Ryker Limping part two

Live has changed since Ryker started limping last year. I have been religiously following my vets advice to continue him on the Water Treadmill and laser therapy.

He loves his water treadmill hour so I did not mind taking him. However his condition did not improve. He was good for a day, then got worse on the next. Then I asked the rehab therapist if I should take him to see the chiropractor. She said that "Why try to fix something if it isn't broken". I did not know what to say. Have they not been listening to me? At that moment I felt I have been used like an endless money bag. I decided to see another vet to retake the x-rays. Remember the original diagnosis was: " ..... evidence of left hind limb hip dysplasia, with mild OA present along the dorsal rim of the acetabulum." " The lumbar spine shows some LS sclerosis which could be indicative of L7 S1 instability."

Well, this vet did not find anything wrong with Ryker's skeletal system. He prescribed some Previcox for him to take for a week, than another week of leash walking only and then, he said, I should be able to start training him again. I felt a bit numb as his words seemed unrealistic. Remember he has a bad hip and spine and some pills won't fix that. Well, they did. I have not seen any lameness since this day. The vets diagnosis was that he may have a mild pinched nerve that gets aggravated sometimes. Seems to make more sense with the symptoms he was showing.

Ryker Limping

Ryker has improved a lot since I last posted. I have taking him to four accupunture sessions, twow accupressure massages and he has been going to visits to the water treadmill twice a week.

He loves the water treadmill. He runs all the to the rehab room and pushes the door open and starts scratching the belt for the treadmill to start. He was in for 5 minutes the first session and worked up to being in for 56 minutes at 1.1 mph. If you ask him he would love to stay in longer. I have not seen him limp for 3 weeks and I have started to let him run around the yard at his own pace, which is a nice canter. So far so good. Maybe I can start training him in agility again in May. I want to make sure that whatever hurt him is fully healed before doing the crazy stuff again.

Ryker is hurt....

..... and we don't know what it is. I took him in for x-rays and was told he had some mild hip dysplasia. I was also told that he had some mild scoliosis in his lower back. I had two other vets look at the x-rays and was told they were of mediocre quality and there was no evidence of hip dysplasia.

I also had him examined by another vet in Salt Lake City. Ryker was not lame at the time and the vet said his gait was beautiful. He also confirmed that he does not have hip dysplasia. He did some leg stretches with Ryker and confirmed that he was uncomfortable stretching his left leg.

He recommended to give him some crate rest and to keep him on the leash to avoid running and jumping. The following week I met with Anita our acupressure massage therapist and she also recommended to keep him in on crate rest for 4 weeks. I have seen very little improvement. Sometimes Ryker comes out of the x-pen normal and other times he keeps his left rear leg up and hobbles around for a few minutes. It is very disconcerting not knowing what is wrong with him. I am not planning on doing anything with him until he is fully healed. I would rather keep him as a healthy pet than to enter him in any more Agility trials. My plan is to let him rest until the end of February, than sign him up for some underwater treadmill sessions. Maybe he will be ready for the USDAA trial in April, but I am in no hurry and will be ready to wait for as long as it takes.

Ryddick and Chocolate

This is Ryddick with his BFF Chocolate. He is a 7 lbs Yorkie/Shi-Tzu mix. Smartes little dog I have ever known.

Gotta Love Me!!

Ryddick and Dexter

Ryddick loves puppies. This is Dexter, who at the time the pictures were taken was 9 weeks old.

Ryddick and Dexter (Corgy)

About the choking incident on August 30th, 2007

Someone on Facebook posted about how to do the Heimlich and CPR on your dog. It brought back a very scary memory about an incident that happened two years ago. Here is the email I wrote to my friends.

This morning, Ryddick, my 15 month old BC, was choking on some of his food and stopped breathing. He was close to loosing consciousness and his live was in our hands. My husband did the Heimlich and I tried to give him breaths into his nose. I could not get any air in. It was closed! His tongue had turned blue and his gums white. He wasn't moving and had this horrified stare into nothingness. My puppy was dying and all we could do was to push on his belly and hope for the best. It took forever, but IT WORKED!!! He recovered within minutes and there seems do be no sing of brain damage. We were so, so, so, sooooo lucky. I guess the Infant and Adult CPR class finally paid off! I am going to invest in a grinder this weekend.
We were very scared. We knew that if we did not succeed he was going to die. That is why it is so important never to leave dogs unattended when they feed. I would have found him dead. I don't ever want to have to do it again, however I know that I can.

My poor Raygen

Today I went to the vet with Raygen and by "accident" he found a growth under Raygen's tongue. It was not there on August 8th, when Raygen had a tooth fixed. Growing that fast is a bit scary. The Dr. took a biopsy and send it in. Results are not going to be available until next week.

Even if it is benign it still has to be taken care of. It is very close to the salivary Gland and

Under Raygen's tongue. Note that the growth looks like two, however it is one with an ulcer in the middle.

This is after the biopsy.

Great Pratice

I had a great Agility practice tonight. Ryker and I where connected. He read my deceleration and acceleration cues perfectly. At one point I decelerated to soon and he was not sure if he should go or not. What a good boy. I did not have enough time to run any of the other dogs. I did get to practice some jump chutes with Ryddick and Ryker this morning. It was nice and cool and they did really great. A bit later Raygen and Rylie both joined in the one jump practice I was doing with Ryddick and Ryker. Raygen was actually working very nice for me. He usually does not want to do much practice. I will try some more in the morning after Sammy and Baxter are done with their private lesson.

No U-FLI Nationals

UTB Flyball Team BOD has decided not to go to U-FLI Nationals this year. A few team members where very angry at the decision. Other than the BOD nobody knows why this decision was made. Frankly, I am to sick and tired to care, maybe I will have some feelings about it later. I canceled my hotel reservation and made peace as much as I can with whatever is happening or going to happen. Can't let this get me down. Great news is that Ryker really doesn't care. He is as happy as a clam. Ready to go play and fetch a toy or swim in the pond or jump over jumps or just sleep. Sure helps when the world keep turning and nothing really matters. My happiness is my dog happiness. Maybe I am trying to hard?

Surprise, Surprise!!!

Today I was pleasantly surprised when I got my mail and found a title certificate from the AKC. I keep track of every leg that we earn and this one must have slipped by me. According to the AKC, Raygen has earned his AXP.
I will double check online to see where he got his first two legs. I will also contact the AKC on Monday to make sure that this is not an error. I sure don't want this to nip us in the butt later.