Bit of fun!

A few of us did a demo of agility on one of the morning shows, Sunrise.

Here is one of the presenter's dogs who is 9ish and rather chubby! He did a fantastic job (thank god!) as he'd never done agility equipment before the segment this morning.

He was so cute!

Tai's debut

Here are Tai's runs from the Tauranga Jumpers competition.

Tai's debut from Ali Barnett on Vimeo.

We both had a blast!!

Tai's first course!!

Today we ran a link course (jumpers) in the pouring rain!! I am sooo stoked with my baby dog!

Tai's 1st course 1-8-09 from Ali Barnett on Vimeo.

It's almost been a year since Tai's accident.

He did some nice jumping stuff considering the conditions and his lack of experience at maxi hieght sequences.

Weaving

Here's some sessions which show the great understanding that 2x2's give dogs!

Tai did about 4 weeks worth of 2x2 training (once I figured out what we were doing) and then had 5 weeks off. In his first session back he nailed his most of the entries. I'm going to start really working on speed into the poles (as well as some hard entries) in our little backyard.

2x2 weaves 22 July 09 from Ali Barnett on Vimeo.

2x2 weaves 23 July 09 from Ali Barnett on Vimeo.

Happy training!

Update

Tai has had 5 weeks off weaving while I had exams and then went to Rarotonga. Yesterday I went outside to do his first 2x2 session back and he came up to me with one eye swollen and completely closed over!

So, off to the vets. Couldn't see any scratches or foreign bodies so we got some antibiotic drops. Today his eye is almost back to normal so hopefully later this week we can get back into weaving.

Below is bung-eye (looks a bit worse because I had flushed it with water).
Wish I was back in Raro, away from the crappy rain and freezing winds!

Now we're weaving!

After initially starting the 2x2's but having too many failures early on (up to stage 6), we went back to the 2 pole stage last Monday. Exactly a week later Tai is doing 4 straight poles!!! We've done 10 sessions of 3 min long each to get to this stage - 2x2 training is amazing!

Today we added a jump to the four poles and will continue to progress from here.

I just love working with Tai!

2x2 training - Stage 9 from Ali Barnett on Vimeo.

2x2 training

Here is a vid of Tai at Stage 4 of the 2x2's as per Susan Garrett's method.

2x2 training - Stage 4 from Ali Barnett on Vimeo.

We have been playing around with the 2x2's for a couple of weeks (when it wasn't pouring with rain!!) but at Chapter 5 & 6 he kept failing to enter the first 2 poles and would drive to the second set. So, back to the two pole stage to work on those off-side entries!

Not the most exciting video to watch but its a good record for me to have.

Agility training!

We've been doing bits and pieces since the all clear from the orthopedic vet and the physio. Tai has begun his 2x2 weave training and we are progressing with jumping grids and did our first double-box sequence today!!

I think the weaker left leg is making it harder for him to get the correct entries in the 2x2 training so we are going to have a break from it and then start again at the two pole stage.

He is not lame after his short (2-5 min) sessions which is a great sign. However, he is lighter on his leg near the end of the session.

There is still so so much to do before getting in the ring and the crappy wet weather is not helping. Fingers crossed it improves soon.

Tai seems to lose his brain when I start running beside him so I think that is a good indication to go back to circle work!!!

Thought this was a cool pic of him wrapping tight around his cone...
... and digging in to come to front during a stationary recall.

Happy training :)

Good news

I will update the blog this weekend but for now here is a video I've just put together...

Tai April 2009 from Ali Barnett on Vimeo.

Update - just over 4 mths since accident

Tai had surgery last Friday (hopefully his last!!!) to remove the pin which is down his ulna. Last week the infection was persistent and he did not want to weightbear at all... there was also still a lot of discharge from the wound. So, off to see his orthopedic vet again.

It appears the top of the pin was moving around and that was causing him quite a lot of pain. It wouldn't have stopped so it defiantly needed to come out! The fractures still look the same (due to limited weightbearing) so still a bit of healing to go. Hopefully now with his weightbearing the fractures will finish off healing.

Two days after the op he begun walking superbly!!! He is actually so comfortable that he walks on all fours when just wandering around the room - rather than the hopping he has done for the last 4+ months!! This gives me hope that he will eventually break the hopping habit and become a 4-legged dog again.

He's been treated by his physio (as was Wilson) so is ready to continue his rehab exercises.

I've made a little video to show the improvement of his walking here:

Walking comparison Oct - Dec 2008 from Ali Barnett on Vimeo.

And also the improvement with his ladder:


Ladder work 4mths after accident from Ali Barnett on Vimeo.

Pool!!

We have a pool!! It's awesome.

I've been meaning to buy one for ages, and have been looking at them for the last 2 months every time I've been into The Warehouse and of course when I went to buy one last week they had sold out!! Stupid me, must remember to not procrastinate for so long. After lots of ringing around I got one from Payless Plastics - altho it was $100 more than the one at the Warehouse... bugger!

I didn't realise how much of a slope there was in the dog enclosure until I starting putting put it up. So, at one end Wilson can stand up but I figure that walking through the water will be beneficial anyway. I may move it when its due for a clean or just leave it there for this summer. No matter what it will be brilliant for Tai's rehab.
The cone-head got a bit excited watching Wilson swim. Hopefully he will be able to swim in 5 days.

