Sebastian's IVDD 2015 journey

[alfina]

So, he got his laser and the very next morning he was back to his bouncy old self. And this morning he was doing his spinning breakfast dance. He actually was bouncing and did pick up some air. If I wasn't looking at his shaved back, I wouldn't be able to tell he had a back surgery. I spoke with my dog walker, and we are going to limit his walks again and take it slow. I am sure he won't like it. Last couple of time she came, he did not want to ride the stroller. I've read about laser that the treatments have cumulative effect. So, hopefully he can have longer periods between the treatments and eventually not need them to be comfortable.

[LexieLuvr]

Yep, the laser is magical. I'm going to buy one for my knee. More , just in case.

[Alex's Mom]

Great update, Olga!!! I'll be curious to see if the laser hurries things along for Heidi.

[lotsadox]

That's a great update, Olga. I'm glad that Seb is doing so well. When they are doing the happy dance, it's a good sign

[bittyup]

Great news! extra healing rayz

[alfina]

I have not posted in a while, busy at work despite being summer. It usually slows down in the summer. Seb is doing about the same. After last laser treatment the effect lasted a bit longer, because of my schedule and his symptoms, we managed to go 2 weeks without a treatment. It does make a big difference for him. We extended his walks to 6 houses (close to each other) AND walking back. The dog walker takes him in a stroller around the block during the day and Sofie often ends up in the stroller because the sidewalks get hot here now.

He still hates swimming. I feel so bad that he feels like that about something that is so good for him. Today he actually scratched my arm trying to get away from me by the pool. My arms looks like I was in a fight with a cat. I tried without a lifevest today and I could feel how strongly he kicks with his back legs. It makes me feel a little better.

*charging up my dremel*

[Ivan]

Good that he's still progressing so well. It's only been 10 weeks (or so?). He is still healing up. Does he still walk funny? By wiggling his back end as he walks? Correcting that gait took Buddy a long time (months) but he eventually switched back to correctly alternating his legs to walk. You have a pool? Lucky you. That's fabulous exercise for Seb, w/o bearing his weight.

If he really dislikes swimming, I'd suggest training him with a "jackpot stream" of his FAVORITE treats (eg, ham, cheese, baloney, hotdog) to entice him into making a very positive association with being in the water. And then again with swimming. Not one big treat, but a long series of many, many, small treats spaced a few seconds apart so that it's prolonged and so he thinks he's getting much more than he really is. This is from PMC's dog training books. It works on all kinds of things, and they quickly learn how good it is to comply (& earn treats). I'll bet he'll enjoy swimming pretty quickly. Good luck!

Edit:
To clarify: For Seb's safety, have him exit the water after a minute (or so), then safely give a treat, then reenter the water. Repeat.

[lotsadox]

It sounds like Seb is doing really well. I've done swimming with 2 of mine. Neither of them liked it, but it worked really well so in they went! With Bandit, we had moved to the house we're in now and there is a garden tub in the master bath which is really nice is the weather is bad. It's just big enough for them to move around and deep enough that they can't touch bottom.

Treats are a good idea, but I'm not sure how easy it would be to give treats to a swimming dog. You don't want him to drown himself while trying to grab a treat!

[RustysMom]

Great update. Rusty isn't a fan of swimming either but he does it. He wears a life jacket. We go once a month at the vet. They have a pool inside the building :-)


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[alfina]

Good that he's still progressing so well. It's only been 10 weeks (or so?). He is still healing up. Does he still walk funny? By wiggling his back end as he walks? Correcting that gait took Buddy a long time (months) but he eventually switched back to correctly alternating his legs to walk. You have a pool? Lucky you. That's fabulous exercise for Seb, w/o bearing his weight.

I don't have a pool, my neighbors are out of town for the summer and allowed me to use it for Sebastian's therapy. He walks straight on leveled surfaces. He is more wobbly on uneven surfaces. He can trot for a short period but then appears stiff in the rear and starts scraping nails on the sidewalk.

Unfortunately I do not have a big tub. But the pool water is warm. Treats are a good idea, but would be rather hard to treat as he swims because he tries to drink the entire pool.