The walk I never want to forget

After 3 major operations, after being around 10 times under anesthesia (I stopped counting after a while) and endless hours…weeks…months… of cage rest, Mehwi has finally been allowed his first walk on Tuesday 7th of July. A day I don’t think I will ever forget!

Mehwi was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia at 14 months and had had both hips replaced a 4 months procedure which took 6 months due to some complication after the first surgery.

For those who take for granted a game of tug, a walk in the wood or just having your dog free in the house: remember that you are lucky!  It was so nice yesterday having him lying at my feet, going to be fed with the rest of the pack, watching him trying to play with Midge or just sitting his chin on my knee…I missed it so much!

The difficult part now is to take it easy and develop a rehabilitation program to get him back to what every young dog should be doing. It is going to be a new challenge, a new learning curve. I am looking forward to our first dog show and our first sheep herding day! Watch this space!

 

 

 

Orthopedic conditions and agility dogs: presentation by Scott Rigg

As many of you know, being an agility competitor and a canine massage therapist, I have a special interest in canine conditioning for sport dogs and rehabilitation after injuries.

I also believe that all of us, agility addicts, should be more informed about the risks associated with our passion so we can help our 4 legged athletes, who week after week take our breath away,  have the better (long) life they deserve.

I am therefore really happy that Scott Rigg, who is the advanced practitioner in small animal surgery from Aberdeen Veterinary Referrals  has accepted to do a presentation for us, the agility crowd, about the common orthopedic conditions that we may encounter with our agility dogs.  Scott is taking care of Manouk and Mehwi as well as some other abedonian agility dogs.

Date: The presentation will take place on the 25th of September at 19:00

Location: Aberdeen Veterinary Referrals in Foveran.

The presentation is limited to 40 people! Get in touch with me to reserve your space (choose Others as subject)- I will send a confirmation email to everybody who have a space reserved.

Cost: Free of Charge. Knowing how much time it takes to prepare such a talk it is an amazing gesture from Scott that I am sure all of you will appreciate!

Aberdeen Veterinary Referrals and CANINE Pawsibilities would be grateful if all the participants to this event were willing to show their appreciation for Scott’s effort by donating on the day to the oldies club. A collection tin will be available.

The oldies club is a registered charity that rehomes eldery dogs (number: 1118246).

 

 

Manouk in Bridge Vets news

I thought you may be interested by this very nice article from Scott Rigg, Manouk’s orthopedist surgeon from Bridge Vets, who managed the rehabilitation program of Manouk prior to Crufts: Click here to read Scott’s article – Manouk in the news.

For those of you who were not aware, in Octobre, Manouk fell from height and came lame. After 6 weeks of trying to help Manouk recover on my own, I realised that if I wanted to have the slightest chance to compete at Crufts I needed to involve Scott as soon as possible.

At the time I went to see Scott I was actually convinced Manouk’s agility career was definitely over this time.

What I really liked by working with Scott  was that he was totally opened and supportive to complementary therapy, I made sure that myself, as the canine massage therapist, and Manouk’s physiotherapist were communicating actively with Scott and that the 3 of us were working as a team under his advices.

This short article is the summary of a success story highlighting that collaborative work from multiple disciplines is beneficial for a faster recovery and rehabilitation after injury. We worked on a extremely tight deadline, the chance to make it Crufts were slim and I really needed to keep my focus on the objective.

It is also an acknowledgement that sometimes we are waiting too long before getting a specialist involved with our agility dog. I wished I had taken Manouk to Scott much earlier in the process. Also, the reeducation program that we sometimes try to put in place ourselves using our personal knowledge and understanding does not always suit the dog’s condition. I must admit I have learnt a lot over the few last months!

Well that was just some paws for thoughts that I hope may help some of you too. This “adventure! made my participation to Crufts very special as even just one week before the show I was still unsure if we would really be able to go!

Crufts, here we go!

After battling with an injury for the past 5 months, today is a special day. We have been given the go ahead from Manouk’s orthopaedist, Scott Rigg from Bridge Vets in Aberdeen, to compete in the agility championship at Crufts on Sunday!

This has been a long but interesting journey and I have learnt a lot, especially in how patient we have to be to rehabilitate an injured sport dog. The rehabilitation included a cross discipline program, with lead walks, canine massage therapy, core stability exercises, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy, with Scott regularly assessing the progress. In fact we have done barely any agility.

So that’s it then, I now have 4 days to remind myself how to run an agility course. This is definitely a scary thought! And unless something unexpected happens, in 5 days we should be heading to the arena. A dream come true, an even more special dream after having to fight so many odds this past few months.

Scott, thank you for your patience and support in getting Manouk back on track, I realise the journey with Manouk’s rehabilitation is not over but we would not have been where we are today without you. I really appreciate how available you have been for us (in addition to your expertise of course!) despite the busy schedule of your clinic.

Finally, good luck to all my friends participating to Crufts, especially my Scottish fellow competitors. Even if I have a weird accent, I am a Scottish agilitist after all and proud to be!

 

PS: Some of you asked if it was possible to watch Crufts online. There is an official YouTube Crufts channel and in the past year there have been a good coverage of the main arena. If you have time, I would advise you to watch the international agility which is held on the Saturday and support our Scottish Agility Dog of the year (2014) team Alan Short & Bruce. There will be 3 rounds, 2 qualifying rounds and one final round, running respectively at: 11:30: qualifying jumping round; 14:00: qualifying agility round; 17:10: final

The championship agility is held on the Sunday: 09:00: qualifying jumping round; 11:00: qualifying agility round; 16:55: final

The Canine Massage Therapy Centre is now up and running!

Well, I think it is all in the title! I am really excited to now be able to work professionally and the Canine Massage Front!

I am looking forward to help more dogs, it is always so rewarding!

Canine Pawsibilities’ first Christmas party

On Monday 29th of December, we had the first ever Christmas party and I would like to thank everybody who participated (and brought their sense of humour) to make it such a success!

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Guess who will be at Crufts in 2015?

Well Manouk, aka Mr Perfect, surprised me again last Sunday and won the Championship final at the 2014 Scottish Kennel Club Show, qualifying us for Crufts 2015. See below some pictures of his run to victory!

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I just would like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I am now heading back for France for a couple of weeks and I am looking forward to train you all next year!

If you need to contact me, please drop me an email, I will answer to all communication when I get back, week of the 6th of January.

 

A warm welcome to CANINE Pawsibilities

After years of globe trotting, those who know me may be surprised to find out that rather than settle down, I have decided to embark on a new adventure called CANINE Pawsibilities.

For those who do not know me, I would like to introduce 4 of my partners in crime: Midge, Mollo, Manouk and Mozzie. Will you be able to recognise them?