Riley

Happy New Year!  I enter this year filled with hope and excitement for my training adventures with Stella but also dreading the progression of things for Riley.  Things never really improved for him after my post in September but we pretty much have stabilized into a new routine.   The ataxia is a bit worse and a few more things still point to progressing neurological issues likely from scar tissue pressing on the spinal cord from his previous surgery.

He is a very difficult dog to read as doesn't present any obvious signs of pain and never "complains".  We have primarily managed any pain in his life using holistic methods but he has been on an nsaid since summer.   We are supporting his system with some supplements and slippery elm for his stomach.  There were however some minor things like shifting a lot, groans while sleeping and some minor habit changes that led me to believe he was still uncomfortable.  We recently added amantadine to his metacam and that seems to have made him a lot more comfortable and he is bouncing like a crazy puppy. Amantadine is a human anti-viral drug and often used in Parkinsons disease. It doesn't do a lot for dogs by itself but it helps boosts the effectiveness of other pain medications by resetting spinal cord receptors.  He might feel better but he still has a limit of about 15-20 minutes on exercise before his body starts to rebel and his back end gets all wonky.  He is a mind-over-matter dog and would just keep going and pay the price later so we do our best to control the activity levels.  On leash would probably be best for him but I have opted to allow some off leash freedoms as long as he doesn't get to wound up and excited as he just gets SOOOOO much joy from it.  I mostly walk him separately from Stella as he is less likely to do stupid stuff on his own.   We continue to do regular chiro/accupuncture treatments and have also added some massage which seems helpful.

I realized at Christmas that I have never had a Santa pic taken with Riley and Stella so we went off to the mall for our visit and pic.  Riley cracked me up because he desperately wanted the squeaky toy they were using to get the attention of the baby in front of us.  Such a silly dog!  We are enjoying life together, he is happy and makes me laugh so I can be happy if this is our new normal.  Please keep good thoughts for us!

September Beach Fun and Troubles

We had a lovely summer of camping with the dogs and topped it off with a last trip to Tofino to play with the dogs on the beach in September. 

Unfortunately Riley has been struggling off and on with his poor body since summer and things got worse on this trip.  One day while walking on the beach he ended up with spasms in his hind end.  The vet chiropractor later explained it as the area where his rib cage meets the hip joints was greatly out of line and would be compressing the nerves causing something similar to sciatica in humans.  We fixed that up and have made progress but it has been slow and other neurological difficulties are also suspected (possible scar tissue from his surgery two years ago pressing on the spinal cord or maybe even bulging discs).  The only real way to know would be an MRI but for now we are trying conservative management and hoping things settle down.  He is happy, still crazy and keeping comfortable but has very limited stamina before he shows signs of weakness so our walks are short.  Please send healing vibes for my wonderful boy.

One Year Later

One year ago today I took a huge leap of faith and dropped Riley off for his major surgery.  I was scared to death that I wasn't making a good decision but equally terrified that if I didn't do it his quality of life would continue to deteriorate.  Some readers might not know that Riley had a hemilaminectomy procedure to remove a cyst pressing on your spinal cord.  Today Riley still has some lingering after effects of his condition (mild ataxia) and a bit of a wonky hip but for the most part he is healthy, happy and pain free. I am forever thankful that the surgery and recovery went well.  Past blogs on the subject can be found here.

It is also the USA thanksgiving and because I missed the Canadian version in blogging I also want to share some other things I am grateful for.

- my wonderful husband for supporting me on my crazy dog adventures 
- my dogs for bringing much laughter, fun and challenges to my life
- my cats for all the cuddles.  They are the finishing touch to make a house a home.
- my friends who are always there for me.
- my mother, brothers, sister and various niece, nephews, aunts and uncles.
- health for myself and all those (human and animal) I love and care about.

There is so much tragedy and challenges all around us that sometimes it is important to count the good stuff.

Morning after surgery

48 hours post-surgery

Spring 2013

The Journey

This is my 100th blog post and so I am taking a few moments to reflect on my dog training journey to date.

I did some basic puppy stuff with Lucy but it wasn't until Riley began to develop some issues as a two year old dog that I began to get interested in training.  We had already done the basics but registered with a trainer to address the problems we were having.  We "fixed" the issues in what I thought was a positive way but with my knowledge today I regret some of the choices.  I am lucky that he is your typical hard-headed labrador with high tolerance and a very forgiving personality.  I try not to dwell on past mistakes and I am thankful that this was the start of wanting to learn more about behaviour and training.

My first step was purchasing a few books to read.  Lucky for me I picked two from authors that I still think are amazing.  Patricia McConnell "Other End of The Leash" and Suzanne Clothier "Bones Would Rain from the Sky".  I have now seen both those authors at seminars and they are just as wonderful as the books they have written.  I also stumbled upon Susan Garrett and her very first online Recallers Course and she introduced me to a new approach to joyful training.

