Stumbling

[JudyN]

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I took a couple of vids yesterday in case they showed anything interesting about his gait - they didn't really, but he does look a bit stiff in the second one and having uploaded them, it seemed a shame not to share them. OH asked me to mention that he doesn't usually walk as if he's had an unpleasant accident - he's tweaked his back!

 

[JoanneF]

Can't see them @JudyN , it wants me to sign in?

 

[JudyN]

Sorry... try again!

 

[JoanneF]

I've seen them now. I'm not good at these things but I wondered if it was higher up his back, nearer the shoulder that he was slightly stiffer.

Then, moving on to Jasper ...

 

[Hemlock]

Yes: Jas is unlevel, isn't he? (I worked as a physio for almost 10 years so I'm very attuned to gait). A magnetic collar and/or supplement might well make a difference. But he is also prone to corns, isn't he? So he may be developing one of those.

 

[JudyN]

Thanks Hemlock. He's only ever had the one corn (to my knowledge) and though it's still there, it seems to have stopped bothering him - he's stopped limping (it's very small and flush with the pad, almost concave). But I dare say if he had a corn on each side they might cancel out the limp.

I might try a bit of massage on his back - unfortunately there's no way he'd let a professional do it.

I've been reading up on the 'science' of Bioflow collars and it really doesn't stack up - if the magnets they use had such an effect on blood, then goodness knows what an MRI scan would do. But I might get one just in case I'm wrong and they do have benefits by some mechanism currently unknown to science It's a good job he's got a long neck, as he already has is hound collar and Seresto collar!

 

[JoanneF]

It's a good job he's got a long neck, as he already has is hound collar and Seresto collar

I took the magnet off and put it on the normal collar so there wasn't an extra one. You probably wouldn't get it on the hound collar but you might get it on the Seresto.

 

[JudyN]

Thanks Joanne, I didn't realise you could do that.

 

[JudyN]

Ah, the benefits of lots of random target training when Jasper was much younger! I only had to lure him over the (flat on the ground) ramp once and say 'Shall we do that again?' for him to be back on it. We worked up to two bricks under one end and he was up it like a champ. I had to stop there as he was getting excited (always happens with training in the garden) and likely to have a jumpy-up session.

Hopefully as he sits in the back seat and not the boot the angle won't be scarily steep. But we'll work up gradually in the garden before progressing to the car.

 

[JudyN]

He's been up and down the ramp a few times now, including into and out of the car I'll go ahead and buy a similar one - I don't think we really need it yet and if course it's a bit of a hassle, but we can get him to use it once a week or so, so he'll be confident on it by the time he really needs it.

 

[Hemlock]

That's brilliant, JudyN! Well done with the target training.
You might consider asking him to use the ramp getting out of the car, as jumping down can store up more trouble for old age than jumping in. But I hope for you & Jas "old age" is a long way off yet.

 

[JudyN]

Yes, it might be worth it, though of course it'd be a faff - get it out of the boot, open the back door but tell him not to get out till I've positioned it, then let him out, then put it back in the boot... I'd probably decide just to walk straight from home instead!

One of his favourite places is on the bed in the spare room.. I'm wondering if I should get him some steps for that...