WEEK NINE: AND THE PROGNOSIS IS IN

It's been a while that I've posted an update. Up to this point there wasn't a lot to report, Terra was doing well, we were doing all her exercise and adhering to all the restrictions

But today was a big day. At Week Nine we returned to her surgeon so they could do the first re-check since the operation. They X Rayed the leg and checked her physical status

Cutting to the chase: Terra has healed perfectly. The bone restructuring and the metal plate have integrated perfectly, range of motion is excellent and everything has settled in nicely. We're all happy about that

All in all the doctor felt that Terra should have a full and total recovery. Even Panda, who has missed playing with her sister, is happy about that. I think

We have yet to reach that total recovery. Although her leg can take impact, the muscle is still weak. It still needs to be rebuilt. I can see that, sometimes, when Terra walks on uneven ground. She is going up and down the stairs and Up is still a bit slow but Down is nice and smooth. In general, her movement is getting better every day. The foot still turns out a bit but mostly, she is walking square

Terra will  now be allowed to get on and off the furniture, go into the yard by herself, jump in and out of the car. She can do some light jogging and play a bit more aggresively with her stuffies. Trust me, these are very big deals. It means we are returning to normal. Still, there is work to be done. No jumping for frisbees, no jumping off the rock wall at the cottage, no flat out running ... yet. That will all come. We just need to keep rehabing that muscle and get it back to full strength. The vet thinks that with consistent work, we can get there in just a few weeks

We will be opening the cottage soon and that means swimming which is the best exercise we can give her. I think walking in the sand on the beach will also be good. We will have to be careful with the running and the flying buy chasing the frisbee in the water will A: Make Terra happy B: Really work out that leg and C: Make me happy with all of the above

It's been a long road, it's meant a big restructuring of our lives (and our house) and at times it's been scary, but it's great to see that it has all been worthwhile. 

Both girls agree

They may not look like it but trust me, they do

MOTHER NATURE ONE, DOGS ZERO

It's been a tough few days recovery wise

Not because of anything wrong with Terra but due to the weather. Our mid-December ice storm (it is December right?) created some precarious situations for Terra, well for both dogs.

We're at the stage of Terra's rehab where the amount of exercise required has ramped up quite a bit; three 30 minute walks with figure 8s, curb work and the puppy squats. Those became almost impossible to do. First we had a sheet of ice over the snow so even taking her out to poo was a challenge, a couple of times she slipped Luckily no damage taken

Walking was a challenge. In our neighbourhood with no sidewalks, we are forced to walk in the road. Well the roads around here did not get blowed. So when the weather was mild there was a tremendous amount of slush and I was concerned with Terra missing her footing When the air cooled, all those slushy ruts became hard and slippery. Difficult for both dogs

Panda is a 13 yr old dog with some arthritis in her back legs. Generally she does just fine walking and jumping but I kept her off the ice sheet for fear of slipping. Even when the snow in the backyard (where we do our morning play) was not icy, the snow was very hard and her paws could punch through it with potential of twisting something

So for most of the weekend both dogs were on restrictive duties, as we say. I didn't like that Terra wasn't doing her rehab but that was preferable to her damaging herself

Because of the conditions and the fact that Terra had a couple small slips we've put her back on Metacam for a while. This is an anti inflammatory with a mild sedative. That should take care of any discomfort

All of this left be entirely pissed off with the weather. Me and Mom Nature, we gots a discussion coming up. But as of this posting conditions have improved. The roads are clear now for walking and both the backyard and the parks are in decent condition so I can take the girls out.

Considering when Terra had her surgery I certainly anticipated many challenges but snow and ice storms were not among them

Yeh. Mama Nature. You got some splainin to do

WEEK FIVE: THE TERRA OLYMPICS

Up until this point, the recovery manual progressed me week by week, each week adding new activities for Terra. Now, I am getting Week 5 to 8. New activities added but that will be the plan until Week 8 which is when she has her re-check and evaluation at the vet's

Mostly I am very pleased with Terra's progress. Her walking is very good. We are now doing walks up to 30 minutes, on the flexie but extended out to about 10 feet. She can do some jogging. I know that if I let her off the leash at this point, jogging would become a full out run.

Here is a recent video clip of her walking

Here's an angle of her walking from the side of the injured leg

Pretty happy with the progress, she walks very easily. There is a slight hitch in her step. That could be from some latent weakness which according to the book, is normal. May be hard to see in the video but the paw on her surgery leg is slightly turned out when she walks which is something we need to work on

In the pic below, you can see that Terra is extending her repaired leg. Again, very normal but the idea is to have that leg "squared" up to her body as is the other one

The exercises called puppy squats, where I have her sit then quickly sit, are designed to help her with this issue. The version that seems to work best is when I have her go tight up against a wall on that side of her body and do the squats. That forces her to tuck in that leg

This week we've added a couple of new exercises. While walking I have go up and down a curb, in an S formation, as we walk along. That's easy to do in our neighbourhood where we have no sidewalks. I'm also doing hill work which is exactly as it sounds: On a tight lead, I walk her up and down a steep hill and also walk her laterally across the hill. Another easy thing to do in our area. Just a couple blocks from the house we have streets that dip down into the Humber Ravine

So at this stage we are doing several exercises: Leash walks, figure eights, puppy squats, curb work, hill work. It's like one of those multi sport events in the Olympics. I have an athlete who can manage the task. It's the coach I'm worried about.

