Rilley the Water Dog

In all of his 12 years, there's one thing that Rilley has never done.  Unlike most dogs, he has never before gone swimming.  Well, this past Saturday that all changed.  With the current stretch of hot weather we thought the timing could not have been better.  So we took him down into the ravine near our house where a creek runs through.

Nice cool water on a hot day.

We found a great spot where we could just walk in with him, but with deeper areas so that he could try to swim.  He seemed to welcome the cool water running across his paws, but was a bit tentative with the deeper water.  So, to help out, I picked him up and lowered him into an area where he could swim without touching bottom.  When I let go, he kept his head above water and swam back to shallower water.

"I can do it!  I can swim!"

Given that this was his very first time in the water, he didn't seem to stress about it at all.  He swam as if it was the most natural thing for him to do.  However, while he really seemed to like it, a few times in and out and he had enough and trotted off to shore.

If the dog days of summer continue to be hot, Rilley now has a choice to chill in the air conditioned climate of the house, or to go for a short walk and cool off in the the creek!

Rilley...a real "Toronto Star"!

Photo: Chris So, The Toronto Star

Back in January, the Toronto Star ran an article detailing the Slaight family's generous donation of $50 million to the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.  In it Dr. Benjamin Neel, the centre's director of research had said:

"Targeted treatment and immune therapy — a way to reactivate the immune system against tumours — could lead to cures"

Immune therapy is exactly how Rilley was treated for his brain tumour, and it ultimately saved his life.  So I reached out to writer Isabel Teotonio through an email saying that immune therapy can indeed work; after all we have proof in a four-legged, furry friend.  Ever since we participated in the trial at the University of Minnesota, where Rilley benefited from the hard work and dedication of the late Dr. John Ohlfest, Dr. Liz Pluhar and the rest of their team, we've wanted to bring them as much exposure as possible.  It's just our little way of trying to give back for all that we have received from them...our family could never thank them enough.

A few weeks ago, Isabel paid us a visit to interview Sara and I for the article and photographer Chris So came to get some photos.  We sat down and discussed Rilley's entire journey...interestingly it reminded us of just how far he's come.

Rilley seems to have taken a real liking to Toronto Star photographer Chris So.

This weekend the June 1st edition of the Saturday Star is running a series of articles about veterinary medicine including one chronicling Rilley's unique story.  Isabel did a fantastic job writing it, so look for the article entitled "Veterinarian: Rilley the Miracle Dog" in the Life section of the paper or click on the image below to be taken to the online edition.

The Emperor's New Collar (Rilley's 12th Birthday)

Happy 12th Birthday Rilley!

Rilley and all his Birthday spoils!
"Keep your paws off!  They're mine!", he says.

Today marks Rilley's 12th Birthday; another monumental occasion given the incredible second chance he has been given. Well, as I've said before it's really the anniversary date of the day we brought him home from the doggie adoption agency.  That was 10 years ago when he was just two years old.  As usual, we took him out to one of the many pet stores and let him pick out something special, and as tradition dictates around our house, it would be a new collar.  He has received new collars for such things as birthdays, Christmas, trips that we've been on including one from the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games and most befitting, one from the University of Minnesota.

A selection of collar's past, including from the University of Minnesota and the
2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The store we chose this time was Petsmart on Argentia Road in Mississauga.  While we were shopping, the staff checked if there was anything we needed help in finding.  Sara had wanted to find him a collar that said something like "Happy Birthday" on it...while I knew the chances of finding that were slim to none...Sara insisted that we ask, after all we did get him a Christmas collar!  Of course, there were no birthday-specific collars to be found, but this tipped off the staff to his special day.  A little later, while I was still shopping, the staff member who we had spoken with came up with two toys and asked Rilley to pick one.  When he seemed to settle on the one in the picture above, she removed the tags, said "Happy Birthday" and gave it to him.  That was very nice and when I thanked her, she said it wasn't everyday that a pet comes in on their actual birthday!

Unfortunately, I was not paying enough attention to get the lady's name, I really would have liked to thank her properly here on the blog, or even have mentioned to their corporate office that they have some wonderful employees.

When we checked out, the cashier saw the toy and asked "Is this the Birthday Boy?"  It sure was.  He really is a very lucky dog.  Oh, and yes, he did get a new collar!

Happy Birthday Rilley!

Cancer research has lost a true pioneer

Dr. John Robert Ohlfest
1977 - 2013

It is with great sadness that Sara and I pass along the news that Dr. John Ohlfest, the driving force behind the experimental treatment that saved Rilley's life, passed away on January 21st of melanoma; he was 35. It is through John's unwavering dedication and ground breaking research that advances in the treatment of brain tumours have been possible.

Having had the opportunity to communicate with John on several occasions and even to sit and have a discussion over lunch it became apparent that John was not only a brilliant mind, but a genuinely kind and down to earth person.  Despite his busy schedule, he took the time give us a tour of his lab and even to answer our daughters questions.  One of the best impressions we walked away with that day was his love for his family.  When he showed us his office, he just beamed with pride when he spoke of his family.

Needless to say, we were shocked to learn of his passing.  It is incredibly ironic that a man who dedicated his life to finding a cure for brain cancer lost his own battle with another form of this devastating disease.  We can only hope that his life's work continues on as the treatments he developed have already begun to help people and we would really like to see it prove to be a cure.  That would truly be a fitting tribute.

For more insight into the incredible life of Dr. Ohlfest, the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota issued the following press release which also contains a link to his obituary:

http://www.cancer.umn.edu/news/releases/2013/Ohlfest.html

Our thoughts are with his family.

Front Page Rilley (Again)!

