Meet Minger
I know….there is a story behind the name. But she is actually quite a stunner. She is a Breton Spaniel, rescued by Mel Beck who fell in love with her and now has adopted her.
Minger was rescued from Spain having been discarded by a hunter when she had served her purpose. She was part of the Save Our Spaniels Rescue, an organisation who Rescue, rehabilitate, rehome Spaniels in need abroad. (We are offering a discount for any local SOS rescued Spaniels who need, or would benefit from, treatment – please ask us for details.)
When Minger arrived in the UK, she had developed a limp on her right rear leg which was diagnosed as a cruciate issue. She had an operation at the start of the year which was successful. But she was still preferring to lift the operated leg and walk using the left rear leg only. Due to the reduced exercise she had also developed a couple of extra ‘saddle bags’.
We have worked with Mel some years ago with the amazing Mr Khan and so offered our services for free to help Minger back to full balance and mobility.
Like many rescue dogs, her actual age is not known. She was said to be 8 but looks far younger at around 5. But with the wobbly back leg and saddle bags it is not too easy to tell. Her new Dad has plans for her to be his Cani-Cross partner when she is back to top health.
When they came over, it was evident she was carrying a stiff back, loose thigh muscles for the right and tight thigh muscles for the left. She needed therapy to make her symmetrical again.
Luckily, she adores touch and settled in to therapy immediately. In fact, she ended up doing the rounds – going from Chris, to me, to Dad, to Mum and back to Chris again. Not one to waste any therapy time.
With now informed eyes and our ‘homework’, her carers can now continue with the massage therapy and rehabilitation exercises to help her regain her confidence to use all 4 legs once more and get in shape for the Cani-Cross season.
Mel wrote up Minger’s story and messaged me “She’s doing really well. Andy has been giving her 15 mins of massage every night and she seems to be walking better. The dip in her back is variable, sometimes up, sometimes down. Loves the treats and walking across Andy’s legs fine. He’s been getting her to support her back end with right leg down only and left leg slightly raised. She’s limping a lot less and we’ve dared to let her potter about at the stables without a lead which has had a hugely positive effect on her psychologically. It’s lovely to see the bond building between them”
Appropriate early rehab and therapy for cruciate issues can make a big difference in quality of recovery. Add to that caregiver involvement, education and empowerment and you’re well on the road to successful rehabilitation. If you’ve got a dog with similar issues, give us a call.
JC’s back (again)
JC is a champion award winning 9 year old Collie who is the dog equivalent to the heptathlete Jessica Ennis in that she competes in many different sporting events.
I was asked to help her last year when she suddenly stopped being able to perform a controlled sit with her Mum during an event. In fact she missed this move a couple of times which was noticed by the Mum of another of my dogs I have helped. She was fine with all the running and jumping events, possibly because she didn’t need to think about those, but was running on excitable energy. This was an exact event which gave her time to think whether she could do it or not.
At that first meeting with JC, her Mum said she can be a ‘bit morose’ and standoffish. Nope, JC walked over, licked my whole face and lay down on the mat.
Flash forward exactly a year to the day and I’m invited back to see JC who has exactly the same problem again. Her Mum admitted that because JC did not display any further mobility issues after my last appointment she had forgotten about me. I was not crushed, just glad that I was able to help with the single treatment. But as soon as the issue recurred, JC’s Mum remembered that she was going to add JC to my maintenance programme. So I was asked if I had space to come back as soon as possible before it became a more chronic issue with JC.
This time, JC welcomed me like her best forever friend. She rushed across the room, placed her legs on my shoulders and totally cleaned my face and ears! She had the same issue as before with tightened muscles at the rear end especially the adductors. All the muscles she would need to perform a controlled sit. Clearly, in her head, rather than do a bad sit because she was so tight, she thought a no sit would suffice. Unfortunately, that also means disqualification from that event. It was very important to ease those muscles out.
I often talk about the dog leading the massage session. With JC it was like working with the Big Controller. She lay on her side giving me her back. Then she rolled over opening her back legs giving me her adductors. Then she did a shuffly circle so I had access to her biceps. Then stuck her head in my lap so I could work on her neck. She was in total charge of what she needed and what I did next. I just followed her cues.
After an hour, she got off the mat and wandered back to her own bed where she lay down.
I suggested to her Mum that as the problem seems to occur with the more precise events, she could build an obstacle course of different thickness of mattresses, followed by a few poles and then more mattresses laid out in a random pattern in the garden or room. If she walks JC round this course slowly it will assist her proprioception as she won’t know what is coming next. Hopefully that will help rebalance her.
