On my search team is a young Flat Coated Retriever named Leah. She is just a young dog, currently 20 months. And for her first year of life she became one of the best human remains detection dogs I have ever seen. She even had two confirmed finds at such a young age.
But shortly after her 1st birthday she got sick, very sick. Leah was suddenly having severe trouble walking and keeping her balance. She has been thru several antibiotic courses and steroids, and has been tested for every tick born and food born disease that could even remotely match and has come back negative for everything.
She currently walks with an extremely exaggerated hackney gait (think how a Min Pin gaits in a dog show) she lifts her feet up very high and moves very stiff. Her attitude however is not affected. She wants to train, she is always excited and this past weekend she even ran up to the team van and alerted on the stored HRD scent articles. She doesn't know she is sick and doesn't understand why she can't do searches.
Her owner is going to be seeking out more options.
This is all just very sad.
Here are pictures I took of her training shortly before she feel ill.
She is doing a bark alert to a find
But shortly after her 1st birthday she got sick, very sick. Leah was suddenly having severe trouble walking and keeping her balance. She has been thru several antibiotic courses and steroids, and has been tested for every tick born and food born disease that could even remotely match and has come back negative for everything.
She currently walks with an extremely exaggerated hackney gait (think how a Min Pin gaits in a dog show) she lifts her feet up very high and moves very stiff. Her attitude however is not affected. She wants to train, she is always excited and this past weekend she even ran up to the team van and alerted on the stored HRD scent articles. She doesn't know she is sick and doesn't understand why she can't do searches.
Her owner is going to be seeking out more options.
This is all just very sad.
Here are pictures I took of her training shortly before she feel ill.
She is doing a bark alert to a find