Canine Health and Rehabilitation

26/02/2025

Client of the Month!

Meet Sarge. A 77kg Boerboel who is the exact opposite of what his breed should be. He’s a little scared of everything, a little slow to do absolutely anything.

I met Sarge a year ago after his owner contacted me, concerned that his post CCL surgery recovery wasn’t quite where it should be.

I wasn’t sure how Sarge would do with rehab exercises … he’s a dog more focused on food than using his brain! But he has done amazingly.

He no longer has any lameness, he is back to being off leash for short periods of time, & (most of the time) he rocks his rehab exercises (until he decides he has no desire to).

Through this whole process his owner has been amazing. She is someone I love to work with. While, at the end of the day, it’s the dog with the issue … the issue isn’t going to be fixed without commitment from the owner. I can guide the owner, but the owner has to be the one doing the work.

So a big shout out to Sarge & his owner!

16/02/2025

This is usually the last core stability exercise I teach most pet dogs. Some, like Ellie here, I will progress onto stability exercises with a peanut, but I’m happy if most dogs get to this point.

I do find that the paw pods are more difficult for bigger dogs to master, but more so because it can be difficult to get correct placement of them. I will often also use two balance discs (one for each limb) for larger breeds, as getting two feet into one can also be a challenge.

How is your dog going with these exercises? Let me know in the comments, as I’d love to hear.

05/02/2025

The most important thing I emphasise to my clients is not strength work, but to keep their dog as lean as they can.

Studies show that that dogs carrying excess weight are not only at increased risk of orthopaedic issues, but health problems on the whole. Exactly like us humans.

That piece of cheese you sneak to your dog, or that half a piece of toast with peanut butter you give them while you are having breakfast, has far more of an effect than you realise.

I’ve recently been doing a lot more training with my own dogs, which has meant they are getting more treats in the process. None of them are overweight by any stretch of the imagination but, because they are getting some ‘extras’, I promptly cut down on what they get daily in their nightly dinner portions to counter this.

Do they care? Nope! Do they even realise? Also, no!

It’s only us humans that think we are depriving them, or think our dogs may starve to death in the process. But believe me when I say, they will be fine.

If you love your dog, want to do the best by them & want them around for as long as possible … keep them lean!

04/02/2025

How are your dogs doing with the core stability challenge? As always, I’d love for you to share some photos with me either in my DMs, or in the comments below.

Here is Ellie showing you the next step in the progression - balancing both front limbs & hind limbs on a balance disc. Once again, the aim is for your dog to hold this position for 30 seconds.

And if you have a larger breed dog, I tend to opt for a Bosu ball instead. Can we all agree that Sarge has mastered this challenge!

Let me know how you guys are doing, or if you have any questions I’m always happy for you to shoot me a message.

There’s a few more challenges to go, so stay tuned!

27/01/2025

Yesterday I posted a video of my girls running down to the gate to greet my partner when he got home , & asked what you could pick up.

If you go back to that post & look carefully, you will see Kaos (the larger of the two dogs), is not weight bearing through her right hind limb when she runs. She does weight bear when walking, but to aid her to go faster she picks up the limb & just runs on three legs.

To be honest, I hadn't picked up on this before now. Which just goes to show why it's important to regularly observe your dog walking and running from the front, back & from each side. And why videoing them doing so, & analysing this on a regular basis, is so important (I go through this & have a checklist for you to follow in my eBook, 'How to Tell if Your Canine Companion is in Pain).

In Kaos' case am I concerned? Not really. And am I going to do anything about it? No, I'm not.

While I hadn't noticed that she was not weight bearing through the RHL while running, I'm actually not surprised. She partially tore her right cruciate ligament when she was three years old, & chose to manage the injury conservatively. She did amazingly with conservative management, & up until two years ago was still running for an hour in the forest.

But over the past 12 months she has slowed down, shown signs of discomfort & so we currently have her on regular pain medication. And at 12.5 years of age, & for a dog who has put her body through the wringer over her lifetime (& whose kidneys are slowly deteriorating), we know we are on borrowed time right now. So, as long as she is comfortable overall, seems happy enough in herself, & can still run down to the gate to greet my partner (even on three legs) we are content that she still has a good quality of life.

