Working with a rescue dog

Working with a rescue dog is notably heart-warming.  Their new carer often doesn’t know all of their history.  What we do know is that they are now able to live their best life.  But for someone new, like me, getting their trust is very special.  And Bobby was very special.

He is an almost 5 year Romanian rescue – a bit of Collie, Labrador and Hound.  But the eyes are all Bobby.  When he was first adopted in 2017, he had separation issues and was anxious about many things.  But with calming consistent work from his carers, he has blossomed into a wonderful family dog. 

Recently he started to show signs of apprehension again.  It was thought that maybe he was in discomfort, especially from his rear end which he displayed by a “don’t come too near me please” behaviour.

Imagine if you have a constant back ache.  You don’t particularly want random cuddles or people in your face.  Dogs are no different.  But they can’t just phone up a therapist or pop some pills.  Luckily, Bobby’s Mum was able to call a therapist for him and along he came.

He was oh-so-sweet as he walked in.  Looking round surveying the room but within a minute saw the massage mat in the middle and plonked himself down.  My brightly coloured dog sized massage mat has seen that behaviour so often.  “Not sure what to do?  I know….I’ll plonk myself on that lovely colourful place.  It looks safe and me sized.”

He allowed me, and sometimes helped me, find where his issues were.  He had a stiff neck which was probably due to anxious shoulder raising.  But his main tightness was in his lower back.  He had clearly been holding himself quite rigid which would, understandably, be giving him anxiety.

It took a while for him to trust me to work there.  We were helped by treat distractions……good old Primula Cheese tubes, the best solution for any distraction.

After about 40 minutes he looked as though he needed a stretch and went for a walk round our garden.   This has a double use.  The dog can have a well-deserved pee and it means for the next few days our Sam can patrol ‘his’ garden sniffing out the new pee smells.  Win, win.

When Bobby came back it was like he was a new boy.  The old anxious Bobby had shaken himself off in the garden and Mr Relaxed Bobby came back in.  He simply lay down and allowed his Mum and me to work wherever we, or he, liked.  It was a very special moment.  Trust established.  Back pain eased.  Bobby returns.

We ran through some appropriate exercises and I prepared his workbook for his Mum.  She replied “Bobby has literally been a different dog yesterday afternoon he has been smiling and generally seems so much more comfortable. It really was amazing to see the shift in the room. Thank you so much 💓”.  You’re more than welcome Bobby.  You are a special boy.

 

“Her strength shows me how it can be done… mind over matter”

 I had an emergency call for help from Marley’s Mum.  Marley is a 13 year old Staffie who suddenly lost all use of her rear left leg.  Her vet suggested suspected neurological trauma as there was no proprioception or superficial pain reflex although deep pain reflex was present.  They advised that the issue was likely disc or spinal disease and it was unlikely that Marley would regain use of that leg.  They advised physical therapy to maintain tone in the muscles of the left rear leg and keep the remaining legs strong.

We managed to see Marley the next day as it was clear that both her and her Mum needed help as soon as possible.  Her Mum needed some hope.

Marley was determined.  Oh, so determined.  She was not going to give in.  She managed to get herself into the therapy room with her three working legs which had quickly adapted to keep her moving.  She reminded me so much of our Sarah who never accepted her limited abilities.  She still wanted to enjoy her life and wasn’t going to let wobbly legs get in the way.  Dogs have a strength and grit that is simply awesome.  No wonder the term “dogged” is used for tenacity and persistence.

Marley’s left rear leg muscles were already showing signs of softness while her other limb muscles resembled those of a weight training athlete.  Everything needed help, but in different ways.  Left rear leg needed pumping massage and stimulation, while front and right rear leg muscles needed help to make sure they didn’t overexert themselves and tighten up restricting movement further.

Her mid back was also tight, understandably.

Marley had brought along her two human sisters to help their Mum with the therapy routine. 