Tai hadn't been wanting to weightbear since about Mon/Tues this week and started to do the ladder 3-legged. At the same time his elbow wound began to discharge a lot of fluid so off to the vets on Friday to check it out. We saw Holly and she suggested that we see Steve asap to get him to have a look given he hasn't been weightbearing when he'd been doing so well. We saw Steve on Saturday. The prognosis was that the wound had gone septic but the bone felt fine. He has bone "pain" at the top of his ulna - the wound had originally been so deep you could see the head of the pin that is down the middle of the ulna!

So 5 days of antibiotics (Baytril) and a topical spray. We'll hopefully see a rapid response and in 5 days we can swim him. The wound prob won't be healed but if we use vaseline and bandage it, it should be ok.

Vid

Here's a quick video of Tai doing his ladder. He is loving doing it again, even if it is quite disjointed looking!



Ladder work 3.5 mths after accident from Ali Barnett on Vimeo.

3.5 months post injury

Here's some pics of what Tai's been up to and how he's doing...

He still doesn't like to put his leg straight down when standing still but eventually it will drop. He is really good at walking on it now but he is restricted to walking only on lead and so controlled and slow. If he wasn't on lead he certainly wouldn't be going slow and would be hopping round 3-legged.

Standing still with his leg down OMG!!

Doing some ab work outs

Tai has been doing the ladder now and has build up from 1-2 reps to 4. Here is a sequence - you can see he is actually doing it 4-legged!!!

Concentrating hard!!!

The rat leg is still there, albeit a bit hairier, and the photo below shows how much less muscle it has. Sean reckons his leg and shoulder muscles feel a big bigger but its not even been two weeks since everything came off. He still has the sutures in his elbow which are healing nicely and not looking infected (thank god!) so they should come out this weekend. In a few weeks he'll be able to start his hydrotherapy which should make a huge difference.

The rat leg

Typical pose - holding the rat leg up... wish he'd bloody put it down already!

We are still doing the exercises his physio has prescribed and he gets to go for 1-2 walks a day for ~10min. We've been going to the park and also walking down the street. I've been impressed by how focused he is at the park, even when there are other dogs walking by or chasing a tennis ball. He has got to meet some children (who he loves!) and sniff smelly things.

We're off to the beach this weekend so I might drive him down so he can walk along the sand. Will make sure he gets to go on the harder sand as I don't think his leg is up to walking on soft sand just yet. We will be at the beach for 2 weeks over Christmas/New Year so hopefully by then he will be able to walk for longer and also have a workout walking through softer sand.

Anyway Tai is loving not been restricted to his crate and toileting on-lead now. Best of all he is still pretty tired after his exercises!!!

13 weeks post injury

Tai cuddling up to Wilson (as always!) while Wilson pretends he's not really there...

On Saturday we x-rayed Tai again. The difference since the last x-rays 2.5 wks previous was huge - you couldn't see the fracture line clearly only a jumble of stuff (the callus). Steve unscrewed the left-in ex. fix. pins so the only hardware Tai has is the pin down the ulna. He is allowed to weightbare and begin slow walks!!!!!! Yay!!!

There is still quite a bit of healing to go so only slow and gentle exercises for the next month.

Unfortuantly the splint has caused a friction-rub wound on the tip of his elbow. This didn't show up as the discharge and blood was caught under the splint! It was deep enough to see the tip of the ulna pin sticking out - ouch! Steve sutured it up so hopefully that heals ok...

Tai saw his physio today (Kirsten) and he is allowed to go for slow short walks (if he walks slowly he does weightbare nicely), do ladder work (starting with 1 or 2 reps and building up) and balancing exercises (lifting up right front paw and/or back paw) beginning with a few seconds building up to longer. I will also continue to do some gentle shaping involving his left paw touching a target. He was quite sore (like normal) so Kirsten worked on him for quite a while and also used the laser. He looked loads better afterwards.

Hopefully in a little while we will get him swimming!! He will love that! Just need to buy and set up the pool...

Things are looking better for him now. The totally best thing is, because he is now getting some exercise/ stimulation he is tired!!!!!!!! For the last couple of weeks he had begun to lose it and go a bit crazy, so this new exercise stuff is zonking him out before he goes too mental.

Tai showing off his Bay of Plenty rugby colours :)

29 October - 10 weeks post injury

Steve took the two top pins out as they had become loose - he thought within the last 4-5 days. When they come loose they create larger holes as the pin moves with possibility of causing a fracture!!! Lucky he took them out when he did. It was expected that the pins would eventually come loose and it is good they lasted the 5 weeks. He has left the two bottom pins in as they are fine and we may need to use them later. He won't put any more holes in the radius as it literally has holes the whole way down it. There is some union in the radius but at the back of the bone - against the ulna - it hasn't completely healed and you can still see the fracture line quite clearly. I can't remember what he said about the ulna healing... He's put it in a splint and dressing which will stay for the next 10-14 days or as long as we can leave it. Will then x-ray again when he takes the splint off and if need be will re-splint for another couple of weeks or he can put a pin into the ulna and connect it to the radius pins as an ex fix apparatus. After being dopey yesterday Tai is mad mad mad today!!! Not good when I am trying to cram my study in for exams.