Bordermix

Great video! I'd give anything to jump 8". Our current height dogs (my BTs) have to jump 9" and 10"! Looks like it was a beautiful day. Will need to talk the team into traveling to CA more often! Cynthia Phoenix Hot Pawsuit

Our flyball team, Phoenix Hot Pawsuit, will be there - can't wait!

Our team flyball team, Phoenix Hot Pawsuit, will be racing Saturday and Sunday. Come check us out!

Is it confirmed that Nikita has a tumor? If so, is there anything the vet recommends doing for the tumor, or are you letting it go? I don't know how old Nikita is and can only imagine any sort of treatment of a tumor (depending on location) is expensive. I have a dog (not BC) that has seizures and though he is doing great on Pb alone, it took a month to get the dosage down. Like others suggested, it sounds like a medication issue. Has anything else changed in the few weeks? Food, activities, etc.? I hope the vet can tweak the meds and everything calms down for you!

We have petfirst healthcare and have been very happy! With three dogs that are always getting into trouble, I submit claims regularly and have never been turned down:)

Can someone please explain how AKC would affect us fly ball folks? As far as I know, AKC has nothing to do with fly ball, or am I wrong?

Hopefully, this is a one time seizure for your dog. Our BT started to seize at age 3, after a move from CA to AZ, and I still think (hope) that it was stress related. All his tests came out normal so he was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. After his first seizure, he had another one, 25 days later, so he was put on Phenobarbital. The good news is that, a year later, he is doing so well, we are slowly starting to ween him off the med. Anyway, keep an eye on him, and if he has another one, I'd recommend blood tests, etc. As others have said, age 5 is at the top of the range, but possible. The website mentioned in an earlier reply was very helpful to me, and I still read it on a daily basis. You might want to look at your food - is it grain free? We switched all the dogs over, and they are all doing well on it. There are many to choose from, with varying price ranges, so if you decide to switch, you will need to do your research and see what works best. Another thought - do you use flea/tick medication? That might be another cause. Good luck - watching a seizure is downright scary, especially the first one!

I believe embrace pet insurance (http://www.embracepetinsurance.com/) covers hereditary illness/injury as well as pre-existing conditions (if the condition has been silent for a year). We went with www.petfirsthealathcare.com because it was more affordable for 3 dogs and covers 90% of illness/injuries. We end up at the vet a lot, and they have always paid. We also have a "dog" account set up, but it never gets big enough to cover an injury or illness, and with three sports dogs, we have quite a few vet bills (I should have been a vet ) Cynthia & Wrigley

Wrigley and I are attending the trial this weekend. It is her (our) first trial and I am so incredibly nervous and every excited at the same time. We were at WAGS this weekend in Glendale for a fly ball tournament and near the racing lanes were the sheep. I ended up taking Wrigley over and had her in the with sheep for a few minutes. I was able to talk to a man who gave me all sorts of information on what to expect this upcoming weekend in Tonopah. He really made me feel at ease..... Cynthia & Wrigley

A little off topic here but I have dog (non border collie) that is epileptic, is in fly ball and is great at it! He loves going to fly ball. My vet suggests that life remain as normal as possible, and if the meds are working, there is no reason to keep him from a sport he loves! If his epilepsy gets worse in the future, we will, of course, think of his health, first. But for now, we both enjoy fly ball and there is no reason to stop.

We put plain, non fat yogurt or pure pumpkin in the kong with a treat in the middle and freeze them. With three dogs, we have 10 kongs and are always prepared! I like the other suggestions, so we'll be mixing it up a little. Cynthia

We just spent the last two days at Cynosport, at it was my Dusty's (Boston Terrier) fly ball debut! We didn't win any medals but we did have a blast! I can't wait to get Wrigley (BC/BT mix) into fly ball....

Wow - that is great! I'd love to come watch, but next weekend is Cynosport in Scottsdale and one of our other dogs is in fly ball:) Sounds like you will have a lot of fun!

I SO feel your pain! After about six months or so of training (with some time off for an injury), I have finally been humbled by falling over sheep (my first time with light sheep and yes, Wrigley was too close and I was having trouble getting her back) and after a short trip, where the dogs were boarded, our last lesson was, in my opinion, horrible. Wrigley was in no way listening to me, actually took a chunk of wool off a poor sheep, and somehow, had hurt another one. Mind you, she would never intentionally hurt sheep, but was diving in and I couldn't stop her in time and of course, she was rewarded because I let it happen! Ugh! Anyway, my husband has accompanied us to a couple of lessons and he took videos. What an eye opener! Besides needing to lose 10 pounds, I use that darn flag way too much and if I don't stop, Wrigley will not be listening to me for much longer! I really thought we were doing well, and after this last little "vacation" think that we have taken a couple of steps back. I am a city girl who is absolutely having a great time at lessons and bonding with Wrigley, so I will keep working at it.

Though I can't help you with BC/epilepsy, our Boston Terrier, Dusty, has epilepsy. He has only had two seizures (since February), is on Phenobarbital and doing really well. After all the blood tests, everything came back normal. In our case, I truly believe it was stress as we moved from CA to AZ and two weeks later, he seized. Anyway, other things to look into are food (we switched to grain free), shots, excitability (there are some theories about the cause/effect of getting excited and seizing). A couple of sites to check out: http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/ and http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/. The information on these sites helped me immensely after Dusty's horrific first seizure! What a scary thing to go through.