ness

Worst nightmare - leaving a dog for 6 hours while your at the office and coming home to a dog on three legs. No weight on the leg at all .

tollersowned Ness use to leave bars up and was fairly reliable until she got older then we started to have the occasional bar down.

Well done Jazz - congratulations .

Results are up here http://www.danceswithdogsaustralia.com/competition-results.html And gather there is some video on the way somewhere.

Good Luck Piper and Jazz - fingers crossed for a good debut performance .

Good luck Ptolomy and Bedazzled - have a lovely weekend . Hope the weather gods play nice.

huski, Kenz seldom is allowed to play with other dogs but it does remind me of a time when my friends BC and Kenz had been playing outside the ring at training one evening. We happened to then take them both into the ring at the same time (have two training rings set up). Her dog did a runner and came into the ring and Kenz went bugger off I am in work mode now. I think it comes down to the individual dog and particular breeds are more in tune to their owners then other breeds. The hardest part I find of the "neutral" to other dogs concept is not avoiding the positive associations but avoiding frigging morons who seem to want to help my young one build an even more negative association. If anything its not the positive associations that bother me and the reason I avoid letting dogs interact but what happens when it all goes pearshaped. I have had dogs on the receiving end of attacks and they have had lasting consequences .

No problem Angel3. I would certainly still seek out an opinion of an ortho specialist once you have all the information though. Not all specialists are quick to resort to surgery as the solution. I know with Kenz's issues her specialist has always been happy to try the conservative options first.

Tassie I was going to say I think they seem to play by the "a drink for every exercise the dog passes" and "a drink for every exercise the dog fails" . Hedging their bets both ways I think. Good luck to the boys though . Don't forget any unwanted toller or aussie are welcome to be air dropped as you fly over Adelaide and I'll be waiting with garlic prawns :laugh:.

Fingers crossed for your boy Angel3. As with anything surgery carries complications, conservative management carries complications - don't let people criticize your decision you only want what is best for your dog. Here is a link to the yahoo group I was talking about - plenty of success stories of dogs fully recovered using conservative management as with anything there are dogs who did end up needing surgery down the track because it didn't work out but also those that did. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ConservativeManagement/?yguid=253757634

Not sure on the rescenting I have never done so and like you normally take the dog back to where I knew they were last tracking. We have our final trial for the year in a few weeks time and I have my fingers crossed the old girl can get her way around her track 3. She did a lovely job of her track 2 the other weekend and was awarded a "very good" rating and was her particular judges best track on the day . Not bad for my girl who took up tracking last year as her "retirement" option and who is 12 in under 2 months time.

If you have access to a qualified vet chiro it might also be worth getting an opinion from somebody like that. There were a few times over the years when I thought my other BC might have ruptured a cruciate and it was presenting in a similar fashion only it was something much more treatable. If you are considering going down the surgery path (or even if you aren't at the moment) a trip to an orthospecialist isn't such a bad idea either. I think it is pretty important thing to have a definite diagnosis. Especially if you going to do down the path of 8 weeks strict rest.

If your interested in going the conservative management approach then there is a yahoogroup. There certainly seems to be some evidence to suggest you can heal a cruciate injury without surgery and that the outcome may end up the same. The basic premise starts with 8 weeks strict crate rest to enable the scar tissue to start to form. This website is a good one for information on conservative management - http://www.tiggerpoz.com/id3.html I am not anti-surgery where its necessary (my young BC has just had surgery to attempt to correct a luxating patella a little over 3 months ago) but there are certainly alternative methods for resolving a cruciate rupture and enough dogs who have had successful recovery to suggest if you aren't able to go down the surgery path then there are other alternatives for helping the dog. All the best with the recovery whichever process you chose to adopt.

Will do Kallistar - well if Kenz is back on four legs long enough to be able to use it .

I picked up a fitPaws peanut today - can't wait to be able to test it out .

I am not to inclined to let anybody operate on her again - not just the one who did the surgery the first time. It would have to take some pretty hard convincing that it was the best thing for her to put her through it again anytime soon. .

Yes and No MG the problem I have is I do somewhat appreciate and understand he went for the most conservative approach first off. I guess hindsight is one thing and I trust the judgement he made on the day of surgery. He does seem genuinely concerned that Kenz is having quite so many issues with things still. I admit some of what I am seeing may well be because she has been on and off lame for so long and it may well be quite subtle. To his credit he is prepared to be quite open about things and work with me to get her back right and trust my judgement that things aren't going well rather than just go on what he can see and feel. Reluxation was one of the possible complications and while it may not normally cause a problem, I gather some of his concern is due to her being an active dog and him wanting to make sure she has every chance to live the life she wants to without problems further down the track. The some of why she is worse may just be muscular soreness and part and parcel of recovery. You can't have that much muscle wastage and expect to have the same level of fitness you had pre-surgery. Kenz has always been an exceedingly fit dog and we were pretty strict with the confinement side of things and so these things still take time to improve.

Wuffles you could try a wall, then what I use is if you have a corridor with a wall + door openings you just keep backing past the door opening and click if they remain in the correct position.The other thing I have used in the past is a touch stick but on the outside of hind end to keep her in. So long as Ava tolerates that sort of pressure it might be something else worth a try.

Tumbleweed - specialist just feels he could have done a better job with stabilizing the patella if he had adopted a more aggressive approach. .

I already posted this elsewhere in another thread but DVD back up of anything important and also an external hard drive back up. Occasionally I will run a back up to a second external hard drive to.

Hmmm at the moment RS she is a walking mess to the extent where she is struggling after 20 min of leash walking - not sure but the hard part is where do you draw a line at there being a difference. She is an athletic dog who needs a job to do to keep her out of trouble. I have never had to life with so much destruction at home since she hasn't been training. She is much to young to be a lame pet. Her age is a factor if she were older I might just throw in the towel. She also does not enjoy being a "pet". You would think after all this time she would show no motivation to train because she has had no reinforcement for doing so in ages. I still get prancy heelwork thrown at me on a walk and its not lessened if anything its increased in intensity.

I have a favour to ask - can you guys all please cross fingers for Kenz. The situation as it stands may mean further surgery and another zillion weeks further confinement. She doesn't seem to be able to take a trick so please guys fingers crossed the situation improves soon . I am utterly devastated and heart broken that my little ever ready bunny may have to go through everything she has already been through starting from scratch. - poor girl all she wants is some sort of life back and a chance to do what any young BC should be able to and that is run free and do things without endless worry as to whether she may be sore .

:laugh: kallistar well I am soooo tempted to stick Ness in the next trial but I am hoping Kenz will be up to the challenge and I'd love to attempt Ness's freestyle routine with Kenz but for Novice.

Yep huski is correct in saying that the human products aren't necessarily designed to withstand dogs nails. I guess you get what you are prepared to pay for. Hoping to get a FitPaws Peanut for my guys soon . Just as an aside has anybody seen/got a copy of Get on the Ball 2. Somebody loaned me the first one so I have seen that but just wondering if its worth ordering the newer version.