Friday, January 11, 2013

Follow up Friday 3

I am very excited and honored to be co-hosting Heart Like a Dog's "Follow-up Friday" blog hop this week. It's cool enough that Jodi allows us to steal, uh, share her idea in the first place but then she asks us to join her in co-hosting it as well. Thanks Jodi!


Brain Games...
The video of Bella playing her Nina Ottosson puzzle got quite a few comments and, as I expected, some questions about her injury. I wasn't being deliberately cryptic, we just don't have a whole lot of information to share about it yet.



Jana Rade of Dawg Business did ask what we have tried so far to have the injury diagnosed. So far we've had 3 doctor examinations, x-rays, 4 weeks on Rimadyl and 1 ultra-sound. Bella is still limping and we still don't have a solid diagnosis of what's wrong. Or a plan on how to fix it.

The orthopedic surgeon at Tufts Small Animal Hospital called it "biceps tendonitis, supraspinatous tendonitis". And if it is what he thinks, he wasn't especially hopeful about being able to fix it.

We have a call in to a local rehabilitator to see if we can do anything to ease the ache without medication. (The Rimadyl worked but Bella's barely 5 years old and we don't want to have her on even more meds if we don't have to. Plus, Rimadyl has it's share of concerns.)

So that's where we're at right now. I'll provide updates as we get them.



The Punks over from 2 Punk Dogs were impressed with Bella's food motivation and thought they might be too scared to play with such a puzzle. That reminded me we had talked about super-high-value treats when we met at Woofstock this past Fall, and I was supposed to get them the name of the food we use.

See, Bella is food motivated but when it comes to fear and getting her attention off of scary things, the food has to be on the Filet Mignon side of the spectrum. One of the things we found to be very useful is "Vital Essentiatls Freeze-Dried Nibblets". We use them for a lot of the training we do. They're expensive so I like to cut them up into quarters so they last a LOT longer. I'll write a post about the various treats we use someday soon.

If it's any consolation, Punks, Bella was afraid of her clicker when we first started using it so we know how hard it can be to overcome those fears. Good treats, patience and a slow approach can go a long way to helping with that.



And finally, Jodi, our blog-hop host herself from Heart Like a Dog, asked if we fill every compartment in the toy. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. For this go-round, we're not using the toy for nose-work so much as something for her to do. I mix up how many I fill just to keep it interesting for her.

But, since I'm pretty sure the idea of the game is to get the dog to find the compartment that has the food in it, we play that way on other occasions.

The 30/30 Challenge
You may recall we're also participating in You Did What With Your Weiner's 30/30 Challenge this January. It's a Challenge to get you and your dog a little bit of exercise even in these cold winters months. In fact, 30 minutes of it for 30 days. Hence the 30/30 Challenge.

Things were going so well for days 5 - 7 of the Challenge. I got on the treadmill over the weekend and even started running again. Day 7 (Monday) brought milder temperatures outside and I got out to do the two-mile walk around my office park. Day 8 brought shin-splints but hey, that was not going to stop me! I still got out to do the office park walk.

And then Day 9 brought, well, day 9 brought the beginnings of a cold or the flu or whatever it is that's brought down every person in my department at work one body at a time. Days 9 and 10 were a bust for the Challenge and Day 11 is looking even worse. :(



Bella on the other hand is doing very well for her part of the Challenge. She's still getting her walks, although we're not risking increasing them until we can meet with the physical therapist. We're still playing her games (she has more than one of those Nina Ottosson puzzles so I try to change them up) and even "Daddy" is helping her play the games.

Hopefully, next week will see me back on my feet and we'll be back in the game.

So that's it for today's Follow-up Friday. Thanks again to Jodi for the opportunity to participate as well as co-host. Hope you all have a great weekend!




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10 comments:

  1. Hi Leslie, thanks for co-hosting the FUF blog hop, we're so happy you wanted to join us. 

    I've been a bit behind in reading (or maybe I just missed Bella's injury) so I apologize for the lateness of this.  There is a holistic vet in Amherst, MA who was amazing in helping Delilah when she had her back issues.  His practice is in the basement of his home so it's not like a 'traditional' vet's office, which can sometimes unsettle a dog.  He will also travel (he does charge a fee for this.)  His treatments include Chinese Herbs, Laser and Acupuncture.  He came to our house and diagnosed Delilah's back issue, did some acupuncture, laser and prescribed some herbs (plus a weight loss program. :-(  ) which all helped her immensely!  His name is Dr. Landau.   http://landauvet.com/

    Once again, thanks for co-hosting, anytime you'd like to do it, just shoot me an e-mail. :-)

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  2. This blog hop is a great idea! Hope you are soon feeling better.

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  3. Yikes, I am sorry you are feeling so poorly. It seems like everyone has been hit with the flu at least once this winter already. I am starting to worry I am next in line!

    Great job on the 30/30 Challenge, though. I have only managed to do half of what I vowed so far and have some major catching up to do.

    Hope you recover soon!

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  4. Feel better! Sick but still blogging, now you're making us look bad ;) Hope you are both feeling like yourself again soon!!

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  5. Thanks for the info, Jodi.  We just got a call back from the rehabilitator today and we have an appt set for next Saturday.  Hopefully she'll have some ideas for us (her husband is an othro surgeon at Angell Memorial as well so we're hopeful that between the two them, we'll be able to figure this out.)  If not, we're not averse to going with less traditional method.

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  6. Hi Y'all!

    Thanks for stoppin' and visitin'...

    I've been keepin' my paws crossed for Bella's quick recovery. 

    Y'all hurry back now!
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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  7. Poor Bella! Hope you can get her injury and treatment figured out soon.

    "Good treats, patience and a slow approach can go a long way to helping with that." That's how we roll! :)

    Hope you're feeling better!

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  8. Sadly, I had to get out of the 30/30 challenge, too, when there was a heat wave with temperatures exceeding 100F for several days in a row. Phew! I am going to give it a go next month, though. :)

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  9. I'm sorry to hear about Bella's injury. I sure hope you can get it sorted out soon.  She does sound like she is enjoying her games though!  I hope you are on the mend soon too.  this flu has been tough on a lot of people this winter. :(

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