Day before my 1st Novice agility class & a word about Twig

Marty had me practicing the chute today to just make sure I remembered what to do.  I did!  I ran it many times getting a treat each time.

I played with Twig today, we played chase!  It starts off with Twig chasing me as we race through the house.  Then Twig stops and I race off as fast as I can running through the house by myself until I pass Twig who is standing still and he barks at me as I run past him.  I run even faster passing him again as I race through the house.  We do this several times until Twig goes and lies down, that is when the game of chase ends.

I am the first little dog that has played with Twig, I mean REALLY played, you know fully body contact playing:jumping, body blocks, wrestling, rolling on the floor.  He was born with a neck problem so he never ran, jumped or played when he was a baby.  When he was about 2 years old the problem was diagnosed by an orthopedic surgeon at the UofM.  Twig had an Atlantoaxial (AA) Luxation and he had to have a plate with screws put in his neck to stabilize his C1 C2 vertebrae that is when he had to retire from agility.  If Twig had fallen off a piece of furniture or piece of agility equipment or got bumped too hard the wrong way when playing he could have severed his spine.  No wonder Twig is "mister growly man" when I get near his neck.

Twig was the 6th AA Luxation that his surgeon repaired but Twig was his smallest patient.  Marty asked him what it was like to repair Twig's AA Luxation and his surgeon said it was like doing surgery on a squirrel.  As you can see Twig had lots of stitches.

Now Twig can run and jump and I love to play with him. He has to take medicine 2 times per day because as he has gotten older his neck bothers him, causes him pain.  He has had to go to the UofM hospital a couple of times because of the pain and not being able to move his neck.  When that happens his body forms a "C", he looks funny when he tries to walk but I know he is hurting a lot.  The screws have moved a little and each time he goes into the UofM hospital they check the screws positioning.  Twig avoided surgery the last time his was in the hospital because Marty left him there for a week of bed rest which he would never get here.  So far Twig's neck has been "stable" for a couple years now.

So besides showing Marty I remember how to do the chutes I ran playing chase with Twig. All this running keeps my muscles strong and my turning quick. I'm going to have a good dinner and then go to bed.  Tomorrow will come early and then Whispy and I will be off to my first novice agility class.