jacketsdb23

Well mom is 70lbs and dad was 85lbs...so probably around 70 lbs is my guess. She is 6months old and is 35 pounds right now. She doesn't look like she lost much weight at the hospital. The breeder has basically said "sorry" and said she did not do it intentionally (sell us a sick dog). She said she would stand by the contract. Well that basically means I could have brought Chloe back with the Parvo virus and got my money back. I've sent her the vet bill (a touch under a fortune - thats why she is now our Platinum Retriever :) ) and asked what she could do to help offset the costs. I haven't heard back from her yet on that. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

so a little update...Chloe was discharged from the hospital today. We have some meds to finish up over the next few days but doctor thinks she'll make a strong recovery and no need to keep her there. She was extremely happy to be out and about in the back yard. She looks so much more comfortable now. She is napping now - but even looks better while sleeping. She makes me smile. Strong girl. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

I'm doing some research on my own - but does anyone know if there is a "best practice" or "industry standard" for breeders on continuing the puppy vaccinations if they do not find homes after 10 - 12 weeks? Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Ha! She isn't so little. We call her moose butt. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Certainly everyone is entitled to their opinion. I don't think everyone has to make the same decisions and certainly one is not better than the other. In this case had we not picked up this puppy it would likely be dead. Now, it has cost us thousands. Worth it? I don't know. What value do you put on a pet? Especially one you've known for less than 24 hours? What responsibility do you have when you decide you want a pet? Do you care for it only when it benefits you? Do you say, well this will cost me money, I'm not doing it - and let the dog die? I believe there are responsibilities associcated with being a pet owner, whether you've picked it up at a rescue facility or went to a breeder. Each has a pro and a con. We made a decision and are dealing with the consequences. My new car will have to wait. Its hard to say - well here is a sick dog we'll bring it back to the breeder where it can die when everyone is telling you with 3 - 5 days in the hospital it will likely make a 100% recovery, especially since we spotted this early enough that the dog had not even started diarrhea yet. Parvo is nasty - but we are giving this dog a chance. 10 years down the road will it be worth it? Probably every penny if the dog makes it. who knows. I'd rather have the 3 grand in the bank. But sometimes shit happens. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

attached is Chloe before the trip to the hospital, when things seemed normal. She is a big girl. 35lbs at 6 mo. old. 3/4 English and 1/4 American. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Well...ironically this dog apparently WAS rescued because it likely would have died if we had not picked it up and shelled out the money we are. Update from the doctor this afternoon said white blood cell count is good, protein is above low threshold, temperature is normal, just not eating or drinking yet. They ware giving pain meds today to see if that would encourage the dog to eat. Vet said dog won't eat until pain subsides. I know how I feel after puking all night (food poisoning) and the last think I want to do is eat. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

We have the health contract signed by both parties. I have the vet information for the puppy from the breeder. We also have registration information with the AKC. Everything is in place its just a matter of figuring what to do and how to do it. So sad..but we are comfortable that the cost of treatment was the right thing to do and the Dr. is comfortable that she'll make it. Its just a matter of time. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

So my fiance and I finally decided to add a puppy to our little family and picked up a Golden Retriever from a breeder. Less than 24 hours later and it was apparent something was wrong. We brought the dog to the emergency vet and discovered she has Parvo. $2,000 in treatment later she is expected to recover but still is in the hospital. WTF? I'm so pissed I don't even know where to begin. I've contacted the breeder and she asked for name of Dr. and # of the place treating her. I gave her the information. Emails to her have been cordial thus far but i'm running out of patience. I don't know what I expect of her but i'm angry. If this dog doesn't make it we can't even get a new puppy until after a year because Parvo is highly contagious and lives in the environment for up to a year. Unless a dog has all of its shots we can't have it on our property. We'll be cleaning with bleach. This just sucks. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Damn. I was on the hill in Syracuse NY last time they won the basketball championship. Was looking forward to another one. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

We've been putting up a bunch that last couple of weekends. Weather is getting better...and we have a nice pond. The pond should be there for some time too, until it turns into the "puddle". The puddle is harder to swoop because of the 5ft wall at the end. :) Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Little video to start off the 2010 season. Pond is as big as I've seen it in Byron (4 years). Lots more video...most of it on HD camera but I put together a little that I have on my mini DV. Enjoy. Have a great 2010 swooping season! http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=33jimo0&s=5 Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Peter - Awesome! If you need anything let me know. I'm new to swoop competitions but I'd like to help in any way that I can. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

haha. Yeah, we've talked about it. sort of. She loves the idea of me trying canopy piloting at nationals this year too.

