It's a good life!

Wall-e running in his new Julius K-9 IDC harness! (With the extra Y-belt attachment that I ordered.)

 

Quick shot of Wall-e

Mika’s first chiro adjustment

On Wednesday Mika had her first chiropractic adjustment (as recommended by our regular vet when I brought her in for very slight lameness).

I literally just copied/pasted these rough notes I made on a word document on my computer, so they're just random/unedited jot notes:

-          Muscle spasms on left side (shoulder area and rear leg area)

-          Out of 32 possible adjustments, did 18, had 8 concerned about

-          Right pelvis higher than left

-          Above caused pelvis (?) to rotate/tilt toward the left (left is tilted more forward)

-          This caused the front to tilt/rotate toward the right (left is tilted more forward) to compensate

-          This caused everything in between to be affected

-          Compensating with left side for the right side (where lameness was initially noticed)

-          Main area of concern is middle/back (more middle)

-          This is where she appeared most uncomfortable (especially back-middle – more back)

-          Recommended aspirin

-          Give Traumeel right after we get home, then before we go to bed, then in the middle of the night

Her body's been doing a lot of compensating, and rearranging as a result of compensating. The chiropractor adjusted 18 different areas, and he said eight of these areas are of concern. We'll be back in two weeks and see how it goes from there; she'll probably need 4-6 regular appointments over the coming weeks. The vet is great, though. Lol, I took to him right away when we walked into the exam room and he'd just finished loading an assortment of treats onto the exam table :) Next step for me is to research Robaxacet (the muscle relaxant he wants me to give her before our next appointment, because Mika had a couple areas of muscle spasms).

Oh, he also doesn't think Mika has any problems in her joints that I should be concerned about, unlike our regular vet who suspected possible minor arthritis. I didn't mention about Mika's joints cracking when she changes positions though (this is why our regular vet suspected arthritis). I myself am not sure that cracking is a sign of arthritis, as I've read articles that say it's something normal that can happen with aging but doesn't necessary mean that the individual is experiencing discomfort. I'll discuss this with our chiro vet next time though.

Yesterday Mika experienced a short period where she showed no lameness at all in her front legs. Woot! She went back to a very slight limp later, though (like she had before the adjustment).

And yesterday I brought Wall-e in to get his B12 injection (like I mentioned in a previous post, our regular vet thinks he has low B12). He'll be getting this 4 times a year.

Happy b-day Wall-e!

It's Wall-e's 5th birthday today. Wow! It still feels like he's the baby dog.

Here he is enjoying a walk at the pond; I edited the leash out.

Wall-e's routine bloodwork results -- B12 injections in his future

So Wall-e had routine bloodwork done a few weeks ago. It showed that he has a very low ALP, of 7! Because of this, our vet thinks that he has low B12, so he'll be getting B12 injections 4 times yearly, starting this week if we can get an appointment. As well as health reasons, it'll be interesting to see if this affects his behaviour, since B12 is supposed to increase energy.

Products we've been using/going to use

Excuse my lame title, I'm not feeling very creative today :)

So Mika and Wall-e have been getting a new joint supplement since April 30. It's called Lakota Canine Joint Care Formula. Wall-e has been on other joint supplements in the past for his old knee injury (Glyco-Flex I and Dr. Maggie's), but I have never put Mika on a joint supplement regularly. (I slipped her the occasional supplement as a treat when there were no other rewards around, but that's it.) I can't say if this supplement has been helping or not (and it's just a preventative for Wall-e anyway), but time will tell. It's meant for arthritis, but mainly because of it's anti-inflammatory properties, which works for Mika's sore shoulder anyway; and there's a good chance Wall-e could develop arthritis as he ages because of his old knee injury, so this supplement could prevent that.

I also need to get a harness for Wall-e; he's been coughing more often. Sometimes during training (not too often -- maybe once every couple of weeks -- but more than he used to), and after lunging at cars on walks. I'm currently walking him on a collar. I posted on a Facebook group asking for recommendations on harnesses for Wall-e, and these are the ones I'm now considering:

ComfortFlex 
Walkeez  
CTC Shoulder Harness  (couldn't find it on the web site, but found a picture of the harness on the Facebook page)

I need a harness that won't break, won't restrict his movement, and will encourage him to continue pulling for conditioning :)

Training May 14, and thoughts on aging

On Tuesday we went to the field for the second time of the season. I set up part of a sequence from the "Backyard Dogs" article in the May 2013 issue of Clean Run, for Wall-e. I also lined up two sets of 6 weaves, about 15 feet away from each other, because Wall-e popped out of 12 weaves at our trial last weekend, and I'd hoped this exercise would help. (His entries were fantastic at the trial though, really happy with those!) 

We did more work on the weaves then I'd planned (just 3 reps, but I'm trying to keep sessions short with Wall-e because he's been less drivey lately), so I opted not to do the sequence and instead end the session. 

Then I took Mika out. I've been resting her because I noticed a couple weeks ago that she was bearing weight unevenly; she was very slightly lame in her front right leg. It's probably a sore shoulder; I gently felt around her shoulder and she started blinking when I felt the part of her shoulder near her elbow. 

But after training Wall-e this day, I took her out of the car and let her explore the field. It was her first time on the field this season, and the look on her face was awesome. She was just so, so happy to be out there. I loved watching her cheerfully galloping around the field (a slow gallop, not a frantic race that would re-injure her shoulder), around the 16" jumps that Wall-e had been using, then turn, smiling, towards me, with the sun shining behind her and lighting her fur. That was all it took to fully convince me that no matter what Mika's age, I'm never going to stop doing agility with her as long as she wants to do it too, and as long as it isn't hurting her. I want her to feel young for as long as she possibly can, and agility does that for her like nothing else. 

The only thing that I'm unsure about is trialing. I've entered her in a lot more trials this year in the hopes of making her feel important. I just want to keep this dog with me as long as possible while still being happy and healthy. If I thought that trialing was bad for her, I wouldn't enter her in any more ever again. I just want to do what's best for her, and I'm still not exactly sure what that is.

On one hand, trialing is stressful and involves a lot of waiting around between runs (and before and after). But then I think of how, although Mika is dog-reactive, her reactivity lessens at trials. She knows she's there for agility and that's what she's focused on. And trials get her out of her familiar environments, which is a good thing? Maybe? I don't know, there's just so much to think about and I'm hoping the answers will come to me.