The fall

Sometimes, or rather frequently, technology drives me crazy. I just finished writing this post, "the fall," and when I went to publish it, Blogger lost the entire post. URGH! In addition, I really liked how I wrote it.

I cannot rewrite anything. It never comes out very good so I won't even try. But I still wanted to record this event, "the fall." Riley got up and decided he was feeling just fine and went to go down the stairs. Despite that I just took him to the grommer's the day before to get all the fur trimmed out from between his toes and get his nails clipped to minimize any slipping on the floors, Riley slipped and tumbled and fell all the way down a steep flight of stairs. I was ready to take him to the emergency room, but instead, my Berner boy got up, smiled, and wagged his tail as if to say, "Hi Mom! Did you see that?" and then proceeded to prance around the kitchen and decided he deserved a treat for the neat trick he just performed.

Oh my...this is going to be a long 6 months.

More answers or more questions

After our visit to the holistic vet, I seemed to feel like I had more questions than before. I had anticipated that things would be clarified and a clear plan of action could be taken. Maybe it was just me feeling overwhelmed.

The vet confirmed that Riley had either ruptured or partially torn what she believes is two (of many) small ligaments in the left hind knee. I think she said one anterier and one lateral, but I cannot recall exactly at this point. His right "hock" or ankle was also testing weak. In addtion, his back was a little messed up too. So a little back adjustment here, a little there, and he was walking pretty straight again. We left with a musculoskeletal support supplement and another supplement (Boswellia) that would help reduce the swelling. I was happy to have something other than aspirin for him.

Her advice was 4-7 months of rest.

Gulp.

Well, when you really think about it, the rate we are going now, we certainly wouldn't be doing what we are doing now in 2 months. Little by little we are supposed to increase the duration and intensity of exercise until enough scar tissue is formed to support his knee. So in order to determine his progress, we will set up an appointment with an orthopedic specialist to do an ultrasound of his knee. The vet said we should be able to see in the scan where the ligament has frayed or torn. I decided we should go see Dr. Trout at Angell Memorial. He is very well known in the Berner world. We have an appointment October 10th.

Looking to tomorrow

So I had a good cry today. The saddness stems from guilt. This feeling like I didn't protect my baby boy. I know I am just going through this grieving thing and I'll get over it, but it is hard none-the-less to learn about your "child's" injury and wondering how you could have prevented it.
I am really looking forward to tomorrow. I am leaving work as soon as I can to get home and drive the kids down to the holistic vet in RI, Dr. Doolittle. I am hoping she can help us determine a plan of action for him. I am expecting to come home with supplements such as Glucosamine, Chondroitin, and MSM for his joints. I hope to get a recommendation for an orthopedic specialist, though I already have my sights set on Dr. Trout at Angell Memorial. I hope she can alleviate some of the tension and strain Riley has put on the rest of his body in order to over-compensate for his injury.
Following the vet visit, we will be taking Sabrina to visit where she was born. We are going to the breeder's house. He still has one female and one male available from the litter. We are all excited to see the reunion, if Sabrina's mother recognizes her, and compare the puppies. It will be a fun reunion, hopefully after an enlightening vet visit.
And I have a dinner date with my gal pals after I get home. Malaysian food.

Tonight, Riley's tail is wagging and he has been very interested in getting attention from us (a good sign). Tomorrow will be a good day.

Better news

Riley woke up in good spirits today. During his am potty break his gait was less laborous and if you didn't know him well or knew that he had an injury, you might not have even noticed his gimpy trot. I was pleased to see some improvement from our efforts.
While reading and researching online about cruciate ligament injuries, I found out that this is the most common type of orthopedic injury in dogs. Who knew? It is, in fact, the ACL in the knee that is partially or entirely torn, just like in people.
I have also learned that there is a name for what we are doing: Conservative Management. It is the rehabilitation option that vets are not willing to suggest. And Riley seems like a very good candidate for it as we have already seen improvement in the week we have restricted his activities.

The plan:
No jumping or running at all.
All walks on leash with close supervision.
No going up stairs in the house. The outside stairs offer a lot more traction and are less steep. Riley does not seem to balk at all at these and maneuvers them with little stress.
No jumping on furniture.
No jumping in or out of the car.
Strict diet. We have 1-2 more pounds to shed off.

We will be adding supplements to his diet to help with his joints and look into hydrotherapy as a way to keep exercising him without impact. Also, regular chiropractic adjustments to ease the tension in his back and hips from overcompensating the weak knee.

