Back to Work!!!

Cinders and I started tracking again yesterday. Cinders is so excited about working again. She loves to do work. Taking 4 months off for the pups has been hard on her. I think that's why she was so obsessive about taking care of her babies. Looking back at last year, I am amazed at what Cinders and I accomplished. Finishing her Sch1 and then her WD1 at the DPCA Nationals with such good scores, Completing her BH, her WAC, and her AKC CD were great accomplishments. Ultimately, its her awesome work ethic that saw us through a year of pitfalls and illnesses. When I think of all the things that happened last year its amazing that we did what we did.
Here's is a recap: Around February Cinders broke her Canine tooth on her crate. Because of her age etc, they did a vital pulpotamy on her tooth. That's a pretty major surgery, very similar to a root canal. I remember that she had her operation on a Thursday and Friday, Sat and Sunday we had a 3 day training weekend. I skipped training Friday, but took her Saturday to do tracking and obedience (no bite work for 1 month). We were training with Mo then and I remember finishing her tracking lesson Sat and someone saying something about her tooth. Mo apparently didn't know she had an operation and he was shocked that I had worked her so soon. The thing is , despite being on pain meds and having a mouth full of stitches, Cinders still wanted to work and she still did a good job. Then about a week after her BH in March , Cinders got really sick throwing up. I took her to the vet and she stayed there for 4 days. Ultimately, they kept telling me that they were not sure if she would make it. They thought she had an obstruction so they opened her up and milked her intestines. Nothing. So they sowed her up , put her on meds and sent her home. No work for 3 weeks ( I think we snuck in some tracking). Then in May, I took her back to check on her tooth. The procedure had failed and she had an infection. Now she had to get a root canal (no bite work for 1 month). Then in June she started having some breathing difficulties. She had a lung infection. The vet put her on antibiotics and said she could work if she wanted but to pull her if she fatigued. She was on antibiotics for over two months trying to kick the infection. I believe she had it for a while and it was related to her abscessed canine tooth. During this time we worked on obedience and tracked 7 days a week. In September she was finally off antibiotics and we trialed. She got a 265! Then we went to the DPCA Nationals. On the way to the Nationals, Cinders came into season. Despite the long trip, being in season, and not getting the opportunity to work on the helper before the trial, Cinders did very well.

So now after 4 mos maternity leave, we are back to work! 2 weeks ago Cinders got a 192 in Novice B and she also earned the first leg of her Rally novice title. We have started doing obedience every day and yesterday we started tracking again. Cinders is VERY happy.