Fun in the Snow

Ice and snow hit Georgia hard this week, especially the metropolitan Atlanta area.  We had early release from work on Tuesday, and of course the first thing I did when I got home was change into running clothes and pull on my sneakers for a run in the snow with my dog.

It was gorgeous as the flakes floated through the air and clung to his back ahead of me.  He sailed across the icy snow as if he'd been running on it, and with me his whole life.  At times like these, I find it surprising we've only been together thirteen months, we seem like we were made for each other on the road.  A sublime moment between us; dog leading the way across an uncertain surface and his person following along behind, gleefully lost in the moment.  This run ranks as one of my best snow memories, the snow was coming down as heavy as I've seen it fall in the 10 years I've lived here. 

When we finished he had little icy drops hanging off his mouth, but by the time we got inside the house it was pretty much melted from his breath.  The flakes had stuck to his hair, and his coat glistened and sparkled as if he were wearing sequins.

When I'm out with Stetson for a run, my mind is freed of all the hassles of day to day life.  It isn't just a cardio, or a training session for me, it's a soul cleanser.  

Ten Days After Stem Cell Therapy

Progress continues!  I told Dave today that I've begun to look for Madison in the house because I don't often hear her crashing into the side of her crate when she lays down, nor does she make much vocal noise about it.  Crazy good stuff!

Starting on Friday, she began to get air under her when she launched over the slider door threshold while "launching" onto the patio.  Yesterday evening she began to figure out she's got more power in her rear now and doesn't have to push off so hard.  It is so heartwarming to see her figure out how to use the new her.

Today I let her out off leash in the yard with Stetson for the first time since the procedure.  She really is moving nicely, and at a brisker pace than she was.  The stumbling you notice in the following video resulted from pine cones and sticks...her balance is really good.

Here's the most recent shot of her getting up in her condo after we were gone for a few hours today.  I apologize for the brief moment of frustration when I realized the video had zoomed in on her and didn't capture how easily she got up!  I followed it with her video from before the procedure so you can realize the improvement!

10 Days after Stem Cell Therapy:

Before Stem Cell Therapy:

The following quick video shows her laying down in the Vari Kennel today.  She's easily getting her front end down now and doesn't tumble over now!  Again, I followed today's video (10 days after the stem cell therapy), with the video from before the procedure so you have a comparison.  Amazing difference that makes us so very, very glad we did this for her!

10 Days after Stem Cell Therapy:

Before Stem Cell Therapy:

The surgical incision is healed now and all of her shaved areas are growing new coat.  She seems a little itchy, but this is the first surgical procedure that we have not had to use the "cone of shame" on the dog to keep the dog off the incision while it heals, and we've had lots of spays, neuters...over the past 26 years.

We're only on day 10 after the procedure, statistically we have not peaked to the maximum level of benefit to be expected.  She played with me in the yard this afternoon while I put away the agility equipment after I was finished working with Stetson.  She didn't engage him, it was all about she and I - gotta say, the tears were falling onto my smile.  Love you Sissy, keep on keeping on and we'll always be there to play with you.

December, 2013

No Back Seat for Stetson

I am obviously consumed with Madison and her Stem Cell Therapy that has just happened this past week.  But Stetson isn't really taking much of a back seat to all this.  As a matter of fact, if it weren't for him, crate rest for her would be an incredible challenge.  But he's willing to relax in a crate when she has her time out in the house and he's been very patient to stay his distance in the yard while I walk her on lead.

We've been busy learning about taking obedience skills out of the house and the training building, into the "real world".  The past two weekends I've taken him out to work in strange, public places.  Last weekend we went to a nearby high school parking lot and practiced our heeling and stays.  We then went to a local pet supply store and practiced "stays" and the "sit for exam".  He was, as always, the sweet and willing partner.

Practicing our figure eight heeling pattern in a high school parking lot with some cones as "posts"

Happy to receive his rewards for good heeling work :)

"Sit Stay" in the kitty food aisle of a local pet supply store

I began training the "2-on 2-off" method for contact training from Rachel Sanders via her video and the board that Max 200 makes to support the video, (both can be purchased via Clean Run).  The concept was difficult for him to begin with because he's used to NOT being rewarded for coming off his platform that we use for obedience signal training.  It took some time to teach him that these boards were to different items, used for two separate sports and commands.  As always, he's a bright boy and he quickly decided that I must know what I was talking about...

Blue board is used to teach contacts for agility, it is raised about 3 inches from the ground.  Black board is for obedience signals and the PVC "rails" on the side are intended to keep the dog on the board for down, stand and sit; barely raised from the floor, but he knows this board the best because we've used it for a year now; he thought he was supposed to do those things on the blue board too...

