Clean Run - November 2017 - 52

Not My Dog?!
From

DENIAL to ACCEPTANCE

By Sherry Kluever. Photos by Scott Persky

I have been a full-time agility instructor for 14 years,
and have worked with many students with dogs that are
prone to early takeoffs or ETOs. Over the years, I have
researched everything I can find on the subject. With all
of that information plus tons of hands-on experience, I
am very well versed. But, yet, like many people, I was
in denial about the problem with my own puppy, Fusion.
When I got my puppy, I immediately noticed some
weird things. I have one step into my house from the
backyard patio. Fusion would always take off early for
that one step, sometimes missing the step altogether,
hitting her chin, and even rolling into the house. It was
not good. As she got older, she would try to go up the
stairs, or jump onto the couch or bed, and nearly miss
(or completely miss). I kept telling myself that it was just
puppy stuff, but I couldn't remember my other puppies
doing those things.
As the months went on, I started doing puppy agility
stuff, with bars on the ground. When I began that foundation work, I noticed she would try to jump the ground
bars a bit, always taking off early. At about 8 months
old, worrying there was a problem, I decided to see
what she would do if I put the jumps up to 6 inches.
That's when it became more apparent there was a
problem. I was, however, still in denial, telling myself
it was impossible, although knowing deep down that it
wasn't impossible. I knew the parents and many of their
siblings, and there were no apparent issues with her
close relatives. So, I continued on, starting some con52

tact and table training. At that point, I saw more signs:
hitting low on the up side of the contacts and taking off
very early for the table, frequently almost missing or
missing it.
Then, as Fusion got a little older, I started jump training. Now there was no more denial; I knew for certain
she had ETOs. I cried for months. All the hopes and
dreams you have for a new puppy... Of course, I logically knew that it could be much worse; I could have a
sick or badly injured dog, but it was still painful.
I made an appointment with a veterinary ophthalmologist to see if there was something wrong with her eyes.
There was nothing wrong that would affect vision, so
on to the next step. Some months later, with the help
of people working on ETOs, I was able to get her into
a vision center for humans in Wisconsin. The exam
provided an explanation. Her general diagnosis was
strabismus and convergence insufficiency, resulting in
depth perception problems. She basically sees things
much closer than they really are.
Fusion's ETOs were bad enough that I was afraid she
would never be able to do agility safely. Training was
demoralizing and I didn't want her to get hurt. Every
time I got too discouraged, I would quit working with
her for a couple weeks and then decide to try again a
short time later, determined to do whatever I could. She
really wanted to do agility, which is what drove me to
persevere. It was a cycle that continued for a year.
Clean Run | November 17

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - November 2017