Recurring Injury In Young Agility Dog

[JulesP]

Sorry I thought that you meant agility was contributing to the injury.

I have stopped doing agility and herding with Poppy though as I felt that she was struggling physically.

[Nekhbet]

I see Neil Maurer in Lal Lal, greyhound guy worth his weight in gold with all the working dogs. My friends now go see him there is nothing that man cannot fix and sporting dogs/muscular problems are his specialty.

[megan_]

Ta neks. Ray recommened Michelle monk from dogs in motion. He breeds greyhounds - the greyhound people have all the best connections!

[Nekhbet]

see a greyhound bloke then decide. My bordeaux had supposed severe problems as an adolescent, limping, unable to walk long distances etc until we went to the chiro. A few sessions fixed his back, then we built up the muscle and went for adjustments every so often.

For a 60kg dog he did everything I wish I had photos of him still over agility equipment like the A frame and walk over.

[canine fun sports]

... we have an appt with a physio next Thursday - she's meant to be very good and specialises in dogs.

So what has the physio suggested??

[megan_]

It wasn't this Thursday - it is next Thursday

[canine fun sports]

We will have to be patient then!

Cheers,

[Bisart Dobes]

Fergus is a novice agility dog who has always LOVED agility. We both really enjoy the training. However, in the last year, he has injured his back three times. I have been seeing Ray Ferguson about this and he said given its recurring nature it is most probably a chronic (ie ongoing, but not bad) issue. We are now seeing a physio too.

So my question is, if this was your dog, would you continue to do agility with him?

A few points:

* He is not lame AT ALL. The only reason I notice something is that, when his injury plays up, he doesn't jump with as much zeal and doesn't like to tug too much. He doesn't limp at all, displays no stiffness and still hoons around the garden like a maniac. The first time he was hurt he avoided jumps totally. If he doesn't want to jump I don't force it (after being told it was a motivational issue by some trainers, I now know this isn't the case). I don't believe the average pet owner would even know that something is wrong.

* He normally loves agility and is really enthusiastic about it. I love it too. I'm a firm believer that every dog should have a job/sport to do and I must admit I'd be a bit heartbroken to give it up now that I'm finally getting it. I love working with him and I simply don't enjoy obedience as much . That said, I don't want to continue doing something that does him damage.

I asked Ray what he'd do if Fergus was his dog and he said he'd continue with agility, with physio and massage to help him heal. I've also got a fitness peanut to help build strength in his back. If Ray said stop, I'd stop in a heartbeat, have a little cry and get over it.

A fantastic conditioning center in Vic is Aquapaws - contact Jo on 5977 8841. They deal with simple conditioning of show dogs / performance dogs to full rehab of dogs that have gone through major surgeries. Jo is fantastic and will tell you how it is - straight down the line - if your dog can have a full career as an injury free agility dog she will get it there.

[Bisart Dobes]

I have to add that I have seen Aquapaws get results where others can't - faster and more permanently as well.

[megan_]

Thanks with the advice everyone. We are seeing Michelle on Thursday and we'll see how that goes. I don't want to take him to too many different people at the same time as I've found with myself, you get people doing conflicting things. If we don't get progress with her I'll be calling some of those recommended here. I'm feeling more positive as Ray mentioned both his hips and spine had been x-rayed when this first occurred and they were in good nick.

[smisch]

Megan I had this same experience recently.. It's taken me a while to reply here..

My border collie boy did have this happen about 6 months into starting trialling he did an injury where he sprained his back toe. I didn't Catch the injury soon enough and as a result it did more damage then first though however it didn't show up until the long term.

I did what I believed was the right things as the vets said that it will heal and he will be able to run again. I put him on (with vet suggestions) joint supplements, took him to a Chiro regularly, rested and in some cases pulled him from comps when he was looking sore or it was looking like his foot was uncomfortable, I also jumped him at lower heights when possible so it was less pressure on him and just in general kept weight off of him and made sure he was healthy.