The coach needs beer

WEEK FOUR: HOLD BACK, GO FORWARD

Here we are into Week Four

The rehab protocols are beginning to ramp up the activities: Walks up to 20 minutes, walks on the flexie leash up to 10 feet, some light trotting. We are doing Figure 8s (which are exactly as they sound) and increasing the puppy squats.

During these puppy squats (she sits down then comes up fast and repeat) I notice that her surgery leg is sticking out, she is not "sitting square". It's not as bad as some dogs where they tuck the leg right under her body but the idea is to get that leg properly under her. One way to correct this is to do the exercise with Terra up against a wall, the "bad" leg against the wall, forcing her to move that leg in. These seems to be working

The first few times I put all these new protocols together, I could see that it was really tiring Terra out. So amazing, this is a dog that throughout her life, would do about 2 hrs of really active exercise per day. But considering that for about 2 months before the surgery I was  not allowing her to go "all out" it's not surprising that she has to relearn her stamina

So although I am following the rehab advice I'm also adjusting it as needed. So for a couple of days I eased off on the new activities to allow Terra to ease into it. That worked. Now she is able to better tolerate the new schedule and I can see her getting a little stronger every day

We've been warned that the next 4 weeks are very crucial; it's when the highest rate of re-injuries occur. The dog is feeling better, feeling stronger. I'm walking Terra in a park, letting her have more lead, and she thinks "Hey, we're back to normal" The other day I was bringing her home; she's still not allow to go up the steps so I've been carrying her. There was a neighbourhood cat sunning himself up on the porch, as I was shooing it away Terra put her front feet up on the stair and started to go up ...

This is the kind of thing we have to watch. No stairs, no jumping up (and jumping down), no balls, no full out wrestling with her stuffies Trust me, that's  not easy to do

PUPPY SQUATS AND CLOSED DOORS

Week Three and Terra continues to be improving day by day

I've been able to up her walks to 15-20 minutes, three times a day. She is walking well. She is putting weight on the leg but I noticed it's turned out a bit. In another week I'll be able to do some exercises that should correct that

We started some new exercises this weeks. Sit n Stays or "Puppy Squats" You have the dog sit then quickly stand then quickly sit then quickly stand .. rinse and repeat. The idea is to retrain her muscles to allow her to sit "squarely" Right now when Terra sits, she favours her leg by sticking it out. These exercises are designed to correct that.

Being Terra, she loves doing these exercises. For us, training has always been play and she loves to learn new techniques. The first time I showed them to her, Terra went into training mode and began doing all of her tricks in order to gain her reward. .Hey, maybe I didn't really know what I wanted

I'm able not to walk her to a little park a couple blocks from the house. No off leash, no long leash,  no running but she's able to sniff trees and put the eye on the Canada geese. These are city geese. They ain't impressed

Through all this, of course, I have another dog.

Through all of this Panda has been very good. I'm taking her out for her regular play sessions and maintaining her routines for eating, peeing etc. But it's interesting, as much as she enjoys going out with me for her walks, she still freaks out a bit when I take Terra out for her walk. We go together, thinks Panda, so clearly we've forgotten her. When I come back in with Terra, there is Panda waiting by the door.

Panda is also confused by our new door protocol. Normally we leave the doors in the house open and Panda can freely go into the bedroom, my office etc. Right now, except at bed time, we have to keep the bedroom door closed. Terra is not allowed to jump up on to our big bed and the easiest way to ensure this is to deny the access.

Panda will go down to the end of the hall and kind of spin around,  not sure how to deal with that closed door. She is one routine-loving border collie.

OK, I get it, the other word for it is spoiled

Look at her, can you blame me?

SCARS ARE SEXY, NO?

Another big milestone: Terra had her staples removed

The tech was very happy, the scar is clean and totally healed. This is great, I'm going back to work today and I won't have to worry about Terra licking it while I'm gone That means no more inflatable collar and to that, Terra says yay

We weighed her and she's gained a few pounds. This does not surprise me. Even before the surgery I had severely reduced her level activity. So we've adjusted her level of food and in the next couple of weeks, the recovery protocol allows us to increase the amount of activity I can safely give her. Generally that makes a big difference in her weight management

So, on to the next milestone

THESE PAWS ARE MADE FOR WALKING

A quick post here. Into her second week of recovery Miss Terra is allowed slightly longer walks (on leash of course) I've been taking her around the block a few times a day. She loves it. She is so desperate for exercise. She'd rather be running but that is down the line

All in all I'm very happy with her walking. Her repaired leg is fully engaged and that's what we want for sure. I'm gently guiding her up over curbs in our sidewalk-less neighbourhood but stairs are still out of the question

Very easy for both of us to get excited but I'm sticking to the plan.

PS: The shaved patch you see on her back is from the eipdural they gave her at the hospital The leg is completely shaved as well but difficult to see in the video