I guess it's a good thing we're in a quiet period of a couple more weeks, as far as agility goes, because Dally's been placed on the injury reserve list.
It all started Wednesday, when I noticed a little hitch in Dally's stride mid-way through the day. We hadn't done anything crazy that morning--just our typical walk around the park for a little more than 2.5 miles, so I didn't think it could be overuse. So I gave her some Traumeel and kept an eye on her.
Thursday she was only slightly better, and after a few hours she'd be hobbling around, barely putting a toe down to try to keep weight of her right hind leg. I consulted the "Corgi Chiropractor" and decided to keep an eye on her and give her time off from any walks, agility, and jumping (yeah, like that's an easy one).
Saturday morning I took her in to see Dr. Forry. She wasn't out in her hip like I thought, but it's more like a bruise on the top of her pelvis. Of course Dr. Forry tried to look through her fur to see if she could see any bruising on her skin, but when you've got hair like Dally, you don't see her skin!
We're not sure exactly what happened, but everything presents itself like a bruise--the area around the painful spot are fine to the touch, but you hit that one point, and she jumps. She wasn't out in the hips like normal, just sensitive in that one area. After a lazer treatment, we were sent home with instructions to keep with the Traumeel every 4-6 hours, icing the area (I was icing the hip, so just need to move the ice pack a little higher), and keeping her activities limited. That'll be the hard part, as Dally has not appreciated me taking LaMesa for walks and agility class without her. And LaMesa and I have been sneaking in quick weave pole sessions in the back yard (complete with tennie) while Dally was sleeping--unfortunately LaMesa's excited barks wake her up rather quickly.
I admitted to Dr. Forry that I'm always concerned when I see some sort of pain or weakness in Dally's hind end. Call it paranoia, but I'm so afraid of degenerative myelopathy (DM) in Corgis that I fear Dally will develop it one day. I know that doesn't neccearily mean the end of life, but it'd be the end of her life as she knew it--no more agility, no more hikes on rugged terrain, no sharp turns when chasing the tennie (she'd probably have to play that by herself so LaMesa didn't push her around)...
Maybe I'm over exaggerating my reactions to things, but lately I can't help but feel the worst is about to happen at any moment (the past few weeks will do that to a person).
Do any of my fellow Corgi owners fear the same thing? Does it make you want to take a step back and be a little more careful and mindful of how your Corgi plays? Or am I just being paranoid?
The trials and tribulations of training a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and Swedish Vallhund for agility.
I don't fear DM...it is usually an old-age onset disease, and fortunately it is painless. Exercise is actually important in order to keep the nerve connections going for as long as possible. While I wouldn't do agility for fear of falling off the A-Frame or dogwalk, jumps could be done until it progressed too far. Fortunately, the Cardis are much less effected and the Cardi breeders are working diligently at breeding it out of their lines...It will be much harder with the Pems as they are, sadly, much more entrenched in the puppy mills.
ReplyDeleteI fear IVDD and a ruptured disk! This can happen at any age and is hugely painful! A young, active dog can fall victim. That is what scares the heck out of me!
Thanks, Taryn!
Delete