1st Hydrotherapy Session

What a big day today was!

Marley went back to Dr. Sosna to have his first underwater treadmill session. Last week the plan was to have him try 5-7 minutes and that would be it for the day. Well Dr. Sosna was so impressed with Marley's improvement since the 30th that she said he could go 7-10 minutes! Walking on an underwater treadmill offers 12x the resistance of regular walking.

Elmer was Marley's therapist today and he was so nice and helpful. Many times a dog will be a bit frightened in the chamber because it is so different! It fills with warm water from the bottom up. Then the belt starts moving and they aren't sure what they are supposed to do. Elmer told us that sometimes it is a struggle to keep them from trying to get out on the first session.

As with everything else, Marley really excelled! Of course he was concerned at first but he never fought the process. When the treadmill started to move Marley started walking. Simple as that. With Momma and Daddy cheering him on, Elmer's expert handling and Daddy passing out liver treats Marley went the distance. He went the entire 10 minutes!

After he was done the water was drained and Marley was hosed down so his pretty white coat doesn't turn chlorine green. A good and proper shake off followed.

Into his Fido Fleece coat given to him by Trish from FBRN and he headed home.

I think he got a good work out, don't you?

We sure have been busy working with Marley and helping him regain his strength and balance. Marley is really doing his part and is not going to accept paralysis as his destiny.

December 28 we took the advise of Robyn Hood and put Candy Cane wraps on Marley's legs. I secured them with terry cloth scrunchies around his ankles. When you add all that to his walking sling and his harness & lead he looked an awful lot like an Marionette puppet! A very cute one at that.

You can see he has some concerns about what is going on but ever the little trooper he just went with hit. He didn't wear the wraps long but we did have him walk around with them about 5 minutes or so.

The point of the wrap it to bring awareness to the legs. It is much like putting a rubber band around your wrist. All of a sudden you are conscious and aware of your wrist. Leave it on for a while you you no longer think about it. TTouch wraps only stay on for a short time and can help with balance and body awareness.



The day after the wraps we noticed a significant improvement in Marley's ability to walk. He put more weight on his back legs. His feet had been quite stiff before and were now in a more natural position as opposed to him walking more on his toes. Steve needed to support him with the sling less and less.

On December 30th we visited Dr. Sosna, the vet that will assist us with Marley's rehab. Dr. Sosna shared details of Marley's surgery and recovery we were unaware of. Our Marley not only has IVDD but also a quite malformed spine. Protecting the integrity of his back is of utmost importance and we are at risk of more ruptures in other areas of the spine.

We reviewed some supplements that will be beneficial for him and set up a series of 20 rehab sessions that will be a mixture of underwater treadmill and weight bearing exercises. He will have homework too besides his therapy every Tuesday and Thursday.

Steve and I are very excited to get going on rebuilding the lost muscle in his legs.

Then on New Year's Eve Marley really had a great walk in the yard! Just look at him go!

Every day we are seeing Marley get stronger and stronger. His balance is improving and the exercises Dr. Sosna showed us how to do are really helping him shift his weight backwards and not carry everything up front. We are working really diligently on his muscle memory and making sure that he is in correct alignment as best we can.

Marley improves so much on a regular basis that it is a good thing we are aware of his malformed spine and the level of risk of having this happen again. If not, it would be tempting to forgo the 20 rehab sessions!

The Merriest of Christmases

So much has happened in the last few days.

Christmas Eve Marley had his follow up with the Neurologist. Steve and I were filled with anticipation as we drove him to the Doctor. We brought the wonderful staff a bunch of home made goodies for taking such good care of our boy.

Dr. Stevenson removed all his staples and talked to us about the Seroma. She was very pleased with how he was doing and predicted a full recovery with just the slightest "swagger" to his walk that just Steve and I would notice. Marley was given permission to sleep in bed with us as long as he wore a harness and a lead which would be tied to the headboard or one of us. Dr. Stevenson released Marley from her care and he only needs to come back if things should head South. Oh happy day!

Now Marley spends quite a bit of time up on the couch with us wearing his TTouch step in harness and a lead so we don't have to worry about him trying to leap off the couch. One really nice thing about Marley having couch time is I can to TTouch on him throughout the day.

We are allowed to spend more time outside with Marley too. He has earned more freedom but still cannot spend time outside his crate without one of us right there until he can walk well enough that he doesn't fall down. Time to get working toward that goal.



Christmas day we got the best gift possible. Marley walked on his own! No support and he walked about 12 steps!!

Our next step is to meet with his new Vet, Dr. Claire Sosna www.aarcsd.com
Dr. Sosna will develop a complete rehabilitation plan for Marley. We can't wait! But we do have to wait until the 30th of December.

Marley Stands!

Marley had an interesting day today.

First off he isn't sleeping through the night and gets up to go potty or just because. Last night was one of those nights. Steve stayed up with Marley while I went back to bed since I had to go to work and he was on vacation. When I got up Marley was excited to see me and stood up on his own in his crate for about 30 seconds! I was so excited.

Today when Steve and I got home I noticed a lot of swelling in his spine area! I emailed photos to the hospital and they said it is Seroma which is a fluid build up.



We are to do warm compresses tonight and of course I added in some Raccoon TTouches to reduce the fluid. Right now it is working like a charm.

