Dang Sore Dog

SUMMARY: Don't know what made Tika sore this time--

Tika hasn't been sore for quite a while, thank goodness. For a long time, I was giving her rimadyl before and during agility weekends just to be sure (arthritis sucks for aging people and dogs), but forgot to do it a couple of times and she was fine and then I just stopped doing it. I mean, Jake was on rimadyl for a while the first couple of times he came up sore at maybe 7 or 8, and then just didn't need it any more except on rare occasions, and he was still doing some agility apparently quite comfortably just before he died at 15.

Anyway--Tika is sore this afternoon and evening. No clue why or how. We played in the yard in the morning like we always do--like we usually do a couple of times a day. We didn't go to the park and play frisbee, which we often do. We haven't been going for walks as much the last 3 weeks because my work load has been higher than normal.

So this afternoon--when I actually got ambitious and actually went into the yard specifically to actually practice agility (having not felt like it for the longest time), Tika just trotted into the first tunnel I put her into, went gingerly over a 16" (which is low for her) jump, trotted across the dogwalk--well, if you've ever seen Tika work, you'll know that this is odd.

I gave her a break on the deck & tossed treats to her (which is always her #1 priority anyway) while I did bar-knocking and weave drills with Boost.

I went out for about 3 hours this evening, and when I came home, the dogs greeted me with the usual insanity--and within seconds, Tika had yelped, tucked what there is of her tail, and started to vanish to go hide in my bedroom (which is her fallback strategy when she's sore or not feeling well). I jollied her out of it and gave her a rimadyl.

But it remains: She's sore, and I don't know why, drat it all. Maybe it's *because* we haven't been going for walks or going to the park or doing as much work and play even in the yard?

I hate guessing games like this.

No trial this weekend, but CPE the following weekend. Hope she's feeling good for that.