Finally I get a 2-on 2-off that we will translate to the contact obstacles (teeter, dog-walk and A-frame) in agility

The board he's known for a year now - the obedience board; used primarily for signals to keep his rear in place and keep him from moving forward...  He is actually giving me a nice "down" in this picture, although it appears his elbows may be up, they are really correct on the ground.  He was THRILLED to work this after trying to convince me the blue board was the same thing...

This past Sunday we went back to the pet supply store to work.  This time I asked him to heel and he quickly decided to try to ignore the distractions in the store and give me what he could for the exercise.  Then we practiced some "sit stays" in various places and a "sit for exam".  The stays were good, he was challenged with me picking the aisle where the bins of "bulk treats" were open and within nose reach.  But he pulled it off beautifully.

He gets extra stars for his "sit for exam" exercise.  I explained to a shopper that he had a match coming up and we were practicing...  Then I told her about the "sit for exam" exercise and asked if she'd mind to just walk up to him, touch his head and walk away.  She agreed to help, but when she touched his head, she immediately began cooing over how soft he was, and began to fluff his head, rub his ears and such.  Mr. Social Butterfly pretty much immediately got wide eyed with excitement.  How badly did he want to get up from that sit and greet her??  Really, what a sweet dog to try so hard under such difficult circumstances :)  Love my boy!!!

Sit Stay with the open bin of treats taunting him (I don't deserve such a sweet boy)

Sweet face that gazes up to me when heeling, he was a little worried about the activity nearby, but he tried so hard!

This dog gives me so much.  There are times that I wonder if in his canine brain he ever "dreamed" of a person that was anything like me.  I don't know, but he is certainly a dream come true for me!

Incision and Laying Down

Madison is continuing to make improvements every day and it is obvious that she feels good by her perky attitude and the significant reduction in vocalization we've noticed, both while active and when just laying still.

Here are some pictures of how her incision is healing.  It is already just some pink skin and we aren't a week post-op until tomorrow. They put PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) on the incision, which seems to be accelerating healing.

Day of surgery, January 16th

2 days after surgery, January 18th

5 days after surgery, January 21st

She is healing so nicely.  She's not licking or otherwise bothering the incision.  No "cone of shame" for her, yay!!!

Laying down used to be a stressful event for her.  Although she didn't cry out, she was very vocal with whines and squeaks.  I am sure that going down is harder than getting up, (based on my own experience when I'm sore), so consistently laying down without much ado will take a little time, but the progress so far is still significant - very little vocalization which tells me she's more comfortable, although navigation isn't perfect yet.

This first video is her laying down some days before the surgery procedure.

By Sunday, she looked much better getting down.

On Monday morning she laid down in her Vari Kennel without crashing into the side of it.  How cool is that!

She feels good enough now that it is a challenge to keep her and Stetson from acting up in the yard, even with her on leash.  We began letting them be out in the house together, under supervision, on Tuesday.  If things begin to get a little iffy, it's easy enough to crate one of the two.

Enjoying an antler

Stetson on duty

Getting her ears rubbed and loving it

We have moved the condo back into our bedroom and she's navigating the raised entry to get out of the bedroom and into the family room (which is the required path to the kitchen and backyard) pretty well.

Dave and I had high hopes for her outcome in all this and I feel like I need to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming of how well she is doing.  She's a little dynamo.

Stem Cell Therapy Progress

When our Union Hill Animal Hospital started to offer this procedure for the treatment for osteo-arthritis (and other degenerative diseases), I knew in my heart that this was something we needed to pursue on behalf of Madison.  Dave and I decided to jump on the opportunity to possibly provide her with any level of comfort we could in these geriatric years.

Snoozing in her Vari Kennel some days before her therapy

Dr. Diane Castle gave us the final okay to schedule her just before the new year holiday based on results from testing and her evaluation.  The date was set, January 16, which coincidentally was Madison's 14th birthday.

I am trying to capture before and after videos of her progress in various activity; primarily her ability to get up from a prone/sleeping position comfortably and her ability to lay down comfortably.  The following videos are of her getting up.

This video is of her getting up in her "condo" after having been resting for some time.  It was taken prior to the procedure and was one of the reasons we wanted to pursue stem cell therapy to see if this every day activity could be made more comfortable.  She often would struggle more than this to get up.

The following video was taken on Saturday, 2 days after the procedure on Thursday.  This is her first time to "get up" after having slept overnight (she was heavily sedated after the procedure, so Friday was a day of rest and she was pretty wobbly).  We are pleased because there is much less vocalization involved with her movement.  She doesn't appear to be able to "pop" up much more in this video, but she seems more comfortable with the activity.

