Online K9 Dogs, Training, Joys, Frustration and Life

Tough to spell, tough to heal!

It’s a muscle that has it’s origin in the spine and it’s insertion in the Ilium, the hip bone.  It basically attaches a dog’s spine to the femur.  In humans if you hurt this, its called a groin pull.  It is deep, under many other layers of muscle, and hard to heal.

Kestrel had her first iliospoas injury in Aug/Sep 2011.  She was coming back from a TPLO, doing lots of training, working up through progressive jump heights, entered an obedience trial at American K9 Country and refused the jump.   Many times, folks would say, go home and train your dog. proof your dog.  This dog was trained, proofed, loves to work , loves to jump – refusal to jump is an issue.  A physical issue in her.

We saw a veterinary specialist, diagnosis, iliopsoas strain.. we did PT, progressive training.  Went to a match in Jan 2012, she did her 2 jumps and a broad jump for open and couldn’t get back in the van…. could not jump….  sigh… lots of rest , PT, a jan/feb/march of falling down the stairs and getting reinjured… we carpeted the stairs, that helped

In Kestrel, it is subtle, she has a hitch in her gitalong when she gets up from a rest….  after PT sometimes she is 3 legged, quantity 8 of slow 4 inch jumps  in the backyard and she’s lame…. xrays, vet, vet, pt, back to the specialist, ILIOPSOAS… sigh..

talking to a PT, it takes 442 days to heal a human muscle strain (and no I don’t know how they figured that out) and dogs are quicker.. but not 3 or 4 months of rehab.

So Kestrel is on a plan…  home laser treatments for inflammation, (yeah, no Rimadyl)  and then slow strengthening.  There is a great article in Clean Run about these injuries but not a detailed treatment plan.  I am hoping through our successes and mistakes to add to the body of knowledge about these injuries…

Thing 1: we went too fast last time, and she’s reinjured.   Broad jumps, with that collection and explosion are particularly hard on this injury, stairs, jumping in and out of cars, on and off the bed,,,, all bad…

Thing 2: trust your dog…… sometimes when they can’t perform, it is not a training issue, it is a physical issue.  I’m really glad I recognized that pretty soon but I feel bad for the first round, I got her back in the game too soon.

Thing 3: injuries are not often dramatic.  Sure, the 3 legged dog from a torn cruciate, its obvious.  But some subtle gait changes, some folks wouldn’t notice them, but I knew my dog is off.. watch for the hitch in a git along…..

I will keep you posted on how she does and what we do to get there