Gandalf was the first grey dog to come into our lives. At 10 weeks old, he was a surprise birthday present….. and nothing more than an overgrown mouse. I had to watch him every minute while he was outside for fear a hawk would swoop down and snatch him. I knew nothing of the Weimaraner breed when he arrived and I had to learn and learn fast and what I read pretty much intimidated me. I was lucky in that we also had two Great Danes, Max and Dahnia who helped me “raise” him. He wasn’t a real troublesome puppy at all... just a normal weim puppy which can be troublesome enough.

At the early age of 4 months, he developed valley fever and became terribly sick with it. It was the beginning of what was and is a chronic battle with the disease. He responded well to the drugs for the valley fever and at 9 months old, we started his obedience training. He and I developed a deep bond and it was obvious. He would do or try to do just about anything for me…so we were very successful in the competitive Obedience ring. Gandalf earned his Companion Dog title in 2001 and his Companion Dog Excellent on 2002. The deep bond wasn’t without its drawbacks though. In Open Obedience, the dog (Gandalf) must hold a 3minute sit stay and a 5minite down stay with the handler (me) out of sight. My little Mama’s Boy followed me out of the ring many times before we got it right.

While we were still working on his Open (CDX) title, we started agility training. Our bond grew and it was then that we both discovered Gandalf’s real love of sport. Desire and drive in agility were never a problem for Gandalf….but control …well, that was another story. This was a dog that just could not handle being still…he wanted to always be moving…even if it was only jumping up and down in place…he HAD to MOVE! We trained for over a year before we competed the first time. And our fist time in the agility ring, he refused to wait for me to tell him it was OK to start his run and he bolted past me to the first obstacle. I had been taught that the only way to break a dog of the bad habit of breaking the start line stay was to pull him off the course and not let him run. So our first run ended about 5 seconds after it began because that’s what I did. He learned very quickly and broken start line stays hardly ever happened again.

Gandalf earned his Novice Agility and Novice Agility Jumpers titles fairly quickly, but we stayed in the Novice classes for quite awhile to work on his other issues…weave poles, contacts and control. I, as a handler needed a lot of work too. More than once, I got in his way on the course and he sent me face first into the dirt. Many a time, we came off the course only to be met with comments like…”Well, he sure does have FUN out there!” Or “what a crash and burn dog!” By the time we got to Open Agility, we had started to “click” and before long we finished Open and moved up to the Excellent class. Nali was at the same level as Gandalf in agility even thought she started her training 8 months later than he did. I was still pretty intimidated by the courses and running with Gandalf was always a bigger challenge than with Nali. He was much faster and there was no time to make a mistake or adjustment on the course with him…we either got it right the first time or we didn’t qualify.

In early 2005, after being off the medication for the valley fever, he relapsed and had to go back onto the meds. Again he bounced back, but it took a little longer. We took most of the year off and the only thing we worked on was Rally Obedience. He got his first qualifying score in Rally in May... a perfect 100!