We are also making a specific date for a return visit this time so I am not forgotten.
That weekend I received an update on how JC had performed at her next event. The email said “…..JC has worked very well including the dreaded sit on the move position! JC won open 'C' Bitch today!!! “
That is definitely a #result
Cani Sports includes running, racing and biking with a dog, done in a controlled way. It includes CaniCross running (typically done cross country) and Bike-Jor.
Cani Sports Sussex, run by Gary Moxon, is based at Paws, Play & Stay Dog Hotel & Day Centre, Rustington and is involved with Sportswear, Sports instruction and Personal training. Gary manages the fitness and working dog side of Paws, Play & Stay the business, is experienced in handling and working sled dogs in harness, and teaching one to one or group running sessions for you and your canine friend. With a competitive nature he was always seeking to enjoy his time running with dogs so it became a natural progression to run with his first Siberian Husky, Tex. After a lot of research and self-taught training they competed at their first Cani Cross race in 2010. Since those early days the Moxon pack has grown and so has the family participation in Cani Sports including scooting and bikejoring. Gary competed for team GB in the 2012 CaniX European Championships placing 12th in Europe. He believes the physiological well-being of working dogs is also paramount.
In Cani Sports, the dog wears a running harness while their human runner/biker wears a belt designed for the purpose. Cani Sports Sussex recommends and supplies Non-Stop Dog Wear. It is important that the harness fits the dog in the right places as badly fitted harnesses can cause poor mobility, the dog should not be restricted in the shoulder area, neck and rib cage so that they have freedom of movement and can breathe easily and fully while running with you. An ill-fitting harness can cause injury and discomfort for your dog and can hinder their mobility. Paws Play & Stay offer a complimentary fitting to ensure the correct sizes and fitting for each individual dog.
Just like their owners, dogs suffer from muscle pains, aches and strains but they can't easily tell us that they have a sore shoulder or that their knee is stiff. They usually don't complain and tend to adapt to move around the problem carrying on with the most important job of being your best friend and fellow athlete. It is easy to spot if your dog is lame or limping, but there are more subtle indicators of injury such as reluctance to participate in the sport/activity (but again, your best friend athlete may well run through the pain to please you), stiffness when they get up after lying down, twitching or quivering down the back when you touch or stroke them (not always in the place where you are touching). In the worst case they could appear sad or depressed.
Additionally dogs tend to have two speeds, zero and 100. They don’t stretch before an activity or run, they don’t warm up. This means it is easy for them to pick up an injury. This is where you can help. If you do notice a change in their behaviour or the way they walk, professional canine remedial massage and myotherapy can help to ease any problems to bring noticeable and positive changes in your dog. But most important of all, is learning how to give your dog a warm-up and cool-down massage routine before and after the sport. It should only take 5 to 10 minutes to do this, but can add years on to the athletic life of your dog.
Warming your dog up beforehand can help to warm muscles and reduce the risk of injury. If you imagine a muscle is like an elastic band, when it is cold it can easily overstretch and tear or even break. (Try putting an elastic band in the fridge for an hour and see the difference between that and a warm one!). You certainly don’t that to happen to your dog.
Other benefits of warming-up your dog before sports include:
- Loosens joints
- Prepares muscle fibres
- Allows increased stretch
- Allows greater contraction
- Encourages elasticity and contractibility
- Increases circulation so increases oxygenation which means the muscles can work for longer without going into anaerobic conditions with toxic build-up
When a human runner, whether sprinter or marathon runner, has finished their race, they rarely just stop and get into the back of a taxi (in your case – your car!). They tend to include stretching and cool down routines. In a dog, this is similar but slower than a warm-up routine.
Benefits of a cool-down routine include :
- Relaxing & soothing
- Keeps the blood circulation flowing to nourish the muscles and tissues
- Gets rid of waste products
- Speeds up the body’s natural healing process
Preventing any injury in the first place is clearly far better than treating afterwards. Canine massage therapy, warm-up and cool-down routines could not only help to prevent injury by finding a problem before it becomes a problem but can also enhance and extend performance.
Contact me via the achypaw.com website if you are interested in learning how to perform a warm-up / cool-down massage routine or if you have any questions about the mobility of your dog. To learn more about Cani Sports, contact Gary via the Paws, Play & Stay reception.