Lots more reading followed and I decided I wanted to do some more training with Riley.  The dog gods led me to working with a local Karen Pryor Academy trainer who introduced me to rally obedience and encouraged me to try competing.  I really enjoying the work with Riley and could feel how different our connection was with these methods.  My trainer has now become a good friend and we often travel together to seminars and competitions.  A strange twist on "small world" is when I discussed getting a vizsla puppy and the breeders I was considering it turned out she knew Stella's breeder and agreed to vouch for me.

My conversion really kicked in when my trainer dragged me to my first Clicker Expo.  I was now fully hooked on learning about dogs and how to apply all this wonderful positive knowledge to both Riley and puppy Stella.   I jokingly said to my trainer/friend the other day that I must be driving her crazy because I should be taking better advantage of all her knowledge on how to train our way to obedience titles but because of the world she helped me see I really want to explore things in my own way.  With Riley I was happy to follow instructions on how to train the exercises but I want to inject more of my own "style" with Stella.  I'm still figuring out that "style" so I'm not totally stupid and will take advantage of her knowledge and experience but will also have fun figuring things out.  Thankfully I know she is there to help fix my mistakes!

I will not pursue more obedience stuff with Riley as it is to hard for his body but there are other roads we will travel.  Stella is only two and we have a long way to go and will enjoy the journey getting there.

Here are a few pics from our most recent camping trip.  All this training stuff is great but really just enjoying life with these wonderful dogs is what is important.

Such good friends!

Sunshine + beach + ball = Riley Heaven

How do you like my boots?

Campground cavelleti work

Beach patrol

A Lab and a Vizsla go Camping

We have just returned from a wonderful two week vacation of camping with the dogs.  We love to include the dogs in our travels and everyone enjoys it but I find it interesting how taking the dogs out of our normal daytime routine highlights the differences in their personalities.

Both dogs are pretty good travelers but it is odd that the two year old "high energy breed" is actually easier to travel with than the seven year old labrador.   Stella goes into the vehicle and basically just settles down and goes to sleep for the duration.  Riley usually needs a walk before a long driving time otherwise he is convinced that we are driving somewhere good to go for a walk.  Every time we slow down somewhere he gets all excited and is sure that the party is about to start.  We manage this but there are times that it can be frustrating to have a big black dog panting in my ear from the back seat.  Even days that he is walked if we drive for a long time he tends to get bored and restless. The dogs wear seatbelts so that helps keep everyone safe and under control.

Riley is a total pain in the the butt if he doesn't get a daily walk but we could skip a day of exercise with Stella if necessary and she would be fine.

Life in the campground usually highlights the princess factor for Stella.  She likes her "creature comforts" and opts to use the dog beds almost always compared to Riley who often prefers the dirt.  She gets cold easily as a single coat dog so loves the sunny spots, sleeps under the covers and often wears a light fleece in the evenings.   When the evening gets cool she makes it pretty clear that she would like to go in the trailer.  Riley is almost always warm so seeks out cool spots and likes the air conditioning.  In the vehicle I always aim the air conditioning vents all away from Stella and towards Riley.

We did lots of swimming on our trip and Stella is an amazingly efficient swimmer.   She easily speeds by Riley to steal the ball much to his dismay but gets chilled easily when swimming for long periods of time.  The lake at the final spot we camped was quite chilly so she opted mostly to splash in the shallows.  Riley is over the top intense when swimming for a ball but luckily there is never a conflict between the dogs and we always have an extra ball to throw so they each get to bring one back to shore.  Riley would swim for a ball until he fell over from exhaustion so we have to watch him to make sure he doesn't do to much.  We also have started to only throw the ball once he is standing deep enough into the lake to need to swim right away.  If we throw from shore he leaps through all the shallows and that tweaks his back and hips.

Both dogs are wonderfully sociable and are always happy to meet other people which is good in a busy campground.  Stella can sometimes be a bit barky at things when we are hanging out in the campsite.  She tends to be suspicious of people standing off alone.   Sometimes they want to bark at other dogs walking by but we always keep a bunch of treats and usually work "look at that" in those situations so now mostly they are conditioned to see other dogs and then look at us waiting for their rewards.

Camping is the perfect "family" activity for us and is the main reason we purchased our own little trailer.  It is much easier to bring our own house along on vacation then to find suitable dog friendly accommodations!

Hubby with the dogs

Stella stalking some ducks

Happy Girl

Can we swim yet?

Hiking the trail

Nosework

I started some fun training for nosework with Riley recently.  He loves tracking and searching and this is a good sport to work his brain without to much stress to his body.  It has been lots of fun getting back to working my boy and we have both really been enjoying it.

There are a few different ways to teach this sport.  Our instructor is a member of  NACSW and uses the method which first teaches the dog to hunt for food and then begins to pair the food with the required scents to participate in the sport.

Alternative methods use the scent right away and teach the dog to target the scent and then reward.  Honestly that method makes a bit more sense to me based on the other training that I have done with my dogs.  The food/scent pairing seems to me that it could be a distraction later on when distractions would be introduced but it has the benefit of being easy to teach and understand.

