Golden Doodles Ronnie & Roo
are brothers from the same father and different litter. I worked with Ronnie last year. Since then his Mum has adopted Tripawd Roo. Roo has been a Tripawd since birth so doesn’t know any different. To him, three legs is normal.
Ronnie is 3, Roo is 2. Ronnie has mild hip subluxation which is being managed conservatively with appropriate exercise, hydrotherapy and massage. When his Mum looked for a friend for him, she wanted a dog who could match his reduced exercise regime. Roo came along at the right time.
We were invited around before Roo moved in permanently to help Mum assess the suitability of her house. But she already knew of all the things to do – just needed our professional confirmation. Things like carpets in strategic places, harnesses, ramps, joint supplements and garden access. The latter has already had plans approved for a bridge to be built from the patio out to the gate. Now THAT is forethought and equals the bespoke Corkie Stair Lift.
Roo is a happy smiley playful carefree young lad who adores his brother who, in turn, has assumed a protector role. They have both benefitted from the new brotherly arrangement.
When I first Ronnie last year, he was initially reticent about massage. This time the massage mat went down with Ronnie on top of it immediately. Sighs came within 5 minutes. The aim with Ronnie is to keep him fit and mobile so that his hip issues don’t become a chronic mobility problem. His Mum had been doing her homework – he felt remarkable.
The aim with Roo is to make sure his tripawdness doesn’t lead to any long-term aches and strains by the different forces his body is going through. He only has a left fore-leg and moves that into the middle. That’ll cause the outer leg muscles to stretch while the inner muscles will shorten – a bit like a Greyhound who always runs the same direction round the track. Roo will also need maintenance work along his spinal muscles as they are also working extra to keep him mobile. He will be using his rear legs and back more to help him stand up. All these movements will cause compensation issues. Luckily, he loved his massage session – getting straight down on his mat so Chris could start work immediately.
The brothers are now on our unique double-therapist maintenance programme which, with the hydrotherapy, should help them remain bouncy, contented and untroubled.
Ronnie is a 2 and a half year old Golden Doodle – Golden Retriever / Poodle cross. He is a big boy with stunning eyes.
Some months ago he started to display issues with his mobility. He lives in a house where there are quite a few steps to climb to get indoors. He started to look painfully at these steps up to their house. His Mum said it was like an old man who was reluctant to try them. He also became stiff and hyperextended his back end. His gait was definitely way off balance. This was not due to overwalking as, when his exercise regime was severely cut down, he still displayed these issues
His local vet could not determine what was going on with him and referred him to a specialist vets. They took CT scans of his elbows and X-rays of his hips. The good news was his elbows were fine but his left hip showed mild subluxation. His right hip was also fine.
When a joint completely dislocates or separates between the joint and the bone, this is commonly described as luxation. This is often what happens in dysplasia. But when the joint is only partially separated, this is referred to as subluxation although it can be equally painful. The signs for both are similar with limping, lameness, pain, licking or change of mood although subluxation can come on quite quickly as it is typically due to a recent trauma.
There are a number of ways to treat this, depending on the severity, including surgery. In Ronnie’s case, his was mild and the surgeon recommended that he started with physical therapy. This included massage, exercise and hydrotherapy. If this did not resolve the issue, then surgical interventions might be necessary. He was given some medication although the Gabapentin he was given, did not agree with him. He is now just on NSAIDs
He has already started hydrotherapy and I was asked to fill in the multi-modal therapy of physical therapy and exercise. Although he is a large boy, he is very soft with a stubborn and a “I-don’t-think-you-should-be-touching-there” glare given when he is not happy.
He was perfectly fine with 30 minutes work on his right hand side but was not happy with his left – the side of the issue. In fact, he walked out into the garden, under the tree. I sat with him chatting away and eventually he let me rest my hand on his hip. Luckily, we found his Go-To muscles were his left shoulder and his hip. Any amount of massage there sent him straight to sleep. Alternating between the lovely muscle and the iffy muscle seemed to work. He gave up trying to out stare me and rested under the tree.
His Mum is now armed with homework and exercises plus a quick warm-up and cool-down routine as Ronnie struggled more after exercise. Hopefully the physical therapy, exercise and hydrotherapy should start him on his road to recovery and may prevent any surgical interventions.
