Tough Decision

This post is about my little guy Boo. He just turned 6 last month. I got him at 9 months & he was not the easiest dog to train. He was a show dog but didn't have the best nature & was dismissed from the ring for growling at the judge, etc. He knew nothing when I got him, & he was very spoiled. He was probably not the best candidate for your first agility dog!
We worked a long time together before things started to mesh... he would only do a couple of obstacles, then leave or refuse to do anything. He was very slow & velcro & wouldn't leave my side. Then at the end of the run, I could never catch him. Slowly things started to come together. We went to 4 AAC Nationals together... the first year we didn't qualify at Regionals, so we drove out to BC to volunteer, & I entered Boo in Steeplechase - he won his division! Huge surprise!
Then the next year we qualified to go to Nationals, so we went to Ontario & he came 3rd overall in his division. Another huge surprise! He also won the Steeplechase final for the 6" dogs! Money & everything!
I won't bore you with all the details, but the next 2 Nationals he placed 4th & 7th & finally got some gambles. He has since become a pretty good little gambler!

Boo has always hated the teeter & I always suspected that the jolt at the end jarred his back. He would always do it in training (when the treats trumped the pain) but not in trials.
I did start taking him to a chiropractor, who adjusted his back, & he seemed to run quite well.
Last week his back seemed to be really sore & he started screaming when we picked him up, etc. Off to the vet we went. After xrays & much poking & prodding, we determined that he has a protruded disk in his middle back. He's on crate rest right now, as well as muscle relaxants & medicam, so he's feeling much better. The vet explained that he could probably still feel well enough to run agility, but if he had a jar to his back, more disk could leak out & there would be a possiblity of paralysis. I just couldn't see us having fun running courses anymore if I was worrying & he was hurting, so I made the tough decision to retire him from agility. He may still run the odd jumpers course if I feel he's really itching to get out there, but otherwise he's done - no more teeters for the little guy. With AAC Nationals here in Calgary this year, it was disappointing to not be able to run him here if we qualified, but it's just a game & he is first & foremost my pet Boo.