Our instructor is great and very passionate about the sport.  The food/scent method is working well for Riley and the instructor does have us fade the food quite quickly.  I'm not sure what method I would do with Stella as we are working on not sniffing the ground so I would worry that having her search for food would not be beneficial for our obedience training.  I probably will wait a while before I do this sport with her anyway as I am enjoying "Riley time".  She would love it and we will do it in the future but we have lots of other stuff to work on for now.

Here is a video of Riley working.  This is at a campground a few weeks ago.

Birthday Dogs

Today is Stella's second birthday.  Happy Birthday to my crazy, wonderful Stella Bean!

Riley also turned seven on May 12th.  It's been one heck of a year with the surgery but he is doing great.  Happy Birthday Handsome!

Here are some pics from our May long weekend camping adventure.

Naughty Dogs

The past month since Riley has been granted more exercise privileges I have driven the dogs the short distance from home to access our local trails where they can run off leash.  Riley's recovery is now allowing longer time and distances so this past week we returned to walking from the house to the local trails and then back home which meant the dogs actually had to walk on leash along the roads.

Isn't it amazing how quickly leash manners can disappear!!!

My criteria for on leash walking is actually pretty basic.  I don't care if my dogs walk in front of me but I don't want to be pulled down the street.  I expect them to walk politely at my side for a short distance (crossing street, oncoming dogs or people etc) when asked.  I also don't want to stop every two paces for them to sniff or munch grass.  That first day I had dogs going in different directions to check out whatever caught their interest and either ignoring me or just pulling me along with them.

Arghhh!  I really wasn't amused but I suppose it was a message I needed to hear.  Riley is getting stronger every day and the rules have been pretty relaxed over the last several months.  I have said in the past that he was a dog that needs to be worked/trained and apparently that is something he has yet to outgrow as he approaches seven years of age.

A little bit of harness adjustments (front attachment versus back attachment) and a few days of walking with rules and reinforcement was all that was needed to slip back to our "normal" walking routine.  I will settle on an activity for Riley in the next while so that we have the needed working time together to keep us "in tune" with each other.   I might go back and do some rally with him or possibly tracking.  We also tried an introduction to nosework seminar last week which could be a fun option.

There are no couch potato dogs in this household!  Some days I wish for nice lazy breeds .... but they are good for me and I wouldn't change them for anything.

Happy

My heart is happy these days because of this .......

Crappy picture but you can still see the joy.  A few weeks ago I decided to take Riley to see our vet chiro/accupuncture that specializes in dog lameness and for whose opinion I have a ton of respect.  We figured with all the surgery it would probably be a good idea to have him looked over and adjusted to help the healing.  The vet evaluated him and did some minor adjustments and then told me I wasn't challenging him enough.  He said that he was fully healed with regards to the surgery and now we need to challenge his muscles and neuro pathways to improve. 

The veterinary teaching hospital gave very generic instructions for return to activity that honestly I was already pushing because they didn't make a lot of sense to me.   They wanted confinement and very minimal activity (potty breaks) for the first six weeks and then a gradual on leash return to regular activity levels over the next two months.  I was supposed to avoid stairs and jumping for six months minimum and preferably for his lifetime.  Riley's hemilaminectomy did not involve any surgery to the discs so we were told that I could give him a bit more freedom compared to most dogs but still I needed to be very, very careful.   I had started using the extendable leash after the original six week period as I thought that pace changes and ability to move differently were important.   We were both getting very bored with those short on leash walks!  

The vet here gave us permission to let Riley run off leash (Woohoo!!!!!).  Obviously we still need to exercise common sense but he wants us to hike trails that have lots of rocks, stumps and uneven ground.  Walking just on the streets means Riley can be lazy with his hind end but the varied terrain will force him to have to pick up his limbs and be aware of how to place them.  We are also doing other rehab exercises such as rear end pivots on a perch and walking over poles.  We are keeping things to about 30-45 minutes and so far things are going very well. I did an outdoor obedience drop in class last weekend that involved a lot of sits and hind end work which he started to show some sorenesss.  He was fine the next day and it was a good reminder that his muscles are still recovering.  He has a much tighter sit compared to before the surgery so different muscles are being used.  I also continue to swim him for now one day a week which is good to stretch out and relax all those back and neck muscles.

Watching my dogs run and play on hikes is one my top ten list of things I love to do.  The first day I got to see them run together after all these months it felt like a bit of my world finally came right side up again.  There are a lot of unknowns about how his recovery will continue.  He still has some ataxia especially in the right rear and his gait is a little unusual but he is a happy dog to be running the trails again.  He may or may not ever be able to handle long hikes or some other activities but he is way more comfortable than he was prior to surgery.  Neuro improvements can take many months so I am hopeful that things will only get better!

Heading back to normal

Today as I was shuttling Riley to his morning swim therapy and then back home to take Stella out for a walk I laughed to myself and wondered if this is what a "soccer mom" feels like.   This week Stella had a dog class and Riley has had two swim therapy sessions plus needs his six week vet follow up.  We are also headed up to Whistler on Saturday (1.5 hour drive) to see the dog chiro/acupuncture guru as Stella has been limping on and off for a few weeks.  Life usually revolves around a lot of dog stuff but the changes in routine during Riley's recovery has made things seem busier.

