I did my very best

Aroooo rooooo roooo.

The agility season is drawing to an end now, so time to have a sit down and a nice relax in my favourite garden chair.

I have done really well this year, and mummy has been very very pleased with me. I have had lots of clear rounds and place rosettes, and I have almost made it to grade 3 which is good for a Setter. I just love running and jumping, but not when the weather is too hot, because I then prefer a nice run followed by a lovely swim in the cool water.

Last month we went to a HUGE agility show in Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire. It was called The Kennel Club International Agility Festival. The weather was cool and showery, and just right for me. On the Friday we did really well and managed to dodge all the thundery showers when it came to our turn to go around the ring. It was great fun. I ran and charged about, and had two clear rounds in the Starters Cup qualifiers. Mummy was over the moon, especially when she discovered later in the day that I had qualified for the finals on the Saturday. Me..... yes, me - not Tallulah for once!

Tallulah is usually the one who does well and qualifies and gets rosettes and trophies. I am usually well behind her. However, this time, she made one little mistake in the qualifiers, when she managed to knock down one of the elements which make up the long jump, and that was it - out she went- even though she had gone round faster than me.

I was so excited. My head doubled in size, especially when mummy said that she had prepared an extra special supper for me as a celebration. Huh, I had beaten Tallulah BIG time and lots of collies as well! I certainly deserved my special supper, which was very nice indeed.

The following morning, I was all bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to take on the world, but mummy wasn't. In fact, something very strange was happening to her and she wasn't sure what. With her adrenal gland problems she often becomes very tired and exhausted, but this particular morning, she felt particularly drained, thirsty, shakey and her vision had become blurred.

The first class I went in was a standard agility class, and the course was very simple. However, all of a sudden mummy stopped. I looked at her and wondered what she was doing. She stood in the the middle of the ring, very confused and couldn't figure out how the course went, so we gave up and left. She then went back in with Tallulah, and got to exactly the same point, and found herself lost yet again!

Mummy was very upset, and couldn't understand what was happening. I was very very worried about her. The next class was a jumping course, and again it was a simple course. Both Tallulah and I went clear, but mummy came out of the ring almost off her feet, and very confused as to how she managed to get us both around.

"That's it" she said "I am never going to be able to get Barkley around the Starters Cup Final, I can't even cope with the simplist of courses today". I plodded along at her side, wondering if we were going to make it into the main ring or not. Mummy was just not herself.

After walking the course, mummy was satisfied that the course was good, and that barring any accidents I should go clear. However, just before she lead me into the ring she felt close to collapsing. She just wanted to get me round and then back out, so that she could have a sit down.

When we were at the start line, a nice lady looked at mummy and said "don't worry, just get in there and enjoy yourself". Mummy said that she would. Usually she would really enjoy herself, especially with such a nice course which had been set out for us. The lady looked at mummy again and said "don't be so worried, just enjoy yourself". Mummy wasn't worried about being in the main ring. She was worried about getting around the course..... and then it happened. I was going really well and mummy ended up forgetting the course AGAIN. In fact she found herself going round in the opposite direction to where she should have been be going!

Mummy couldn't wait to get out of the ring. Shortly after, somebody said to her "I think you need to sit down. I will go and get you a chair. You look very tired. In fact tired isn't the word for it - you look really ....... tired is JUST NOT the word for it!!!!!". Indeed mummy was feeling terrible What should have been the biggest and one of the most enjoyable days of my agility life had turned into something quite frightening.

No wonder somebody had offered her a chair and had virtually accused my mummy of looking a great deal more than 1/2 dead! She was - and didn't understand it!

Over the next couple of days, she became much worse, and could barely stand up without almost keeling over. By Tuesday she had decided to take herself off to see the nurse at her local surgery. She asked the nurse to prick her finger and take her blood sugar levels. They were VERY low, but mummy isn't a diabetic!

Mummy is insulin resistant and also suffers from hypo adrenalism. To help her loose more weight, she had switched her sweeteners from a fructose based sweetener to dextrose, which is pure glucose. This would normally have been a good move, however, as her adrenal glands don't work properly when they should, she didn't produce the cortisol which was required to help regulate her sugar levels once the insulin spike had occured. The excess insulin made her sugar levels drop very low, but the lack of cortisol made it impossible for her sugars to balance themselves out again to a safe and sustainable level. She effectively suffered what is known as "reactive hypoglycemia", which causes confusion, dizzyness, blurred vision, fast heartbeat, drowsiness, and anxiety.

Mummy keeps looking at me, very sad and upset that she let me down on my big agility day. Of all the days it could have started happening, and so frightening for her because she didn't know what was going on.


Both mummy and myself had put in a lot of training, and competing to get to that level, and it was very disappointing - more for her than it was for me. I couldn't care less. I was more concerned that mummy wasn't able to function, and was finding it very difficult to look after us.

Anyway, she is more or less back on track now. We are having fun. She is taking it easy and is just monitoring the overall situation.

We can all have a good trot and run around again, and Daisy thinks things are now great. She has been doing lots to make mummy laugh and with a face like this.... mummy IS laughing again!!!


p-s I have heard mummy talking about my going to live in Wales with my beloved Grrrrays? oooh I do hope so. x x x