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Hip dysplaysia, a small problem in one hip.


alligande
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Yes, I agree about free running n outside activities too :). My dogs do it 5 days a week but I find it doesn't address things like core strength, or equal limb strength for my dog with spondylosis who compensates by using his body "unevenly", etc. Amazon has larger cones, not sure about the UK amazon, but over here some include free shipping.

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This is the list of exercises we have been given:

The english is not perfect as we and our physio are in spain.

 

HIP EXTENSION EXERCISES: (daily walk)

- Go up ramps: increase progressively the inclination of the ramp but not so much to make the dog jumps with the back limbs to go up the ramp. The dog must do it slowly, step by step. 5-10 minutes.

- Go upstairs: the height of the stair not so high that makes the dog jumping with the back limbs to go up. It is important to do it slowly, step by step. 5 minutes.

- Dance: take the dog front limbs with your hands and do it walking with the back limbs in extension. 5 minutes.

- Swimming: 5-10 minutes. Prevent the dog to run in the dry sand of the beach, It is better walking in the seashore.

- Walking: it is better to make more walks a day but not very long.

LOAD DISTRIBUTE EXERCISES: (daily walk)

- ZigZag: put several obstacles and the dog has to border them making a zigzag. The length between the obstacles must be the length of the dog and the exercise must be done slowly. 5 minutes.

HIP AND KNEE SUPPORT EXERCISES: (daily)

- Air mat: place the dog with its back limbs over the air mat or something unstable and the dog must balance. You have to move the dog or the mat softly and pick up one limb for a few seconds and then the other one to complicate the exercise. 5 minutes.

- Cavalletis: place multiple sticks in cones to the maximum height of the dog doll with a distance approximately half the length of the dog (important that the dog does not fit entirely in the space between bars). Make him go slowly step by step about 20-30 repetitions.

THERAPIES IN THE HIP AND LUMBAR: (5 times a week)

- Heat: heat gel pack or seeds in the microwave until it is very hot, wrapped in a thin cloth and put it in the right hip and the lumbar area for 10-15 minutes. Do not put it after exercise, better with the dog in cold.

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  • 3 months later...

Thought it was about time for an update:

Our Spanish vet/physio did not provide an exact program, as you can see from above he asked for quite long sessions, well being a typical border collie and owner we over did it. Rather than having a slight limp in his front shoulder he started becoming very sore and stiff in his rear, he looked like an old man after exercise. We had continued to train and compete in agility, here you only do 2 runs a day so I wasn't concerned about over working him. Just over a month ago we were away at a competition and he was obviously very sore and decided we needed more help and guidance.

I contacted everyone who was listed as doing distance consults on the canine conditioning Facebook page, and after a lot of thought decided to work with Dr leslie Eide. I chose her because I thought my Spanish/South African vet team would be comfortable with me working with another vet and respect her qualifications, and her pricing structure was very straight forward as she charges a monthly fee. I also liked that she owns and competes with border collies.

We have now being working on our new program and I am already seeing an improvement, and he is no longer showing as much stiffness after a good walk, we have not been doing any agility.

Our current exercise program is

3 reps of 30 seconds standing on a peanut. Twice a day

5 pivots around a balance cushion in both directions. Twice a day

10 repetitions of 6 cavalettis (as that is what we have) they are 8" high and she has them spaced the same as his shoulder height.

Stand on and roll the peanut forward 3 reps of 5-6ft

Alternating every other day: 3 sets of 5 down to stand. .. This has been changed to sit to stand as from the down he pulls him self up with his from legs from the sit he pushes with the back. On the opposite day we do 3 legged dogs with 3 sets of 30 seconds on each leg. At the moment he is standing on the ground and we usually don't make the full 30 seconds as he transfers his weight into the leg I am holding.

We are no longer doing passive ROM on his hip Dr Eide thinks that we are not getting enough range at the moment to make the exercise worthwhile and it is uncomfortable for him.

Every week I send her video of him doing the exercises and she evaulates what she sees and adjusts his exercises.

One of the observations we have noticed is that since we started working with her his "posture" has changed he holds his back straighter and his back end does not slouch.

He has been to see Jose locally and he feels that the increase in pain is muscle pain, not an increase in joint pain, and felt that it was actually a good thing that we were starting to see him uncomfortable in his rear rather than the shoulders as it meant that he was no longer compensating with his front end, and the pain was just from increased muscle usage when his muscles were cold after exercise. We have seen an increase in muscle since we started. He will go back to Jose in a couple of weeks to see how he is progressing.

