Your+Dog++May+2019

compete in the Crufts HTM i nals.”

Rose came into Caroline’s life following

the tragic loss of her half-sister due to

a trai c accident. “Rose’s sister was

gorgeous, and so we asked the breeder

if she intended to breed from the same

parents again. She had retired them, but

had kept two puppies from their last litter,

and let me have one.

“Rose is a lovely, sweet-natured girl, full

of mischief, and very clever and obliging.

She comes from a working line and has

a lot of drive, which makes her a fantastic

working dog.

LIFE-THREATENING DIAGNOSIS

“Everything was i ne, until Rose turned

two and started to go of her food. She

quickly went downhill, and, after many

investigations, she was diagnosed with

a rare type of autoimmune disease, which

is life-threatening. It means her immune

system destroys the cells in her bone

marrow, which make new red blood cells,

and her immune system also destroys

circulating red blood cells. Rose was

severely anaemic and needed two blood

transfusions while we waited (and hoped)

for her body to respond to treatment. She

has an unusual blood type, but, thankfully,

the Pet Blood Bank helped, otherwise it’s

doubtful that she would have made it.

“Autoimmune disease makes Rose

susceptible to infections, particularly

because she is constantly on

immunosuppressant medications. Winter

is always dii cult and every few years she

develops a chest infection

and ends up in an oxygen

tent on intravenous

antibiotics in a critical condition.

“Over the years I have learned to manage

her illness. Shortly after her diagnosis,

I started to look for activities that Rose

would enjoy and that would help keep her

mind occupied. I knew she couldn’t do high

adrenaline sports such as agility, and so,

in 2011, we visited Crufts to see what else

was on of er. I watched the HTM i nal in the

main arena, and thought one day I’d like to

compete there with Rose. I fell in love with

the elegance and focus of HTM, and the

bond that it creates between the dog

and handler.

“I found a wonderful teacher called Kirsty

Vaughan and started going to classes.

Sadly, Kirsty became very ill, and had to

stop her classes, but I continued to go for

one-to-one lessons. Kirsty was the same

age as me, and we became friends. She

said she always knew that Rose could get

to Crufts, and I would have loved for her to

know how close we came to this.

“When Kirsty passed away, her family

gave me her amazing Border Collie, Fawkes,

and it was incredibly emotional for me

when I i rst stepped into the ring with

him. Fawkes is nine years old now, and

we won the Crufts HTM i nal in 2016

and 2017. We also came third this year,

which is fantastic.

“In 2016, I organised a fun training

show and a lady called Gina Pink,

who is a big inl uence in the HTM

world, came along. I’d taken Rose,

just to do something with her, and

when Gina watched us she was

really enthusiastic and encouraged

me to compete again when Rose

was well enough to do so.

“I took Gina’s advice, and Rose

progressed very quickly. At her

i rst advanced competition,

she came second to Crufts

champion Lucy Creek!

“Last year, Rose qualii ed

for the Crufts semi-i nals,

which are held in January, but

she’d developed pneumonia

just before Christmas, and

had, once again, been in

an oxygen tent i ghting for her life. She

hadn’t recovered as quickly as I would

have liked, but I thought she was OK and

we went to the semi-i nals. After about

30 seconds in the ring, I knew she wasn’t

OK, and withdrew her. It was massively

disappointing, but I was incredibly relieved

to still have her. I thought about retiring

her, but somehow I wanted the chance to

show people what an amazing little dog

she is. Rose then went on to qualify for the

2019 semi-i nals.

REBUILDING CONFIDENCE

“Because of her previous semi-i nals

experience, when she wasn’t ready for the

ring after her illness, I felt like Rose had lost

a bit of coni dence, so I worked really hard

over the year to build this up.

“From the minute we entered the ring

at the 2019 semi-i nals, she was full of

beans and I was so happy. It was the best

performance she’d ever given and we

qualii ed for Crufts. It felt like we were living

the dream! And then, soon afterwards, Rose

developed pneumonia. I’d been so thrilled,

but now my world came crashing down.

I knew that Rose wouldn’t have time to

recover to compete at Crufts, and so

I withdrew her.

“I also knew that at ten-and-a-half, it was

time for Rose to retire from competition.

Crufts was always going to be her

retirement performance, and although

she didn’t get to perform there, she is still

the i rst Whippet to qualify for the HTM

i nals. She achieved so much, and although

I wonder what she would have been like if

things had been dif erent, as long as she’s

well and happy, it doesn’t matter. Happy

retirement Rose!”

http://www.yourdog.co.uk 59

“I wanted to show

people what

an amazing little

dog she is.”

e

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is always dii cult and every few years she

develops a chest infection

and ends up in an oxygen

tent on intravenous

gave me her

and it was inc

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Rose with Fawkes.

Caroline and Rose in

action at an HTM show.

A real bond

— Rose and Caroline.

56-57 YD Readers Dogs CS(SW)ok.indd 59 25/03/2019 16:11