For the last six weeks we have walked Riley on leash  3-4 times per day for 5-10 minutes each time for his potty breaks and allowed exercise.   I suppose that is not a lot of time in a day but putting on harnesses and towelling off wet dog every time has given me a new appreciation for my fenced back yard especially on those cold, rainy late nights.  Stella added to the fun and games by having her second heat and needing her regular daily hike and training time.  Riley has been confined to an X-Pen during recovery and the dogs have been kept mostly separate to prevent play.

This week big steps in the return to "normal" have occurred.  The X-Pens have come down.  We installed a ramp for the back yard so Riley is now allowed monitored access (no running and playing yet) for his potty breaks.   I also purchased a bench/storage unit for the end of our bed so he can easily step up onto the bed instead of jumping so he is allowed upstairs to sleep in our room again.  It's nice to have my morning Riley snuggles again!  Once we get the all clear from my vet we can start to slowly increase exercise levels and soon be able to get both dogs back on the same schedule.

I am pretty happy with the results so far from his surgery.  He still has a bit of ataxia on his right hind leg which was the worst limb prior to surgery but I feel that overall he is as good as he was prior to the surgery.  The goal of the surgery was to prevent further deterioration but I am hopeful that I will continue to see improvement over the next few months.    Most of his symptoms were caused by the spinal cord being compressed so it takes a while for things to settle after the surgery and then hopefully some of the nerves will regenerate.    He has started doing some things that he hasn't done in a very long time such as scratching fully back with all four limbs after a poop.  I know my yard isn't going to like that but it does show increased strength and balance.  He is also way better balanced when he lifts his leg to pee on something and scuffs his toes much less than he did.  I will continue the swim therapy for the next little while as I think it is important to encourage the best possible range of motion as he heals.  He lost a bit of his muscle conditioning so swimming will also help rebuild those core muscles.

I don't mind being the dog mom equivalent of a soccer mom but I'm looking forward to hopefully doing more fun stuff instead of all this stressful and expensive medical stuff.  On that note I am headed for Clicker Expo this month and I'm really looking forward to it!

Riley really wishes his fur would hurry up and grow in a bit faster.

Stella dreams of sunshine.

Year in Review

Another year draws to a close today and as I look back upon my goals for 2012 I am pretty happy with the outcome.  My goal for puppy Stella was "I need to improve my shaping skills and she needs to learn how to work through frustration".  My goals for Riley were "I also want to get Riley's rally excellent at trials in march/april" .

I have really enjoyed working with both dogs this year.  I believe my shaping and handling skills have improved a lot.  Stella still can get frustrated easily but she has improved and I have discovered how valuable play is in our working relationship.  I did not have any real 2012 trial goals in mind for Stella other than gettiing her CGN but we had quite a successful year.  She started with her Canine Good Neighbour (CGN) and then we added a CKC Rally Novice title (RN), CKC Pre-Novice Obedience (PCD) and a CARO Rally Novice Magna Cum Laude (CRN-MCL) to the mix.  We have also dabbled at conformation showing and currently have three points towards her Championship title.   Stella is only 19 months old and I am thrilled with my relationship with this wonderful little girl and look forward to lots more adventures in the year ahead.

Riley completed his CKC Rally Excellent (RE) in spring as well as his CKC Pre-Novice Obedience (PCD).  We had planned to try for our Novice Obedience title but things started going really wrong for him physically so I stopped training and trialing with him in May.  We did xrays in june and that started us down the path that ended with his recent surgery.  He is doing awesome now and is feeling pretty energetic.  Two more weeks of major restrictions and then we get to start increasing his activity levels slowly.  I'm not sure what our training challenges will be in 2013 but I am thinking of aiming for a tracking title and starting nosework with him.  A lot will depend on how the next few months work out physically for him. 

It was a wonderful year of learning for me.  I started with Clicker Expo and also attended wonderful weekend seminars from Michelle Pouliot and Denise Fenzi.  Now I'm hooked on seminars!  I feel that I am really starting to find my "style" but I can also see that learning will never end!

I am happy with our successes this year but the titles really aren't all that important to me except as a way of setting goals and working towards them.  Those goals help me figure out my path and keep some of the procrastination in check :).  I am blessed to have a supportive husband and good friends who understand this strange fascination I have with all things dog.  I truly treasure the "family" vacations and daily adventures with my dogs (and cats!).  That point has been driven home this year with Riley's problems and surgery and I hope for health and happiness for many years ahead. 

Happy New Year!

Here is a video of me skiing this week with Sam (my mother's dog) and Stella.  Watch to the end to see my crazy little wigglebum Stella being her happy self.

Lost and Found

It has been an emotional few weeks for many local dogs and the owners that love them.  Tonight a vizsla that has been missing on Vancouver Island for seventeen days was finally reunited with her family.  Closer to home in the hiking trails of the north shore mountains there have been other lost dogs.  I know the family of one dog lost and helped hike some trails with Stella this week to search.  That dog was actually lost while helping to track another missing dog.  Thankfully both the original missing dog plus the one I know were both found safe thanks to a ton of volunteers and lots of long, cold and scary days and nights for both the dogs and the searchers.  In our same North Vancouver mountains a flat coated retriever was just found after being lost for 6.5 months and a Bernese Mountain Dog needed a search and rescue team with helicopter to be rescued in dangerous snowy mountain terrain after going missing for 13 days while snowshoeing with its owners.

