Yeah! We have the Water figured out!

Our biggest concern (other than the obvious) was finding a way to make it easier for Marley to drink water. Today my friend, and breeder of my other two Frenchies, Joyce came up with a perfect solution. Back to the crocks that screw on the side of the crate but she found ones that are big enough for a flat face dog!



We also started a little Passive Range of Motion exercises for his legs. His big, strong, beefy legs are already starting to atrophy. Amazing! Just a week ago he was running and playing.....now we are dealing with helping him drink water and atrophy muscle.

One one of his potty breaks I put the terry cloth scrunchies on his ankles. I don't think he noticed. I put them on again tonight during his TTouch session and his exercises. You never know when these nerves are gonna kick in and he will notice. He watched me as I moved his legs. Wonder what he thinks of all this.

I continue doing zig zags while crossing over his top line. I'm trying to "connect the dots" for him because I know he has feeling in some areas and I'm not sure about some of the other areas. I guess I think I can move the feeling from one area to another or that the area with limited feeling will "accidentally" feel something in the process. I do Python lifts on his legs and Abalone lifts on areas I feel may be tense. He enjoys the special attention from Momma but we keep the sessions short.

Marley sleeps a lot which is so healing for his body. Steve and I are so thankful that he is not in pain and is so calm and peaceful.

Next hurdle to jump is getting Marley to have a bowel movement. The doc said it is not a concern unless he still hasn't "gone" 5 days after he started eating normally. The clock started last night as Marley is eating like a champ...and as of tonight he can drink water at will.



Hopefully both those things will help us jump that next hurdle.

My next steps are to research where we can take him for Hydrotherapy and Acupuncture.

Home from the Hospital

WELCOME HOME MARLEY!!!

Today our little guy came home from the hospital!

Marley has taken up residence in his hospital bed that I built last night. He is quite comfortable.

We had a couple great things happen today. The first was when Marley "walked" out to see us at the hospital. His surgeon, Dr. Stevenson, had him in a figure 8 sling and his little hind legs just went to town.

The other good thing is we've had trouble getting him to eat anything but baby food licked from fingers. Tonight we tried a little can of Wellness Puppy food and he ate about 5 ounces!


We are still struggling with getting water into him since he can't stand and drink. His posture options are laying down or sitting on his bottom with his feet outstretched in front and his back hunched over. None of these are conducive to drinking water.

We have added a water bottle to the side of his crate and he has drank a little this way. Problem is that the darned thing drips! It is also very slow to produce any significant amount of water when he licks. But it is something until we come up with a better resolution.


We had an idea to buy a cement cinder block and put it in his crate with a bowl on top. That will be a chore for tomorrow.

Today Marley had several short TTouch sessions. Lots of Raccoons, Abalone Lifts and Python Lifts on his legs.

He is able to lay down and rest more comfortably.

Tomorrow I'll try some scrunchies on his ankles.

December 12 - Marley Update

This morning we visited Marley and were so happy to hear that he pee'd on his own! He is not yet standing but with support he is starting to put a little weight on his feet and getting a little stronger.

It was really nice that we were able to visit in a exam room rather than in ICU.

Since he hasn't been eating I did some gentle Belly Lifts to see if that would stimulate his appetite a bit.

We offered him food and he ended up eating a small jar of chicken baby food by licking it off my fingers.

I do different touches all over him. Raccoons close to the incision, Abalone touches with a lift to relax the body, snail tails to help with pain, and python lifts on his legs. I don't know what he feels on his legs by my intention is to focus the body's healing energies on the damaged nerves and I'm also asking any dormant nerves and his healthy ones to take over and do the job of the broken ones. Right now I'm just letting my hands move on their own accord and with love all over him.

We spend a lot of time talking with him and telling him how proud of him we are. WE can't wait to get him back home with us.


Soon Marley is tired and we kiss him good-bye and promise that we'll be back later.

Today was spent figuring out how we will house him when he gets home. We created one scenario after another. Just as we got one idea perfected we found a major flaw and had to start over. We want everything perfect and don't want any mistakes.

I think we pretty much have it set now.

When we visited again tonight Marley looked fantastic.



He was spunkier but we were unable to get him to eat. This concerns me but the doctor said it isn't a big deal unless they go 5 days without eating. 1-3/4 small jars of baby food don't sound like much to me.

We did more touches,



more talking and lots of cuddling.


Then Marley was tired again and it was best to let him go back and sleep some more.

Marley's First TTouch Session Post Surgery

Tonight Steve and I visited Marley in the hospital. He looked really good for all he has been through the past couple days.