We went back to agility in the fall and he had just finished getting his 2nd qualifying score in Excellent Jumpers in late 2005 when he became very ill again. This time, it was different though. He was much sicker and had a very high body temperature. The blood work showed that the valley fever had gotten worse. A short term course of Rimadyl was prescribed and he responded to it quickly. I thought we were out of the woods. After about 3 days on the Rimadyl, he fell off the sofa and lay on the floor unable to get up or walk. I tried to help him get up and the back legs were completely non supporting and he had complete propreception on both back feet. We rushed him to the emergency clinic where the veterinary neurologist examined him and said he was in very serious shape. While he was not paralyzed…he could move his back legs, it was obvious that he had no sensation in his back end and his front was weak as well. We left him at the clinic for a barrage of tests and not knowing if he’d ever walk again. I was devastated. I tried to visit him, but between not being able to get to me and not being able to get up, he was so distraught, I fell apart. Leaving him there crying was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. He was given a myelogram and a spinal tap the next day. The myelogram showed there had been a tear in the membrane surrounding his spinal cord just behind the last rib. The spinal tap showed blood in the fluid. The fluid sample was sent to the lab and traces of two types of bacteria were found to be present. One was determined to be neospora, the other was unknown but was suspected to be toxoplasmosis. The best diagnosis the neurologist could determine was that the bacteria in the fluid cause inflammation around the cord. The inflammation caused swelling and the resultant swelling tore the hole in the membrane. The membrane itself being tissue paper thin was not surgically reparable, but it could possibly heal on its own. The first order of business was to attack the bacteria. Massive doses of antibiotics were prescribed along with a doubling of the valley fever medication (Fluconazole) to 620 mg/day. When I asked if I was going to lose him, the vet’s reply was “I don’t know” When I asked if he’d ever walk again, the vet’s reply was “probably not…but we can always put him on a cart” I walked out of the clinic knowing that if I had to put this vibrant active dog with the need for speed on a cart for the rest of his life, I would have to put him down because he couldn’t exist like that. I brought him home from the clinic after 3 days with a sling. He was to be crated 24/7 except for trips outside to the bathroom which all had to be done on the sling. His front had come back strong and he was completely capable of supporting himself but the back legs were completely lifeless. I had to perform exercise and physical therapy 2-3 times daily on his legs to keep them stretched out. With all the crate time, even with the exercises, his hindquarters and legs began to thin quickly. One day after about 2 weeks, I left him outside lying on his bed in the sun after an exercise session and came into the house for 5 minutes. I looked up to see him on the patio getting a drink of water….a full 35 feet from where I had left him! I screamed! Not wanting to scare him, I tried to get outside as quickly as possible and as calmly as possible see how long he would stand there. He was so pathetic, but his little stub of a tail was wagging so fast. From that point, we never looked back. At the 4 week juncture on a follow up visit to the neurologist, I walked him into the clinic on the sling, took it off and let the vet watch him walk up and down the hall. He was amazed. He said, “I thought we’d be talking about a cart” And I said “I don’t think you or I knew the drive and determination this dog has” But he did want me to be realistic in my expectations of Gandalf’s future. He told me he would never do agility again because while he was able to walk, he did suffer permanent neurological damage. I didn’t care…I still had this amazing dog in my life and that’s all that mattered to me.

So we hung up the agility cleats and went on hiatus and just worked on getting stronger and building all those muscles up in his back legs. It was while I was watching him walking down a row of paver blocks in our yard that were only 10 inches wide that I thought he just might not be finished after all. Granted the blocks were only 4 inches off the ground, but there was plenty of yard on either side of them that he could’ve walked on…but yet he chose to walk the row of blocks.

The first time I put him on the teeter, he fell off, but went right back and got on again and did it fine the second time. Jumping would take longer as he really needed to figure out where his rear legs were and because there was diminished sensation on the right rear…sometime he just had to guess where it was. He looked funny when he ran and his jumps looked a little like a bunny hopping, but slowly he gained more strength and was able to jump 16 inches. Stamina was still a problem. He tired very easily, but again, the drive and determination along with the love of the sport carried him. In September 2006, just 9 months after my being told he’d never walk again, he did his first agility run…a NADAC tunnelers run. There were cheers and tears from me and my friends for this amazing wonderful dog when we finished that run. I taped the run and sent a copy of it to the neurologist.

We have since gone back into the Novice Preferred class in AKC agility. He jumps 20 inches and only has to weave 6 poles. I will not enter him in more than one run per day just because I know that he will always give me more than he has before he will quit so I have to be the controller of how much is enough.

At almost 7 years old now, he is starting to show a little white grizzle around the mouth and the high dose of Fluconazole for the valley fever has taken its toll on his health as well, but he still jumps at me, runs with the other grey dogs, and plays with anyone who’s game.

We have since returned to training in obedience and are working in Utility and we continue to compete in Rally wher Gandalf has now earned his Rally Novice title and is 2/3 of the way to his Rally Advanced title.

All I know is he is the most loving, amazing dog I’ve ever had.