This is a real case history provided by Neville and Marion Allen of the Canine Fitness Centre. Published with permission from Amber’s owner.

Hydrotherapy: Amber’s Story

Amber used to chase wallabies. She didn’t ever catch them, but every time she saw one, she’d optimistically bound after them, feathery gold tail the only thing visible above the long grass.

One day, while trotting back, tongue lolling, she suddenly yelped and started limping. That was her first torn cruciate ligament. She already had some arthritis in a front paw, but that hadn’t stopped her from running. The torn ligament did – particularly when she tore another one a year later.

After surgery, the ligaments seemed to take a long time to heal, and she kept limping. The vet recommended I take her to hydrotherapy. I had no idea what was involved, but I hated seeing her looking so uncomfortable, so I thought I’d give it a try.

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You can see the small injury to Sinner’s footpad on the photograph, I didn’t notice he had a problem until he started leaving little bloody footprints. It’s most likely that he stepped on a sharp rock or stick, or even a piece of glass.

What should you do if your dog has such an injury? In Sinner’s case, there was no foreign body sticking out so I chose to play the waiting game. I cleaned it thoroughly with dilute iodine, and I didn’t bandage it. I think a bandage would have lasted two seconds!

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Since Guinness has just been neutered, I thought I’d post a few thoughts on how to care for your running buddy after an elective operation such as neutering or a lump removal.

The hardest part is keeping your dog quiet to let them recover fully. They feel back to normal within a day or two of their operation, but they really shouldn’t run for a bit longer. The movement of the skin around the surgical site may make healing a little slower, and the increase in blood pressure may lead to a bit of bleeding.

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I recently found some notes I’d taken earlier this year, about how hot Guinness became when I was running with him. How did you measure that, I hear you ask. Well, the only way to accurately take a dog’s temperature is rectally.

While we were running I stopped and took his rectal temperature every 5 minutes. He was less than impressed. I was a bit worried about people thinking I was weird, so I tried to do it behind a bush. I’m not sure this helped. What would you think if you saw someone behind a bush, having a close look at their dog’s bottom?

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I recently read a message from a friend who is a veterinary nurse. They had a dog admitted to hospital with heat stroke. The owner was taking it for a walk in the middle of the day. Now, you could argue that a walk shouldn’t be a big deal, but this is Queensland. The middle of the day is very hot, and often humid. Dogs can’t sweat to dissipate heat, they rely on panting and evaporation of water from their tongue. It makes sense that when it’s humid, evaporation doesn’t happen as much.

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As summer approaches here in South East Queensland,  Ixodes holocyclus, or paralysis ticks, come out to play. These little arachnids can make your dog extremely sick, and many dogs in fact die each year from tick paralysis.

Your dog can pick up these unwelcome guests from a walk in the bush or even if he has been playing in long grass. Male ticks aren’t a problem, they just stroll around on your dog’s skin looking for a girlfriend. The female tick is the dangerous one. She attaches to your dog and as she drinks blood, she injects a toxin which paralyses your dog.

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