Duncan is a 5-month-old Newfoundland puppy who was given to us and we were told he had a "slight limp." That "slight limp" was more like profound scoliosis and twisted pelvis, and he walked mainly with his two front legs and bunny hopped his back two legs. Keeping his footing on linoleum floor in the kitchen is his biggest challenge, and getting up the one step to get inside from the backyard is a bit of an ordeal.
As soon as we saw his gait, we were afraid his quality of life would be very poor. He has the sweetest disposition and was easily accepted by the other dogs in our home (a dying Bearded Collie and an outspoken Pomeranian), so we couldn't find it in our hearts to give him to a shelter where he would be put down.
My mother is an amazing Google-researcher, and found an article written by an animal chiropractor in Florida who described Duncan's symptoms perfectly, and then listed the ways he has been able to significantly help them through chiropractic care and therapy exercises. More research led her to Dr. Ava Frick, who practices about 45 minutes away from our house.
We took him in on Wednesday, and after her evaluation, said she thought she would be able to help him. She thinks he was possibly accidentally kicked or stepped on when he was about a month old (when the previous owners noticed it). He was from a litter of 9 so this is a definite possibility if there are 9 rambunctious Newfoundland puppies running around and falling over each other. Dr. Frick said his left hip was out of alignment, and in his rapid growth it fell even further out of alignment, and his compensation resulted in his scoliosis and such a painful-looking gait.
Duncan has a vest that he wears all the time now. It has a loop at the back that we hold on to to help him stand up better. He also has a harness with 3 loops. The 2 padded loops go through his back legs and we hold on to the one at the top when he walks. This relieves 15-20 pounds of pressure off of his back legs when he walks. Moving properly is less difficult, so he is able to strengthen his back legs.
We will be using this blog to track his progress using pictures and videos. We hope to encourage other animal owners to consider chiropractic to help not just manage but heal their animal health issues, and to give them a second chance at life.
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