By the end of the session, which Marley thoroughly enjoyed, she was moving even more fluidly.  I sent through a personalised workbook of what to massage, why and ways to ensure the left rear leg is kept stimulated while she is not using it herself

The next day her Mum wrote “I wanted to give you an update on Marley.  She is weight bearing on the leg and is showing signs of using the muscle in the upper leg……The improvement this morning after seeing you last night is phenomenal (I am secretly hopeful and believe she may use the leg again).  Marley is definitely the strongest dog I have ever met and her strength shows me how it can be done… mind over matter.  Oh and I tickled her toes earlier and she spread her paw!.  You and your partner are amazing people and extremely kind.  I will keep you updated. DAY 3 and look how far she has come”

The following day an additional text “I was doing her massage this morning and she curled her bad paw round my hand”

And a week later...“Marley saw the vet yesterday, the vet is confident that she will regain full function!! She told us that you can see the work we have done for her and that is because of your immediate help.   Thank you for supporting me through this process.  It really was true team work.  Thanks for passing that knowledge and seeing what I see in her”

Now that was the feedback we wanted to read.  With hope from the carer, determination from the dog with some empowerment and knowledge sharing from us, team work has helped Marley to recover and maintain some mobility. 

 

“I am seeing the world today through my dog's eyes and more particularly, her body”.

 

“I am seeing the world today through Bramble’s eyes and more particularly, her body”.

Bramble the Springer Spaniel is a 13 year old rescue who has twice broken an elbow but recovered well and remains very active and up for a walk.  Since the end of last year, however, she has displayed a limp on the other front leg.  She was examined by the vet who found nothing sinister but concluded that the findings were consistent with osteoarthritic change in both elbows.  The other front limb joints appeared to have no issues.

Her Mum wanted to learn how to help with manual therapy to keep Bramble as fit as possible.

Bramble was unsure about anyone touching her so, as her Mum is going her new therapist, I brought in our demo dog.  While I was working on that model, Bramble’s Mum was copying me on her.   That worked perfectly and Bramble settled down in no time – after a good sniff of the demo dog.

Her Mum found that most of the muscles on the left hand side were more prominent that those on the right.  Bramble had clearly been compensating for a while.  She’d also developed tighter back muscles from about half way down – again likely due to over-compensation.

This gave a good starting point for a massage plan to help ease the extra strain on the left while pumping up the tone on the right.  The Re-Balance Bramble Plan.

She thoroughly enjoyed the work her Mum was doing, repeatedly giving us extra cues by shutting her eyes and resting her head down in pure bliss. 

Her Mum wrote “……we had such a helpful and informative session.  I am seeing the world today through Bramble’s eyes and more particularly, her body.  Thank you so much – I am very hopeful of being able to help her…I also think she is going to really love it”

I think so too.

“I feel we will both benefit from not feeling like victims to her condition”.

 

The lovely Gracie was a good example of how we can help you to help your dog.  She is a 4 year old Lab who has chronic lameness on the right fore-leg.  Veterinary X Rays showed OA changes bilaterally over her elbows with suspected bilateral elbow dysplasia.  The vets suspect she might have osteophytes on the anconeal process on the flexed lateral elbow views which will cause her limping when these catch during movement. 

They offered her Mum a couple of options.  Conservative management with pain medication, weight control or referral for a CT scan.  If these showed a fragmented coronoid process, they could consider removal, although they suggested that even if we surgically remove these fragments, she might not show huge clinical improvement.

Her Mum wanted to try conservative therapy with massage and exercise as a starting point.  This could potentially help relieve Gracie’s lameness but would also be a perfect plan for long-term maintenance by massaging her regularly.  Then, if Gracie showed little improvement after a while, option 2 could be commenced.

Gracie showed all the classic signs of protective standing where she had been over-using her other limbs and muscles to protect that left arm from discomfort.  This, in turn, had caused compensatory issues with those.  Helping ease the tension that had arisen should hopefully start to re-balance her gait.

As the session continued, Gracie settled feeling more comfy and relieved.   

As well as demonstrating and preparing an appropriate massage routine, her Mum and I designed a series of exercises which would gently start to use the weaker leg again.  An addition was our special quick and effective Locomotion warm-up and cool-down routine.

At the end of the session, Gracie gave us both a huge long downward dog stretch, something she hadn’t felt able to do for a while. 

Later her Mum wrote “I received her/our workbook and printed it out for reference and will start today. We have already bought a message mat which we shall use just for that so that she knows what is happening!  She has enjoyed her warm ups prior to walking and warm downs too!.....So, now to some pleasurable work for Gracie and me! We have a lot to learn and enjoy over the next few months. Then I will reassess how she is and take further steps from there” 

And a few months later…..”She is doing very well!  Running with other dogs.  We keep up the evening message - she demands it!”

She also wrote “I feel we will both benefit from not feeling like victims to her condition” which is exactly what I hoped to achieve with our ‘Helping you to help your dog’ philosophy.