While I was away on a conference Leah, our fab pet sitter, contacted me to tell me that Deuce was limping and that he appeared to be in pain. Thank God Leah had the good sense to take him to see our vet.
Deuce was x-rayed and given pain medication. Now having had really bad experiences with Laika and her knees (2 operations with a 6 week recovery for each) I started to panic. In fairness to her incredible surgeon, Laika had stronger knees as a result of the operations with her pain also gone!
Apparently Deuce hurt his knee with no major damage done to the ligaments but… it is possible (a very common occurrence as a matter of fact) that with no modification of his routine and some conditioning to make his muscles and joints stronger the cruciate ligament on the knee could rupture.
Yep. A fact of life: if you are active you might hurt yourself. And if you are sedentary well there is also consequences for that too! So what is one to do?
I have been giving this a lot of thought lately: Having two very active dogs - okay rumor has it that they can actually “chill” easier than I can… but still, how then, can I continue to build the repertoire of behaviors that I consider important which double up as their exercise/fun while keeping them safe?
Trainers especially, must be mindful that dogs can be fragile and can get injured as a result of engaging in high- speed activities and sports.
Now back from the rehabilitation vet, I have a game plan in place. First off, Deuce will have to be in recuperation mode for at least one more week- maybe two. The good news is that he is healthy, strong with no major structural deficiencies.
So I began by modifying our soccer game.
For now, he lays stationary and I throw the ball to him so that he can catch it (goalie style) and not have to run after the ball. This turned out to be quite fun for him - and I took a sigh of relief. We also began this morning with a series of strengthening and flexibility exercises as part of a training session for Deuce and Rio.
This is where all my experience with Laika (I had to do similar stuff with her and she LOVED it) comes in handy in addition to the professional support of the rehab-vet.
In these exercises, the dogs take turns moving backwards, and sideways, sitting and standing and being stretched for precious kibble. As they become stronger, we will add balance and height as needed.
Just the other day, I took almost sheepishly their whippet toy out and began to play with Rio. But this time, I made a very conscientious effort of noticing how I was using the toy. I am afraid to say that in the past, I was a one-speed- only kind of gal, but now I am much more careful and observant of the speed at which I play with them.
Yes, it is true that Deuce’s accident might have had no relation to playing fast and furious with the whippet or even sheepherding. Just like us, dogs can get injured by turning the wrong way, stretching a limb too far, etc.
However, even though this injury might have been a result of Deuce being a dog and acting as dogs do – without any input from me or my training - I vow to slow things down for them and to bring more awareness into the activities that require speed and jerky movements from them. Besides, my new way of thinking leads me to see them as athletes. And here is where an ongoing conditioning and strengthening program will come into play.
Lucky for me, I can make these exercises a fun training adventure where the results are not only stronger knees and hips, etc. but it will assure me that I am doing everything I can to keep my dogs well exercised, happy and (hopefully) accident free!
Deuce was x-rayed and given pain medication. Now having had really bad experiences with Laika and her knees (2 operations with a 6 week recovery for each) I started to panic. In fairness to her incredible surgeon, Laika had stronger knees as a result of the operations with her pain also gone!
Apparently Deuce hurt his knee with no major damage done to the ligaments but… it is possible (a very common occurrence as a matter of fact) that with no modification of his routine and some conditioning to make his muscles and joints stronger the cruciate ligament on the knee could rupture.
Yep. A fact of life: if you are active you might hurt yourself. And if you are sedentary well there is also consequences for that too! So what is one to do?
I have been giving this a lot of thought lately: Having two very active dogs - okay rumor has it that they can actually “chill” easier than I can… but still, how then, can I continue to build the repertoire of behaviors that I consider important which double up as their exercise/fun while keeping them safe?
Trainers especially, must be mindful that dogs can be fragile and can get injured as a result of engaging in high- speed activities and sports.
Now back from the rehabilitation vet, I have a game plan in place. First off, Deuce will have to be in recuperation mode for at least one more week- maybe two. The good news is that he is healthy, strong with no major structural deficiencies.
So I began by modifying our soccer game.
For now, he lays stationary and I throw the ball to him so that he can catch it (goalie style) and not have to run after the ball. This turned out to be quite fun for him - and I took a sigh of relief. We also began this morning with a series of strengthening and flexibility exercises as part of a training session for Deuce and Rio.
This is where all my experience with Laika (I had to do similar stuff with her and she LOVED it) comes in handy in addition to the professional support of the rehab-vet.
In these exercises, the dogs take turns moving backwards, and sideways, sitting and standing and being stretched for precious kibble. As they become stronger, we will add balance and height as needed.
Just the other day, I took almost sheepishly their whippet toy out and began to play with Rio. But this time, I made a very conscientious effort of noticing how I was using the toy. I am afraid to say that in the past, I was a one-speed- only kind of gal, but now I am much more careful and observant of the speed at which I play with them.
Yes, it is true that Deuce’s accident might have had no relation to playing fast and furious with the whippet or even sheepherding. Just like us, dogs can get injured by turning the wrong way, stretching a limb too far, etc.
However, even though this injury might have been a result of Deuce being a dog and acting as dogs do – without any input from me or my training - I vow to slow things down for them and to bring more awareness into the activities that require speed and jerky movements from them. Besides, my new way of thinking leads me to see them as athletes. And here is where an ongoing conditioning and strengthening program will come into play.
Lucky for me, I can make these exercises a fun training adventure where the results are not only stronger knees and hips, etc. but it will assure me that I am doing everything I can to keep my dogs well exercised, happy and (hopefully) accident free!
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