We live in a large city but are lucky enough to be a short ten minute walk to the wonderful trails of the North Shore mountains.  My dogs enjoy lots of off leash freedom on these trails and we generally stick to fairly easy trails.  Both dogs have very good recall and are very attentive about checking in with me but this has gotten me thinking.  It is a risk-reward tradeoff with off leash hiking and it would be my worst nightmare to lose one of my dogs.  My dogs LOVE to run and romp through the woods and I would hate to let my fear of losing them prevent us from enjoying those wonderful hikes we do daily.    I practice and reward recalls heavily but have decided to also start training a whistle recall.  A whistle carries much further than my voice and doesn't get tired or emotional like a human voice can.   Hopefully we will never have a situation where it would be necessary but I feel it is a good tool to have just in case.  I also make sure that both dogs gets to meet all sorts of people regularly so they are very comfortable with strangers.   

Meanwhile Riley has been recovering nicely from surgery.  We went through a variety of xpen configurations before settling on a location that makes him happy.  We had the staples removed last week and had my vet check out a possible seroma (fluid swelling) that was at one end of the incision.  We ended up putting him on a course of antibiotics just in case the fluid was from an infection.  The incision is now a normal size with just a small bit of scar tissue and he is getting stronger every day.  He wasn't happy when he couldn't romp in the snow this week but we are now almost three weeks post op and hope to start swim therapy next week so things are looking up for him :).  Stella is now nearing the end of her heat cycle and is feeling much more like her regular bouncy, happy self.  Her cycle makes her quite sleepy and more nervous/jumpy than normal so we haven't done much (any!) training this month but hope to get some stuff in over the holidays.

Hopefully we will soon be back to these sorts of scenes.

Riley Recovery

On my last blog post (last friday) Riley had just had his hemilaminectomy procedure to remove the cyst pressing on his spinal cord.  His official diagnosis was Wobbler's Sydrome with mild stenosis of the spinal canal at C4 and cystic synovial proliferation of the left C5-C6 articular facet.  The good news is that all of his discs seem to be in quite good shape.  The surgeon had felt that the procedure had gone well and "the rest is up to Riley".

I am happy to report that Riley was already up and mobile the morning after surgery.  I saw him in the morning and he tried to sit up to greet me and then we had a good snuggle together with lots of tail wags and licks.  When I saw him again that evening he stood up to greet me.  This is considered a painful surgery for dogs to recover from because there is a long incision on the back of the neck which involves opening up a lot of muscle as the spinal cord runs fairly close to the throat area.  A lot of dogs don't want to lift their head or move very much but my wonderful hard-headed labrador was able to cope well with that and by sunday evening he was able to walk out to see me for our visit.  Pneumonia is also a real risk after this type of surgery so having him mobile so quickly was very important in preventing that.  He was set to be discharged on monday afternoon but I had them keep him until tuesday morning so I could pick him him and head out on the long drive home.

The surgeon was very pleased with his progress and felt that he already had similar or better neuro function at discharge as he had prior to the surgery.  He walks well unassisted but we need to really watch him on slippery floors as he is still a bit wobbly on his right hind with some occasional mild scuffing.  That should improve as the inflamation from surgery decreases and hopefully the spine can recover from some of compression.  I really am quite thrilled with how he is doing less than one week from his surgery! 

I confess to fighting thoughts in the hours leading up to surgery of just throwing him in my truck and running away.  The care and compassion we received was amazing but it was still incredibly scary and stressful for me.  When we first checked in we were assigned a fourth year medical student who is then the chief contact for both the dog and the owner through the entire stay.  Our student was still a tad awkward with the human side of things but she was wonderful with Riley and he really liked her.  The surgeon was very honest, patient and thorough.  Everyone from the receptionist to the head of the neurology department was kind and caring to both humans and animals.  It was both inspiring and heart breaking to see and meet other owners and animals receiving treatment at the facility.

We returned home tuesday evening and are settling into the new "normal" for now.  Riley will be severely restricted for six weeks.  He is confined in an exercise pen and allowed out 3-5 times per day for five minute potty walks.  He objected loudly to this the first evening but we seem to be working things out now.  I have slept downstairs with him since we came home to settle him into the new routine and make sure he isn't experiencing any pain.  Hopefully I can move back upstairs to my own bed this weekend.  After the first six weeks we can then begin to slowly return to normal exercise levels over the next two months.  He should probably never play tug, on-land fetch or do a lot of jumping activity as he is always going to be at risk of cervical problems.  Swimming is encouraged during recovery so we will be looking into some local therapy pools.

