I'm glad summer fell on a Wednesday this year.

Today was the kind of day that summer dreams are made of.   It admittedly started out less than ideally, I will admit, with a trip to the vet...

Ah the vet.  Yes I would have the dog with the random almost-unknown syndrome. Back story -- *twice* this week, and never before, while playing frisbee Sasha's hind legs seized leaving her temporarily paralyzed.   Yeah - you can imagine my reaction the first time.  Except she appeared to be in absolutely no pain, and twenty minutes later was totally fine.   And then it happened again later that week.  Exactly the same.  Seems to be falling-down drunk.  If she manages to stand, her legs cross and she falls over sideways.  Super high respiration and quieter/more sucky than usual, but otherwise no signs.  And twenty minutes later fine.  Cool huh?   Yeah - I thought not.  But Google to the rescue comes up with some variant of Exercise Induced Collapse.  Apparently found in young, very fit, dogs.  Usually labs -- less likely in Aussie's.  But sobeit.  Anyways -- even though Google's description and videos matched exactly what I was seeing, I still wanted her checked by an actual vet.  So this morning started with a trip there.

First challenge -- getting in the door.  Sasha's afraid of other dogs and there were four in the waiting room.  One of which was huge, about 5' away, and lunging/barking at the door.  Owner had it on a short leash, but still.  I understood Sasha's hesitation.   Fortunately the nurse (tech I suppose really, but same concept) realized the problem and said I could wait to weigh Sasha till the scary dog beside the scale was gone.   So we moved over to an unoccupied area of the waiting room to hang out for a bit until our room was available.  

Couldn't believe some of the owners I saw.   One, with a very big fluffy type dog that was completely out of control.  Had a choke collar on and was in full use pretty well the whole time.  Talking about the specific grooming she wanted done while the dog was climbing on the counter (ummm my chest height - to put in perspective), lunging at the cat, etc etc.   Tech/nurse took dog and had it under control, sitting quietly, in about half a second.  Another owner one let her dog leap on a second dog (second dog was being exceptionally well behaved, lying at its owner's feet), saying "oh don't worry, he won't bite."  Ummmm in what world is that acceptable?  I was completely appalled.  Of the half-dozen or so dogs that came in in the 15 mins I was in the entrance, only one seemed under any form of control.  It made me appreciate Sasha a whole lot more ;)   She's certainly not the best dog on a leash by any means, but in every other instance...

So anyways -- we got into the room and were there about an hour as our vet did some research and talked to people.  Seems Google was likely right; vet's trying to confirm if their lab can run any tests that will be useful to confirm or not.  On the down side, absolutely terrified me when I saw the symptoms.  On the plus side, easily enough managed and really not tragic.  The vet asked me to try and get it on video if it happens again.

Leaving the clinic was a very different scene than entering it.  There was only one little puppy, who was super excited.  And his owner *was* making a concerted effort to make sure he will one day be well trained.  But what really impressed me is she *also* had three young boys, all under the age of 5, with her who were as rambunctious as the puppy, and she managed to keep them *all* under control.  Especially when contrasted with the people I met coming in, this woman was a super-star.

Alright so, have to try to replicate the issue.   Go home and play a solid 45 minutes of frisbee.  End result -- a thirsty and very happy Sasha.  hahahha I strongly suspect adrenaline plays some role in EIC -- both times it happened before she was super excited.  Wasn't that today so it was just normal exercise.  Of which she gets lots.  Vet confirmed heart super healthy and athletic, and all joints/limbs working as they should.   

Abandon that idea and go to the barn to visit my sorely neglected horse.  Haven't ridden her in...  well we won't acknowledge how long its been.  Sandring footing was super sloppy and of course I had *zero* focus from Lexi.  So gave up on actual work and decided since summer had shown up, we'd go hacking.  Except, of course, Lex hasn't been ridden in a while.  And doesn't always hack well ;)   And I had Sasha with me.  So we hacked at a power trot/very collected canter...  With the occasional spin/stop/go.  And Sasha, for the first time ever, stayed perfectly with us.   I was so proud of both puppy and pony for behaving themselves to the best of their abilities on that hack.  And what a great way to spend the day.  If I'd had a *little* more control of said pony, I could've had the ultimate "through the ears" shot with Sasha leading the way up ahead.  But I wasn't risking losing the brand new phone to take a photo on my not-so-quiet soon-to-be event horse ;)

After finishing playing with puppy and pony, head to my parents' place so Sasha could play with Bailey while I went sailing.  What an absolutely perfect night!  Warm, sunny, decent wind and quiet water.  I think it was the fastest race I've been in yet.  And of course we won ;)  We won by enough that we had time to go for a cruise after.  hahaha perfect end to a lovely summer day.