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You certainly have an impressive program and I'm very glad you are seeing improvement!

 

It is really easy, especially with these dogs, to overdo - if a little is good, a bit more must be better, right? I've fallen into that trap myself and Shari (our rehab therapist) has read me the riot act more than once!

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It is really easy, especially with these dogs, to overdo - if a little is good, a bit more must be better, right? I've fallen into that trap myself and Shari (our rehab therapist) has read me the riot act more than once!

This is why I wanted to find a rehab specialist who understood border collies and their owners . When I first talked to my "gp" vet about what I was planning and why, she laughed and said Jose is used to working with pet owners who he is lucky if they do one exercise, not those who try them all in one morning!

 

I have written on these boards about being a bit cynical about canine conditioning but I am amazed at Rievaulxs growing strength, but I am very glad to be working closely with a rehab pro because I have become even more aware of how it is easy to do the exercises wrong and how important proper form is.

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I'm taking an online conditioning course with Dr Eide. She's really thorough, and I'm glad for the structure (pun intended) that the course has given us. Rex now has a little work out routine that we do three times a week. Dogs with iffy structure need a strong core even more than well-built specimens, and Rex wants to stay fit for the busy 2015 that he has planned. :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

An update on our progress: we went to our local physio today and he was really pleased with his progress. He said is gait looked normal with no turning in or wobble like before. His Illopsas muscle was relaxed. His shoulders have normal range of motion and only the tendon on the right was still slightly enlarged from when he was compensating with his front end. He was also very pleased with the devolpment of the primary muscles on his hips, and although the right hip is still smaller the progress is in the right direction. He did find some sensitivity in his lumbar region, but felt for a border collie this was reasonable. What I am amazed by is the progress he has made in a month, working with Leslie Eide by email has been really easy his progress is because of her.

Our program has expanded to the following exercises daily ( he gets one day off a week)

3 repetitions of 30 seconds standing on the ball

5 pivots each way around a balance cushion

10 sets of 6 cavalettis

3 sets of forward peanut rolling 20ft

3 sets both sides of lateral walking 20ft (still mastering the technique he leads out much better in the pivot)

5 sets of 3 sit to stand or 3 sets of three legged dog for both rear legs held for 30 seconds. With this exercise I am holding the leg.

We will now be adding rolling the peanut backwards, power ups (the dog starts in a sit and pushes up so their paws are on top of a standing peanut) and evantually leg lifts while standing on the peanut.

 

One side effect of his growing strength is it is becoming harder to tug, he has always been an enthusiastic tugger, and now I am struggling to hold on!

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  • 7 months later...

I thought it about time I posted an update on Rievaulxs progress. We are still working with Dr Leslie Eide and our local physio Dr Jose and have made huge strides.

We had a setback in September when he was diagnosed with an Illiopsis strain which I suspect came from a game of frisbee, so we took a step back from working on his hip to work on that.

I went to visit Jose yesterday as we competed for the first time since the Illiopsis strain and I wanted to make sure he had not been hurt. He was really pleased with our progress, and said that the the work we had put in was obvious. There was good muscle tone, that there was good balance between the flexor and extensions muscles and that both legs were now more or less balanced. He went on to say that it was very unusual to see a dog with his problem to be in such good shape, as a consequence it was really the first time I could openly ask him what he wanted me to share with Leslie. He has always known about me working with her, but has sort of ignored it in our conversations! It was always going to be tricky because I do have faith in his abilities to diagnosis the problems, but he is not a sports/working dog specialist and used to dealing with pet owners. Yesterday I demonstrated the rear leg lifts and he was impressed I was able to teach it! So I think going forwards we are really going to be able to have a much better working relationship.

He does still have some areas of discomfort, but we just keep following Leslie's direction and things keep get better. And yes it is still getting harder to tug with him.

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It sounds like you are doing a really great job with him! An illiopsoas injury can be very painful and take time to heal. Celt had a little problem with that during his rehab for his first TPLO. It can recur so being careful about the activity that resulted in it may be a wise idea.

 

Kudos for working diligently with him and doing such a great job!

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Thanks Sue, I adore this dog and I love playing agility with him so it is well worth the effort. We no longer play fetch games, if we are out and someone throws a ball I don't worry, we play catch and fetch on the terrace but we are talking 30ft and so he can't get any speed up, but as much as he loved frisbee it is a game we no longer play.

 

It has also been really interesting as I have learned so much about dog anatomy and the correct way to use conditioning tools. I am thinking about taking an online anatomy course as the more knowledgeable I am the better I can help him and understand what his pros are telling me.

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