Stella went with me on this trip and I was glad to have her along.  She was good company and kept me from going crazy waiting for news.  She unfortunately came down with kennel cough likely from a conformation show we attended the weekend before we left.  Luckily she seemed to bounce back very quickly and Riley has not shown any signs of kennel cough.  She also decided to start her heat cycle the day before we headed home after weeks of waiting.  Life is never dull with dogs!

Here are a few pics of my boy:

First morning after surgery

24 hours after surgery

48 hours after surgery

All About Riley

I am writing this blog post from a hotel room in Pullman, Washington.  Today Riley had surgery to fix the compression on his spine at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Washington State University (WSU).  He is currently heavily sedated and resting in ICU at the hospital.  I will be able to see him tomorrow. 

I last blogged about Riley here just after we had an MRI done in Vancouver.  It took a little while to get answers but we finally met with the neurosurgeon and viewed the MRI.  His recommendation was to do surgery to remove the cyst and relieve the pressure on the spinal cord.  The quote for surgery was between $7,000 to $9,000 assuming there were no major complications or extensive rehab required.  I facebooked about this and lots of friends chimed in with recommendations for the wonderful facility here at WSU.  I contacted them and long story short here we are and the quote is less than half price.  The neurologist in Vancouver was very understanding and cooperative about providing records.

The decision to do the surgery has been very difficult.  Riley has been coping fairly well with the situation but he is a true labrador with high pain tolerance and likely has been living with this for quite a while before the symptoms became as noticeable.  There have been signs of significant discomfort present for him.  He is very restless and rarely sleeps for long periods without shifting positions.  The angle when he poops seems very uncomfortable for him.   He has recently begun a lot of licking of his legs which can indicate pins & needles sensations to those limbs.  He holds his head low quite a lot while we are walking and has a roached back position.  We could have opted to wait but the risk becomes that the compression worsens and causes disc damage and quite possibly paralysis.  It was also possible that he may have continued as he was for quite a long time.  I explored some natural alternatives such as acupuncture but the experts I asked figured that it was highly unlikely it would help the situation.  Natural is my treatment of choice for most things but treatments can also be quite expensive.  We are stretching to afford this surgery and honestly spending a bunch of money to see if those alternatives would work just makes the surgery less of a do-able financial decision. 

We arrived in Pullman on tuesday evening and met with the hospital for a consult on wednesday.  They wished to redo the MRI as the machine here is much stronger and they wanted to determine if the disc below the problem area was affected.  That would mean a difference in the surgery plan.   We also did a spinal tap to insure that the symptoms were not being caused by an infection in the brain or spine.The disc ended up being fine but then his blood work showed some red blood cell abnormalities which could indicate liver or spleen tumour.  The same abnormalities were present in his prior blood work a few months ago.  He had an ultrasound yesterday to review those areas and all was determined okay and that the abnormalities were probably normal for him. 

I dropped him off this morning for surgery.  The procedure is called a hemilaminectomy and involves going in from the top of his neck down to remove a section of bone over the spinal cord and then remove the material causing the pressure on the spinal cord.  The neuro surgeon here refers to Riley's condition as a form of wobblers which is basically the name for cervical vertebral instability.  The goal of surgery is to prevent further deterioration.  He likely will always have a bit of a wonky movement but that depends on the level of permanent damage.

The surgeon said that the procedure went as planned and that they removed a lot of the pressure on the spinal cord.  The rest is now up to Riley.  Hopefully this is where that crazy labrador thing kicks in and he will be up and moving around in the next few days.  We have a long few months ahead of us for recovery but for now I will happily take everyone's good wishes and happy thoughts for my boy.  I will blog more in the next few days to update and tell more about the procedure.

Update here on post surgery.

Riley's Roller Coaster

Riley had his MRI yesterday and the results were mixed.  The good news is that he does not have Wobblers disease and his discs are actually in pretty good shape.  The "not quite sure what it means" news is he has a cyst in his neck/cervical area that is pressing on the right side of his spinal cord.  That pressure is what is causing his symptoms.  This is an unusual situation and the neurologist is reviewing the results, making measurements to figure out exact location and implications of removal and researching similar situations in other dogs.   He will be getting back to me in the next few days with a plan.  I told him that I was going to take this as good news and he agreed and seemed confident that the situation could be dealt with.  I suspect this probably means surgery but I would anticipate that the recovery would be much easier than having surgery for any spinal disc problems or malformations.  The roller-coaster ride continues so stay tuned for more news!

It should be noted that he does not appear to be in any pain although some of his symptoms are worsening.  He seems to be losing more limb awareness and coordination but that has not dampened his enthusiasm one bit.  He went running across some wet grass the other day and tried to corner and slipped and then had quite a spectacular crash because he couldn't recover properly.  Luckily he seemed no worse for wear. 

The morning of his MRI I had to drop him off early in the morning so I left Stella at home and took just him.  They wanted him "emptied" so we headed off for a short walk to the local park.  The look on Riley's face when we left the driveway and headed off for a walk just the two of us was pure happiness.  He was bouncing and soliciting play with me for almost the entire time we walked and had me laughing like crazy.  It also broke me heart just a bit because it made me realize that he obviously misses our "one-on-one" training times as much as I do.  We still have cuddle sessions with just "us" but since this journey started back in early June I have discontinued our training sessions so I wasn't stressing his body any more than necessary.   I need to make sure my wonderful boy gets more time where he is the focus and perhaps look at doing some easy shaping type training until we sort all this out.  I am hopeful that we can get him functioning better again and that there are lots of new training goals and fun times together in our future. 

