Continued Play Date with the Gemstones

After the market, Luna and I enjoyed some time hanging out in Mary Pat's large back yard.  She has four chickens in a fenced in section that the dogs pretty much ignored which was surprising to me since they all have a history of going after chickens.  At least, they ignored the chickens up until Mary Pat went in side the fencing to inspect them.

At that point, Luna was on high alert and even gave a couple of barks at the birds.  Tanzanite offered a few play bows and tested how well the fencing held up.  One of the chickens seemed to understand that the dogs could not get her because she walked right up to the fencing and pecked Tanzanite right on the nose which was both a surprise and hilarious.  Emerald suffered the same pecking when she got to close.  The look of surprise on her face was priceless.  Only Opal waited on the sidelines just in case a bird got loose.

After playing with the chickens, Luna surprised us all with a sudden desire to run around.  Ever since her accident (nearly two years ago) she has refused to run in the presence of other dogs.  Apparently, she felt comfortable enough around the Gemstones that she was able to run until she was good and tired.  I was so happy to see her fully enjoying herself.  She didn't even mind that Fun Police Officer Tanzanite was trying to stop her from having a good time.  Go, Luna!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any video of Luna running.  I was too busy taking in the moment.  Since Luna has shown that she can run with the other greys, we will have to visit again soon so she can enjoy another care free run.

Tanzanite and Opal enjoying the warm sun.

Emerald keeps a watchful eye while she rests her head.

A Big Turn Around in Six Months

It's hard to believe that six months ago today we were unsure if Luna would still be in our lives.  You are probably tired of hearing me say how amazing her recovery has been, but it's true!  She has come so far and her quality of life is fantastic.

Here is a list of Luna's accomplishments since her accident in December:

1. She has relearned how to walk, trot, and run.
2. She has relearned how to navigate stairs and hard floors.
3. She has learned how to walk on a treadmill underwater and balance on a yoga ball. 
4. She has learned how to play.
5. She has successfully completed a basic obedience class.
6. She has been certified as a therapy dog.
7. She has helped me teach 4-H members about dog physical therapy.
8. She has learned how to bark and has shown more of her personality.
9. She has become more independent.
10. She has strengthened her bond with Mike and me.

Whenever I share her story, people are amazed by Mike and my commitment to Luna during that rocky first month.  I always credit the people who supported us through that time.  Without the help of our family, friends, and internet cheerleaders, I'm not sure we would have been so successful.  Luna's story is a success because of the many people who supported her every step of the way.  Thank you.

First day home.

Plenty of soft items to catch a "mobile" dog.

Harness to help her get up.

First time on the yoga peanut.

First time in the underwater treadmill.

The living room during her toddling stage.

Getting the hang of physical therapy.

Walking on her own in the tank.

Enjoying walks again.

Enjoying the park again.

Enjoying life in the Garden State.

Play Time!

Over the past few weeks, Luna has been developing her sense of play.  As part of her rehab, I've been taking Luna to a small fenced in area for her to practice running.  The first few times I let her run, she had a few trips and slides.  She had not realized that her body is different because of the accident.  After a few trips to the park, she was starting to get the hang of her new body.  You can tell when she is focusing on her feet because she runs more smoothly.  When she is paying attention to something else she will trip up.  For this reason, I prefer to let her run when there are no other dogs around.  She has also figured out that she needs to run much slower than she used to.  No more high speeds for this puppy.  I'm sure she would forget that rule in a heart beat if another greyhound was around, but for now she is respectful of the slow speeds.  To compensate for slower speeds, she does a lot of spinning and circling.

Through all of these running sessions, I have become Luna's play buddy.  At first, she was not a very good playmate.  She would spin her body into my knee taking me down.  Now that we've had plenty of practice, we are much better at playing together.  Our style includes a lot of play growling from both of us.  Yes, I look like the crazy lady at the park, but it makes Luna happy.  I have also discovered that she likes me to give her body a push.  She will sometimes use the push to spin around to face me.  A funny thing about Luna is when she is playing with me, she places her open mouth on my forearms.  She never closes her mouth so I wouldn't call it mouthing.  She just leaves me with a lot of slobber on my jacket.  If, by accident, she does catch a tooth on me it is game over, so she has learned to be very careful.

Today, my Mom and I took Luna to the park for a run.  Unfortunately, it was very sunny with no breeze.  This made it too hot for Luna and her black coat.  She had one good run, a small play session, and then called it quits.  We'll have to try again for a better video.

Leveling Out

At last week's physical therapy session, I asked the therapist what she thought of Luna's walking at this time.  The therapist said everything is looking really good and "normal" except for the back left leg.  That leg has been the longest and slowest to recover so it is no surprise that it is the last one to get back up to speed.  What we can see in the tank is that the neurons are not firing fast enough so she has a little hitch in her giddy up.  Notice in the video how the front legs move pretty evenly, but the back left leg has a pause.

