Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010 - Hardee's weekend

We had a fabulous weekend!!  Jim drove down from Vegas, and Hardee and I met Jim at the agility trial site in Walnut, CA.  Since Hardee seemed fully recovered from the previous afternoon's anesthesia, we decided to see if Hardee wanted to run.  It did not matter to us either way; we just want HH to be happy. 

For those that have questioned the decision to let Hardee compete, I understand your concern.  I did clear it with his radiation oncologist first.  Dr. Proulx specifically said that he didn't see a problem with it.  We only have Hardee's best interest in mind, and since it is all about quality of life and since he loves agility, we wanted to give him the chance in case he felt up to running.  I must confess that I did worry that Hardee running would start his nose bleeding again, but my worry was for naught.  I watched him closely trying to pick up on any clues that this is not what he wanted to do, that it caused him any pain or stress, or that he was too tired.  If you could have seen him run, you would have known it was the right decision. 

Hardee had 2 runs each day of the weekend.  His first run was jumps with weaves (JWW).  He did fabulously and qualified (Q).  His next run was standard, and he was too wound up and jumped off the A-frame without touching in the contact zone.  The rest of the run was nice though, and he had a blast.  On Sunday, he had the same running order.  He qualifed in JWW, so he was on his way to a double qualifying (QQ) day possibility.  The standard course was very tricky, but Jim and Hardee stuck with it and qualified.  Hardee did everything perfectly and listened to Jim.  It was a joy to watch.  Jim and Hardee only had 2 QQs before today, so it was thrilling for us all, especially given the circumstances.

Sitting at an agility trial enjoying good company with dogs running, we could almost forget, just for a second, about the enemy we are fighting for Hardee.  We could live in the moment and relish Hardee's and other dogs' accomplishments.  There was peace, and there was joy.

And as you know, it is all about joy and all about Hardee!!