Don't Count Him Out!

 "Don't count him out", they said! From wheels to better to wheels to better... Jake never ceases to amaze me!

Since swimming wasn't working well for his back and it took him days to recover from a 20 min swim, we stopped doing that and substituted "biting the water on the deck" fun! A little of that is first on the video, then some brain-games (aka nosework) and more back and rear end strengthening in the living room!

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Super Sniffin' Ribbons Displayed

Jake's AKC Scent Work and UKC Nosework final ribbon display is done and I couldn't be happier!  Every ribbon has a story (as Laurie reminded me when she saw the display) and, bottom line, these all will not just remind me of the fun Jake and I had together but of the friends who were by my side the whole time.

The UKC ribbons are on the right.  

1. The rainbow Elite ribbon was earned on my birthday which was also mother's day in 2018 at Beaver Dam and as I recall. Rose and Austin earned Elite that day also.  
   
   
2. The Elite Champion ribbon (the long one with the tear in the ribbon because it hung out of my van for who knows how long) was earned in 2020 in the Quad Cities.
   
   
3. At the same time the overall Nosework Champion title was earned.  There was no ribbon for the overall title and when I told Ester recently, she immediately offered me one from the Wausau club where Jake got most of the overall legs so that ribbon was added this past weekend!  

The AKC ribbons are on the left.  

1. On the top is Jake's Master ribbon earned in 2019.  After the trial, I asked Ester to take the photo with my phone that turned out so good that Pat framed it and surprised me with it.  That trial was bittersweet at the time because Jake's health had deteriorated and I retired him (for the first time) that day.  
   
   
2. Six months later Jake had improved enough to finish the Master Elite title in August 2020 earned one week after the UKC Champion title.  Again, the title was earned at a trial  in IL with no unique title ribbons so Lynsie surprised me with this special ribbon to add to the collection. 
   
   
3. Lastly, the big ribbon is for Detective earned in November 2020 in Ohio.  The club had a loaner ribbon for photos and I liked it so much that I bought one like it (which is a whole other story :))!   

My Teacher...

Thanks to the Central WI Dog Sports Club (CWKC & SWCCW) and judges Bonnie Gutzwiler, Tom Rezmer and Holly Bushard for letting JAKE play this weekend by being a DEMO DOG in most of the exterior searches!  The icing on the cake, as they say, was his demo search for DETECTIVE set by Erin Rezmer!  His improvement staying on his feet was apparent as he navigated both the exterior and then interior searches with barely a wobble and found the 7 hides in about 3 1/2 minutes!  

This dog teaches me every day that life is a blessing and not to waste it by feeling bad about what you can't do but rather do what you can do the best you can and enjoy every minute if it!  ❤