We worked again on Rush’s exercises, she has not pulled up sore on that leg which I consider a good sign. When I talk about the rehab I am sure many people think about the traditional take her to physical therapy and do a session with a rehab instructor in a pool  or underwater treadmill.  I have been given strange looks when I clarify that I am rehabing her at home.  No, I am not a certified therapy or rehab person but, I do know my dog.  If I took Rush to therapy (which I did as a last desperate act before surgery number 2).  First off, due to all the bad experiences in her young life, she now hates riding (it used to just be the car, but now she hates my truck too).  When we arrive at a therapy session she is nervous, shaking and far from relaxed.  When another person touches her she stiffens up.  I dont know if you have ever tried to stretch out when you are cold or relax when you are scared… but it is not the best way to work muscles.  At home we can skip the car ride and the only hands on her are mine - and she still trusts momma.  So, rehab at home is it.  Due to the sale (or attempted sale) of all my cars I will probably wind up with an empty 60 X 75 car building - in which case this summer might become home to a therapy pool for my dogs.  We will see, but for now - no pool -

Okay, so this is our rehab day:  We start out with four jumps (4″ jump height) set up in a circle.  She jumps two times left (full circle) and two times right (full circle) total.  This makes her use both back legs, each one taking turns being the outside leg.  Them we will do our 4″ jump grid.

I do this exercise on leash with a “walk” command.  The idea is that she “trots” through these up and then back using all legs evenly.  The spacing between jumps is even.  We do this about four times.

Next we will work the figure-8 cones.

She really does these amazingly fast, not favoring either leg.   We do not do too many as I do not want to make her sore.  We probably do do about four sets.  From there I move on to the board work.

I set these up like stairs that start at ground level then slowly go up, then back down.  I start out with the steps close then I spread them out further so that she has to stretch her legs to reach each level.  We will do a couple reps of this.  Now the weave poles.

These are not being done to teach weaving (I plan on teaching channel with Rush). This is the distance apart that I use and it is simply for pushing off and using all four feet evenly.  I noticed when Rush was hurting before the hip replacement that she had stopped wanting to hit her entries, I know that this type of movement will make that weaker leg work.  I will not close them tighter by much if at all, like I said, when she is ready I will move her to channels to begin her training.  Okay… backing up….

I use this tunnel as a guide so that she can back up the 15′ length of this wall.  She walks up then reverses (the dog in this photo is Baby)  :)  Demonstrating for me.

After all the equipment we work sit to down, and down to sit to stand, roll on one hip and roll on other hip.  I also do manipulation rotation work on all four legs (so the bad leg doesnt feel picked on) and I stretch her.  I will also ask her to stand up on two legs (using my arm as a balance) and I will have her “sit pretty” using my arm as a balance (an exercise she could not do pre-surgery).  We do some “perch” work on a box and “balance” work having her balance on a front leg and back leg (vertically) as well as tri-pod.   Her reward for all equipment is tug and fetch and the stretches are for food.

I am hoping to keep working with her until we are able to move into a place where I can start training her again to do agility.  I want to be able to work up slowly, keep her from getting sore as she gains strength then raise the bar or bars as the case may be.  I feel that by increase slowly (and her showing no signs of fatigue)that I will get the “signs” that she is ready for more.  The difference between her rehab work and actual agility training is the height and speed in which I ask for her to respond. Right now its all about working all legs independently and strength building.  I will also be adding the “pods” (they are like the rubber exercise balls that people use) only they are oblong for dogs.  This will help her core strength.

Cool, I think thats all.  :)   Oh, let me share one more thing,

Rush and Ember share a nap spot.

This time around she left her bandage alone, so on day 5 I took it off.

And this one… what a pretty girl!  I just love her

We had a puppy party today!  Rush got to meet brother Kelty.  Handsome boy.  Sarha and Bruce brought there dogs over and we got to play with Wit, Zip, Kelty and Ace (of course in addition to our already full load).  We had a wonderful time. 

Well, this was Rush’s second year going to Idaho with us.  It was Rush, Ice, Baby, myself and Katelyn.  Rush did much better this year, but still her grouchy self sometimes.  She did however stay in an xpen while I was doing the seminar and I did not have to speak to her much about carrying on in there like I did last year.  Last year she had to be in a crate and the crate had to be covered because of her screaming.  this year,  quiet!  Yeah! Progress.  I am actually very pleased with her.  Except for the bitchiness I love her to bits.

We stayed at our usual hotel, that we love, love, love and did our annual photo shoot.  And as usual the scenery was absolutely awesome!  I wish we could stay there a week (or more).  I really want to live there, I have decided and this year I was actually looking for the exact area I want to be in, instead of just “Utah”. 

I know that I will probably never get to live there (at least not for 10 years)… but thats okay I will wait.  And meanwhile I will just enjoy the awesome reconstruction effords my husband is making on our house and enjoy the annual visits to my “dream area” 

Playing in the water (video coming)

Click on any photo to enlarge

Rush had an awesome class last night!  We were working pinwheels and serpentines.  It wasnt the lines themselves that made it great, it was the energy and speed that she brought in.  Wow.  I always take it easy on her with her hip and we only jump 12″ when working jumps in class, but she really came on strong with coming back into me.  Way to move little girl.

