Swimming at Sun Hill

In order for the next series of posts to make sense, please scroll down 5 posts to the beginning of the Sun Hill saga and read up the posts! Enjoy! We certainly did!

Swimming at Sun Hill (Cont.)

While Gabe & Teagan were goofying around, Fritz and Rusty were down to business...

Of course Gabe had to steal their toy....

And some lounging in the sun if perfectly acceptable....

All in all, what a great afternoon of fun in the sun and pool. However Tinker is now recouping all the energy & sleep she lost by taking a long nap right now!!!

Swimming at Sun Hill (Cont.)

Gabe sneak attacked me and managed to get me nice and wet with his face...

The get away, clearly guilty

After terrorizing poor girls in the pool Gabe knows how to relax in style

This is my good side...

Surveying the pool....

Swimming at Sun Hill (Cont.)

While Tinker is working on the doggy paddle, Teagan is working on being the next air dog.

Bombs away!

Watch out below! Teagan has this umm habit, of jumping onto people in the pool....

Dad, i'm tired of swimming

Water Fight!

Aww, cuddling

Swimming at Sun Hill (Cont.)

We started Tink with a life vest just to be safe.
I also held the handle right at the beginning

But before we knew it, she was out swimming in circles

She hasn't quite figured out how to use both back legs....

So when we thought she had the hang of it, we had her swim a short distance to me...

Tinker shark
And the more she swam, the straighter she swam...

She did so well swimming around, she started using one back leg towards the end

How cute is that?!?!

Swimming at Sun Hill

Tinker was invited to a pool party! LuAnn, Sid, & Deb from Tink's Class were taking the dogs swimming over at Sun Hill Kennels and we were invited. Seeing that we were free and knowing it would be fun, we went! I'll be posting the pictures in phases as there are many to post. The first group are mainly pictures of the entire crew.

We had the pool for an entire hour. The hour was not as tame as this picture looks : )

Gabe & Tink swimming

Chit chatting

Teagan had some um, interesting maneuvers as you'll see....

The whole crew: Fritz & Rusty are the Spaniels in the back,
Gabe the Frenchie, Teagan the Dobbie, and
Tinker the Boston Terrier (in case you haven't gotten that yet : )

Nobody told me...

...That picassa & blogger were fighting. Here are the pics that picassa decided it did not want to load from our photo shoot earlier this week..give or take, since i can't figure out exactly which ones it didn't like.... anyways, enjoy : )

Delta Society

Well, Tinker and I are officially taking the Delta test July 8th for our pet assisted therapy certification.

Now all i need to do is go through the book : )

I know Tink will be great : )

Photo Shoot

It was such a beautiful day outside that we decided to do a photo shoot and enjoy the outside weather! Tinker prefers the shade so of course, that is where we started...

A beautiful damsel relaxing in the shade

Some nice pictures of Tink and Nick

They can't help it that they're so photogenic.....

...And so cute!

I love these 2!!!!

Of course I wanted in on some pictures with Tinker

Relaxing in the sun

Me and my pirate : )

A tender moment....

Daddy's little girl

Did someone say, treat?

Nothing like laying in the grass!

BAER Test Announcement

Tinker passed her BAER test. Both ears tested normal. That's about all i have to say. It was a long vet visit and she was poked and prodded pretty good.

She has a good quality of life and she is a happy girl. We'll take one day at a time : ) I just wish I had an answer for some of her disorientation.... we'll see : )

Busy Tink

Tink did an excellent job at both classes this week. It is so cool to watch miss Tink and Nick work on obedience exercises and bonding : ) She has been recalling pretty well this week. One change is that she hesitates as if she is figuring out where the sound is originating, and then she comes. So that's cool; she's adapting.

Therapy class went great overall. She got a little anxious with all the noise and craziness at one point, but a pee break and short walk helped. It was really cute to watch a little girl read to her while she was all snuggled up in her blanket (Tink takes class real seriously, she spends 5 minutes nesting on her blanket pretty soon after we get there and i have to wake her up to do some of the experiences!) One of the little girls walked Tink around and I realized how dependant she is on me and nick, she kept bumping my leg to make sure i was right next to her even though a kiddo had her leash. Another adult took her later and while she did better, she still wanted her Mum, and so we obliged and snuggled for a little bit.

We had her nails dremmelled. She was saint. All i can say is now we need one! (her nails look fantastic!)

Some nice positive events this week, and a lot of fun too!

Tomorrow she will be BAER tested. Here's to a good day!

Tinker Update

Well, since we've been back from MA, Tink has been showing signs of disorientation: not finding her food dish when clanked repeatedly, not recalling to me and going in several other directions, wandering around the apartment, etc. And after close observation and consulting with the vet, Nick and I feel she is losing some of her hearing. We think it's unilateral due to the difficulty she's having locating things. There is a specialist in Columbia at the St. Francis Animal Hospital that does BAER testing. This test determines how well and what frequencies the dog hears. It will help us continue the best way to meet Tink's needs. It's not a difficult test and hopefully will give us some answers. I don't plan on testing her out the wazoo in the event its not her hearing; we're pretty confident it is her hearing. We're just taking it one step at a time.

Tinker will be BAER tested this coming friday June 22.

She has been continuing to adapt to these changes (as they appeared to occur somewhat quickly) but in light of the recent events, i'm reconsidering the idea of getting her therapy pet certification. I know she CAN do it, but Nick and I are questioning if she would enjoy it and if its in her best interest. She's lived a long life and we're seriously considering a nice quiet "retirement" for her.

Having said all that, the therapy class and second level of obedience class have been great. We're continuing with those. Her socialization skills and confidence level have sky rocketed. In addition, Nick is handling her in obedience which is helping to foster a deeper connection between the two of them (and it is adorable watching her trot along side him!)

So that's the latest. I dreaded posted something like this 2 weeks ago, but having watched her even more closely the past few weeks, i am more than confident that this healthy girl will continue living life to the fullest with a high quality for a long time to come.

Good Boy!

I turn around after dinner and find Nick and Tink having a little conversation...

The air is cleaner down there i guess...

Apparently it's a private conversation

Tinker says to Nick: "shake"

"Lean in so you can hear me young grasshopper"

"Stay"

"Daddy, Roll Over!"

"Good Boy!"