I got a second from a chiropractic vet who also was under the impression that den would be able to run again.. However even with regular Chiro trips and competing less and in some months not at all I was finding that den was still out of line when he had Chiro treatment and that he had an awkward gait and pulled up not as well as he should.. What should have been a simple recovery for a toe injury where he was off it for a good 2-3 months with the exception of lounging round the yard has turned into something else.. With this constant reoccurance and the stress it was putting on him physically and me mentally it wasnt worth it.. I was running out of options the next suggestion was to get a full back end X-ray done.. Sadly the funds just don't stretch that far.. I made the decision to retire Den from agility.. He's now living back with my parents and enjoying being a lazy dog. His injury doesn't seem to effect everyday living and he happily gets around and plays ball but not for hours on end as he does pull up with a limp on occasion but whilst he is getting around pain free and can comfortably walk we're not worried..

I miss him everyday but I do believe that there was something structurally poor about him when I rescued him which has caused him to be like this or that the toe sprain has lead to more damage then suspected.. I have learnt from this though like for instance we have a young lakie who has a slight luxating patella and we are constantly checking rechecking and evaluating, I want to get it x-rayed and assed for both us and our breeder before I do any serious training with her but for now we have fun and continue to do what we can to encourage her leg to strengthen on its own as she grows..if she can't do agility so be it.. There's plenty more in the world for her

Agility is a fantastic thing and whilst your dog may not be in pain and happily running what damage are you doing long term is it worth a few great years for te rest to be crappy? Or is it worth embracing something new and enjoying every year!

[megan_]

Thanks Smich.

Fortunately his x-rays are all clear and Ray says he doesn't have anything structurally wrong with him. He has never even limped - I just notice him jumping with less enthusiasm.

I did feel a bit crazy when I first took him in to see Ray:

"Has he been lame?"

"No"

"Has he favoured one leg"

"No"

"Has he been quieter"

"No"

"Then why do you think he's injured?"

"Uh, his jumping isn't as enthusiastic as it has been in the past..."

Ray then felt around and feels it is muscle soreness only.

We see the physio tonight so I'll know more then.

[megan_]

A little update. We went to the physio tonight and things look positive.

The physio was fantastic and worked with Fergs for about 45 mins. She checked him out fully and she says it isn't a conformation problem. He has a sore spot (muscular) on his right mid-lower back. She said this particular spot indicates that he most probably hurt it when he was younger and things haven't repaired fully. She said that if it was structural it would most likely be in a different spot.

The plan of attack is:

i) Stabilise the injury (2 weeks onlead exercise without confinement, massage, some stretches and very basic core exercises)

ii) Then increase his core strength. He is very fit but his core needs work. We have a few exercises to try in about a weeks time to start this process. We'll then build on these from there (I already have a fair few things from the FitPaws range, I just didn't want to use it a lot until we had seen the physio in case I did exercises that did more damage).

We go back for a follow-up visit in a fortnight. We aren't out of the woods but we now have a sensible plan-of-attack so I'm hopeful that he'll be back in action at some point - we aren't in a rush. Thanks to everyone for their input and ideas.

ETA: He was walking with a very slight roach in his back before - he has been this way as long as I can remember. After she had worked on his back, it was flatter and more relaxed - so much so that both of us noticed

Edited September 13, 2012 by megan_

[canine fun sports]

A little update. We went to the physio tonight and things look positive.

The physio was fantastic and worked with Fergs for about 45 mins. She checked him out fully and she says it isn't a conformation problem. He has a sore spot (muscular) on his right mid-lower back. She said this particular spot indicates that he most probably hurt it when he was younger and things haven't repaired fully. She said that if it was structural it would most likely be in a different spot.

The plan of attack is:

i) Stabilise the injury (2 weeks onlead exercise without confinement, massage, some stretches and very basic core exercises)

ii) Then increase his core strength. He is very fit but his core needs work. We have a few exercises to try in about a weeks time to start this process. We'll then build on these from there (I already have a fair few things from the FitPaws range, I just didn't want to use it a lot until we had seen the physio in case I did exercises that did more damage).

We go back for a follow-up visit in a fortnight. We aren't out of the woods but we now have a sensible plan-of-attack so I'm hopeful that he'll be back in action at some point - we aren't in a rush. Thanks to everyone for their input and ideas.

ETA: He was walking with a very slight roach in his back before - he has been this way as long as I can remember. After she had worked on his back, it was flatter and more relaxed - so much so that both of us noticed

That is all sounding very good and optimistic. Keep us posted with progress.

Cheers