This last video was taken today, Sunday, January 19.  The procedure was done on Thursday, so we're now three days post op/procedure.  This is remarkable and we are astounded by the benefit we are already seeing in her.  She literally just sat up, like a youthful, non arthritic dog.  Wow, just wow!!!!!!!!!

I'll continue to document her progress.  It is exciting and I'm so very, very grateful to Dr. Diane Castle and everyone at Union Hill Animal Hospital for bringing this technology to their practice.  What a special, special gift we are receiving from their skills!

Maybe, just maybe, we'll get to take her to the river again for a walk/trot.  My hope has been ignited.

Fourteen Years

Happy Birthday Maddie!!!

Relynka's Maiden Voyage, MX, MXJ

As I sit here watching you sleep, I cannot believe you are fourteen.  You are obviously not a young dog, not a puppy; but you don't seem to be a geriatric dog either.  Tons of energy, happy attitude and plenty of sweet kisses are what greet me each evening when I walk into the house from work.  It is such a blessing to have you here, and especially to have you happy.

All that lacks in your health is the lack of visual depth perception and the pain and stiffness associated with osteoarthritis.  Getting up and down are hard, very hard right now.  The lack of depth perception makes navigation of small steps stressful for you and for and us.  Those are the only times that we are really reminded of your age.

Watching you slap Stetson in the head and dive into a play bow just makes me giggle.  He is truly your best prize.

Hilton Head, November 2013

I cannot think of you without a smile on my face, you just make me happy that way.  My heart still races when I recall walking away from you at the start line and turning to see you crouched and waiting for the game of agility to begin.  You are my biggest adrenaline rush, even if memories are what stir it up.

Happy birthday love, I hope that today will bring you relief from the osteoarthritis.  You see, today is your stem cell therapy day and I think it is perfect that it falls on this special day.  It feels like I am giving you back something that will enrich this senior part of your life in the same way that you have filled me up all these years.

Siberian Husky Club of America 2004 National Specialty award ceremony memory wall - she earned three of four awards that she qualified for, with 6 classes in regular agility classes being awarded.  

You are loved more today than you have ever been little girly girl.  Happy birthday my love!

She has melted Dave from the day she was born

Recovery and Injury Prevention

With goals set for the 2014 triathlon season, training has begun and I'm beginning to feel like I'm getting into the swing of things.  There are three areas that I am focused on to see how they benefit my overall performance this year.  They are, strength training, core training, bike to run brick training, and probably most important to the overall execution of the previous, effective stretching.  Of course I train with Stetson, so I always incorporate those things that benefit me to his training as well.

One of my doctors advised me to begin stretching a little before each workout, and then stretch extensively afterward in order to keep the hamstring tension (that has become my nemesis), at bay.  I've also taken to using a foam roller for my hamstrings thanks to the encouragement of a fellow runner and dog agility competitor as part of my routine.  One of my Chiropractors who does an exceptional job of "resistance stretching" with me, taught me to use a door jam as a replacement to his weight and pressure to get a thorough stretch on my hamstrings.  Between the foam roller and the door jam, I am keeping my trouble areas relatively loose.

I stretch Stetson after we work also.  Diane and Trish at Union Hill Animal Hospital taught me to work with him from his toes to his shoulders and/or hips.  When I get it right and he really does give me his limbs to be stretched and manipulated, he will doze off.  He works hard, I'm always glad to see that he is trusting me enough to let me have his body while he snoozes off and on.

Crashing out while I stretch him after our workout today.

Nutrition is a huge part of recovery for canine and human around here.  For a long time I have put together a mix of grain free kibble, dried apricots and freeze dried animal organ (typically chicken hearts) for the dogs that are working with me.  They love the reward after giving me a workout and I feel like I'm supplementing some of the calories that they are burning.  This is especially important to me now that I have an unaltered male to work with.   He runs more calories off than I can blink at, and will drop weight as quick you can imagine, (wish I could have that problem). Replenishing him after a workout helps him recover, but it also helps him keep his weight in check.