For now, I have decided to stay on this plan for 6-8 weeks. We'll see how this plan gets changed/adapted as time goes on.

As I read more and learn more, I now realize that this has been an issue that existed even before the date (Sept. 4th) I thought the injury first occured. I read on line that someone's dog began to refuse to sit and that was one of the first symptoms. Riley had begun to do that a few weeks before the 4th. I had thought that with the new puppy, he was being fresh and insolent, refusing to sit on command. I now look back with guilt as it was probably difficult or even painful for him to bend down into a sitting position. In addition, for months, Riley has been balking at the stairs in the house. Often requiring several false starts before heading up the stairs. And the way he would go up stairs looked like something was chasing him, and he was afraid of slowing down and losing his momentum. It is sad to think about it, but night after night we were asking him to climb those stairs. And he did it with our encouragement. My sweet boy.

The Bad News

Riley's been limping. It started September 4th after an off leash romp at Cat Rock. It think he was feeling extra good and raced around the hills like he was a puppy. After a nap that day, he woke up stiff and had a dramatic limp in his left hind leg. I assumed he over-exerted himself, gave him Rhus Tox out of the emergency homeopathy kit and let him rest. He was still able to manage the stairs and was happy to make the trip upstairs to go to bed every nite. Two days of rest and he seemed in good spirits and ready to romp again. Another off leash trip and the limp was back so I figured I had jumped the gun and his strain had not yet completely healed. Unfortunately, the weekend of the 9th we headed out to Pillsbury State Park to camp for the weekend. Riley was feeling extra spry and ran laps around the campsite with Sabrina. The limping came and went, though we began to take extra care to lift him in and out of the car. His disposition continued to be upbeat and happy. I decided upon our return home that a good few days of rest would be in order. In addition, I went to Target and purchased a large room sized rug for the kitchen floor. That rug has helped him tremendously and he knows it. While playing with Sabrina, he makes sure his feet have adequate traction on the carpet at all times.
For the next week, I discouraged Riley from running and walked him on a flexileash. Sometimes even leaving him at home for one of the walks. Sabrina continues to try and engage him in chasing and wrestling games. He does not seem to understand when I scold them to settle down.
The BMDCNV Fall Fun Day came and went on September 16th. Riley is left at home. I am beginning to feel that he really needs his rest. His leg does not seem to be improving at all.
Sunday, however, he seems to be in good spirits and we take the dogs to Cat Rock for a walk. Riley remains on leash while we entertain Sabrina with retreiving games. She is beginning to run further distances to chase the ball and has become quite good at finding the ball when it is hidden. However, she doesn't always bring the ball back to me. Instead, she brings the ball to Riley, which gets Riley quite excited and jumpy. The two of them are much easier to handle with both of us present. Upon returning to the car that day, Riley felt it un-necessary to let me help him into the car. All week I have been asking him to put his front paw up on the bumper and I would hoist his rear end into the car. This day, he took a running start and tried for the back of car. Not getting enough lift off of his hind legs, he hit both knees on the bumper. His knee was noticeably hurt as I saw him lift the entire paw off the floor for the first time. At that moment, a heavy anchor settled into my stomach, pulling my mood down. I was heartbroken at the thought of an injury on top of an injury. That night, I carried my 82 pound boy up the stairs to bed. As I gently massaged his knee, I could tell it was bruised. My touch brought a concerned and worried look from his eyes. I gave in and gave him baby aspirin. Now thinking back, I don't know why I didn't think of icing it and than putting a heat pad on it. I think I was a little in shock and disbelief that this has happened to my active, high spirited boy.
Every morning the follow week, however, Riley awakes in good spirits, wanting to go out for a walk in the woods. All walks are closely supervised on a flexi-leash now. Every trip he is lifted in and our of the car. And he is carried up the stairs at least 75% of the time. As the day goes on, however, his spirits seem to fall, until it is time for bed and he seems resigned to stay downstairs on the couch. I do not have the heart to turn the lights off on him and head up stairs without him. I cannot desert him like that. Now, even special treats cannot lure him to get off the couch and attempt the stairs. At night, I can see that his dignity has been taken from him. He understands that he cannot manage the stairs and allows me to carry him up. There is trust in his eyes, but there is sadness too. I keep telling him what a good boy he is.