As you can see here in this short clip back in may my monster wants to be the one working with me :).

Hard Habits to Break

A quote I've heard a few times this summer at seminars goes something like "the thing you hate most about a current dog is usually the thing that will never be a problem with a new dog".  This is very true of Riley and Stella.  Riley can be a total ass when asked to give up something he loves (ball, golf ball, tugging etc.) but Stella has a beautiful retrieve to my hand and a gentle mouth.  Some of that is her genetics but it also something that was a priority in early puppy training. 

So that proves that change is possible so then why the heck do we carry over so many other bad habits!

I went to two wonderful seminars this summer and came out full of excitement and all sorts of new ideas and plans to work with Stella.   I wish it was easier to translate all of that into actual working with my dog!  I did pick up a few new good habits from seminar information but I've been reminded the past few weeks that seminars aren't a substitute for the regular hard work.   I have neglected some training lately so have started back to  working a bit of heeling and various related positions and have noticed how much my bad habits are screwing up my dog.  When I used to heel with Riley he is a very big prescence so I could easily feel where he was in relation to me.  I still had a bad habit of looking at him and dropping that inside shoulder back but was mostly able to get away with it due to his size.  Stella is so much lighter and smaller so I have a much harder time "feeling" when she is in perfect position.  She has been working to give me eye contact but I drop that same damn shoulder to look at Stella and so now she is heeling farther back than I would like.   Sigh .... back to using a target stick to get her a bit more forward and perhaps a giant thumb tack that pokes me when I drop my shoulder and screw up my part of the equation. 

In Riley news we got back the test results for degenerative myelopathy and the results were NORMAL.  Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!  We are definately not out of the woods yet though.  I sought a second opinion this week from a vet that specializes in lameness and does chiro, accupuncture, laser therapy etc.  He agrees that there is something neurological going on and actually suspects Wobblers syndrome.  We are now proceeding with an MRI and surgery is looking more likely.  The vet thinks we are still fairly early stages of whatever is happening but I can also see his condition slowly getting worse so hopefully we will have answers and a plan soon.

We have had fabulous weather lately.  Here are a few pics of the dogs enjoying a romp this past weekend.  Riley is now back to leash walks until we know what is happening but it was good to see him so happy.

Riley Update

We finally had our appointment last sunday with the orthopaedic surgeon to evaluate Riley for hip replacement surgery.  Things didn't turn out quite the way I had expected.  The surgeon felt that although he might have some discomfort from his hip that his main problem was likely neurological or spinal.  She felt he might possibly have canine degenerative myelopathy (DM) which is a disease similar to MS in humans.  Another possibility is herniated discs or intervertebral disc problems which are preventing proper nerve language from his brain to his hind limbs.  Final possibilities include tumours or infections but that is not likely.

We saw the orthopaedic surgeon on sunday and I spent monday all snot and tears convinced of all sorts of horrible outcomes.  If he does have DM the majority of dogs have hind end paralysis within six months to a year.  There is no pain involved in DM as it is basically just all the nerves shutting down.  Monday was the day for me to wallow in my fears.  We had an appointment with the neurologist on tuesday morning so I sucked it up and moved on.  The neurologist did a good check over and we did a regular blood panel as well as the blood test for DM.   The DM test is sent to to the USA and will take 2-4 weeks for results.  The neurologist is leaning more towards disc problems than DM based on Riley's age and breed but it is hard to know.  Depending on the results of the DM test we may proceed with an MRI which should hopefully show the problem.  The MRI is very expensive (approx $2100).  Riley's regular blood tests did come back normal.

Riley's symptoms include intermittent dragging of his back feet.  The middle two toe nails are ground very short on those feet.  The dragging is generally worse at the end of our walk.  He has a very straight legged walk with his back end (minimal knee action) and when tired his stance gets wider.  His "bad" hip is the left one but he tends to swing and compensate more with his right leg.  I have thought that was strange but just assumed that it was his way of adjusting for the hip.   He sometimes shows general fatigue weakness in his back legs especially when more tired.   He also paces versus a regular trot gait quite a bit.  He is still my happy go lucky crazy boy always up for action and play and does not seem to be in any pain.  I discontinued his NSAID a few weeks ago when he had some tummy upset and it doesn't seemed to have made a difference to his comfort levels.  I believe that he did have some real soreness or injury back in June but it has mostly healed with his restricted activity levels.  We still walk for about an hour each day and this week I have given him more off leash freedom and he seems to be handling it well.