I may have been kicking the wrong way, i don't know but as soon as I stopped fighting it is started to get better. That was in the transition from hands on risers to handles and saying "aww fuck". Superfletch - in principle I agree 100%. I believe i was aware enough knowing where I deployed and how long I'd been spinning to give it the time I did. I wasn't going to wait for the audible. I was literally ready to cutaway with the hands on my handles. I guess its hard to explain but it was a fairly accurate educated guess. Had I deployed say at 3500' i'm 100% confident it would have been a cutaway immediately. Crossfires aren't the quickest opening canopy on the market. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Good point about making a rule. My rule was always if its not fixed by 1800 i'll get rid of it. Its hard to make that decision when you can't read your altimeter. I wanted to bring this up so others can think about it. John - Made my first jump in '96 at 16 and started jumping "regularly" with 17 jumps in 2006. So 4 years. I suppose i could update that info. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Almost had reserve ride #2 on Saturday but things worked out. Normal exit with good visibility (clouds around). During breakoff at about 6000' tracked and hit some light industrial haze. Goggles froze up with the moisture. Dumped at 4500' (audible alarm altitude). Immediate and hard line twists on XF2 119. A few times around and I could tell things were getting worse. Vision wasn't completely blocked I could see my risers and lines...but could not read my neptune. I also had a audible that can go off below 2000' ft with enough decent rate. I'm not sure if I was hitting that rate or not in my spinning line twist but I remember thinking that I had not yet heard it. I took my hands off the risers and was actually quite calm and enjoying the experience but a bit upset I was going to cut away on my final jump of the day. Hands went right to my handles (without looking). when my hands came off the risers and went to my handles the line twists started to correct itself and i let it play out. I came out of it and lifted my goggles and looked at my neptune and it read 2100'. I know i was listening for the audible and felt my "body clock" was right on. I never expected not to be able to read my neptune. Its a good reason to double up with a audible altimeter as well. Its great to have a hard deck but it really only helps if know exactly where you are. Just something to think about in case you've never thought about what would happen in an emergency situation and not being able to read your altimeter. In this case I was prepared to cut away much higher than I would have normally only because I couldn't determine where I was visually. Another reason to avoid moisture on cold days. Food for thought. Enjoy. And be safe. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

The ball is actually made of leather. Just pointing that out. And it was an awesome game, I drank many beers, and ate more than almost any other day of the year. Fantastic! Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

I have an idea. If YOU want to exit the aircraft in a climbing low pass make that an exception, discussed between you and the pilot prior to exiting. If its not discussed, make SOP exiting with reduced power and level configuration. If it cost to much to do that. Raise the price of a hop n pop. As we saw with the recent wing suit fatality, even experienced seasoned skydivers can fuck up and hit the tail. But he should have known better right? He had years of experience. Should have never happened. And the plane was properly configured for jump run. Everyone fucks up at some point. I hope that isn't you or me or anyone else on here. But it will happen. Something that is so easy to do and costs so little, should be SOP. It just makes sense. There is really no down side to it. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

I don't understand what the big deal is? Cut and level the plane for hop n' pops. Seems simple. I too have jumped from the king air on a climbing low pass. It was done safely, but a level plane is more safe. I've seen the same plane level out for a more inexperienced jumpers. With that being said, I don't care if the plane is leveled out or not...but it seems leveling it out is a safe option and costs little. If there is a cost impact, raise the price. This practice won't put a DZ out of business and is a safer option independent of jumper education and knowledge. USPA would be smart to take a position that says leveling off the plane and reducing power is the proper configuration for exiting the aircraft. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Right about 2.0. Light for a Xbrace...maybe. But too heavy for the XF in my opinion. I think flying a 2.0 on Xbrace is no worse than flying a 2.0 on a XF. I have a few jumps on a XF2 109 but no way to compare it to the next level (with a JVX anyway). I'm open to changing my mind on that if I'm wrong. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Yeah, i read there was no official program, probably on here somewhere, but thought I would ask. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Getting a Velocity to demo is easy at my DZ. I wanted to try the JVX as well before making a decision and I'm wondering if anyone knows who to contact about getting one here in NorCal. Looking at a 109-ish size. Thanks for any input. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Planning any type of swoop meet at byron is slightly more difficult than Tim's wing over. But If I were a betting man the next Saturday with "clear below one two thousand" on AWOS will bring the swooping crew out to check out the pond. This is assuming some of this rain actually falls in Byron. Weather is just odd out there this winter. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Tim - i'll do my best to not disappoint.