The diagnosis.
Friday morning I take him to the local vet. They rule out Lyme disease and dysplasia. In some ways, that is a relief. However, I was not prepared to hear that he may have ruptured or torn his cruciate ligament. From what I learned, it seems comparable to the human ACL tears in the knee. I was still hoping and maybe had tried to convince myself that this was just soft tissue damage. Something that could be managed with anti-inflammatories, rest, and maybe a chiro adjustment. This is not the case. The vet cannot definitely diagnose the injury and suggests I make an appointment to put Riley under to diagnose it. This does not make sense to me and without another opinion and more research I am reluctant to put him under anesthesia. I have an appointment with the holistic vet on Monday. It was Sabrina's followup visit but she will have to give up her appointment for her brother. The vet sends me home with some contacts to local orthopedic specialists. They are pushing the surgery. I just don't know. Recovery from surgery with a puppy in the house seems impossible.

I have since began my research into TPLO surgeries, which is the type of surgery used to correct this type of ligament tear. Since we are still not sure whether he has rupture, partially torn, or completely torn his ligament, we are still far from making a decision whether he will recover well from surgery. I was able to get a lot of information from this site:
http://www.lauriebryce.com/tplo/index.html
A personal account of their 4 year old Berner's experience. This Berner, too, had a left cruciate tear but ended up with a right tear as well. He has recovered well. This is still a fear that hangs heavy over my heart. Riley has been overcompensating for his left leg for several weeks now. I can only imagine what damage is being caused to his right side to compensate for the weight. We may have to make a decision quickly before we add more injuries to the list.
In the meantime, I tried a new remedy, Ruta, with no real noticeable affects. Ruta is more for ligament and tendon damage whereas Rhus Tox has always helped with muscle strain in the past. Desparate to make him comfortable, we may resort back to baby aspirin until we can get him to the vet on Monday. I have also joined a new yahoogroup called orthodogs. This may be a great support group in addition to my club list and Natural Berners list. Thank goodness I at least have a support system with lots of advice to give and experience to share.

More updates later...

Off line blues

My computer's been sent away for a little R+R. I feel like I've lost one of my limbs.
So sadly, that means very few posts. We hope to be back by the end of the week.
There will be lots to update...

I love a good dog story

Here's a good one. Kept me chuckling for awhile. Enjoy!

The following story titled "Are Bull Terriers Good With Children?" byPeggy Arnaud appeared in The Bull Terrier Club Of South Australia magazinein February 1994.

Haven't we all been asked this question many times? Yes, if raised with children, a bull terrier is a perfect companion; gentle and aware of the child's fragility. Haven't we all watched a great lump of dog play quietly on the floor with babies, then without warning hurl itself upon an unsuspecting adult with sufficient force to practically land him in the intensive care unit?

So I would like to ask this question - Are Bull Terriers Good With Adults? Not one of my dogs has ever laid a tooth on me, but the damage to my person has, over the years been considerable.

One rainy morning I was standing in the driveway watching my husband backout the car when Muffin came flat out around the corner of the house carrying a length of 2 x 4. What she was intending to do with this pieceof lumber has never been determined - it is possible that she was becoming bored with the demolition trade and was about to enter the construction business. Turning at her approach, I received the full impact of the woodon my shinbone and was knocked to the ground by the force where I lay screaming with pain and fury. Muff observed this odd behaviour for a moment, then deciding that she had heard all those words before (usually directed ather anyway), she retrieved her wooden weapon, and spinning it around with the grace and agility of a baton twirler, connected neatly with the back of my head as I was attempting to get to my feet. The impact returned me to my previous horizontal position, this time face down.

My husband, who witnessed the entire performance informed me later that the timing was superb -worthy of the best Keystone Cops or Marx Brothers. But he delayed his departure, herded the menace into her kennel and inquired through his merriment if I was hurt. Stating I thought I might live long enough to murder the wretched bitch, I was helped to my feet but found I could not put any weighton the injured leg and my scalp was cut and bleeding - so a trip to the accident room of the local hospital was thought advisable. Being my first visit for emergency treatment, I was not prepared for the volume of information required Name, address, occupation are routine -but how, when and why!....(I am an obstetrical nurse and our patients are admitted onto the floor with a minimum of questions. We know why they are there, and we know how it happened and we assume the patient knows too ,although sometimes one wonders)!