So it is a waiting game for now.  I have been mostly positive since my melt down day and just enjoying spending time with Riley.  He has so much joy for life that it is hard not to be happy around him.  He was so good when the doctors were poking and prodding him and even offered the neurologist his belly for rubs while we were talking.  Even when he was overwhelmed he just stuffs his head in my lap for comfort and let them do whatever was needed.  If it is DM there is nothing we can do and we will just enjoy the time together.  Some of his symptoms have been around for a long time (although much worse this last year) so now I'm probably inclined to believe it is a disc problem which could mean surgery and we will deal with that if it happens.

Keep us in your good thoughts please!

This summer in Oregon

Puppy Riley loving water already

   

Recall back to basics

A few times over the last months hubby has complained to me that Stella didn't listen to him when he walked her.   I basically accused him of being to stingy with the treats but I don't think I really believed him.  In my head I thought she just wasn't reacting as quickly as she would with me if I called her.  I am the main dog walker in our home as I have a more flexible schedule but on days that I am busy he is happy to walk them and we often walk together on weekends.

Well ...... we were walking the dogs together last weekend and I got to witness that she really does ignore him.  The dogs went racing by us and he called her and she just kept going.  I called and she stopped dead and came right to me.  Hubby was not amused so I suggested we work on things a little bit.   I watched for a good opportunity and had him call the dogs.  When they came I watched and although he did have a yummy treat in hand he asked both dogs for a sit and waited until they were both seated before he gave the treat.   I gently suggested that perhaps he was confusing Stella and she wasn't understanding that the treat was reward for the recall.  By the time he actually gave her the cookie she thought it was just because she was sitting there.  I suggested that the second she got to him to give her the treat.  He walked the dogs a lot that week as I had a horrible cold and he was on holidays and commented by the end of the week that Stella was very much improved. 

Is this bribery or perhaps even a lure?  Good dog training or bad? I really don't care.  This is an easy fix that my husband is comfortable with.  It is important for safety that the dogs have a good recall so I am more than willing to pay them for that.  My husband is like most people.  He loves the dogs but he doesn't care about perfect heel position or if a sit is crooked.  He wants a well behaved pet that comes magically trained and so far that is working out pretty well for both husband and dogs :o).

Riley update .... We have an appointment coming up to meet the veterinary surgeon and have Riley assessed for hip replacement surgery.  It will be good to have a plan one way or the other. 

We were supposed to have gone to Tofino last week before parking the trailer for the season but opted to be work and fiscally responsible instead.  Here are a few pics from last year.

One year later

September 13 is the one year anniversary of my first blog post.   It has been a fun year of sharing my life with these two amazing dogs.  This year really opened up my interest in training methods and dog sports.  I had started on that path with Riley and the addition of puppy Stella made things much clearer to me about the way I want to proceed with fun, positive training techniques.   This year my wonderful trainer Heather Lawson, CPDT-KSA, KPA-CTP took me to my first clicker expo which I found very inspirational.  I also got to see some great training seminars this year.

Riley's training and trialing has been on hold since early June while we wait for the decision about doing hip replacement surgery.  The surgeon we want has been away and is due back in September.  If she is unable to return then I will be moving on to another recommendation as I am defering a bunch of financial decisions until I know what will happen.  We have worked out a new "normal" for him to keep him active but he is mostly on leash and we keep the crazy stuff under control.  He does overdo now and then and is sore for a few days but we are managing with pain medications and supplements.

Stella is a happy, bouncy girl and has been a joy to work and train in her first year.  She is a much softer dog than Riley and doesn't handle frustration (hers or mine) well which has been a good learning experience for me.   I have come a long way with my skills the last few years but I am still a novice.  Dogs have a way of reminding us just how long this journey really is and how much more there is to know.   I am very pleased with Stella's progress and am thrilled to have already completed her Rally Novice title, CGN and her CKC Pre-Novice.  Next week we will be attempting a few rounds of Caro Novice Rally which seems quite a bit tougher than the CKC standards.

We have had lots of fun non-training time together this past year and labour day weekend marked the anniversary of Stella's first camping trip with us.  We once again headed back up to Summerland to camp and visit with family in the area.   There is a fabulous dog beach there where the dogs get to romp and swim.  We discovered that Stella can now swim faster than Riley which he was definately not thrilled with and screamed about the whole time he chased her in the water.  He can beat her with long leaps during takeoff but once they swim she is much faster and efficient in the water.  Lucky for him she is not super ball focused and is happy to give up her treasures.   We ended up distracting her away from him with a throw in the other direction so he wouldn't push himself to hard trying to beat her.  The two dogs get along better than I could ever have hoped for and it makes me happy to see them enjoying each other.

I look forward to another year of dog adventures and hopefully will have some interesting blog posts along the way.  I want to send a big thanks to my wonderful husband who happily indulges my "hobby" and my sometimes over-the-top care of the animals.  I also want to thank my trainer Heather Lawson for opening new doors to me and for being a friend at all the trials and seminars this past year.  Lastly a big thanks to Stella's breeder Sylvia Dorosh (Varazs Vizslas) for my beautiful girl.

I have also set up a Life With Riley & Stella page on facebook for anyone who is interested.  Please follow the link to like us Facebook - LifeWithRileyStellla.

Here are some pictures of last years labour day weekend trip to Summerland when Stella was approx three months old.