It is a good reminder though, even for me, how important it is to take photos & videos of our dogs, just to ensure we aren't missing anything. Particularly in dogs who are younger, or simply to monitor your dog's progress with rehab etc. So, grab your phone, get outside with your dog & see if there's anything 'off' that you can pick up on.

At the very least, you might also be able to sn**ch a great photo of your dog!

23/01/2025

If you’re following along, the next step in the core stability series I use for strengthening is to add in paw pods with a balance pad. The same principle for luring into position applies as I have described in previous posts, & again we want to ask the dog to hold the stand for 3x30 seconds.

How is your dog doing with these exercises? And, as always, please feel free to share a photo of your dog with me or to ask any questions.

20/01/2025

Medical Monday is back. 🙏 IVDD is something we see commonly and a question we get a lot is: What is best for my dog? Surgery or Conservative Management? 🤔

The proper treatment depends on the severity of the symptoms. If your dog is experiencing mild to moderate symptoms, they will likely respond to conservative management with a certified canine rehab therapist. However, if your dog is showing more severe symptoms, surgery is generally recommended. The breed, duration of symptoms, location, and type of the herniation can help determine the outcome as well.

With conservative management an active rest period is more beneficial than strict crate rest. A certified canine rehab therapist will prescribe an appropriately controlled exercise program with slow progressions. If your dog is completely immobile during the crate rest period, it can actually do more harm than good. For example if someone sat in bed for a few weeks, they would feel stiff, their muscles would atrophy, and they could lose some of their range of motion. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀. So while crate rest may provide 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 relief, your pup may experience other issues down the road.

If your dog has more severe neurological symptoms such as the inability to make any deliberate movement with their legs, or has loss of bowel/bladder, surgery is highly recommended. The surgeon will relieve the portion of compressed spinal cord and remove any present disc material. This will free up the neurological pathways from the brain to the extremities.

20/01/2025

19/01/2025

How are you all going with the core stability challenge with your dogs? I’d love for you to let me know if you have been trying these exercises out. Or better yet, share your photos with me!

If you are keeping up the next challenge is the following:

* Front paws on a balance disc & back paws on a balance pad: building up to 3x30 second holds.

* Front paws on a balance pad & back paws on a balance disc: 3x30 second holds.

While these exercises can seem very simple, they are also very effective. I’ve had a number of dog clients lately where surgery has been recommended (whether for a cruciate ligament tear or patella luxation) where the owners have chosen to try conservative management first, & all dogs are currently doing amazing by progressing through this sequence. While we have been doing a few other exercises as well, these core stability exercises have been the base of what we are working on.

And, as always, just a reminder that your dog doesn’t have to have an injury to start working through these exercises. By starting them now, you may just prevent an injury in the future.

As always, any questions pop into my DM’s or post in the comments below.

12/01/2025

How is your dog doing with the core stability test? Are they rocking it, or do you need to do a little more work with them? Either answer is correct!

As for my personal dogs I have one who is knocking it out of the park, one who is doing his best, & one who couldn’t be less interested 😅

If you follow me over I’m sure you can guess which of my dogs I am talking about!

Wherever your dog is in the process, here is the next step.

Once your dog can stand for a static 30 seconds on a balance pad, the next step is to move them onto a balance disc that is more unstable.

Use the same cues for ‘front paws’ & ‘back paws’ as you used before, & build them up to a 30 second static stand.

If you have a bigger dog, like the legendary Sarge - swipe through to the third photo- (a Boerboel who weighs in at 77kg!), I use a Bosu Ball rather than a balance disc as it provides them with more surface area to stand on.

As always, I love to see how your dogs are doing, so please tag me in your stories if you are following along. There’s a few steps to go, so stay tuned over the next few weeks.

07/01/2025

This is Ellie, a star client of mine. Ellie is 9 years old. She is incredible for her age, & I have recruited her to show you the ongoing sequence in how I progress my dog clients through core stability work. So, here is the next step from my last post ...

Once your dog can perform a static stand for 30 seconds, this is what I ask for next ...

* Front paws on a balance pad and back paws on solid ground: working up to 3x30 second holds.
* Back paws on a balance pad and front paws on solid ground: working up to 3x30 second holds.