He was taken outside today to see if he could stand on his own and if he could urinate by himself. So far he cannot stand on his own. The staff supported him and started putting some weight on his feet. They did have to use a little bit of pressure to get him to start emptying his bladder but once things started he was able to finish on his own. We are encouraged that he is close to being able to go potty by himself!

At this point he has no interest in food. He has not eaten in the last two days at all. The doctor says they don't even start to get concerned about not eating until after 5 days. Thankfully he is getting nutrition via an IV.

Steve offered Marley licks of baby food from his finger and he did take a tiny amount.

Then it was time for some TTouch. Marley will be getting many short sessions a day. Tonight was the first.

We did some Abalone touches...

....Some Raccoons to try to bring about the body's healing fluids...

...and some Ear work to help regulate his breathing.

When I first started working with Sam from the shelter I used distance work ("Phantom Touches") since I couldn't touch his wounds. I used that technique on Marley tonight since I was unable to actually touch his incision area.

It was when I reached this point on his back that he twitched.

The plan is for me to split my time between working in the office and working at home next week so I can give Marley TTouch throughout the day. Steve already had Christmas & New Years week off so he will be he primary care giver then.

So Steve needs to be comfortable doing TTouch on Marley also.

Judging by how relaxed Marley looks I'd say Steve is doing a great job!

Marley goes down in the back!

Spine injuries can happen quickly and can go down hill in a very bad way very quickly. Two of our Frenchies have had spine issues in the past 15 months.

Sammi was first. He woke up one day wobbling like a drunken sailor. He IMMEDIATELY went to the emergency hospital and was seen. In his case we were given Pred and strict crate rest. He also received numerous TTouch sessions and was fine 2 weeks later. No further treatment was warranted and no PT required.

Marley's path started off similar but had a very different result.

Our first indication that something was wrong with Marley was Tuesday morning when Steve rolled over in bed and bumped Marley. (red flag #1) Marley let out a sharp cry. Immediately we felt him all over and tried to repeat the problem...we got nothing. Chalking it up to Marley's tendency toward the dramatic we figured he got scared and left it at that.

Tuesday evening when we got home he has trembling a little and seemed "off". We took his temp and it was a little low so we put a towel in the dryer to get hot and I did TTouch on him through the towel and he and I hung out alone in the bedroom where he slept (red flag #2 Marley does not rest voluntarily).

After a restless night of Marley not being comfortable and keeping all of us awake I took him to ER at 5:30 am. He endured a very detailed exam of physical manipulation and a rectal exam since impacted anal glands can also result in hind end discomfort. Marley passed these tests with flying colors. Only one time did he actually flinch a little. While at the doc he started to favor his right hind leg EVERY SO SLIGHTLY. We decided on an Anti-Inflammatory and pain med with crate rest. I was to call the doc with an update after supper.

I dropped Marley off at home, gave him his meds and went to work.

When Steve got home Marley didn't want to play and would only chew a bone (red flag #3). When I got home and greeted the dogs I picked up Marley and he let out a blood curdling scream and I put him on the couch. He was very upset with me for causing him pain and jumped off the couch with no pain reaction and went about his business.

The after dinner call to the vet resulted in us increasing his pain med since he was walking fine with no signs of neurological impairment.

Marley woke up about 12:30 am and again jumped off the bed with no pain reaction. I did notice his back feet were knuckling under ever so slightly. I called the same vet from that morning was just starting another night shift and he made me a 10 am apt with the Neurologist but said to call him at 3am and let him know how he was doing. The entire family slept down stairs on the couch so Marley may be more comfortable.

Marley was so uncomfortable he could not lay down but would rather sit. Finally at 2:30 Marley found a position where he could lay comfortably and he fell asleep......we all did. We slept through his 3am foot check. In all honesty if I hadn't fallen asleep I doubt I would have woke him up 30 min in to the first sleep he had in almost 24 hours.

At 6:00 am we got up and Marley was paralyzed from the waist down.

Back to the Emergency Room and one look at him and the same poor vet from the day before was on duty again and he said lets plan his surgery. His Neurologist was called in early and a team assembled.

I had really hoped that if he needed surgery I'd have time to transport him to a teaching hospital in Los Angeles because they can do the Spine Surgery for about $2,000 or so. There was no way we had time for any of that. If we wanted Marley to have a chance of walking again we had to move quickly.

By 11 am Marley had his Myliogram to find the rupture and was in surgery from 12 noon until 4:30 pm! The rupture was severe, on the back side of the disk. The rupture was so violent that it hit the spinal column and threw that into something else that caused deep bruising on the opposite of the spinal column.

