A worrying trip to the vet

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27
Jan
2010

Julie Cozze-Young first volunteered as a Puppy Socialiser for Dogs for the Disabled, the assistance dog training charity, in April 2007. She wanted to be involved in the work that helped disabled people live fuller, more independent lives with the help of their trained assistance dogs. Recently, Julie welcomed Ruby, her second Dogs for the Disabled puppy into her home, and in her blog we follow her progress as she socialises and trains Ruby.

“The last few traces of snow disappeared earlier this week, which should have enabled Ruby’s training to return to normal. Unfortunately, for two main reasons, that has not been the case.

Firstly, I went into hospital a week ago, had to stay there for two nights and have two to three weeks recuperation ahead of me.

This means that my husband, Tim, has taken on all dog-walking and, where time allows, training duties, as well as keeping me company in hospital, keeping our home in order and ensuring the shelves and fridge are well stocked.

So, in those first few days, Ruby was reasonably well-exercised, but received limited training with just the one visit to town during the week.

Once I returned home, the plan was for Tim to be able to increase the amount of training, which would also help ensure that Ruby had the experience of being worked by someone other than me.

However, a couple of hours after Ruby had been out on a gentle walk, she tried to stand and could not put her rear right leg down on the floor. It was if the limb had seized-up while she was asleep, and she had to hop on three legs to the garden to go to the toilet. She was not whimpering, but clearly in discomfort.

The problem did not improve in the following few hours, and we were concerned that Ruby may be in pain, so Tim called the Vet to discuss the symptoms.

With the risk of an injury such as a cruciate ligament rupture, we wanted to be sure that Ruby received immediate care, so Tim took her to the Veterinary Surgery for a full check-up.

As it turned out, the Vet’s inspection ruled out anything serious, and, believing it to be just a muscle strain, recommended a week of short walks on lead and a course of anti-inflammatory tablets.

It was such a relief that Ruby’s injury was not significant, and, a week on, I am happy to report that she is no longer showing any signs of the injury, and will start to build up the length of walk over the next few days.

So, whilst my recuperation will be quite slow, there is no doubt that Ruby will be back to her energetic best within the week!”