december 2016
The summer of 2016 wasn't the best for me or my dogs. Trooper began having seizures in June, we thought they were from a tick disease he had contracted in Oklahoma. He was doing pretty well on medication but then he started seizing again, so off to OSU Veterinary School we went where he was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma in his brain. All of my friends and Trooper's were devastated with this news, I was praying that being on a human anti seizure med and THC oil would keep him by my side for a longer period of time, but it was not to be. On September 10, 2016 Trooper passed to the Rainbow Bridge while laying next to me on my bed, his favorite place to be...Thank you Dr. Valerie Bays for your help and support so that I could keep Trooper from suffering any more. We had a wonderful week where we were together constantly, doing everything Trooper loved to do. As long as he was with his mom he was happy! In October I competed in the Rhodesian Ridgeback Nationals in Huron, Ohio with Trooper's son, Forte. It was his first national and he did not disappoint....5th place in the 15-18 Month Sweepstakes (out of 26 male pups), and 3rd place in the main 15-18 Month Class. I had a couple of spectator breeders and judges come up and compliment me on Forte, and that they looked forward to seeing him mature. Forte also passed his Canine Good Citizen test and Therapy Dog Test with flying colors.
July 2017
The rest of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 were very rough also, dealing with the loss of Trooper and another situation in which I continued to take the high road. With the support of many ridgeback people and breeders I am recovering. Forte and I have been competing in limited shows and now am 2 points shy of our AKC Championship. We also competed in our first IABCA (International) dog shows were Forte became an International Champion after 4 Best of Breeds and 4 Group 2 placements in the Hound Group.