It's been a long time since I've blogged about my own dogs. With some website updates my blogs on Marley & Arthur were wiped out, I loved having their journeys documented.
So I'm very late on this one, but let's start talking all about Arkle!
Arkle is almost 2 years old and I picked him up shortly after losing Arthur, my then almost 4yo young whippet.
I envisioned adventures galore and a busy puppyhood- just like Arthur had.
The pandemic didn't concern me, I could do an awful lot from home and the adventures I enjoy don't necessarily involve busy places.
Of course, all that is planned rarely comes true when it's not a storybook..and Arkles made that very clear.
I will keep a long story short. It became clear at around 5 months that Arkle was struggling with some form of pain. In a wonderfully long journey ( that I'll describe in more detail another time!) Arkle was just, at almost 2yo, diagnosed with Immune Mediated Polyarthritis.
He hasn't been a cliche case lacking nearly every major symptom- thankfully the shifting lameness being the one that got us joint taps done leading to diagnosis.
Arkle is a big character, but he's full of conflicted emotions. So going forward this blog will show our journey through the dog reactivity he has gradually developed in the last 6 months.
We are working on an awful lot, pain has nearly always been present in his life so far, and it's skewed his perception of the world. He anticipates pain when interacting with dogs as he zips around, and he has a huge uncertainty about people touching him that causes him to urinate and cower. All those vet trips and tests really took their toll.
Hopefully we will begin to ease back into a life of normality, where he can run free and be the wild whippet he really is!
He's currently starting a second medication attempt to treat the immune Mediated Polyarthritis.
Arkle lives with Marley, a 12 yo Whippet and Ollie a 14yo Whippet.
Despite their age they're always up to something together!
Arkle loves training, toys and zooming..
However for now he mainly enjoys a different type of zooming- helping out on my zooms!
So perhaps he'll see some of you there soon!
Keep an eye to see the reality of living with a dog with reactivity, medical issues and senior dogs.
Learn about how we make progress and those oh so wonderful ups and downs. And the mistakes I make yes trainer's & Behaviourists can still have poor judgement with their own dogs or that could just be me!
It's All About Arkle ( with Marley & Ollie there for good measure too !)