The therapist says that this could improve over time or she may always have a little trouble with that leg.  It's hard to say at this time.  When we go for our walks you hardly notice there is anything wrong at all.  When she starts to get tired (after 1.5 miles) she starts to limp.  I've also noticed that she has trouble going into a sit and down.  It is probably very uncomfortable for her now.  

At this time we are going to continue with the underwater treadmill, but it looks like we may be reaching the end of physical therapy.  Instead, we'll start introducing her to our new activity, jogging. :-)

The Big Tank

At Luna's last physical therapy session she was put in the larger of the two underwater treadmills.  The actual treadmill is the same for both, there is just more room on the sides which allow the dogs places to "cheat" or place one (or two) paws so they don't have to walk.  Luna figured out how to cheat almost instantly.  Clever girl.  So we had to add some floating toys to her tank to keep her away from the edges.  I had to keep an eye on her though because if things shifted enough she would try to sneak onto the edges.

She is doing really well with her tank time.  At this point she is walking a solid 25 minutes at a good speed.  I think the next step will be to lower the water level, making it more difficult for her to walk since she is less buoyant.  They tried the lower water level for about 15 seconds at the start of the session, but it was obvious it was too hard for her.  I'm confident she'll get there.

By the way, we finally got Luna's new harness.  She is now sporting her lovely rose pink harness by Wiggles, Wags & Whiskers.  Thank you Mary Pat for letting us borrow your teal one for so long.

Two Months of Therapy

This week, Luna celebrated two months of physical therapy by taking a nice long walk in the underwater treadmill.  The therapist was very pleased with her performance.  Luna walked at a slightly slower speed than last session because the therapist wanted Luna to focus on balancing herself evenly when she walks.  At high speeds, she favors her left side so she is not practicing walking with a normal gait.

My last post discussed the therapists suggestion for Luna to start jogging to build up her strength and stamina.  Since she is not quite ready for faster speeds, I'll have to spend some time getting myself in shape before we can run together.  Once we get the all clear from the therapist to start her jogging we'll be out for some short runs.

Silly Luna.  Sneakers won't help you run faster.

A Real Workout

Luna has been driving Mike and me crazy with her cabin fever.  Last night she was in the way so much she knocked over a cup of hot tea on herself.  (She's fine, don't worry.  She just smells like vanilla tea now.)  Luckily, tonight was our seventh session of physical therapy.  I told the physical therapist that Luna had a lot of pent up energy so she could work Luna extra hard tonight.

Her underwater treadmill time has really improved.  She walked for over 20 minutes and most of that time was spent on a high speed.  She had no rest periods except to walk slower for a few minutes.  Her foot placement was very good.  However, her left side is definitely weak since she was walking a bit sideways.  It will take some time, but I know she'll get better.  Here is her latest video:

Her floor exercises were not too different from last week, except this time they had her balance all four legs on a balance mat.  She was more than happy to put her feet on the mats and eat treats.  I'm glad I taught her "touch" because it made this new "trick" so much more fun for her.  She stretched her neck to either side while balancing.  To me, she looked like one of the elephants from "Dumbo" balancing on the ball.

Two legs balancing.

Four legs balancing.

The therapist was very pleased with Luna's progress.  Her exact words were, "really, really good!"  My favorite comment of the day!

Impressing the Therapist

Last night was another physical therapy session.  Our physical therapist had been away last week so she was seeing Luna after two weeks.  She was very impressed with her progress.  There is still some wobble in her back end and she needs to improve on her left front, but overall she is progressing very well.  Here is Luna in the tank all by herself...

Following the underwater treadmill, the therapist worked Luna on some new equipment.  Luna's favorite was the blue dome ball (seen below) which she happily stood on for treats.  I'm thinking of purchasing one of these balance balls since it is something she likes and there are plenty of exercises that can be done on it.

I spent some time asking the therapist some big questions regarding Luna's future.  One big question I've had is when can she be allowed to run off leash.  Since she stumbles when she is distracted (and that happens so easily), the therapist does not recommend her running off leash for about six months.  We can start jogging with her and encouraging her to run a very short distance (throw a toy and have her bring it back).  Once she is consistent with using all four feet we can start looking at having her run in a small yard by herself.  It is going to be a long time before she can run with another dog.

So the good news is Luna is continuing to show great progress and is enjoying her exercises.  It's been almost two months since her accident and I could never have imagined she would have made so much progress by this time.

Physical Therapy is Hard Work

Last night was another physical therapy session.  The report I had for Mike when we got home was, "She did awesome and she was a total brat."

We started with the underwater treadmill.  Up until now a therapist has always been in the tank with Luna to help her move her feet, walk straight, and remain standing.  Last night we threw her in the tank by herself.  She did outstanding!  The therapist commented on how nicely she was placing her feet and that her stamina had definitely improved.  In fact, she walked for a total of 20 minutes with only one short break.  A couple of times she became distracted and stopped walking.  It was very funny to see her space out and then suddenly leap forward when her butt hit the back of the tank.  We would laugh and say, "Pay attention, Luna!  Watch where you're going."

