Dogs are amazing creatures who hide pain, discomfort and limitations, often for far longer and better than their owners. Since finding issues early results in quicker treatment, reduced chance of further issues and decreased costs of treatment. I aim to empower owners to pick up on the subtle signs of issues earlier.
Changes in how a dog trots is one of these early warning signs which is why I started this series, to break down a complex gait into tiny chunks.
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I have just jumped into bed after my first day of puppy wrangling Pix. I am so utterly in love in this little fluffet. But this didn't happen by chance.
It was 8 or 9 years ago that I met my first Finnish Lapphund. At the time I was wrestling with Abby at agility and didn't think much more of the beautiful Wolf.
Read MoreI have been writing so many ‘serious’ blogs lately, and spending a lot amount of my time promoting the benefits or rehabilitation and conditioning. While all that is awesome, sometimes you just need to spend some time thinking about the warm and fuzzy’s to re-energise.
Abby has been my furry driving force for the last ten years. She was chosen for me because she was the chubbiest in her litter, and since I was planning on doing some dog sports she would be kept fit. Her show name is Lyndoor Sleepy Sam, and as with much in my life it should have warned me to expect a fire cracker!
Read MoreI recently had the opportunity to talk to another Veterinarian who works exclusively with muscles and dogs who have functional limitations. While we have different focuses in how we treat, we often hear similar stories from owners.
One of these stories is that their dog looks like it is in pain but they have been to their ‘insert almost any professional or paraprofessional’ and they didn't find anything. And due to this, they were told that the pain must be in their dog's head.
Read MoreI have spent many hours at dog events. Be it dog shows, agility, obedience and herding trials, flyball competitions or family fun days. As a result I have watched a lot of dogs move, in all sorts of different situations. This has exposed me to the great, the mediocre and the crippled. I’ve spotted a lot of canine movement that is worth talking about, and we will start off at the trot. Specifically, this point in the trot.
Read MoreHow simple is that to say, just ‘treat the dog’. But I have to admit that it is often hard to remember to do just that. When you have an obvious diagnosis, it’s easy to fall into the trap of looking for what you expect to find and treating what you ‘know‘ the problem is.
Read MoreMost (but certainly not all) animals are stoic. In the past they have been selected to hide pain or ‘weakness’ and get on with the job of staying alive. I see it regularly with my own pets, and in client's animals.
Read MoreI’d just finished training the dogs and had sat down for half an hour to answer some emails. All the dogs were napping and peacehad filled the house.
Of course this was the point when Bluey hobbled out of his crate for a cuddle.
Read MoreI really like the underwater treadmill, its a wonderful tool that can benefit most dogs. But like any tool, it needs to be used at the right time and for the right job, and while most dogs will benefit from some time on an underwater treadmill, I have never had a case that I have been unable to treat without an underwater treadmill either.
Read MoreIt’s worth noting that skipping doesn't always mean pain, but it does mean ‘something’. Skipping is a form of compensation, just like a slouch. An indicator that somewhere there is something that isn’t going quite right. Dogs, cats, horses and even people subconsciously compensate for limitations, imbalances and injuries all the time. But just because compensating is normal, doesn't make it ideal. By being aware of the behaviour we have the opportunity to take action and correct it, before it spirals out of control an turns into a major problem.
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