Saturday, September 4, 2010

The Rather Less Fuzzy Dog

Those who know me know I'm a really even person. Even under pressure, I'm focused and plan-oriented. That's 99% of the time.

The remaining 1%, something like this happens.

With two knee surgeries, Clover has spent the better part of a year looking half normal, half like a Lowchen or Portuguese Water dog. The first time, I was pretty patient in keeping him at the length I wanted and waiting for the hair to grow in. That was my plan this time, too.

Maybe it was the recent stress at work, or my lack of coffee that morning, or my I just didn't want to be reminded of my credit card debt every time I looked at my dog. But today, I picked up my clippers with the intent of taking a little bit off Clover as planned, and did a few strokes down his back with the direction of his hair. Then I though - well, eff it - and started cutting him against the grain with my 1/2" clipper combs. Tossed him in the tub, scissored his legs to the right length, and presto: the notably less fuzzy dog.

I admit, he looks a lot cuter than I thought he would. Hair grows back. He's not 100% even (you can still kind of see the spot on his left leg where he was shaved for the IV drip, and the hind leg you can see is the surgery leg, pretty short still), but, it's not massively noticeable anymore.

He's still fuzzy, though. You know... like a peach.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Guest Post: Luigi

Since Clover is doing too well to be interesting on a regular basis (for which I am thankful), I've invited a few people to guest post about their orthopedic problems with their dogs.

First up: Luigi!


This is a Jack Russell who has a mind-boggling 121 (yes, that's One Hundred Twenty One) titles in multiple disciplines, including several championships with many different organizations. That looks like this:

ADCH/APD/LAA-bronze, TACH-4, C-ATE/C-ATCh-5, ATCH, ARCH Luigi, SCh, AJD-silver, ASD-silver, AKD-silver, ARD, AGD-bronze, ATD-bronze, C-10, ExST/ChST, ExSN/ChSN, ExWC/ChWC, ExCL/ChCL, ExJP/ChJP, ExJU/ChJU, ExFH/ChFH, TMAG-9, TAM-8, RL1X2, RL2X, CW-AR, CW-Z1, CGC 2004 TDAA 12 inch national champion

Margaret thought Luigi's career was over when he blew his ACL (same injury as Clover), but she was delightfully wrong. Here's their story.

Luigi is a 9.5 year old Jack Russell Terrier of the puddin' variety. (That is JRT speak for short legs. In Luigi's case he has "Queen Anne" legs - inwardly turning/bent front legs.) He came into my life one day while driving down a country road. I literally bought him out of someone's barn. Now that he has gotten over his fear of the judge, we are also working on his CD. Basically we will try anything!

When he hurt his leg, Luigi was doing one of his favorite things - pushing a basketball around my back yard. After a while, he laid down next to the ball. I thought he was just tired and kept playing with the other dogs. After a few minutes he came limping towards me, holding up his back left leg.

I had seen ACL injuries before (a friend's whippet had recently had the same injury) and was almost certain immediately what had happened. I took him in and iced it down and called the vet in the morning. My first thought was one of irony. Just that weekend I had been joking with a friend that it was time for Luigi to retire from USDAA where he has to jump higher than in other venues. "After all," I told her, "I don't want him to tear an ACL on the agility course."

If I was correct in my diagnosis, I knew that there was no choice but surgery. To do nothing would leave him severely lame in that rear leg. My only question was to do a traditional repair (where they stablize the knee and allow the surrounding tissue to form a new structure) or a TPLO (where they radically alter the bone structure of the knee to produce a completely different joint structurally). And that is truly a layman's description of the two procedures. I had researched the options a few years earlier when my border collie was injured and have lots of friends who have gone both routes.

I talked with my vet and decided to go with a traditional surgery. One of my deciding factors was simply time. My vet had a surgery concellation that day and could do the surgery immediately. Having seen how quickly they can lose muscle tone and mass from non-use, I decided to take him up on the offer. Also, given Luigi's size (13 pounds 8 ounces) and the fact that he was in fantastic shape physically, he had a very good chance of recovering from a traditional surgery with full use of his knee. Plus, I had the option of a TPLO in the future if I wasn't satisfied with the results. I was headed to a trial that weekend and convinced my vet to let me take Luigi home almost immediately after the surgery.

The only time I second guessed myself was the next day when I had to remove the bandages from his leg. He was in so much pain. But the next day he was already crying in the x-pen becuase his brother and sister were getting to play agility and he wasn't. I knew then that the next 12 weeks were going to be miserable!

I was initially told that it would take 12 weeks to regain "normal" activity. Some how I doubted that Luigi's lifestyle constituted "normal". I knew that Luigi was not going to be happy retired and that I was going to have to help him regain use of the knee in order for him to be happy (and not drive me crazy). I immediately set about doing range of motion exercises and icing his knee several times a day. Within a week of surgery though, he wanted to jump, a cardinal sin of knee rehabilitation. After fighting with him for a short bit, I truthfully gave up and picked other battles to fight.

Since I could not get him to stop jumping, I set about helping him to strengthen his knee. We took walks up and down the incline of my driveway. (If you doubt how much this works your legs, try it. ) I also bought a children's swimming pool and set about teaching him to swim. I never realized that a dog could give such dirty looks!

I also started playing lots of tricks on him to get him to use his "bad" leg. We would put a lose hair tie on the good leg to get him to shift his weight. I would tap his front feet to get him to move backwards. I walked him through a ladder so that he had to think about placing each foot separately. Everything was designed to get him to use his leg since it was easier and faster to hop along on three feet. In the mean time I did tons of obedience with him. This not only used his leg, but also kept his mind engaged.

About ten weeks after his surgery I took him with me to agility class. My plan was simply to run him through a few tunnels. As soon as I took off his leash, he was off and over the aframe and jumping 16 inch jumps (which scared me to death since he only jumped 12 when he was at the height of his competition time and lately only jumps 4 inch "speed bumps"). He was sore that night, but the look of satisfaction on his face was worth it.

Thirteen weeks after his surgery I got the okay from the vet to start running him again in agility. The vet was amazed by his recovery. That weekend he ran one run each day which was enough to finish his CATCh-5 title in CPE. (VIDEO!!)

I've amassed a lot of titles and a lot of Q's with my dogs. Luigi though has taught me that it really is just a game and you do have to appreciate every run since you really never know when you will be done. I have had three "retirement" scares with Luigi. He broke a front leg in January 2006 (chasing that same basketball). In 2007 he had surgery for a sudden onset cataract. Then the recent ACL tear. Each time, I was convinced he would never play again. And each time he has proven that the spirit will overcome.

I think the biggest thing to remember is that an injury is not a career ender, but that you as the owner have to be dedicated to the rehab process to help your dog recover. It is a lot of time and effort (and expense) but these guys give us all that we ask. Don't they deserve the same in return?