We won't know his prognosis for a while yet. We've had some good signs in that he has regained deep pain sensation to his back leg that didn't have it before and he may have urinated on his own during the night. Or, it may have been an over full bladder leaking. Time will tell.

Becca goes to the Park

Thankfully the promised rain hadn't come by time time I met Kerry and Becca at a park.

The plan for Becca today was to get her used to being away from Honey and doing a little experimenting with the Confidence Course. We started slowly with cones and (2) 3' pieces of ladder.

I traveled light thinking the sky would open up at any moment.

After we got the cones & ladders set I walked Becca through the cones using the Balance Leash Plus and she did really well with those. The ladder was a different story and she would much prefer to walk around it. There were people doing a photo shoot not far from us and this concerned her. Becca walked more freely with them to her back than she did walking toward them.

We decided to see if she responded better with a wrap....that I left in my trunk. As I ran off to get the wrap Becca was anxious that I had left her newly formed pack.

Becca did well wearing her wrap and did not protest. We did several touches trying to relax her and headed to the course again with Kerry leading her. Again she did well with the cones but had reservations about the ladders. With tuna fudge strategically placed she would do a step or two.

I decided to try to guide her with the TTouch wand so that resulted with another run to the car leaving the pack. Again Becca was concerned but Kerry was able to get her to go through the ladder using treats~ Yeah Becca.

A couple rounds through the course with the wand showed me that this wasn't the answer I'd hoped it to be. At one point she did start to follow it into the ladders but caught herself and did a fancy side step to avoid it.

Another session of touches and Becca completely relaxed. I did ear work, lying leopards on the body and on her legs. At one point she even laid down.

We took her through the course again and then called it a day. There had been a lot of stress for her and she didn't freeze up and even relaxed for some of it.

Kerry said she slept for 90 minutes straight when she got home.

Our next visit will be where we can set up a full confidence course and find different parts she can do more comfortably and start building up those successes and her confidence at the same time.

Even Chance Rescue

Recently I was asked to work with a couple Pit Bulls with Even Chance Rescue. These two are a little different from others I've worked with.

Both of these dogs have compromised immune systems.

Nico is a little girl with a family waiting to adopt her. She has had a rough go of things. In her short lifetime she has had Kennel Cough and Demodex Mange. Nico is an active little girl that came in to the shelter as a stray and hasn't had much guidance in her life. She is adorable and full of energy.

With Nico, since her Demodex is just a couple small break outs I was able to put a body wrap on her to try to calm her but still she bounced. I pulled the back end of the wrap down over her tail in an effort to "calm the tail, calm the dog".

We also did "walking touches" where we would walk around the living room and stop for touches and walk some more.

Nico had moments of calm during our session but you needed to be observant to really appreciate them.

I found that saying "good girl" even on the calmest of voice was enough to set her off into a happy dance with ears bouncing. What worked better for Nico was a very slow and light Zig Zag touch.

Working with dogs is so much fun because each is a little puzzle to figure out. What works for one dog ("good girl") will not work for another. The challenge is learning what each dog needs to be successful.

An interesting thing happened. When Nico went back in her crate and it was Brogan's turn she was very calm and even napped. Nico's foster mom is going to continue doing some touches on her and I also recommended a book by Nan Arthur called "Chill Out Fido!: How to Calm Your Dog".

More than likely Nico will have gone to her new family by the time can see her again but her foster mom is already doing a wrap on her and more touches tonight. I have the BEST people to work with and I love how they really want their dogs to succeed.

Now meet Brogan.

Brogan came into the shelter a mess! He had Yeast & Staph infections in addition to a very serious case of Demodex Mange. His foster mom told me that thankfully his Yeast & Staph are all gone but his poor immune system is shot.

First thing we talked about was diet. Fortunately Nicole is totally on top of things and feeds a dehydrated raw diet by Honest Kitchen. Good nutrition is critical to boost the immune system.

For Brogan's regime I used a sponge you would use to apply auto wax and did lots of tiny raccoon touches all over his body.

He was quite interested in the sponge so we gave him toys to work with during his session. I also tried to use a soft paint brush but that was too stimulating for him and we were unable to take his focus off the brush. The polishing pad was perfect.

We kept Brogan's session short so we didn't over tax him in any way.

I think Brogan liked the work. What do you think?

Brogan will be going to a new foster home this week and I will also work with them to make sure they know how to do his touches! Did I mention what a super sweet boy Brogan is? Even with his raw skin he is full of love and joy.