A dear little girl who loved and lived every minute of her short life to the fullest.
I introduced her parents to each other and was present at her birth - 25.11.2005. Second pick of the litter, the perfect choice for a dog that desperately wanted to work. A lively Border Collie with tiny black beady eyes (didn’t make for good photos). Emma managed to ignore this bundle of happiness but Amie didn’t care - nothing bothered her spirit. Her dad, Jazz held the 60-weave pole challenge at one time and it didn’t take her long to show the world that she was going to challenge his record!
By the time Amie was 18 months old - competing age- she was ready to impress. Being a tad short she started her KUSA career knocking as many bars as there were on a single course. She still managed to be overall Grade 1 winner at a KUSA championship show weekend in Port Elizabeth and qualify into Grade 2. Able to compete at a slightly lower height category in SADAA disciplines, she excelled. She was the fastest dog overall at SADAA Boland Regional Trials 2007, 3rd overall Grade 2 dog and qualified into Jumping 3 over the same weekend - a week before she turned 2!
Not my usual pessimistic self, I saw us competing overseas one day.
2 months after her 2nd birthday I noticed that her left eye was "bothering" her and the local vet referred her immediately to the eye specialist who pronounced that she was totally blind in that eye and it had to come out. A sad and costly wedding anniversary!
A week later the test results were back and I was given the devastating news: the damage done was not due to trauma but “an opportunistic fungus” and in the tissue surrounding the eye; meaning it could re-occur elsewhere in the body - in time. She persevered with vet visits and more blood work for the next 10 days. With no definition/treatment for the actual fungus and knowing how much this bundle of energy wanted to work, I turned down trial treatment.
It was also around this time that Lindsay, Chantal and myself started Agility Academy.
3 weeks after losing her left eye Amie earned her first Jumping QC at SADAA WP Regionals!
I celebrated with tears knowing that no one knew how long she would still be around!
Exactly 2 weeks later I woke up before Amie - unusual enough for me to realise she wasn’t herself. The vet confirmed that the “bug” was in her bladder. They gave her something to perk her up to give us just 24 hours together.
It was the toughest day to get thru. Charlie came home to say goodbye to her; Nicolette kept in touch from the UK and Victoria and Lindsay came to spend the day with us. She enjoyed a leisurely groom, did as many weave poles as she wanted, ate all the treats available in the house and then went to her to her second favourite place in this world - (an agility course being her ultimate favourite) - the beach. And then I took her to the vet. It was the 10th March, 2008.
Just me
C’est la vie
I think she would have rocked the agility world had she been given the time. She certainly made an impact in the time she was given. Unfortunately a long life was not in the cards for her and she's gone to join her dad in weave pole heaven.
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