Stetson's recovery snack of grain free kibble, dried apricots and freeze dried chicken hearts

I suffered from muscle cramps in my feet and legs during the 2013 training season.  My coach, Holly Marzetti advised me to replenish potassium depletion with either a supplement, or preferably, fresh bananas. I don't like bananas, but if they might serve me, I decided to give them a go. Since having a banana after a workout, I admit my muscle cramps have ceased.  Recently a coworker told me about studies that have been done showing how chocolate milk helps muscle recovery after a workout, reducing soreness.  Since I'm dairy free, I did some additional research and although the original studies were sponsored by the dairy industry, the information seemed worth taking to the personal test.  So I bought chocolate almond milk.  I am amazed that after a hard strength training, or brick workout, I am not having muscle stiffness or soreness.  It is crazy to me, but it works.  The one thing that the chocolate almond milk does not manage for me is muscle cramps.  Basically I have "Charley horses" in my feet and calves during the workout following a difficult workout.  So now I'm having the banana and the chocolate almond milk.  My recovery has been smoother and more complete than during any other time in my previous training., no more soreness and no more muscle cramps.

Have a great run; hopefully you can hit the road or a trail with your dog, they are just the best training partners ever!

Stem Cell Therapy for Madison

Madison is my dream dog and Dave's heart dog.  I imagined her and dreamed of having a dog like her long before she was born.  I've followed each and every dream that she awakened inside me over the span of her life.  She turns fourteen on the 16th of January, but it seems like yesterday that she came into this world...

She was born more out of science than nature.  We bred Nakeeta via artificial insemination using "fresh extended semen".  The semen was collected from the sire living in upper New York state and shipped to Kansas City, Missouri where it was non-surgically introduced to Nakeeta.  Of that fabulous science was born three glorious puppies.  We kept the first born, Maddie and named her "Relynka's Maiden Voyage".  The name represents our kennel name (newly established with the virgin litter, Relynka) and the symbolism that we were taking off on the first of many adventures in the dog world, i.e. Maiden Voyage.

It should not be surprising that we have again found science and technology to help us achieve perhaps our final goal with her.  This time we are striving to bring balance and comfort to a very fit and healthy geriatric dog.  It is hard for her to lay down.  She will stand and whine for a time and then get her butt to the ground, gradually after that, she begins to "walk" herself from a sit to a down with one front foot in front of the other, or she'll simply tumble over onto her side.  Once down, she'll look you in the eye and raise her head to you as if to say, "I've got this..."  When rising from a prone position, she often "digs" herself into a sit and then gently raises her rear.

Aside from a depth perception issue that keeps her unsure about steps and the aforementioned seeminly arthritic problems, she is in excellent health.  Her bloodwork is spot on and Xrays show a "beautiful" abdomen and chest.  She happily stretches, her walks are at minimum a mile at a time and her appetite is fabulous.  She instigates play with Stetson and will actually slap him in the head if he isn't paying attention when she dives into a "play bow".  Every time we make a new treatment available to her, she responds incredibly well; whether it be chiropractic, laser, Adequan injections, Dasequin oral bites or anything else.  There is nothing about this dog that says life is running short.  With all of these things in consideration we are eargerly anticipating some relief for her with the Stem Cell Therapy that is being scheduled for January.

Madison will undergo a surgical procedure to remove fatty tissue which will then be broken down, washed, cleansed and then prepared to be put back into her.  After evaluation by Dr. Castle, she has determined that Madison will receive the Adult Stem Cells via injection into both elbows for specific relief to those joints.  She will also receive an IV administration of the adult stem cells for additional support not specific to the joints.  Ironically, we are hoping to schedule this for the 16th of January and that will be Madison's 14th birthday.  Happy birthday princess, you won't appreciate the anesthesia (no Siberian does), but the days to follow will be brighter for you!

Here is a short clip of Madison and the effort it takes for her to lay down in a VariKennel.

Dave and I are well aware that our fourteen year old dog is not going to move the way she did when she was four years old and jumping 26 inches in agility.  But if we can have her able to lay down and rise comfortably again, we will be so eternally grateful.  And I have this hope that she will again be able to to go the the river and join us for a 5k walk.  It is a special place and we have many beautiful memories there, but the distance is too much for her in her current state; maybe, just maybe...

Dr. Castle (Diane) and Dr. Smith (Meghan) are available at Union Hill Animal Hospital in Canton, Georgia.  Their phone number is 770-664-8380 and the website is: http://unionhill.vetstreet.com/  The doctors and staff at Union Hill have an awesome gift with our kids, they always have and we are so blessed to be able to call them our partners in the care of our dogs.  Diane, (Dr. Castle) will remain focused on small animal clients, but Meghan, (Dr. Smith) is also available for equine patients.  Somehow I think they will always remember my call within a minute, (literally), of them posting the open house introduction invitation for Stem Cell Therapy; I can hear them all laughing in the background, but it was just meant to be that we were there when the answer to Madison's problems were given out.  These people have our hearts and the hearts of our dogs; they are special to us as friends and partners in the ongoing health of Madison and Stetson.