Sonny has been having twice weekly session of hydrotherapy for the last 2 and a half months. He is coping well, the whole experience of going in there challenging his nervous and distrustful nature on a number of different levels. Firstly, get into the room and trust that the door can be shut and the strange person in the uniform is not going to hurt me. Secondly, allow myself to be gently guided up the slope, then shut in a confined space with glass sides whilst my owner stands outside giving me soothing noises. Thirdly, tolerate noise of water filling the container to the tops of my legs, treats here so it's OK. The occasional suspicious look at the strange person in the green uniform just to make sure they aren't overstepping the mark with me, then I'm off. The treadmill is going and my owner is there at the end encouraging me forward with a regular supply of yummy treats. I can now tolerate a good half an hour of activity with occasional rest periods. End of session followed by a nice warm shower then wrapped in a rather fetching dog towel for the journey home!
We have had the all clear to reduce the sessions down to 1 per week. This will be a huge relief as the bank balance and time factor of trying to rush home from work in time for the session was taking its' toll on me.
He is less keen on the physio which I am supposed to do 3 times a day. A couple of weeks ago I was doing the leg exercises and he looked at me and gave a low growl. This was quite a shock as it was the first time in 12 years that he had done that. I suddenly thought if these exercises are going to make him less trustful of me then I could risk losing the bond with my dog over trying to keep him going. If there is a choice between treating him and losing the bond then I think the bond has to win. After all this it would be terrible to lose that in his last few months or years. The physio told me that because he has such behavioural problems, it puts me in a difficult position with him as I have to do everything as no one else can lay a hand on him unfortunately.
This weekend I had a pet photographer out to take some nice shots of him in the garden. Again I was unsure how he would cope but with the aid of a large hedge and a very long lense, he coped admirably. I am looking forward to getting a photo for the album that sums up the bond between us. He is such a special dog and I want to have something to look back on when he is gone which reminds me of the time we had.
