White Shepherd Stories

Not Good News for Journey and Me

  

 

To our friends  who may be interested in hearing information about Journey's injured leg and what his doctor had to say about it.

Our news is not good.  Journey and I went to see Dr. Lozier yesterday, at VCA Northwest Veterinary Specialists.

 

The injury in his right rear leg is to his cruciate ligament.  At this time it is a small tear. Most people will not notice his limp (I can barely see it), but it didn't take Dr. Lozier long to spot it. After a very thorough exam, he  X-rayed both back legs.  Journey needs a TPLO in the right leg where the ligament is torn.  Dr. Lozier hopes to be able to save the ligament, but won't know for sure if he can, until he opens the area in surgery.  If he cannot save the ligament, the TPLO will still stabilize the knee and he will be sound. Saving the ligament would just further stabilize his knee and prevent sliding movement in the joint.  (I am pretty sure I have this right, but keep in mind how frightened and nervous I was /and still am, when trying to remember all this.)

 

Dr. Lozier did this operation on Quest when he was about 7 years old. The outcome was perfect.  Quest never limped again and he was back to his normal self; running, swimming, jumping and enjoying the rest of his life.  I believe it was also his right leg.  He never had a problem with his other leg.

 

Journey has an additional complication - he has a few beginning signs of arthritis.  Not too unusual, however in his case you can see a few tiny spurs on the bones in his knees.  I don't think they are painful at this point, because he never limped until this right leg ligament tear.  I asked Dr. Lozier if he felt that agility caused his problems.  He said that he did not believe it caused it, as it was bound to happen given the factors at work in his structure. He said that at the most it may have made the inevitable occur a little sooner as would any activity increase the possibility of such an injury in an active dog.     

 

I remember asking Spirit's doctor some of the same questions in regards to his bad hips, when he had surgery on them.  His doctor said approximately the same thing, and he added that the benefits of him leading an active life, (in his opinion) far outweighed the risks. He said the hips were bound to go, as he had dysplasia.  After Spirit's operation he was even able to do agility again, though we did not compete. Spirit was older.  He lived to be 14.5 years old.  

 

Dr. Lozier also showed me on the X-rays, where the steep slope of Journey's structure on his legs almost guaranteed a similar future problem on Journey's left leg. Dr. Lozier proposed an option: he said it would be possible to do a bilateral operation, doing a TPLO ( Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy) on the left leg at the same time.  He went over the pros and cons of that and at this point I have not yet made my decision.  To me, the most important pros are that there would be just one operation, (instead of another looming somewhere down the line).  Very important to me would be only one period of recovery (4 to 6 months of restriction) instead of another later.  The price is lower if the surgery is done at the same time.  I believe there are more pros than cons, but I am open to more information and I have a few more questions for Dr. Lozier.

 

I just spent an hour or more reading all about non-surgical treatment for a CCL, by an "unnamed author" (which I found troubling).  The stories were not documented by any named DVMs.  In my own experiences of observation of people trying to heal dogs with torn CCLs, without surgery, I have just seen years of limping, pretty obvious pain, and restricted mobility.  I have listened to a lot of "make the best of a bad situation" discussions.  I realize that not everyone is willing or able to spend the money required for a TPLO. But I am not willing to try to turn my wonderful athletic partner into a couch potato when I have seen proof that it can be fixed.  As to turning Journey into a couch potato, I am not even sure I could do that if I tried. My dogs live to run and play.   

 

If Journey can not do agility again, I can live with that (I don't think I can do it for many more years.)  I just feel I must give him a chance to be able to still do the things he loves to do with his brothers, such as running and swimming and playing.  He is only five years old.  

 

So that is where we are at for the moment.  I have difficult decisions to make and some very fearful times to get through. I can hardly begin to think of the pain he must get through. The first 8 weeks after surgery will be the hardest. Keeping one of my best friends in a pen is not my idea of a good time either.  I hope we have friends who will come for visits and make life a little more interesting for us during the long restricted activity period. 

 

Bye for now.  I will keep you posted.  Betty 

After the 4th of July

We made it through another 4th of July "celebration"?  I changed a few things in the way I handled it.  Some things seemed to make it better and some things apparently did nothing to help Pirate.  It is a helpless feeling when all I can really do is help him through the night.  This year I had a helper.  Andiamo was determined to figure out what was wrong with Pirate and to help comfort him.  A beautiful thing to witness.

During the day I did one-on-one training sessions with each dog. Much to the dismay of the two left in the house, we practiced some obedience; some ball retrieving, and a little rally.  Not extremely long sessions because I was afraid the firecrackers would start at any minute.  I could hear a bit of activity from the town below us, but the distant firecrackers did not upset Pirate as much.  He was so happy to show off what he remembered from his rally training.  It was fun and Pirate is very good at it.  He especially loves the "come front" sit, then the "around & heel".  He does it with such flourish and style.  What a dog!  

Andiamo is currently learning all this in his classes with Dorothy.  So he is very up to date on everything.  One thing he needed practice, is retrieving the ball. He is perfectly capable of doing it and when he feels like it he does it quite well.  He is just not a high drive ball player like Pirate.  Andi showed a lot of promise though, when it was just the two of us. His retrieval was flawed by dropping the toy maybe 20 or 30 feet back from me.  So I started placing the treat on the edge of the toy when he brought it to me.  When I had to go get it I just threw it again, no treat.  It did not take long.  He sometimes dropped it, and ran to me.  Then suddenly remembering, he raced back to the toy and brought it to me.  We did well.  Without the distraction of the other dogs, he quickly learned what was expected of him.  

