On March 21st of 2014, two things — one bad and one good — happened in my life:

The bad:

After finding a sore on Senna’s tongue and a trip to the vet to have it examined, it was removed and sent off to the lab.  The pathology report came back as malignant hemangiosarcoma (a cancer of the blood vessels), and my vet gave Senna 3-6 months to live.  It was truly devastating news.

Senna didn’t seem to realize anything was wrong, so I’ve tried hard to do the same.  He’s on special food and supplements, and he continues to feel good. . .so much so that he’s even still competing in agility from time to time.  March 21st of this year will mark the 1-year anniversary of Senna’s diagnosis, and I’m thrilled that my special boy is still with me.

The good:

A litter of Border Collie puppies were born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and I knew one of them would be mine.  The theme of the litter was “The Flintstones” (aka “The Yabba Dabba Do Crew”), and “Fred” was the second born (and the biggest!).  I picked him at the age of six weeks, and he came to live with me on May 16th.

My young’un’s name is now Caddo’s Fast Strider, and Ryker is his call name.  This pup is quite full of himself, and he’s going to teach me a lot about dog and agility training.  I definitely have my work cut out for me, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Considering what a busy boy Ryker is, it’s amazing that he’s also a most loving dog.