Twice or more now I’ve gotten little holes in my new lycra gear. Once in a very expensive pair of running tights (ran past a thorny bush and got bitten) and more often than not by one of the claws of my boisterous Airedale Terrier Lions. Thanks Sora.
Over the last 3 weeks I haven’t ridden much and spent a bit more time with the dogs.
Here Sora and Sky had a father and son’s day at a grooming get together on October 4th and then a dog show and sport’s day last Sunday the 25th.
Sky’s sister Momo came to both events and 2 other brothers Ruff and Earth came to the sports day show. Two other sisters didn’t make it. Poor old Mum Lunar stayed home both days as she hadn’t done her hair and doesn’t want to be seen in such a state. Will have to make sure Mum and Dad are looking dapper for the next one so they can all go.
Some pics.
Little Momo
Sky’s best friend: Came 2nd in the puppy class:
Sky’s race.
Ready?
Go!
and over the first hurdle.
First through the tunnel. We practiced this. Sky was about the only dog all day who flew through this obstacle without hesitation. Many dogs refused to go through the cardboard box tunnels.
Good job Sky! You’re coming first now.
Sky is first to jump up and take the bread on offer. Always hungry he will leap tall buildings in a single bound for a piece of bread.
Sky, this is the part where you need to pick an experienced handler who can put your clothes on properly and not be so honest. Just because the judge says you have to do this section properly your handler should realize that everybody passing you at this point is cheating.
Bad trainer!
Finally the finish line!
Cut my arm badly while stripping puppy Sky’s coat with a grooming knife!!!
WARNING: Graphic details ahead! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME OR ANYWHERE ELSE!!!!
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately stripping Lunar, Sora and baby Sky in the bathroom.
On Thursday, Sky had been playing The Great Escape tunneling under the outdoor kennel to avoid the heat and got a bit muddy.
He’d already had a bath and some stripping the day before but as he loves having a wash I thought it was a good opportunity to finish stripping his neck/mane.
I’ve been using a new knife that is meant for ears and face; very short rounded blade.
It almost disappears under my thumb. I have other knives but I’d never used this one before and just wanted to see how it would feel.
I was frantically pulling out his fur holding the left side scruff of his neck with my left hand and plucking with the right while standing over him with his hips between my calves. (I’m left handed but most of my blades are right handed). Let me point out that I’ve been stripping for six years now and never had I imagined what could happen to one’s self while grooming a dog. I will never strip on the floor again but will get out the stripping table.
Sky was finally starting to look like an Airedale and not a miniature Burmese Mountain Dog.
Then all of a sudden I realized I’ve pulled back too close to my left arm and opened up a 15cm long cut that has also nipped my ulnar artery.
Blood spurting out like you see in a horror movie as I wrap a towel around it screaming to my sons to call an ambulance and to apply a tourniquet.
After my kids realized I wasn’t joking I had them under control with a belt tied around my bicep, towel wrapped around the laceration and laid down to relax before I was going to pass out.
Within 3 minutes I could hear the ambulance, I was getting dizzy and cold sweating.
Heart rate was down to 42 which is my normal resting rate. I really stayed calm and tried to keep my heart rate as low as possible.
The ambulance guys quickly summed up the situation and I told them I felt like I was about to pass out. They got the stretcher and was in the ambulance in no time.
Normally people in shock have a racing heart. My blood pressure on the other hand normally high at 138/90 was down to 105/50.
Within 20 minutes I was in ER getting it fixed.
Pure agony until the anesthetic kicked in especially when the Doc said clamp and I guess they clamped the artery.
17 stitches and 90 minutes later I was sealed back together.
I estimate I lost close to a litre of blood.
The surgeon had inspected the cut and tested blood flow and movement to my little and ring finger and just told the other Doc to stitch me up and I should be OK.
I wanted to stay over night as I thought I was going to have a heart attack over it all but as it was all stitched up safely and my vitals were normal I could go home. (had to come back the next morning)
Anti-biotics, pain killers and now a long boring summer vacation to look forward too.
It was a real freak accident that almost had me winning an Airedale Darwin Award.
If my kids were not home I’m sure I would have passed out and bled to death. I pass out at the Red Cross sometimes… Even trying to wrap the towel around my arm was near impossible.
Anyway, sorry for the gory details but I guess somebody has to be a guinea pig and point out how dangerous grooming our dogs can be.
I’m sure you’re all more careful than me….
Pictures to be added here tomorrow! Be Warned!!!
Last night’s training really burnt me out. Feels like a bad head cold…. Didn’t do much today but watch TV, sleep and look after these wonderful dogs.
Tonight three of the puppies had their eyes open and some of them were walking rather than squirming around like slugs with legs.
Here are the daily weigh ins. Every morning while Lunar is out for a toilet break I take their weights.
Girls
Green/Gold 364 402 428 460 480 510 560 600 645 690 745 805
Pink 276 288 310 352 376 398 430 460 500 525 560 635
Red/Gold 322 356 382 426 452 468 496 545 580 625 685 715
Boys
Sky Blue 266 310 328 374 382 422 436 476 510 550 595 630
Blue 348 418 432 472 488 530 550 620 658 710 770 830
Red 386 414 436 456 460 520 540 590 630 710 715 780
I took some pics and video of course but until there is something more interesting than what I’ve already uploaded, I’ll wait. The pages here are loading too slow as well with so many clips.
Looking at a few other Japan Airedale homepages tonight and found 2 other litters were born around the same time. One litter had 12 puppies. Going to be a bit of a competition finding families for all of them. Did I say Lunar’s father was an International Champion???
The puppies are usually sleeping and not too active yet, so to liven up these daily youtube clips I’ve got Sora to do a few Beckham impersonations and Lunar is doing a Vitoria Spice one.
Not sure when I’ll be able to post a cycling message again. Hopefully tomorrow night if I resume training.
Well, I was quite surprised at how painless and easy this was. Our local vet wanted to charge us 25000 yen ($250)per puppy for the procedure and they had never done an Airedale before. We shopped around and decided to go to Sora’s (father) mother’s vet who did each puppy for 7000 yen ($70). That was a big saving and a big relief.
The vet talked to us for a while before accepting to make sure she was going to do it all properly. We showed her the correct way to judge the length of the tail. The top of the tail should align exactly with the top of the head when the dog is standing tall. You have to hold the pup and make him pose in your hands so you can see how much needs to be cut off. A lot less than I expected. The rule of thumb is a third but the tail lengths are not always uniform in length. Sora’s breeder was there to supervise.
The pups were anesthetized, and the front paws thumbs were also removed. (standard procedure for Airedales). The thumbs serve no real purpose and probably get injured in adult dogs easily as they stick out in the air. They would probably do a bit of damage in a fight too.
I dropped them off at 10:30a.m and they were already by 3p.m. They got home and mother and babies acted like nothing had happened at all.
After they filled their bellies I finally got around to putting colored ribbons around their necks. Now we an tell from a distance who is who. We also spoke to a lady in Yokohama who is interested in taking one of the boys.