Rilley's fifteen minutes of fame has been extended a bit more.  Lisa Tallyn, the reporter who wrote Rilley's first newspaper article just over two years ago, has written a follow up article.  The story appeared on the front page of today's edition of the The Independent & Free Press here in Halton Hills.  Back in November, when I had written his two year anniversary blog post, I had sent Lisa an email to let her know that Rilley had been doing well.  That's when she had the idea to write a follow up and of course the girls couldn't pass up the opportunity to pose with their favourite, four legged friend.

Katherine and Elizabeth with their prized pooch!

Photo credit: Ted Brown, The Independent & Free Press

To read the article, it can be found by following this link:

http://www.theifp.ca/news/the-life-of-rilley/

An interesting thing just happened as I was about to publish this post.  A very nice girl called after having seen today's article.  She wanted to know if we would like to adopt a young beagle who needs a home.  Her friend had taken it in when its owner passed away.  To be honest, I'm actually sitting her hoping that I didn't come off as a jerk when I politely declined.  I told her that Rilley really would not do well with another dog in the house...he is a very solitary dog who doesn't always enjoy the company of other dogs.  He's not mean, quite the contrary, he is very lovable.  However, he seems to become depressed whenever there is another dog around and, while he is doing remarkable well, after everything he's been through we wouldn't feel right disrupting his routine with another dog right now.  So, caller, if you read this, we are truly very sorry that we could not help you and your friend out.

Rilley Rings Out 2012

It certainly has been another interesting year.  We started off in January wondering if the breakthrough seizures had returned.  Fortunately, they turned out to be more of a nuisance than something to be overly concerned about.  As the year progressed, the biggest issue we seemed to have with the little wonder is his insatiable appetite.  Countless fridge raids seemed to be his forte.  However, we celebrated some major milestones with Rilley.  In April it was his 11th Birthday (or if you want to be technical, his 9th anniversary since we adopted him).  May brought us his 18th month since surgery and just last month he surpassed two full years since our first trip to the University of Minnesota.

Whenever Christmas rolls around, we count them as "bonuses"...this year was Rilley's third bonus Christmas.    As usual, he had a grand time and was bestowed with a new Christmas collar and the usual gifts of chew bones.  Of course, as usual as well, he grabbed the first one and wanted to run outside to bury it.  When he realized that this was not to be, he ran upstairs to the master bedroom and came back without it.  That evening, as we were getting into bed for the night, we came across the missing chew bone under one of our pillows!  I suppose, true to his canine genetics, he did manage to bury his bone!

Unfortunately, it wasn't a white Christmas...as has been the case on many occasions here in southern Ontario.  However, just days later mother nature made up for it and Rilley couldn't be happier.  He absolutely loves the snow. Ok, maybe not the coats that Sara forces him to wear, but he does like the snow.

So as we sit here, sending off 2012 and welcoming in 2013, Rilley wishes all the best for everyone and he is looking forward to celebrating with everyone again next year!

Two years and still causing mayhem at the manor!

November 4, 2010

That was the date; the date that would change Rilley’s life.  It was exactly two years ago today that Rilley began the experimental treatment that would eventually see him cured of cancer and in his own small way contribute to the field of cancer research.  While there have been many other dogs in the trial, some with much more aggressive tumours than he and some who have lost the battle, they all deserve to be recognized for their part in this important study.

But this is his day, a day to be celebrated for it was approximately 730 days ago that Drs. Pluhar and Hunt removed the tumour from his brain.  Then Dr. Ohlfest and his team worked their magic to create the custom vaccine.  Together they all gave Rilley licence to cause further turmoil and destruction in our beloved home.  Yes, you read that correctly.  If it wasn’t for the dedicated professionals at the University of Minnesota, life would be just a quiet existence for our family.  Days would have become dreary without the excitement that a certain furry, four-legged, misfit of mischief could bring.  We would no longer have felt the love of the beagle who takes great pride in being the self-proclaimed Lord of the House.  Had we not made that 16 hour journey to Minneapolis, we would not have the pleasure of cleaning up after endless garbage raids and how could we overlook the joy of coming home to a wide open fridge, with its contents strewn about?  The resulting stains to the upstairs carpet because, surely, we could not expect him to devour his bounty on the cold tile kitchen floor.  Let us not forget the absolute thrill of being woken up at 3am because Lord Rilley has deemed it an appropriate time to be served his breakfast!  Sorry buddy, but you lose on that one…a quick bathroom break and perhaps a treat for not keeping me waiting while you patrol the back yard is all you get that early in the morning.

It’s hard to believe that so much time has passed since Rilley’s surgery.  It is equally difficult to realize that his year-long participation in Dr. Ohlfest’s clinical trial ended a full year ago.  Despite all the time that has passed, it still seems strange that we no longer need to plan return trips to the Twin Cities; it was beginning to feel like a second home.

Sure there have been some moments when we were concerned about his wellbeing, a couple of incidents involving focal and minor breakthrough seizures, but nothing that has caused us concern that the tumour had returned.  A slight adjustment to his medication seemed to take care of these issues and all is well.  Speaking of medication, he is still taking anti-seizure capsules three times a day and will remain on those for life.  A couple of things have made this a bit easier to manage.  The first being Dr. James' recommendation of a veterinary pharmacy out of Arizona that makes it a bit more affordable to buy this volume of medication.  The second, which is of the utmost importance to Rilley, is the existence of Greenie’s pill pockets.  This is where his boundless appetite works to our advantage.  If it weren’t for these wonderful little morsels pill time would be much more difficult...and they now come in a peanut butter flavour!  

Needless to say, our family is thrilled that Rilley is doing so well after all this time.  He seems just as full of energy as any other dog his age, perhaps even more so.  There doesn't appear to be any evidence to suggest that I won’t be sitting here two years from now writing another similar update.

Happy two years Rilley!!!!