Chiropractic Update

The Crazy-Pants himself

Duncan went back to Dr. Frick today, and we had some good news and bad frustrating news. 

The good news is that Duncan's left pelvic bone is now back where it needs to be!

The bad news is that his scoliosis is very pronounced, and she's thinking it will take longer than the original estimate of 3-5 months to correct/heal.  To help this, she has different exercises for him to do and she wants us to walk with him in the stirrups as much as possible (he hates these stirrups).  

So, looks like we will be going on lots of walks together soon!  Hopefully I'll be able to post some videos of these excursions, as I know they will be a maximum effort!

Duncan's "bunny hop" walk

To give an idea of where we are starting, here's a video of Duncan "bunny-hopping" through the yard. Over time as his gait improves, we will be posting more videos to track his progress in his rehab.

Duncan's first underwater treadmill session

One of Duncan's therapy exercises is using the underwater treadmill.  Since he is just starting out, he walks at 0.5 mph for 3 minutes, rests for 2 minutes.  He does 3 repetitions of this.  He currently goes twice a week, but as he gets stronger (and gets the hang of it) he will walk for longer and go less frequently.

Newfoundlands are bred to be water rescue dogs, and he tries to swim; he doesn't enjoy the walking part.  Someone has to be in the tank with him to keep him focused.  He has already figured out how to cheat: he puts his back legs (the weak ones) on the sides of the treadmill and "skateboards" with his front legs.  When it was my turn to get in the tank with him, I had to put my knees around his hips so he wasn't able to move his legs to the side.  He was not amused.