After the treadmill we put her on the peanut yoga ball for some balancing exercises.  For me, this is the most stressful part of her physical therapy sessions.  In order for her to strengthen her muscles, she needs to balance on her own.  I have a hard time letting her go because I am so afraid she will fall.  Despite my constant worrying, she did very well and was eventually able to stand, sit, and lie down on the ball.  She still has a lot more practice ahead of her and it would help if her mom didn't hover so much.  (Can you hear my helicopter blades?)

Now that Luna was completely exhausted, the therapist moved on to some stretches we can do with Luna in a "sit".  Yeah, right.  She was not interested in performing.  "She knows how to sit," I kept insisting.  "She does it all the time at home.  Come on, Luna.  Sit."  Eventually, the fed up therapist handed her over to me in the hopes that she would sit for me.  Nope.  I only got a couple of sits out of her and the whole time she was giving me a look that said, "Just give me the cheese."  Thanks for making me a liar.  We gave up and called over the resident black lab.  He was more than eager to sit for the cheese and let us do the stretches.  At least this way I could see what Luna and I were supposed to do at home.

After her laser therapy, we headed home where Mike greeted Luna with some cuddling on the spare bed.  You can tell that she was feeling pretty relaxed.

What the Vet and Therapist Said

I mentioned that Luna visited the vet and her physical therapist, but I realized that I did not report how the visits went.

Taking Luna into the vet's office was pretty emotional.  This was the place that took care of her right after her accident.  We spent a lot of time crying, hoping, and praying in that building.  Since she was there for several days just about everyone who works in the office (including the receptionists) knows Luna and has a personal connection with her.  The doctors took amazing care of her, the vet techs sat with her when she was whining, and the receptionists visited her on their breaks.  To have Luna walk into the office with a smile on her face and her tail wagging was just awesome.

The doctor was floored when she saw Luna.  "Oh, Luna!  You just made my week!" she said.  After a little Q&A and plenty of cookies the doctor announced that Luna was done with doctor visits.  We hope to return to the vet clinic soon to get Luna into the blood donor program.  I think the staff would really like to see her once in a while and it would be nice for Luna to give back to the amazing people who took such great care of her.

So what does the physical therapist think?  She is very impressed with Luna's progress.  She spent about 20 minutes in the underwater treadmill, practiced balancing on the yoga ball, and relaxed during her laser therapy.  There is still plenty of work we need to do to keep the healing going, but she is definitely on the fast track.  I mentioned to the therapist that I was concerned about Luna's running in the future.  I reminded her that she is a greyhound and preventing her from running for the rest of her life is near impossible.  The therapist said that although she will never be 100% we should be able to get her back to 90-95%.  How awesome is that?!

It is great to know that the doctor and therapist believe that Luna is going to make a wonderful come back.

Physical Therapy Round 2

Last night was Luna's second visit to physical therapy.  We got there early and stayed a little late so she actually had almost 1.5 hours of therapy.  Boy, was she tired when we got home!

We started with stretching the legs and practicing standing.  Afterwards, we spent a lot of time encouraging her to walk around the room.  Her back left leg was showing progress, but she was having trouble with the front left.  She did not want to use it and would keep it braced as long as possible until it knuckled over.  The physical therapsit has some more tricks up her sleeve to encourage her to work the front left if she still doesn't want to next time.

Since Luna was showing progress with her back left, the therapist wanted to see if we could get more from her with the underwater treadmill.  Instead of supporting her with the pool noodles, we suited her up with a life jacket.  It helped her stay afloat while forcing her to stand on her own.  Another therapist worked her front left leg, but as you'll see in the video, she did awesome!

I'm glad she got a chance to walk and that her back left is improving.  Hopefully, we'll see some progress with the front left and get to spend more time in the tub at our next visit.

A Grand Day Out

What a busy day it has been.  This morning Luna visited the vet to check in.  The doctor was very impressed with her progress and was grinning from ear to ear.  She said we totally made her day.  :-)  The doctor's recommendation for the next step of recovery was hydro therapy.  We located a rehab place that had an underwater treadmill and got an appointment for this evening.

Luna did way better than I had expected.  I figured she would be terrified by the whole experience (and she was pretty freak out at first), but once the cheese treats came out she forgot her fear and focused on getting the food.

"Mmmm...cheese!"

Basket muzzle just in case she got scared.

"I'm liking this thing."

We did some work on her legs while she was lying down, worked her while she was standing on a peanut ball, used a laser to help the muscles, and tested out how she would do on the underwater treadmill.  At this time she is very good at standing and she really wants to move.  The problem is her flexer muscles in her left legs are not ready yet.  The underwater treadmill was no good since she couldn't step with her left legs so we will have to focus our rehab on those muscles while she is on dry land.

Her time at therapy showed me how much she has improved in just two weeks.  She can curl herself up into a ball, move herself so she is lying on her stomach, and stand on her own as long as she has the strength.  We have another physical therapy session scheduled for next week.  In the mean time, Mike and I have a lot of homework to keep us busy.