Typical Rush poses!   (click photos to enlarge)

This might  not seem like a biggee to many, but if you know Rush it is.  And if you live with her, even bigger. Last night I was downstairs (in my new living room).  Its about a 3 step down from the main room.  Rush came into the room and stood at the doorway.  I thought she was staring at me and I made eye contact with her - she started to wag her tail, then came down the stairs, through the pack of dogs and right to me continuing to way her tail the whole time!   I was thrilled!  :)   Rush doesnt wag her tail (although she has been doing it more) and she doesnt come to people for attention (although that has been well).  For me, this is quite the break through and we have been working on it for a very long time.  I think  she is like this because of all her surgery’s because she wasnt like this as a baby.  One wag at a time!

After I take Ice out for training he earns up a “friends” session which is where all the friends get to play with him (if he does well of course).  After friends then I work with Rush.  What she does not is after the last throw and I say “house”, she stays in the farthest part of the field frozen.  she wont move to acknowledge that you have called her.  Then once I put everyone away and have come back out of the house she will come running up to me to see where we will be training!  BRAT!  She wont come in unless she has had HER turn, even if I say “WHACK!”

She just came off a two day rest because she had been overdoing it lately and had been limping solid.  She hated her time off!  Too bad!  Take it easy!  Yeah! Right!  Anyway came back to work today and of course she had absolutely NO recollection of what weaves were.  They are close enough now that she actually has to “S” her body through.  I have wires on the entry and exit (for entry work).  She would just pass everything up like she had never done them!  Again, BRAT!  I put her on leash and treated her like a baby twice - then, miraculously she remembered  :)  Shes a strange one.

double click any photo and double click again to enlarge

Yeah!!! Rush and I went in for an updated visit today. They took two xrays and gave her a “thumbs up” for returning to play. Over the next two months we get to gradually work up to full status! He said the hip looks good, solid, no movement and we should not have any trouble.

I am anxious to see what this will turn out as. She had lost two pounds of muscle since being down so we need to regain that. Her back legs look caved in. Other than that we can start back to work on our foundation. I have included photos of todays xrays with a photo of Rush and the doctor. Thank you
Dr. Swainson at Colorado Canine Orthopedics in Colorado Springs (had to tell everyone the names since you keep asking!!!!) click on photo thumbnail to make bigger

She has not sat since surgery. Last night I was asking her to give paw and she kept saying she couldnt because it would only leave her with 2 legs!!!! But today, she was conning me out of food and sat and gave paw! Progress! She also tried to jump into my arms -aahhhhggg!!!! I will never make it through these recovery days!!!!! Life so sucks!!!

On a good note, two of my students made this wonderful collage for Rush and displayed it at the Christmas party. Wow… it was really nice - and also proof that SOMEONE actually DOES read my blog! LOL. Thank you Tina and Lana for putting this together your generosity was overwhelming. And thank you Lisa, Donna, Tina and Lana for your monetary gift to help pay for the surgery. It truly is a blessing to have such kindness in my life.

I know many of you have been wondering where we are with Ms. Rush and her recovery. She is doing well. Almost done with all her medications. Rehab is slow. She will walk on all four legs if she is moving slow. If she wants to go somewhere fast she is on three. The incisions look good - I mean for incisions that span the entire length of her little leg. But no infection. I plan on removing the stitches myself in a few more days. She is impossible to keep still or quiet. She wants to play tug, run, wrestle you name it. She spends almost all her time crated or alone. I allow her to get up and down off the couch and bed by herself. Stopping her was just impossible and she will do it with only two legs so I let her. We dont get to walk often, too slippery. We had to add rugs to the downstairs and the front door because she would slip when coming in. We keep the whole house gated so that she cant gain any kind of momentum. Its hard. Its stressful. Ice is feeling the pain as well, we dont get to play very much lately. I will post my photos tomorrow.

Rush with 10 purple stitches for a girl!

Hah!!! This time it was NOT MY DOG!!!! What do these two photos have in common?

They both once belonged to this……

But it was Rip this time that was the culprit! Had Rush not been in her crate, she of course would have been blamed, but sorry - not this time! And thank goodness. This is a biggee, wouldnt want THIS one on her record!

Her are the before and after photos of Rush’s new hip.

Before:

After photos:

Things went very well today. I took her in at 7:30 this morning. We were actually there at 7:45 because of the awful snow storm last night. Slow going all the way there - took 45 minutes. Anyway, I stayed with her the entire time…. except when she was in surgery which I had to be away from her, but I didnt leave once… I have attached the photos of her in recovery with me… and also the before and after photos from today. She is doing well tonight. She had some dinner and wont stay off her leg so she is crated… I even caught her climbing up on the couch, so back in the crate she went… Its going to be a very slow, long, painful recovery - for ME not her!

 

Yep! Another service Ms. Rush offers, chasing down offending water drops. Shes very good at it - will take that nozzle straight on if she has to fending off the enemy! Of course, I dont know who will save her when she has to hit the shower.
Her and brother Ice had a great time running through the mud (well, mud now) chasing the hose as I watered down the agility arena. Luckily, the smoothies are a “shake and go” coat! In 5 minutes we are back to normal.

Rush weighs in at 36 pounds - 19 1/2″. She is 10 months old.

These were photos taken of the dogs scenting themselves on some fresh blankets. The reason the blankets were on the floor is because of Ice - he loves the fabric softener and fabric sheets, and so do the rest. So all three dogs wound up in the pile!