Month: April 2010

After a LiveChat on Tripawds.com with Dr. Waldman this month, I’ve gotten Maggie back on track with her PT work.  We’d been slacking off a bit with the better weather now and have just been taking walks.  Dr. Waldman said that walking is NOT rehab and that Tripawds need to have a strong core….so along with some stuff I have gotten from video’s I have by Dr. Chris Zink and Debbie Saunders, I also decided to buy two FitPaws balance cushions after the chat with Dr. Waldman. 

By adding strengthening activity to our Tripawder’s(or any dog!) exercise, it has many benefits:

• Improved reaction and control of their body
• Increased trunk and core strength
• Stabilization of weak areas
• Improve balance and awareness of the body’s position in space
• Increase range of motion of joints and lengthening of muscles

Here is Maggie on the FitPaws balance cushions.  I bought two to put side by side so I could get her entire body on the cushions.  I have her do reps. of “sit to stand”; reach for treats to shoulders and hips; walk over cushion; front or rear paw(s) on cushion and reach for treats; and manually rock her front to back and side to side.

And here is Maggie with her front end on the balance disc.  Obviously, she cannot get her whole body on this disc.  By putting her front end on and her reaching for treats high, that puts the weight on her rear end, helping to strengthen it.  This disc is alot harder for her to balance than the cushions.

And this is Maggie doing Figure 8’s around two cones.  The closer you put the cones together, the tougher it is for the dog.  This is another strengthening exercise.

And this is an older video of Maggie doing cavaletti’s…another strengthening exercise.  I made a new video last nite but I can’t get it to load correctly 🙁  Sorry this one is dark – I’ll have to tape her again doing them to get a better video.

After Maggie does a PT work session, I do range of motion stretches with her three legs.  Dr. Waldman also pointed out to be sure to do hip extensions on the remaining rear leg often.  I can only assume due to a rear tripawder not being able to really stretch out and hopping with leg underneath them most of the time. 

Dr. Waldman suggested doing 10-15 reps per day of various standing exercises such as these, on an unstable surface like the FitPaws cushions.  She commented that walking is NOT rehab…core strength is the key for mobility issues.  Tripawder’s should only walk 10-15 minutes at a time, 2-3 times per day.

I hope I am quoting Dr. Waldman correctly!  She was a great help in kicking my butt in gear to getting back to Maggie’s rehab…she said it needs to be done long term.

Hope these video’s are helpful!  Maggie loves to do these ‘tricks’ for treats! 

Tracy, Maggie’s Mom

I have been wanting to show everyone what my “job” used to be before becoming a Tripawd.  I started doing Agility back in 2001.  My last competition was in the fall of 2008(we never do agility in the winter) because I started having problems the Spring of 2009.  The problems first started as muscle problems – tight lower back and sore left groin area after jumping up for a ball….to then a possible ACL tear in my knee, to the worst of the worst…CANCER and amputation of my left rear leg by the fall of 2009. 

But let’s show you some bright things to talk about – AGILITY! 🙂  Here’s me and Mom doing an Elite Regular course in Dummerston, VT back in October 2007.  This was one of the last qualifying rounds I needed to finish my MEDAL Championship title in NADAC agility!  How do you like those weave poles!  Am I awesome or what!  Rahhhh!

And this is THE last qualifying round I needed to finish my MEDAL….  Wrentham, MA – Elite Chances class.. You’ll see orange survey tape markings on the ground.  My Mom couldn’t go past those tapes on the ground to handle me thru the course!  And then, when you see me WHOA! on the dogwalk…my Mom said to me WHOA!….I said HUH?  You’ve NEVER said that command on an agility course?!?  That’s my SKIJORING command!  So I stopped dead in my tracks!  After all, I DO know what the word means Mom!  Soooo funny….she was afraid I was gonna miss a paw in the “yellow zone” at the bottom of the plank…cause if I hadn’t put a paw in the yellow…then I would of NOT qualified missing our chance of finishing that MEDAL Championship title!  But in my usual style, I finished the course in grand style, wouldn’t you say?

So that was my past “job”…..I could still do three classes that NADAC has – Tunnelers(all tunnels), Weavers(tunnels & weave poles) or Hoopers(all hula hoops)…but my Mom says the only one she would even consider me running now on three legs is Hoopers…that’s the only safe one for me.  I am taller than a tunnel, you’ll see I have to duck to go thru them…it would be pretty tough on me physically.  And Weavers…forget that…that would be WAY tough for a large dog like me…it’s tough even with four legs!  So, what is left is Hoopers….I may try that some time this year…but me and Mom can play Hoopers at home and have just as much fun 🙂

So….now a look into my future….I will be debuting in what is called Rally Obedience.  It is far less stressful on a dog’s body…especially a Tripawd like me!  Although it does have it’s ‘taxing’ things for a 3 legger….like lots of sits are required, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do much of it as sitting is often hard for me to do…so we’ll see what my future holds as far as competing…but here’s a practice run to see what Rally Obedience is like.  It’s sort of a combination of agility and obedience.  You follow a numbered course and do what each station’s sign says to perform.  That could be sits, stays, downs, pivots, stands or turns.  In the upper levels there is also jumping…I will be able to do that with the jump height dropped for my disability!  So….we’ll see if my future will have Rally Obedience competitions in it….I will try my “paw” at it May 1st & 2nd! 

No matter what my competition future holds, my Mom says she’s soooooooooooo happy I’m still here to be able to play with her and just enjoy each other’s company.  If anything, I can go for a R-I-D-E with her and my little sister to the competitions and be the mascot! 🙂

Maggie