She's Gonna Live...

I haven't felt like blogging but thought I'd better write about our visit with the Rehab Vet.

Pixel is going to be just fine. Her shoulder is sore, and will take time to heal but there should be no long lasting effects. It is a soft tissue injury- a whole bunch of muscles are tight and sore. She is on a strict rest diet for a few more days and then we will start with the Rehab part- walking, trotting, stepping, stretching,  more walking, no sharp turns, swimming, more stepping. You know, all the stuff I've been doing with Wicca forever.

I am very relieved that it is a minor thing. Easily solved with rest, and then exercises specific to her shoulder, and then later on even more conditioning. For the injury to have happened in the first place there must have been some weakness there. I am a big believer in conditioning for our sport dogs. No weekend warriors around here. So it is just a little upsetting that I could have prevented this with more something.

But we are fine. Pixel is not limping at all, and is feeling pretty great after her appointment. She had some adjustments, and some laser. I'm taking her back in a week or two for a follow up and an okay to start the rehab.

She will be taking the summer off from trials, and training. No agility, no scent hurdle, and no obedience. We will start back maybe late August depending on how she is doing with the rehab/conditioning. I want to make sure she is really sound before bringing her back. The worst thing I have seen (and experienced) with soft tissue injuries is people thinking that the dog is fine once the limp is gone and then immediately returning back to stuff. That's how injuries end up chronic, and never ending. You need to give the body a chance to heal, and THEN rehab it, and then condition the whole dog again before you go back to whatever it was you were doing before. That takes time- not just a few weeks. I've learned that lesson the hard way.

So I guess this really will be the summer of the new. The summer of no agility. It will be weird. But I think we can find enough stuff to keep us all busy!

Brit and I will of course continue to putter around on the agility field this summer. We have no time frame, and frankly I am enjoying training for herding and obedience much more than agility right now. Oh how things have changed. ;)

This weekend we are just going to chillax. Some scent hurdle with Brit this afternoon, some sheep tomorrow. Oh, and lots of sleep.  It's going to be great!