12.22.15
Baloo’s First Physical Therapy
With just a few days until the holidays, we have been busy around the house! Thankfully, this includes two labs back to their normal levels of energy, feeling well, and ready to play after about two weeks of being under the weather.
This means that Baloo was well enough to attend his first physical therapy session last week! Unfortunately I was not able to join him, but my mom was, and shared a couple of photos from his time on the underwater treadmill.
My understanding is that he was initially indifferent to being in the tank, but, like any good lab, was willing to walk forward with food motivation.
We are a bit disappointed with the experience, however, because the majority of the focus was on food supplements, rather than on the actual physical therapy, which is what we wanted. And Baloo won’t be able to return for another session for two weeks due to the therapist’s schedule, which won’t do much to build up his muscles following the work in this session. Between sessions we were instructed to gently push his weight from one leg to another. Of course, once Baloo was out of the tank, he began to dance around on his hind legs begging for more treats, clearly surprising the team with his existing agility. They agreed that his recovery may be “beyond” pushing weight from leg to leg, so I’m not certain their plan for him was in line with his current status.
I was out of town over the weekend, and when I returned on Sunday I was greeted with him sprinting around the house around, over, under and between furniture as he searched for a toy to present me, and then he and my other old man lab started boxing and wrestling around the house in play and excitement.
So, Mom and I discussed the benefits of continuing with the PT last night after watching him do more “lab-laps” around the house. I understand we want to build up a variety of muscles, and that there may be benefits to the process. But his skills are at about 95% of his original agility already, lacking perhaps only the ability to roll over in both directions quickly, and cut corners quite as quickly as he did before on those laps. Our gut is telling us both that Baloo is past the point that this will be a benefit to his progress, but we may give it one more shot to see whether the PT can match his abilities.
We wish you the happiest of holidays, and the best in 2016!!
December 22, 2015 at 7:43 pm
OMG he is sooo adorable! Love seeing those pics.
I really encourage you to give PT another try. It sounds to me like the staff will come up with a custom plan for Baloo that will help him stay strong and educate the humans in his life about what he needs. Remember that PT isn’t just about healing after surgery but about long-term strategies for safe, helpful exercises that will see him into old age. So many people only go back to PT when there is a problem but please don’t wait until then. Know what you need to do to keep him strong and injury-free now while he’s healthy, so that way if anything does come up in the future (which often does for Tripawds), you won’t be starting from scratch.
In the meantime there are tons of exercises you can do with him at home, simple things that will make a big difference. Have you seen our featured blogs or our e-books with all those exercises and tips? Tons there. Check these links for ideas:
http://gear.tripawds.com/?s=exercise
http://downloads.tripawds.com/?s=rehab
Merry Christmas and Hoppy New Year to all of you!!!
December 24, 2015 at 4:14 am
Thanks Jerry!! We’ll definitely give it another go and hope that we have the resource locally that we’re hoping for – if not, I’m thinking UCD may be a little more at the level we were expecting. We’ve downloaded a couple of the e-books, but hadn’t checked out the ones you mentioned, so I will pass that on too! Thanks for the good thoughts! Paws crossed for a bit better feeling after visit #2. Happy Howl-o-days!
December 23, 2015 at 2:20 am
Physical therapy made all the difference in Murphy. He not only had a rear leg amputated, but he had a total hip replacement on the other side. He did eight weeks of twice a week sessions following recovery from the THR, and then more sessions later on when he needed a tuneup. We would drop him off at nine in the morning and pick him up after about 4:30 in the afternoon.
I have several videos of his sessions posted on his YouTube channel, Murphy the Three Legged Dog.
Kathi and the Turbotail April Angel…and the Labradork
December 24, 2015 at 4:16 am
Murphy was our first dog’s name, so I love it already! Thanks for passing that along! We’ll pursue this a bit longer, and if this particular Pt isn’t a good fit, will keep looking. Thanks for the support – we appreciate it!! E&b
December 23, 2015 at 6:17 pm
I can understand why you’re thinking that maybe PT isn’t required but I’d also encourage you to at least find someone who can show you simple “do at home” exercises and massages. The tripawd gait can over use certain muscles and under use others. Some simple stretches and massages can help keep everything in balance. Otherwise, sounds like he’s doing great!
December 24, 2015 at 4:18 am
These are GREAT points, and really helped me make a good case for finding someone we like working with, even if this particular therapist isn’t the one. Thanks for the reminder about looking beyond surgical recovery, into the future. With a little luck we’ll be dealing with an aging tripawd. And not just getting through “recovery.” Thank you!
December 24, 2015 at 2:10 am
Informative post! Thanks everybody!
And we got to see great pictures of Baloo too! A d that’s always a treat!
Soooo glad he’s doing spectacularly well! Splendid!!!
Hugs to all!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
December 24, 2015 at 4:20 am
Tails wags to you and the pack Sally, Hannah Myrtle and Frankie too!! Happy Howlodays!! 🙂