Week 8 and a note of caution

Yesterday marked Week 8 of Trapper's treatment. He is still doing well, but his white cell count is down to 4.0 (the low end of normal is 6.0). I can tell he's not feeling quite right because he is irritated well beyond normal with Joker & Blaze. They are making him crazy right now ;-)

We are scheduled to go play agility Sunday, but after asking the vet his opinion, based on the white cell count, we are not going. The low white cells, combined with Trapper obviously not feeling well, just poses a risk I'm not willing to take. I won't risk my pup getting sick from something he might pick up at the dog training facility in Denver where the trial is. Plus it's a new venue he's never been too, so his stress level would be elevated. When the vet said that if he was given the choice between taking Trapper or not, he would say "no", that made the decision easy. My vets are awesome, and I know they want the very best for Trapper.

On a brighter note, when I was joking that it wouldn't be hard for Trapper to not be social if we were to go to the trial (to reduce the risk of picking up something from another dog), the vet said "He's actually a very happy dog--he's just protective of you." Awww! How sweet my Trap dog is :)

So, we'll take this trial off and wait for the New Year's trial...and beyond! :)

Loving my pup tonight with a little twinge of sadness....
Kirsta

The wonder dog

Trapper continues to impress us--he just keeps going, like nothing is different in his world! Two days after chemo, we drove to Golden to play agility. My boy was awesome--excited, fast and ready to go! Unfortunately for him, I rotated too soon on a front cross (gotta' love my velcro boy), and he dropped a bar. 

No matter, tho--we went and chilled in the back of the truck with the tailgate down on this crazy-warm 60 degree day in November, enjoying some quality time together.

Trap resting his head on my leg, soakin' up some rays

Standard run was great--even with 3 intentional long pauses on course (2 for not meeting his contact criteria and 1 on the table just to remind him to stay), he still got 2nd place. Lots of fellow competitors/friends asked how he was doing and marveled at how great he looked. Yay!!

2nd place :)

Honestly, one of my favorite parts of agility with Trapper is him sleeping on my arm as we drive home (yes, we were stopped when I took this photo!)

Trapper's head on my arm. Awwww... :)

Another day to be thankful to play with Mr Energizer Bunny !!

Week 6: Trapper is so brave

"Trapper is so brave" said the vet to me yesterday after he had his chemo. She said she doesn't even have to muzzle him anymore. :) Yesterday marked the beginning of Round 2 (of 4) treatments. We have weaned him off the prednisone, which is great! He remains in "clinical remission". He seems to be feeling awesome, so tomorrow we go play agility!!

Photo shoot!

Trapper continues to do well, and we head to agility class tomorrow :) 2nd round of treatment starts Thursday.

Last weekend we had family pictures taken and I brought Trapper in for photos at the end. Stay tuned for results of Trapper's photo shoot!!

Kirsta

Week 5

Other than an upset tummy this past week,  Trapper is doing great! This is his "week off" so today he just had a CBC, which looked really good! His white cell count is back in the normal range and his lymph nodes have continued to decrease in size after last week's treatment of Adriamycin. Yay!

Next week is the beginning of Round 2......

Kirsta

Awesome day of agility!!

Trap and I left the house at 5:12am to start the trek to Longmont. Here he is ready to go during a quick stop on our way up--doesn't he look great?!

We arrived safely and Trapper settled in while I walked the course--we were 4th dog on the line for the day, so I was glad we arrived early!

Trapper in his home-away-from-home kennel

Trapper had 2 amazing runs, and many of my wonderful friends commented on how great he looked! He was a tiny bit slower than usual, but 4 weeks into chemo, who wouldn't be?? We left with our 17th QQ towards PACH, a 1st place ribbon and a 2nd place ribbon. Plus, as an added bonus, Trapper earned his MXP2!! :) It's such a joy to be able to run with my Trapper, and we were so in sync it was even sweeter!!

Team Trapper with our haul of ribbons

All in all, it was a fabulous day because my boy was healthy and happy to play (barking at me the whole way, as usual!!) Sure love that crazy boy!

After the trial, we headed to my parents' house where Trapper was treated to a champions' welcome :)

We're headed out!

We're leaving at o'dark thirty for agility. Who does this??? Oh, yea, me. Looking forward to a fun day with my pup!

Week 4: Treatment!

Today I took Trap back to the vet and his WBC was up from 3.0 to 4.1--still below normal of 6.0, but high enough to allow for treatment. This week was Adriamycin, which can have some nasty side effects, but so far so good. Trapper is definitely tired tonight, but we're thankful we were able to continue treatment. The vet's note said that Trapper "remains in clinical remission" which is great news.

I never really knew much about chemo before this experience--it really is nasty stuff. Used correctly, it can have good overall effects, but by its nature it's so toxic. Like I said at the beginning of it all, though, I don't think this cancer really knew what it was up against with Trapper, so I'm sure the chemo will work for good on his behalf ;-)

I'll watch Trap tomorrow and gauge his energy level to see if we'll make the super-early morning trek to agility on Saturday. If he's up for it, that will be awesome. But if not, we won't push it--we'll rest to play another day.

Gonna go give my pups some love...