Friday, March 25, 2011

Great Class due to a Brilliant Chiro

Woo-hoo! Cheryl, our chiro, is brilliant.

The last three weeks Ike has been "off."

Week 1 he was off in class and I was sure his pelvis wasn’t out. (Cheryl has taught me how to check and I did during class.) He also wasn't giving me any of the typical signs his pelvis is out - avoiding jumps and contacts.

The morning of week 2 class he slipped on ice and I knew he knocked his pelvis out due to the impact (ouch!). We skipped class and saw Cheryl. She adjusted him and we noticed he was still sitting funny and possibly his sacrum was out and we would work on that next appt.

Week 3 we returned to class and Ike was obviously off again.

We saw Cheryl last Saturday. His pelvis and sacrum appeared to be in. This had us scratching our heads. Typically when she adjusts the pelvis it is from the top - if that makes sense? (The pelvis bones when you are looking down at what you’d term your dog’s hips.) She gave Ike a very thorough examination and voila! She noticed that the seat of his pelvis was off! She adjusted him there. It is the first time that has ever happened with Ike and Cheryl commented that she just had another client with the same issue. Signs to look for in the future - slow and some difficulty with the weaves.

Tuesday night Ikey P was on FIRE!! He felt great, I handled decently, and the courses were fun and smooth! What an AMAZING difference it makes it your dog feels good.

Don’t underestimate the power of a good chiropractor and don’t assume your dog is just having an off day or few weeks. There is often a physical reason why. Often times the symptoms are very subtle, so be on the look-out!

We also had some visitors in class. The course ended with a set of 12 weaves to the tunnel and back to the weaves. Kathleen, who Ike loves, and the two visitors were sitting about 15 feet in front of the weaves. This means Ike was weaving directly into them before turning to the right to grab the tunnel. This was a lot of pressure for Ike. He skipped the third to last weave and I did not correct him. I knew he was stressing about the pressure. I had him go on to the tunnel and then back to the weaves. He was great. After we finished the course the visitors were still sitting, and since it was the end of class, I let Ike go over and say “hi.” I asked if they minded feeding some cheese (Ike is a food whore). They were happy to!

I will never trial with Ike again, but even this pressure - in a class not a trial, would have been too much for him previously. He has really come so far. He is adding more and more people to his “okay” list. His response to stressful situations has improved dramatically. I am really happy for him because he is, although quirky and fussy, an awesome little dog and I am so happy to see him feeling more confident.

5 comments:

Sara said...

What a great post about Ike. Glad to hear he is back to feeling good and enjoying his agility!

Katrin said...

Yay!!! that is awesome all around!! :-)

Nancy and Stewie JRT said...

Yeah to great chiropractors and yeah to Ike!

Blue said...

So glad to hear how much of a difference the chiro made for Ike! Also very cool how well he handling pressure!

Jules said...

The change in handling pressure is GREAT! I think it is probably a combination of things, but I think his homeopathic remedy helps!