The two verbal cues I work with are:

* 'Front paws' - working to get the dog to put their front paws up on the balance pad by luring them with a treat right at the front of the balance pad, & rewarding them even if they only get one front foot onto the balance pad.
* 'Back paws' - working to get the dog's back paws up on the balance pad by luring them with a treat as I walk away from the balance pad & rewarding them, again, even if they only get one hind foot onto the balance pad.

Once they get both front or hind paws on the pad, reward them by throwing a treat party! Start with how many seconds you can get from your dog, and then build up from there. All dogs take different amounts of time to learn things. There's no pressure for your dog to learn any of these postures straight away. Take your time and make it fun.

I do find, however, that getting a dog to put their back paws on the balance pad takes far more time than getting them to put their front paws on. This is usually because a dog has less awareness of their hind limbs than their forelimbs. So feel free to conquer one of these postures before starting on the other.

Also, I'm not a rehab therapist who is a stickler for 'correctness'. If your dog is doing the best they can in the moment, particularly while learning a new position, reward them for trying their best! We can work on correct posture down the track.

Once again, I'd love to see you share your dogs doing these exercises so please tag me in your posts or stories.

(You can find these balance pads on eBay or Amazon under 'Balance Foam Pad').

05/01/2025

Can your dog hold a static stand for 30 seconds without shifting their weight, or moving out of position?

When working with dogs, either those with injuries or in a prehab capacity to prevent injury, I always start with core strength work. A strong core is essential for good posture, preventing injuries, and assisting with the healing process post-surgery or in a dog with any musculoskeletal issue.

Over my next series of posts here, I am going to be sharing the progression of core stability work that I use with my canine clients.

First, is a simple static stand on a stable surface to be held for up to 30 seconds.

Try this with your dog. If they can hold this position, you can move onto the next progression I will share. If not, then keep working this exercise until they can hold this posture without shifting weight or moving out of position.

Use a positional word, such as ‘stand’, to cue the dog and, if needed, feed treats during the 30 seconds to keep the dog motivated to hold the posture.

And I’d love for you to let me know in the comments below whether your dog can hold this position, or whether it is something you need to work on.

25/12/2024

Wishing you all a happy & safe holiday season 🌲

16/12/2024

I’ve been very quiet on social media over the last six months. Life & work just got very busy. But Ellie, my superstar client, assisted with some content creation today & I will definitely be back to sharing more regularly next year!

11/04/2024

I find that Canine Fitness Equipment is a little like adding the word ‘Wedding’ in front of a cake or bouquet of flowers. Suddenly the price goes up exponentially!

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Most of my Canine Rehab equipment I get from either the Fitness or Child’s Toy sections of Kmart here in Australia for a fraction of the amount it would cost me to order it from a provider online.

I have been searching for Paw Pods for the longest time online, but have baulked at the price I would need to pay. So, imagine my delight, when I discovered the medical supplier that I get my ‘human physiotherapy stock’ from added these balance pods for purchase. They are essentially the same as paw pods for dogs, but just $20 for a set of two (with a pump included). Each dome is cm in diameter, & 9cm high when inflated.

I would need to look into what it would cost for P&P, but am happy to do so if you are interested in me ordering some for you. Before I went ahead and ordered some, I thought I’d just see what the interest was like. So please feel free to comment below or send me a DM, & we can go from there.

06/04/2024

In the reel I posted yesterday, I asked the question of what you all noticed. And you all noticed that Chantz was carrying his back left hind leg as he negotiated the last step.

I affectionately refer to Chantz as our ‘orthopaedically unsound’ dog. While he hasn’t been diagnosed with anything, his posture and poor breeding make him a prime candidate for either an underlying condition or injury in the future.

Apart from the first week after we adopted him I haven’t noticed a limp, & this was the first time I had noticed him skip up the steps in that way. I did get him to repeat it a few times yesterday &, apart from his awkwardness (quite normal for Chantz), he walked up without an issue.

So, at this stage I’m not overly concerned (we tend to be those owners that don’t panic unless one of the dog’s has a bone sticking out or blood pouring from them) but will definitely keep a closer eye on him. And I will continue to challenge Chantz’s one brain cell & work on preventative rehab exercises to try and counter any future issues that may arise.

But good spotting everyone! Also, if these kinds of posts with questions are something you find useful and helpful as an education let me know in the comments and I will post more of them in the future.