Chiropractor

Duke went to see the Chiropractor today. We went because he has been limping on and off on his front - usually looks like the left, but sometimes the right. After we practice jumping, do a long walk, or Sunday (for the first time) after drafting practice is when the limping will start and it usually only lasts for a little bit and then he's acting fine again. And, the weird thing is that he doesn't limp while he's doing the activities it's always a little while afterward. I contacted a chiropractor who works on dogs in the area and she thought Duke would be a perfect candidate. With how he is - big, crazy, happy goofball, I wouldn't be surprised if he's got stuff all out of alignment, so I was hoping she really would be able to help. I've also noticed that Duke's topline doesn't look as nice as it used to, it's not as level - so maybe that has something to do with it too.

He was a huge hit at the office today and got all sorts of attention - which of course he loved. So, they think this is going to work well for him, and I'm not sure of all the correct terms, but I'll try to explain what they said he had wrong.

His neck has more muscle on the right side than the left, which was causing a misalignment so they popped that - the muscle difference could be due to compensating walking on his left side

He has 'jumpers back' which is why he has a little ridge in his topline that used to be nice and flat - guess it's fairly common? so she pushed on that a little bit

His back right hip was a little out so she pushed that back in

His front left shoulder had ablations on the muscle - you couldn't feel the tendons you could just feel like a bunch of bumps on his muscle. According to the Chiropractor Duke at some point in time sprained his shoulder - not surprised, and then his shoulder was out of place from tendering it. So she pushed that back into place. She thought that was going to be tough, but she said it was actually really easy.

She said it would be good if I could keep him quiet for a little while to let that shoulder heal and keep it in place - so no running, jumping, carting, etc. for a few weeks. We're going back next Friday to make sure everything stayed put and she'll do a little check up to make sure everything is still okay. She also said to take him for short walks to keep that muscle loose and then, if he would let me, ice it after the walk.

I'm hoping she's right and it will work.