Here is the HUGE news of the day.....Marley stood for several minutes on his own to eat his dinner!!!

We are so proud of him and I just love the way he stumbled at one point and was quickly able to regain his footing.

Tomorrow we go to his follow up and get his staples out. I won't be sad to see the "zipper" removed from our boy's back one little bit.

Another recent milestone is I've figured out what to do for his rehab. I finally made a decision about his therapy!! I found a holistic Vet with hours I can make that does diet & supplements, physical exercise, weight bearing exercise, Hydrotherapy (deep pool and underwater treadmill) and also acupuncture. She offered large packages of sessions that will make it more affordable for us and you can mix and match services. Marley will go for his initial consultation on 12/30.

Things are really moving along nicely. I'm still holding out for my Christmas wish of Marley taking a couple steps on his own sometime Christmas day. Even if it doesn't happen Christmas day it is okay....it is getting more and more certain that he WILL be taking those steps sometime soon.

Homework for Iggy

I think I have taken Iggy as far as I can go without out the introduction to a leash. Ground work is out if I can't give him signals with a lead of some sort. He does fine walking with Ben and I off lead but we need more.

Shana, a TTouch PiT suggested I try to acclimate him to a lead by first adding only the clip and then as he gets used to it to switch it out for one with a longer piece of lead on it until we get to a regular sized leash.

During the time I'm focusing on Marley I don't want Iggy moving backward. Yesterday I took his foster parents a bag with all sorts of leads & clips donated from friends at work.

Before leaving I clipped the lightest weight clip with no lead attached. Iggy wasn't sure about this and froze. I got him to eat treats and took the clip off and put it back on again.

Hopefully he will become more accepting and further along his journey when I see him next.

This is the sweetest boy and I look forward to the day he is more confident.

Marley "walkin" in his sling

Steve and I are so happy that Marley's personality is coming back and he seems more and more like our little boy.

He is eating his meals out of his regular bowl all by himself. His potty habits are almost back to normal schedule and he is getting stronger with more leg mobility. Even his constant licking has returned.

Marley gets Passive Range of Motion exercises up to 3 times a day. I say "up to" because we aim for 3 times but right now we won't fight with him to get him into the proper position. We're afraid of him resisting so we do our best and try to catch him lying on his side.


I continue the TTouch on him but I haven't been as good about wraps as I should. As he gets stronger in back I'll be more comfortable putting the wrap on him. Right now I have to balance him, keep his back straight and supported and then have at least one hand left to put the wrap on.

Today we got some video of Mar outside in his sling. It also shows how we keep repositioning his feet and shifting weight to the back so he gets used to the pressure on his feet.

We have a tentative appointment to start his swimming & hydrotherapy for December 26. I'm really looking forward to it on several levels. I'm excited to see what it can do for Marley, I think he will absolutely love the water, and I'm curious for myself too.

In the meantime Marley has been most patient with his required crate rest and his brothers are always near by keeping a close eye on him.

Something New Every Day!

Sooo, everyday "something" has improved.

• Sunday he finally ate;
  
  
• Monday we figured out how to make it easy for him to drink;
  
  
• Today.........he poooooooooooo'd!!!!
  Not only did he poo but Steve was upstairs changing clothes and heard a whimper downstairs and thought it was Pierre complaining about having to stay downstairs. But NO it was Marley whimpering. Steve took him out and he wanted to go to his "poo spot" and the rest is history!
  
  
• Tonight he got so excited when I came in the front door he stood up and moved in his pen! Keep in mind that is on a foam mattress!!!!
  
  
• He ate his dinner from a bowl all by himself. No hand feeding :-)
  

I have decided where I want to take him for hydrotherapy. Through all my local doggie contacts I keep getting pointed to one location about 30 min from our house. As soon as we get the "okay" from his surgeon Marley will begin 6 weeks of hydrotherapy!!! Swimming and under water treadmill. :-) He is gonna love it.

Steve and I decided Marley needed some cuddle time outside his pen. I turned on the fireplace in the bedroom and laid out a quilt on the floor.

We had a TTouch session that included some additional touches that Robyn suggested to me. We did Tarantula Pulling the Plow. I loved seeing his skin react and him turn to look what I was doing. I also tried to "candy cane" his legs with a 1" wrap but I don't know I did it right. He wore his scrunchies on his feet a bit too. Another thing I did that felt good to him was brush him with my Jelly Scrubber. We did touches with the big bumpy side and lots of strokes with the little bumpy side.

I don't know if it makes sense but I keep having a vision of actually moving the feeling and responsive areas into less responsive areas with touches and stimulating strokes. Kinda how people pass a cold or H1N1 I think I can "spread feeling". It is something I keep seeing in my mind so I'm going with it.

After our TTouch session I put him on the bed with me, pillows surrounding all the edges, and we "spooned" and cuddled for a long time. Each time he would snore or stretch his back legs I would smile.

Earlier today I had a talk with Marley and explained his pain and the surgery. I talked about how good he is being and all the fun he will have at water therapy. I reminded him he is perfect how he is and always will be our Perfect Marley Man regardless of how this walking thing turns out. But I know he is gonna walk again. Marley won't have it any other way....neither will we.

Go Marley, go.