Creative Thinkers Needed

[RallyValley]

Hi all,

Toby had a session with the legend Deb Nook (a vet that does manipulation and dry needles) tonight and we were discussing Toby's improvement so far and his future improvement. We discussed that if we could get him to flex his (I can't remember the proper name) ligament that puts him up on his toes instead of having them splayed we could improve his soundness a little.

To do this I would have to have him out his paw with the furry side in my hand and him to put weight into it. Toby is a dog that goes along with anything so when you pick up his paw he just takes the weight off.

I was just wondering if the bright DOL minds can help me figure out a way to shape this!

[Erny]

Does it have to go to your hand? Could it not be on something that's a bit higher than the ground (eg a plank of wood) and you lure him to put his weight onto that? I'm probably not imagining this correctly. Sorry.

But as an aside - I thought that if dogs toes were splayed it generally went back to a dietary deficiency. I notice with my boy that when he's eating well he's tighter in his foot and more up on his toes than when he's not eating well.

[RallyValley]

Does it have to go to your hand? Could it not be on something that's a bit higher than the ground (eg a plank of wood) and you lure him to put his weight onto that? I'm probably not imagining this correctly. Sorry.

But as an aside - I thought that if dogs toes were splayed it generally went back to a dietary deficiency. I notice with my boy that when he's eating well he's tighter in his foot and more up on his toes than when he's not eating well.

He has to have some elasticity against the paw (I believe ) Comparable to a human it's like if you put your hand downwards in a fist and feel the muscle on the top of your forearm- it's that muscle, he has a ligament/muscle there but because of a break in that leg when he was 9 weeks old he never built strength in it.

The splay is due to the lack of muscle and developent in that leg. (Toby is now 2.5 years)

[Erny]

Ok. Can you teach him to stand on a squeaky toy to make it squeak? Would that give you the resistance that you need to encourage Toby to put some pressure down?

[RallyValley]

Ok. Can you teach him to stand on a squeaky toy to make it squeak? Would that give you the resistance that you need to encourage Toby to put some pressure down?

He already stands on his iSqueaks! Awesome idea! And way more creative then I would have been. :D

[Erny]

Yay!! Creativeness doesn't happen often for me. I get really chuffed when it does . lol

Good luck. I hope it works for him and helps his leg.

Edited December 1, 2010 by Erny

[corvus]

Do you know how to teach a hip target? It might be possible to teach a top-of-paw target by the same method. With the hip target, you push the hip until the dog sways away from you, then release the pressure and click treat when the dog sways back into your hand. Perhaps if you held the leg up so the paw had no weight on it and then pushed the top towards the dog and then released the pressure and clicked when the paw comes back towards your hand? You might have to have your other hand behind the paw to stop it going back a long way. Or you could start close to as far back as the paw goes so there's more "spring-back".

Assuming I have understood correctly what it is you want to do, that is.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

could you teach him that when his paw is fur side down the way you want it he lifts his other leg to put his weight on the leg that requires strengthening?

[RallyValley]

Both good idea. May do a clicker session this afternoon and will let you know how I get on.