Swimming ... Finally!

At first he wouldn't go in deep enough to swim.
Then.... Yeah! He started swimming! And he loved it. He kept going in and swimming around, then coming back out again.
He also went in to fetch the sticks when I threw them(something he refused to do yesterday even). He was very hesitant at first, but when he realized he wasn't going to sink, he started to enjoy himself.
Now we'll go every few days to help build the muscles in his hips.
Yeah, Oak!

News From This Week

On tuesday June 2 we went to the chiropractor for our 4th week in a row. Progress is being made! She said now that he is more aligned the muscles in his back are developing more and therefore will hold his spine straight which in turn holds his hips straight. Yeah! We don't have to go back for 2 weeks this time and we'll see how everything is then.

I have looked into massage, but have yet to find someone in the area who does it. I have found a lady who has classes on massaging your own pet, but she is about a hour away. I've talked to a few people I work with, and they are interested in learning massage for their dogs, so I'm going to see if the canine massage therapist will hold a class in our area. I've also looked for a book, but there were none in the bookstores around here, and my vet has already lent hers out! Seems to be becoming a more popular therapy for pets.

We had our first advanced novice class on tuesday as well. It started out great, then all hell broke loose. Lots of fun and laughter though :) He was doing really well until we started practicing the recall. There are 5 of us in the class and the trainer had us line all the dogs up in a row. Then in no particular order she would tell us to call our dog. By the time it got to Oak he had his leash back on(due to the fact that he thought his name was Nick and Stella and Rocky :). So I call him, he starts heading my way, but his leash distracts him and he grabs it and starts running around in circles swinging his leash! What a clown. He really hammed it up for the audience. Then it was time for the down stay. He stayed down, but he rolled around on his back with his 4 feet up in the air and managed to squiggle about 3 feet away from where he started! Life is never boring with Oak around:)

He also got a chance to try swimming(if that's what you want to call it). He was trying to get a stick out of a pond and he got in over his head. It was pretty much downhill from there. My daughter and I decided he swims like the titanic! or maybe a rock. Maybe I'll need to get him water wings to keep him afloat :)

Humane Society Walkathon

This morning was the annual walkathon for the Humane Society of Durham Region. The sun was out (yah!) and it was nice and cool(no bugs). The walk is held at a conservation area, so it's really quite a nice 5 km trek. There was a fabulous turn out. I've never seen so many people there. This is the first time Oak has ever gone, so he was really excited! There were people and dogs everywhere, for him to meet. Even Mary was there! Mary is his favourite person in the whole world. Mary is my secretary and Oak just loves her.

Then Lite showed up and he got to play with him.


Then we started the walk. There were stations along the route where they passed out treats and water. He got to run around in the mud and the swamp. Then to top it all off he got to play in the river at the end.

Better still there were barbequed hot dogs afterwards. Unfortunately for Oak, they were for the people :) But that didn't stop him from trying!

There's one tired puppy sleeping upstairs in the hallway. I bet he's already looking forward to next year. :)

Graduation Night!

We finished our basic novice class(again) and we had graduation night. On gradutation night we actually go through all the exercises like we would during a trial. Oak did pretty good on all the heel exercises(although some of his sits were crooked and he did lag on the figure 8)but his recall and sits and downs were horrible. !



(On a side note, when he walks around the outside of the pile on, you can tell he isn't extending his hind left leg as he should. Hopefully massage will help enable him to fulling extend his leg.)
On the recall he sat, stayed and came running when I called. Unfortunately, just before he got to me he turned to the left and started sniffing around. She had me call him again, and he came running and sat (rather crookedly) in front.



He didn't stay at all for the sits or the down, but neither did half the other dogs. Only one dog out of 10 actually got a qualifying score!
Our advanced notice class starts in 2 weeks. That's when we begin heeling offlead, scary!

Learnt Something New :)

I've been doing more research on hip dysplasia and have discovered something new. I been reading Cooper's diary. He was 6 months old when he had hip xrays done and was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. The owner went 3 different vets for a diagnosis. Two of them recommended Triple Pelvic Osteotomy, the third said to wait and see how much worse the hips get. The owner put Cooper on Foster and Smith Joint Care and Solid Gold Yucca. She also took him too a physical therapist and did hydrotherapy(swimming - just what Oak refuses to do!). The therapist explained to her that the inside muscles of the thigh were tight. This was causing the hip joint to pop out even more and the muscles on the outer leg to not develop enough. The symptoms for Cooper were very tight inner thigh muscles, and a very tight back(Oak's spine was very tight the first time we went to the chiroprator). The therapist said that dogs have a lot of extra skin on the top, and that you should be able to roll and stretch the skin easily all the way down the back from the neck to the tail(I'm not sure I understand this). In Cooper's case it was very tight.The therapist recommended massaging the inner thigh to loosen these muscles and make Cooper use his out thigh muscles more. So, to make a long story short, after using supplements, hydrotherapy and massage for the next year and a half. They xrayed his hips again at 2 years of age, they looked fabulous! The xrays were sent in to be rated and he got a good rating!

After reading this story, I got to thinking that Oak is showing signs of tight muscles. He doesn't like to lay in a "froggy" and he's not too keen about laying on his back with his legs stretched out. Both things he wouldn't like to do if his muscles were tight. Now to check into massage.

Weekend at the Cottage

Oak(Lite, Zanara and Jewels) all had a fabulous long weekend at the cottage! Lots of swimming, running, playing and adventures!
Oak would only go in the water up to the point where he could still touch bottom but Zanara wouldn't stay out of the pond. She was cleaning it out. She swam to any sticks she saw and carried them to the shore, then she went back for more. Not only did she clean up the sticks, but she also cleaned up the rocks on the bottom. The ramp into the water was littered with rocks and sticks that she had taken out. What a helpful girl!

Lite even got in on the action. After a few attempts(really funny attempts!) he was in there swimming like a pro.

Jewels preferred to keep to the shore running around and chasing bugs. Although she did try to collect some of the smaller sticks by the edge. And those frogs, she tried really hard to catch them, but they were too quick.

We went for long walks, had a bonfire and one night even had fireworks! The fireworks didn't even bother Oak, thank goodness, over the years I've come to hate long weekends and fireworks.



It was quite chilly at night, but other then a really rainy saturday the weather wasn't bad for the rest of the weekend. I was a bit worried about Oak overdoing it with his hips, but he was fine. A bit stiff at night(not just his hips, but his whole body) but that was the only sign of pain he showed. We went to the chiropractor on tuesday after we got home and she said his left hip was a bit low again, but he was much better then the appointment the week before.

The Hip Story Continues..

I just thought I keep everyone up to date on Oak's progress(or lack thereof, since he's never shown any signs of discomfort). I started the Sasha's Blend on May 1. It has a very fishy scent to it. He gets 1 1/2 tsp. per day with his food. He didn't really like it at first, but he doesn't seem to notice it anymore. I also started him on salmon oil the same day.
On May 8 I picked up some Ester C. I gave him 1000 mg. that night, then 1000mg with both am and pm meals until yesterday, when I increased the am dose to 2000mg.
He had his first acupunture appointment on friday May 8. Everything went well, it didn't bother him at all.
This morning we went to see the chiropractor. She did find his hips were misaligned. The right side was high and the leftside was low. There was also a hot area in the middle just above his tail. His spine was a wee bit off too. She said it could be caused by regular puppy craziness or from the fact his hips are displasic. She adjusted him today and we have an appointment for next tuesday to see how everything is then. He may be really off, we are spending the long weekend at the cottage. This will be his first time!