer her to Anderson Moores for assessment and hopefully to get to the bottom of what is going on!

We have an appointment next week - fingers crossed we can find a way to get her well again! 

So here we are, 6 weeks into our UK lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  Needless to say, it has been a very strange time, but I've been enjoying my hour a day of freedom to walk the girls and appreciate the beautiful countryside around us.  Here are few pictures of our adventures so far:

For a long time I've been following a photographer called LM Photography - a very talented lady called Lara Maskell.  Her photos of dogs are incredible and I was lucky this year to have my family contribute to a photo shoot with Ruby & Pepper.

We had the shoot on my birthday, just before the UK went into lockdown due to Coronavirus so the photos that I have received will forever be a happy memory of a very strange time.

On Friday I travelled to Orsett in George, with Ruby and Pepper to take part in our first Axstane show.

The traffic was awful, and I'd embarrassed myself falling over in the M&S foodhall on the A303 on my way home from a meeting, so I was feeling battered and bruised and wondering if I should have even bothered.  But a chilled evening drinking wine and putting the world to rights with my friend Marianne soon had me sorted.

On Saturday, I had a Graded 4 - 7 agility to run with Pepper first thing, which was good as she has started to self-release from her contacts so it would give me a training opportunity before the Champ Agility. The course wasn't that nice - if I'd been G4 I would have probably cried if I'd been faced with that, but I like a challenge. I decided to run the course to try things that I'm not confident with - the start was jump, pull in, jump, tunnel.  She did the pull in, and I was so delighted, I stood watching her and forgot to ketschker the jump, and she nipped in the wrong side of me to take the dog walk instead of the tunnel!  E before the 3rd obstable - ooops!  Still, I could then make sure we did the training criteria I had set, and she did her contacts really well.

Next was Champ Agility - here's the course plan:

I was feeling quite confident and had a plan how to run it.  From 7 I planned to rear cross 8, and then German 9 - this worked really well, and she got her weave entry.  I wanted to rear cross the weaves but didn't wait until she was fully committed and she popped out - we got 5R.  We then picked up another 5F for knocking a pole of the spread - the last jump!

When it came to the Jumping I decided that I just had to go for it.  The course was tricky, with lots of traps - here's the course plan:

We were drawn to run 80th, and watching the dogs before us I realised that the line from 15 (a wall), to 16 and 17 was going to be better if I handled round the right wing of 15 rather than the left - it was all going well to that point, but when I got to 15 my timing was a bit off and she stopped which got us a 5R, and then another 5R, but then she took the jump and we completed the course with 10 faults.

We'd finished all of our runs (more news on this later) and were ready to go home when they announced the finalists, and I couldn't believe it when I heard my name called out first!  How did that happen!

So we had somehow achieved one of my agility goals - to take part in a Champ Final.  It was more daunting than I had anticipated!  The course walked well, and I was looking forward to running it.  Here's the course plan:

As we went round the course, I thought my legs were going to give way completely.  We picked up 5F for the weave entry - I needed to take one more step to help her, but realistically I need to train weave entries to make sure this doesn't happen again!!  And then right at the end, I nearly fell over and caused Pepper to knock the second to last pole - another spread - more training required!!

So, we finished with 10F - the theme of the day!  There were only 2 clear rounds, so we were in good company and were placed 7th overall.  Here's a video of of our run:

And here are the results:

And so to the rest of the day:

Both dogs were entered into the ABC Olympia Qualifier - Ruby ran first and had a glorious E, needing to be put back on the dog walk and the A-frame.  Pepper also had an E - there was a pull in between 5 and 6, and for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to handle it completely differently to how we train it,so she took advantage and took jump 6 the wrong way.  The rest of it was lovely!!

Ruby had a graded Agility, and contacts were once again our nemesis - I E'd us putting her back on the A-frame.  But she was clear in the combined G1-4 jumping, and I was delighted to find that she had been placed 6th.

We had an epic trip to Wye Valley for our first Champ Show!

Pepper and I left for our road trip on Friday afternoon and arrived in lovely weather to get set up for the night.  Sadly the weather turned on Saturday morning and very quickly the ground turned into a quagmire.

We were 7th to run in the Jumping, but the ground was dreadful and I nearly fell 3 times.  The first time was just at the entry to the weaves, and my slipping caused Pepper to go in the wrong side.  Further on, I just couldn't get where I needed to to guide her round the back of a jump so we were E'd.  But there were lots of positives in the run - she did a nice pull in, and drove on to a tunnel well.  Here's a video of our run - no laughing:

Following this I was considering going straight home, but I had a look at the Graded 6-7 Jumping, and the course looked nice, and the ground was pretty good, so I decided to give it a go.  We did a lovely clear and came 3rd.

We then ran the Graded 6-7 Agility where the ground was awful, but I wanted to use it as an opportunity to do some contact practice.  Somehow we were clear - it wasn't pretty - and we were placed 6th.

By now Pepper was caked in mud, and no amount of towel drying was going to get her clean enough to go back into George, so I had to resort to giving her a shower!  I started packing to leave while waiting for the prize giving to take place for our other runs. 

I didn't see the point in staying for the Champ Agility, but by the time I could leave the course was ready for walking and had been moved to new ground.  Seemed silly not to run it seeing as we were there!  We had an unfortunate E as Pepper took a jump the wrong way, but I was delighted with how she ran the rest of it - really good contacts, nice weaves, tight turns!  So despite the E I was glad we had stayed to run it.

Sadly, leaving turned into a bit of a drama as George became stuck in the mud and I had to be towed off the pitch.  This brought about the questions:  What is a towing eye?  Where are the tools in the motorhome?  How do you remove the cover from where the towing eye has to go?  All of which I managed to answer with the help of my friend Sharon's husband, Robin. The lady from Wye Valley with the 4x4 was being kept very busy with pretty much everyone in day parking needing to be towed, but we were eventually rescued and on our way.

It was definitely a weekend to remember!  What a lovely community we have in the agility world!  From the support I received from my friends while there, and those that sent me good luck messages, to all of the people that helped to rescue those that needed it.