The admitting nurse was efficient and thorough. Vital statistics dealt with came unexpected questions. "Now, how did this accident happen?""Well," I said, "You see my dog had this big piece of wood in her mouth and she hit me with it.""Your dog?" "Yes." "I see, - and the head wound?" "Well my dog did that too." "With a piece of wood?" "Yes, - it was the same piece of wood actually." "I see.""Well," I said, coming quickly to Muffin's defense," of course she didn't mean to, she sort of spun around and she had this piece of wood in her mouth, you see - and, well-she hit me with it - I was sitting in the driveway at the time..."Our local hospital does not have a psychiatric floor but I could see bythe expression on the nurse's face that she was aware of the desperate need for one.I was X-Rayed, treated amid controlled giggles from the staff, and released.

The next major incident followed swiftly. (Minor ones occur .) The paddock gate is, of necessity, sturdily built of oak and heavy.I topens inward. Every day I collect each dog after his play period.I call them from whatever act of mayhem they may be committing, push open the gate and bend down ready to snap on the lead. For three hundred and sixty four days of the year Bloody Mary had galloped to the gate, come around it, and been leashed in the usual fashion. On this particular day,whether due to a whim, or perhaps because the moon was in Aquarius, shec hose to project herself at approximately the speed of light from the far corner of the paddock, and instead of coming around the gate, she leapt atit with all the force of her fifty pounds of muscle, slamming it shut onmy head. I went down like a pole-axed ox, and remained down and out long enough for the murderous beast to remove and eat the bait-biscuits from my pocket -she also removed and apparently ate the pocket. A small hairpiece I was wearing has never been seen again - presumably it was quickly killed and buried. Staggering into a lawn chair I sat holding my head and considering a nearly retirement from dog breeding, while Mary amused herself by eating the geraniums.

This pastoral scene continued for awhile until my neighbor drove up, took one look at me, and insisted - yes, you guessed it - on a trip to theEmergency Room.The last thing I wished to do on this earth was return to the hospital where, after the Muffin episode, there exists some doubt as to my sanity -I am known locally as "that kook who lives up on the hill with those funny looking white things she says are dogs". But feeling too sick to argue or resist I was firmly placed in the car and hurried off to my fate.And so it came to pass that once again, I presented myself at the local Emergency Room. Of course, the admitting nurse was the same as before, the staff also. Approaching the desk in embarrassed misery - torn clothing, wild hair, a great lump on my forehead and eyes blackening fast, I am greeted by an obviously wary nurse - "Goodness, Mrs. Arnaud, sit down. Whateverhappened to you now?" I take a deep breath, (Oh God will get you for thisBloody Mary) and with visions of padded cells looming large in my future,"Well, "I said "you see - my dog..."

Are Bull Terriers Good With Children? Oh yes. They are lovely.Are Bull Terriers Good With Adults? Well I am an adult and they are not good with me, and I have the scars -my body, my furniture, and my psyche - to prove it.

I did it!

This past weekend, Jeffrey and I went away to celebrate an early anniversary. I was trying every angle I could to convince him we should not go away and leave our babies. Firstly, Auntie Dory whom has always taken Riley while we're away was going to be out of town and was not available. This meant I had to find a second option, a woman we know from the dog park (owns two labs) and is also a staff at McLean Hospital where Riley's volunteers. Riley *loves* her and she is a genuine dog lover. But last minute, she had the opportunity to go out of town as well, so no luck there. I was hoping we could just agree that unless we could find someone we trusted entirely to take care of our babies, we could not leave them for 4 days.
Besides, flying during these times seems more of a hassle than a convenience. The stories about more planned attacks and flights being redirected because of claustrophobic passengers causing a scene. Whatever the cause, it just seemed like we should be avoiding the flying thing.
The bottom line for me was that we have a 3 month old puppy that is very needy and I am a very doting mommy! No one can take care of my babies better than me!
But a friend of Jeffrey's offered and we accepted. We brought the babies over to do an initial visit and let Riley hang out at his place for awhile. Despite giving a laundry list of what to do and what not to do in addition to writing up a few sheets of cheat-sheets, I truly did not think I was going to be able to relax and enjoy my vacation.
So we only called three times the first day we arrived. They seemed fine. Actually, more than fine. They were playing in the park everyday and getting lots of love. We were even able to receive photos of them digitally and it was so nice to see our happy kids. Our vacation was wonderfully relaxing and I'm so glad we were able to go.