Andiamo doing a nice stay!

Journey is such a wonderful agility dog, he was always too busy with that training.   He is great at some things that he uses in agility. His "stays" are legend.  He is rock solid!  He knows the name of every obstacle.  He is a much better agility dog than I deserve, but some people think that just being out on the course at my age is an accomplishment.  I realized that Journey had not done much obedience since his last obedience class, probably when he was in his first year or two.  Then he was busy with earning his Grand Championship before he turned two.  After that he was busy with agility.  Since he is currently restricted from agility, it was a good opportunity to do some obedience brush-up.  He really enjoyed it and so did I.  We will be doing this more often.  

 

Journey doing one of his wonderful stays, waiting for his cue from me.   

We all came inside just in time for the start of the fireworks.  It has been a long time since I've had a dog that was afraid of fireworks.  Spirit and Quest were not fond of them, but they just ignored them as best they could.  it was not a huge issue with them.  They seemed to become more sound sensitive as they got older.  

Journey is not extremely frightened of them, he seems fairly calm as long as he can sit or lay next to me, he will sleep.  If I leave the room he is right beside me no matter where I go.  Andiamo was not here last year.  Pirate is the one that is most concerned. He usually goes into the shower room and stays except for occasional visits out to see how the rest of us are doing.   Before the noise really got started, a friend called and I was talking with her for quite a while.  She mentioned that I didn't seem as worried about Pirate as last year.  I told her I was trying to minimize  the concern I showed because I did not want to alarm Andiamo. He was already concerned with Pirate.  Pirate was trembling and panting heavily.  He had no interest in games or treats or anything else.  I talked to him as calmly as I could.  I told him I was sorry he was having such a hard time with all the noise.  I told him he did not deserve this to happen to him.  We discussed how much we all love him and that I wished I could make it stop.  He listened, then he went back to the shower room.  

I was still talking with my friend when he came back out to the living room to check on things.  The noise was louder and his attitude was close to panic.  Quite out of character, he stepped up on the couch next to me.  My dogs are not supposed to be on the couch.  I don't let them get on furnishings that I cannot wash. So they can get on the beds, but I am hoping to make the couch last for a longer period of time.  I didn't say anything to him.  Something about the way he did it right in front of me, as if he was letting me know how desparate he was, just made me ignore his transgression. I kept talking with my friend and just casually let my arm down across his shoulders.  I stroked his neck softly and rubbed his ears - all the things that he likes.  I made sure he was not blocked from his escape route to the shower room.  After a while I noticed he was no longer trembling. He was still panting, but his eyes were closed and he almost seemed ready to put his head down.  As time went on I gently picked up his brush and began brushing his coat.  He just seemed to relax with that and I kept it going for a long time.  

Eventually he got off the couch, and he lay down next to Journey.  Andi quickly lay down next to him, on the other side.  Pirate's coat was absolutely gorgeous on the brushed side.  It had been going so well I didn't want to disturb him by having him turn over.  

Pirate is a very high spirited dog.  Nothing he does is really casual.  Rather than just "like" something he finds pleasing, Pirate "LOVES" it.  When he is joyful, it shows in his entire body.  He arches his neck and prances like a stallion.  He loves to be chased and he dares the other guys to try and get things away from him.  Whether he is diving or swimming, or running, he is competitive.  I was a little surprised when Pirate began to fear the fireworks.  It did not surprise me that when this happened, he was intense about it.  His fear began about 3 or 4 years ago.  Maybe it was just that our neighbors across the road began throwing their own huge fireworks shows that have progressed to a near professional level.  Last year he paced so bad, and was so disturbed, I put him on leash and insisted he stay with us.  It didn't really help him.  

I looked at him peacefully sleeping beside his brothers and it was a good feeling.  The fireworks had dwindled to only occasional distant ones.  I said are you guys hungry now?  The other guys jumped up and began to play.  Pirate thought about it for a minute or two and then he was up and prancing around the living room, around the dining table, and into the kitchen.   It was a long overdue dinner but they all three enjoyed every bite.  

Pirate is so full of love.  If he gave kisses we would all have been on overload.  Pi's way of kissing me is to place his muzzle on my hair, just above my forehead. He gives a deep intake of breath and that has always been his way of giving me a kiss. Trust Pirate to have a way all his own.  I am so glad that the 4th is over for another year.  

I don't know if we fixed anything this year.  I don't have any idea if the things we discovered would be helpful for anyone else's dog.  I didn't really plan what happened, I just watched him closely for his response and when what I was doing seemed to help him, I continued.  Since I am able to spend most of my time with my dogs, they have taught me so much ... maybe even more than I have taught them.  I have learned that offering support to another being is not always a matter of coaxing them to do something you decide would be right for them.  Sometimes it is just following them to the shower room and sitting next to them.  It might be that brushing one side of their body to a gleaming sight of beauty and leaving the other side a little unkempt is just being considerate.  Sometimes it is giving them what they need at the time, not necessarily what you think they need.  And sometimes it is looking the other way when your best friend needs a couch to lay on, even if it is off limits.